Recently, our Voyages team (along with our UX/Product design crew) completed the first round of beta testing for a new app called Truckerbux. We thought this would be the perfect time to introduce a beta testing case study on what we've learned and our process.
We've broken down how we conducted the test for Truckerbux, what we learned, and how our findings were applied to improve the client's product for end users.
As it stands today, when a truck driver breaks down or has a flat, getting the work completed and paid for is slow and complex.
A series of calls must be made between the driver, the carrier, the vendor, and the service technician in order to communicate that work is needed and determine how it will be fixed. Once fixed, the driver must complete a cumbersome process with many opportunities for error due to all of the manual steps required.
All of these complexities mean that the driver can be delayed for hours and, because time is money in the trucking world, and any time not spent on the road impacts the bottom line.
Truckerbux eliminates these complexities and manual processes by providing over-the-road repairs and transactions for drivers through a fast, easy, and hassle-free new mobile app.
In partnership with Truckerbux and Trevor Newberry of Newberry Consulting, we created a beta testing plan ahead of the production release of the new Truckerbux mobile app.
Beta testing is the final phase of testing your product before it is released to a wider public audience.
Users will test in a controlled production environment to find as many bugs and usability issues as possible to increase the likelihood of a successful launch. After the we finished Truckerbux’s Journey (what we call a software or application development project at Airship), it was a natural place to evaluate the product with the users who would be using the app.
Goals of this type of testing include the following:
Currently, Truckerbux has an active Voyage (what we call our ongoing service to enhance and maintain software applications) with Airship. This is the perfect service to make improvements we discover during beta testing to an application.
During beta testing, users will use the functionality in the real world and provide feedback on a regular basis.
In the case of Truckerbux, we needed to tweak our process a bit as the application requires multiple roles to complete a workflow.
For beta testing, we took turns playing the other roles required to complete the tasks at hand and assigned a specific role to our individual testers (six participants). We then created a series of tasks that would be typical for the role assigned to the tester. We also observed their behavior and reactions to each task.
Through our initial round of beta testing with six participants, we uncovered two bugs in the application and six UX improvements.
For the UX improvements, we noticed that our use of icons weren’t clearly understood by some participants. To solve this problem, we opted to go with text labels instead of icons. We also reinforced the direction of the payments with color and positive/negative currency.
In addition to getting feedback on what is currently in the app, beta testing is a great way to uncover new features to grow your product roadmap.
In fact, our participants helped identify two new features! These include a way to create a detailed invoice statement and real-time job notifications in the accompanying web app.
Without taking the time to beta test the app with actual users, who knows how long it would have taken to identify these important features the end users find valuable.
Here is some of the feedback we’ve received thus far:
“That was honestly really easy and self-explanatory. Not overcrowded, super plain and easy to understand. Anyone could use this. This is a really smart idea!” - Participant #1
“Very unique and handy in the industry - never seen anything like it.“ - Participant #4
“I really like the real-time aspect though - that alone would sell this product by itself.” - Participant #6
Beta testing is just one step in the continuous feedback cycle of product development. We love seeing firsthand how people use the products we build, and can’t wait to see how Truckerbux is able to make a positive impact in the trucking world.
Need help identifying product improvements or planning beta testing for your app? Hit us up to learn more about our process, our expertise, or even get a quote!