Women Behind Betabound: Our Testers
In this next installment of our Women Behind Betabound series, we spoke with four knockout testers in our community: Tammy, Ashley, Elise, and Breana. Collectively, these Betabounders have participated in ten tests within our community. Individually, they’re tech professionals, college students, and stay-at-home moms. However, they all share a passion for beta testing and how it gives them a hand in emerging technologies. Check out their stories below!
Tammy has been interested in tech as long as she can remember. In college, she majored in STEM and now touches tech everyday of her professional career as a technology consultant at a management firm. According to Tammy, “It’s human nature to be important in some kind of way. Being an engineer, I love getting the opportunity to put my hands on new tech — that’s fun to me! As a tester, our names may not be on the final product, but it’s awesome to know you had some form of influence on it.”
Q: What about women makes them good beta testers?
A: Women tend to be really analytical. Whether they’re an engineer or stay-at-home mom, they’re multitaskers. Women are always thinking of ways to make things better or more efficient, which is an ability that helps a lot as a tester. Developers are always looking for ways to cut out steps and make things more user-friendly, which is what women excel at. A lot of women I’ve met through engineering are really creative. They aren’t afraid to be dreamers or lean into their imagination.
Plus, we all interact with things differently and do things differently. One of the most important things a developer can get from a beta test is all these different experiences, so they can best plan for how their product will be used. Great innovation comes from diversity, which is why developers not only need more women — but people from different jobs, backgrounds, etc.
Q: How has beta testing impacted your family’s life?
A: My family and I are always looking for cool things we can add to our house. Beta testing gives us ideas on ways we could improve our everyday life. Whenever I receive an email from Betabound, I ask my family, “Do you think this would be cool to test?” or “Is this something we might actually use?” Betabound is a great exploratory tool to research what tech products we might be interested in purchasing in the future.
Ashley is a stay-at-home mom of three and describes herself as being “not super techie.” However, her interests in tech led her to a Google search where she discovered Betabound and its ability to give her “something to do that’s fun” and lets her “try new things.”
Q: What do you like most about beta testing?
A: Beta testing makes me feel special and gives me the chance to see new stuff before anyone else. I’m not a super technical person and recently tested an app for Betabound where I shared that — since I wasn’t sure if I needed coding experience. From that experience, I learned beta testing is more about giving an opinion of that product’s average user — which was really fun!
Q: As a mom, how does your unique perspective make you a good tester?
A: Moms are huge multitaskers. To make our lives easier, products have to work the way they’re supposed to. When busy moms consider a new product, it really has to shine and offer value to our lives in helping us be more efficient, fun, or build memories as a family.
Elise currently lives in Seattle where she’s responsible for vulnerability management at a security firm. She enjoys “playing around with new things,” which made her career in the IT industry and hobby as a Betabound tester two natural fits.
Q: What do you like most about beta testing?
A: It’s a personal passion of mine to play around with things, and as a security engineer, I’m constantly trying to break things. Beta testing is my ‘me’ time where I get to access new technologies and tinker with them. A lot of times when a product comes to market and there’s an annoyance or issue with it, most people aren’t going to reach out to the company. So the forum that beta testing enables lets your feedback posts get a lot of eyes — which is cool!
Q: Can you describe a time you encouraged another woman to become a tester?
A: I referred my mom to Betabound! She is super non-technical, but she’s interested in it — especially because of my own career in tech. As an older woman, it’s fun for her to engage with something new. For her, testing is a fun learning experience that lets her talk with other like-minded individuals. Anyone can be a great beta tester since having a diversity of feedback (like my mom’s for example) is critical for a product to succeed long term.
Breana is a college student living in Connecticut. As a new mom, Breana has come to heavily rely on product reviews before purchasing new products for her household. As such, she got involved as a beta tester for Betabound because it gave her a chance to share her own useful feedback that could “help both developers and customers alike.”
Q: As a mom, how does your unique perspective make you a good tester?
A: Parents want to learn and be active with technology. Beta testing gives moms the opportunity to see and understand the tech products your child could be using in the near future before they hit the market.
Q: What would you say to a woman that’s thinking about applying to her first test?
A: Even though beta testing sounds like it might be a lot of work, it’s actually a really fun experience! To be a good tester, you only need to provide your honest feedback — so there’s no stress. Plus, you can test some fun things you might use later on.
We loved hearing from these powerhouse women within our tester community. If you have any stories to share about testing with us, advice for newbies, or thoughts about what unique skills women bring to the table as testers — we’d love to hear them! Please share your thoughts in the comments section below, or reach out to us on Twitter.