The latest on digital design trends and consumer behavior from Avenue A | RazorfishBeta Blitz: New Twist On Testing and Community
February 6th, 2008 by Mia NorthropTags: beta, blitz, community, new, social, Social Media, testing, twist, Web 2.0
‘To beta or not to beta’ can be a controversial business decision. Betas offer an opportunity to hone site performance, collect data on user behavior to tweak usability and test the value of features and functionality. Increasingly, private betas are being used to ration the number of visitors to a site.
Invite Share, part of the Crunch network, is a resource where users can send and receive invitations to private betas. The more people you invite to your site’s beta, the more invitations will be sent to you in the future. 68 sites on the cutting edge are listed thus far, providing an opportunity to see what is around the digital corner.
2 Responses to “Beta Blitz: New Twist On Testing and Community”
I think the biggest part in private beta is the artificial limitation which creates higher demand in the web 2.0 early adopter community. I remember Gmail invites being sold on ebay because people were so desperate to get access to the biggest talk in (web 2.0) town. This is why web services like Invite Share have poped up everywhere. Stil the best place for an early adopter is a good network on twitter where everything happens in nearly real-time.
True, networks are key. Still, the power of those personal networks lies in the fact that its members are tapped into a wider variety of info sources (such as Invite Share) than any one person could be. I do wonder how many people participating in private betas reflect the site’s target audience, and what the representation is from people working in the online arena using the beta as an idea source and for competitor analysis.