Tester Communications
When your beta program is active, there are multiple modes of communications you need to serve your customers:
- Manager to All Testers: send announcements to all of your testers to keep them updated (e.g. share a link to the product manual)
- Manager to a subset of Testers: send a bulk update or follow up to a group of testers that share a common criteria (e.g. give kudos to your top performers)
- Manager to a specific Tester: having a one-one conversation with the tester
- Tester to Manager: a tester reaching out to manager for a specific reason
- Tester to Tester: testers helping other testers in a specific topic (e.g. sharing how they solved a problem)
All these modes of communication normally happen in a group setting such as beta testing. And Stomio can help you manage all of them. In this article, we will focus on one mode: Tester to Manager.
Tickets: Tester to Manager Communication
Testers can initiate a conversation with Managers using Tickets in Stomio. There are two ways a Tester can start a ticket
- When they execute on their tasks
- Quick ticket directly from Stomio
When a Tester is executing their task, they can start a ticket by clicking on `Open a ticket` on the bottom-left corner of their screen. This will initiate a ticket that is associated with that specific step.
Another way to start a ticket flow is for the Tester to log into their account, click on `Comms` on the top navigation bar, then click on `Open a ticket` on the screen.
Regardless of how the tester initiates the flow, a Ticket has below main component:
- Beta Name: each ticket has two status: Open or Closed. By default, all tickets are open. Closing a ticket can be done by the manager or the tester by clicking on the ticket status on changing it.
- Ticket Type: testers have the option to report on 4 main types of tickets:
I’m Stuck: when a tester is executing a task and can’t proceed because something is blocking them.
Bug: a tester found an issue and wants to report it.
Question: a tester is curious about a non-critical aspect of the product and wants to ask a simple question.
Idea: a tester thinks the product can be improved and wants to share how to
- Ticket Title: his is the main title for the ticket to convey the main message.
- Ticket Description: this is the bulk of the details the tester wants to include in their ticket.
- Attachment: a tester can attach a picture or video or any file to their ticket so the message can be better relayed.
After the tester creates a ticket, the conversation between them and the Manager starts. Both parties can add comments and attach files to share more context. Stomio makes the conversation feels natural and friendly because the experience is chat-like
Pro-tip: make the conversation light and fun. Share pictures and reply to your testers quickly to keep them engaged
