Ask Your Closed Testers Twice: Day 1 and Halfway
In a recent post about getting more out of a tester swap, I gave developers a piece of advice that was half right. I suggested sending every tester the same short question, "What did you expect to happen after the first tap?", and asking it once, around the middle of the 14-day test. On Indie Hackers, a reader pointed out the flaw. By the middle of the test, the first tap is a week old. And the…
The author advises testing teams to ask closed testers two questions at different times during a 14-day test. The first question asks what testers expected to happen after the first tap, ideally on day 1. This is crucial to identify onboarding issues as the app still feels new. The second question asks what would bring testers back, due on day 7.
Closed testers return because they promised to, not out of curiosity, so this question reveals repeat-use friction like expired logins or slow screens. The author stresses tagging feedback with device, Android version, and build context for clarity. After the test, the two sets of answers help identify onboarding fixes and factors influencing continued use.
This two-question approach, applied to PeerPlay's 12 testers, directly informs Google's production application review process.
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