Richard Ball - Strategies for Establishing a Successful Beta Program

Launch With Confidence

About This Episode:

This episode is all about building a successful beta program, and more importantly, how to secure buy-in from your stakeholders and the teams around you. There are a lot of challenges to overcome when you’re first establishing a beta program; whether it's starting from scratch with very few resources, or trying to convince other teams that beta tests are worthwhile. It can seem incredibly daunting, but with the right tools and strategies, you can turn otherwise skeptical team members into beta believers.

About Our Guest: Richard Ball

Richard Ball is a seasoned professional with over five years of experience in the beta industry. He has a proven track record of leading and building successful teams at companies such as Fitbit, Anova Culinary, and Peloton, where he most recently served as the Director of Field Testing.

Timestamps:

(1:48) - How did Richard get started in user testing?

(4:19) - The value of having a beta support team and managing resources at scale

(8:45) - The differences between testing at a large company and being a team of one

(10:09) - How to successfully pitch a beta testing program

(14:24) - Key differences in testing audiences and feedback between different product categories

(17:00) - Recruiting effectively through prioritizing product features

(21:10) - How product limitations can effect recruiting beta testers

(30:04) - Overcoming internal objections and the challenge of the "validity check"

(34:45) - Differences between qualitative results and quantitative sentiments

(37:57) - What to look for when hiring new beta team members

(45:41) - Advice for new beta managers starting from scratch

(51:01) - What are you optimistic about in tech today?