Steps to Take for a Successful Software Launch
Launching a software product as a mall or medium-sized business can be a daunting task to tackle, and often owners refrain from doing so because they think that their company is not big enough in order to launch a successful software on the market.
That fear s understandable as there is a vast number of factors that weight in on the successful deployment of a software. The good thing is that the size of your business is not a massive weight in that equation.
Safety and Proper Functionality
First things first, the one thing that can crush your launch is negligence towards last polishing steps. Those include making sure that everything is functioning correctly, as well as taking care of any security vulnerabilities and getting rid of all the bugs. No hiccup is too small or too insignificant.
Neglecting these aspects of the product can result in criticism from your audience as well as from reviewers both in the media and on your site. User experience is a factor that needs to be highly coveted in order for people to keep using your software and recommend it to others as well. All of that can compromise your product from the start, and that will set you back significantly. What you are after is quality.
Achieving Quality with Software Testing
Software testing is an essential part of creating a finished product that functions correctly and offers an excellent user experience. Vigorous testing is great for identifying any glitches and bugs, as well as analyzing in what way the user experience can be enhanced even further through cosmetic changes or changes in functionality.
All of those things can be achieved if you find the right team of people to test your software. To do that, you need to know the user base that your software appeals to and assemble a team. For example, if your software is for writing, then you need to find people that are creative writings or copywriters or even students that take their notes on the computer and write papers digitally. To put it in a nutshell, you need to find testers who need such a product and have similar objectives and mindset.
In order to pinpoint the precise profile of your target audience you can refer do analytics to find out as much as possible about their behavior and preferences, and so on. There are also services that you can use which allow you to create a person, meaning a semi-functional model of the ideal customer for your business using the data that you have gathered from your analytics as well as the market research available. You can also use data by performing market research of your own that pertains to your industry and business. Look for trends both current and passed, and even try to guess upcoming trends or have an expert do it.
Narrow Down the Potential Testers
Software testing is quite the broad umbrella, so you need to narrow down significantly in order to achieve a precise goal. The goal varies from company to company and even from product to product. What are your primary objectives? Is one of your main objectives the interface of the software, is it the usability, or maybe you are looking for both and more. Have a few specific things in mind and the more specific, the better. Such clear goal in the software testing will help you find more suitable testers for your product. Of course, looking for people that have experience in testing the areas that you are focusing on is essential both in terms f product and in finding people to test your website.
Hire Objective Testers
Everyone knows that hiring your friends or having a family member do you a favor and test your product is far cheaper than hiring a dedicated software tester to do it. At the same time, while you are saving some money, you are also losing objectivity that can make or break the game for your product. Hiring people with experience that know what to look for and how to provide useful feedback is extremely useful. A software tester will not be afraid to pick apart your product piece by piece the way a family member of a friend would be, In most cases, they would not even be able to d it because they lack the training.
Quality is in the Details
Often times, some of the most significant problems will be caused by a bug or a glitch that will require vigorous testing to be discovered. Pinpointing the problem areas will allow you to enhance the product significantly but do not forget the details. Sometimes, however, those bugs and glitches need some sifting and attention to extreme detail is a huge plus. Having meticulous individuals test your software will not only give you more feedback to work on, but they will also leave no stone unturned and give you insights on cons that you might not even realize existed. You can tell who does not pay attention to detail by looking for blatant grammar and spelling errors in their resume. Those people are most likely not going to pay attention to detail and rush through the testing period instead, so try to avoid hiring them.
Genuine Testers are the Best People for the Task
While some people are doing it for the paycheck only, there are also those who genuinely love testing software and giving feedback, being a part of the process to create something better. People who have a lot of enthusiasm for the job will be able to see and notice things that others would not. They will also be meticulous and go through every detail. You can gauge their interest in how fast they respond or what kind of reviews they have from previous gigs. Maybe have a chat with them first as that will be the best way to tell.
Putting out a successful software even as a small business is more than possible. Be careful and do your testing, take care of security, and you will have a successful launch in the way.