When Your Bugs Go Public (September 2010)
What should you do if your software bugs become famous (in a bad way)? James Bach has a suggestion: come clean! A noted author, speaker and entrepreneur, James is one of the software industry's most compelling figures - which is why we invited him back for another Testing the Limits interview. Here's a sneak preview of this must-read Q&A session:
On how Apple should have handled "Antenna-Gate": "Come clean and stop complaining, Steve Jobs! Of course your products have problems. And once in a while they are serious. Instead of whining about it, have your PR firm get the test manager out front and having him talk about the challenges of producing excellent products and how the best companies are distinguished by how they learn, adapt and respond, not by how they refuse to take risks or admit mistakes."
On pushing your customers off a cliff: "Many testers will allow themselves to be intimidated into doing things they know are wrong. They often justify it as "pleasing the customer" or "being practical", but I don't buy it. It's not practical to allow your management to blunder off a cliff without even trying to warn them. It's not customer satisfaction to push them off the cliff, even if they ask you to. When they get to the bottom, they won't be satisfied anymore, and they may well come gunning for you."
Read the entire two-part interview from the beginning.
Twitter Contest: Where's the App For That?
Ever visit your mobile app store of choice and NOT find the app you really need? Do you have dozens of ideas for new mobile apps that no one takes seriously? Well, here's your chance to tell the Twittersphere your best (or worst) ideas. The rules are simple: Whoever Tweets the most funny/useful/absurd idea for the next great mobile app wins a brand new iPod, Easy enough? HOW TO ENTER 1. Follow @uTest on Twitter 2. Be creative! Tweet/Reply to @uTest with the contest hash tag #KickAssApps More information can be found in this blog post.
Quality Quotes
“A man's errors are his portals of discovery.” - James Joyce “If you improve or tinker with something long enough, eventually it will break or malfunction.” - Arthur Bloch "The mass majority of computer users are conservative. They want to use the software they're used to using." - Geoff Perlman
Free Whitepaper: Alternatives to Outsourced Testing
Twice the headache for half the price - that's how many software executives have come to view traditional outsourced testing. But despite the high costs and diminishing quality of offshoring firms, are there really any viable alternatives? Of course! Get this free whitepaper to learn how uTest can provide:
- Lower Costs: Pay for the test cycles you need; no long-term commitments
- Extraordinary Coverage: More than 30,000 testers in 160+ countries; professional testers on-demand
- Faster Turnaround: Complete test cycles in 3-5 days; get to market faster
- Easier Communication: Contact testers and your uTest project manager through an online platform
Download this free whitepaper to learn more about the advantages of leveraging uTest vs. offshoring firms.
13 Million Reasons to Give uTest a Try
As you may have seen on TechCrunch or Xconomy, uTest announced that it has secured $13 million in Series C funding. So how do we plan to invest this money? By increasing our ability to help you launch world-class software, including:
- Dramatically increasing investment in our recently launched usability testing & load testing services
- Expanding our testing platform and APIs to make it easier than ever to manage internal and external testing teams in one place
- Launching new tools and programs to make our community of 30,000 testers more effective and efficient
Check out this blog post for more details about our future plans.
