Beta Testing Feedback Form Template

What is a good beta survey?

Beta testing feedback forms are circulated to testers to collect product feedback at the initial stages. So, to get the right feedback from the testers the survey needs to cover all important beta testing survey questions concisely. If it is too lengthy, testers may leave them halfway and if it is too short you may not get actionable information. A good beta survey can have around 15 questions, including 3 to 4 text-based questions. Make use of multiple-choice and rating-based questions as they are easy to answer. Testers can answer them with just one click.

What are the right questions to ask beta testers?

While asking questions to your beta testers, you need to be very precise. Since they have agreed to test your product/software, you already owe them. So, plan well, and ask apt questions. Although you can have a number of closed-ended questions for your survey, we have listed only open-ended questions.

Having open-ended questions opens up so many possibilities depending on the environment of the tester. You may have designed your software for solving a specific type of problem. But, open-ended question allows the tester to try a completely different approach.

Here are some open-ended questions you can ask your beta testers.

What problem are you trying to solve using our product?
Did the product help you to solve the problem?
Is the pricing of the product fair enough?
What can be the other possible use cases?
What are the shortcomings of the product?
How can we overcome those shortcomings?

What is the difference between alpha testing and beta testing?

Alpha testing is done by the quality analysis team inside an organization. The purpose of alpha testing is to identify bugs that can result in bad user experience or functionality. Alpha testing happens in a known environment and hence it is necessary to conduct beta testing before launching the product in a real environment.

Beta testing is done by a chosen set of customers or testers called beta testers. Beta testing usually challenges the product developers to find solutions to real problems of the product. Since beta testers are not limited to one type of environment, the product gets exposed to vulnerable situations.

How to choose product beta testers?

While choosing beta testers, ensure that they are from your pool of target audience. This way, you will get pinpointed feedback and no fluff. Since you have built the product for them, undoubtedly it’s going to be important.

Selecting beta testers becomes easier if you’ve circulated a customer opinion survey beforehand asking specific questions about some features. If any of them have already requested a feature in those surveys, you can take them as beta testers to test that feature. This gives them a feeling of being heard (which is delightful, of course) and therefore they will share honest feedback.

If you are releasing an updated version of your product, you can consider those users who have criticized certain features of your product. Since they have been criticized, there are good chances that they are passionate about your product. They want you to be better. If you have worked upon their inputs, and ask them to be beta testers, they will give you frank feedback.

The next pool of users to consider for beta testing are those who have used similar products like yours. They can compare your product with that of your competitors and come up with useful insights and feature ideas. There is also a high possibility that they may become your customers.