Episode #6 | How I Run Beta Tests & Why They’re SO Valuable
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Links & Mentions —
👏 Kirsty Fanton Podcast episode on Beta Testing.
🙏 Hillary Weiss & the Instagram post that inspired this episode.
🎨 Grab my FREE DESIGN GUIDE, Playground, over here.
👩💻 Come LEARN DESIGN with me in the Summer Design Club.
In this episode, I’m diving into beta testing and why it’s such a game-changer for launching anything new.
I’ll walk you through how I’ve used it for years—like for my Be Unmistakable course and the Layout Library—to get real feedback, tweak things before going big, and score solid testimonials.
We’ll chat about how I run my beta tests, including how much I charge, how I keep the group small, and what questions I ask to make sure the feedback is actually helpful.
If you’re gearing up to launch something, this episode will give you the lowdown on how to test it out first and make sure you’re onto a winner.
Episode Transcript —
Hello and welcome back to the podcast. So in this episode, I wanted to talk about something that has been like very much on my mind lately. I have a lot of thoughts about it, and I thought it would just be really cool to chat about it. So it's the value of beta testing offers in your business. If you don't know what beta testing is, it's basically where you take an offer, whether it's like a new service or a new product.
And you kind of test it with a small group of people before you do like a full launch. So this way you can get really valuable feedback on what could be like changed or improved for a full launch. And you can also get testimonials from people if they like it. And obviously, testimonials are massively valuable for when you're launching things. So people can see what your beta testers have gotten out of the offering before they buy it.
My Experience with Beta Testing
So I have a few things that I want to talk about just in terms of like how I run them, how I found success with them, and like certain things I have done in the past that I've now changed because they didn't work for me and just like things to think about because it's such a valuable thing to do in your business before you launch stuff to your entire audience. So I have been doing beta testing in my business on and off for like almost my whole business.
The first one I ever did was for my branding course. It was called *Be Unmistakable*. Honestly, it might've been like over 10 years ago, which is crazy. Basically, I just launched that to a group of people at a discount, and then in return for that discount, they gave me feedback as I was building it out. So every time I would send them a lesson, I would send them a feedback form and say like, let me know what you thought of this lesson, blah, blah, blah. And like get their feedback.
So I've been doing them on and off for a lot of products and services. And most recently I've done it for a new product I launched called the *Layout Library*. So I guess there was also like a couple levels to this like beta, I guess you could call it. Basically, just to like give some context on the product. It is just a library of layouts that you can pull from when you get stuck designing from a blank page.
They're not templates. They're literally like wireframes that you can recreate in whatever design program you use. They're really, yeah, it's just an idea I've had for a long time. So basically this was a product that I actually soft-launched inside something I have called the *Summer Design Club*. So Design Club is like a series of design workshops. And I thought of the idea to launch this.
Soft-Launching in a Beta Test
The *Layout Library*. Originally it was called the *Layout Handbook*. I launched it inside the *Summer Design Club* just to be like, this is a new thing I'm trying out. I'm going to check it in with this group of people who I think are going to be the same audience. And also it's going to be like, it's going to relate to a lot of content in those workshops and whatever. So I was like, I'm just going to do like a really small version of this and put it in with that group of people. So I would say that's one kind of tip.
If you have something new that you're thinking of doing, are you running any kind of program or do you have a client or someone that you can do the minimum? I guess I don't know much about launching actual products, but I think it's a thing called the MVP, like the minimum viable product. Don't quote me on that because I don't know much about it, but I feel like that's an actual thing. What's the small version you can make of this and give it to people that...
May already be in the audience of people who would want that thing. And that can be like a really good way to test if it's even worth building out to its full potential. Because sometimes like you could spend forever building something. This is the other, like there's so many values to beta testing, but like one of the main ones is like you can do it in stages so that you can actually see if this thing you want to build is even worth building.
To the full extent. Because sometimes you might do that, you might like have an idea, do a beta test, and like no one buys the beta test, no one's really interested in it, so instead of like wasting a bunch of time, you can like move on to something else. And also from your own point of view, like your own energy and like how does it feel to you to work on this thing, sometimes you have to like get into it and figure that out for yourself. So that is definitely a tip of like...
Using Your Audience to Test Your Idea
If there's something new you want to launch, is there people that are already in your audience or your customer or client base that you can be like, hey, I'm testing out this new thing. Here it is. Check it out and let me know what you think. So that's what I did for the *Layout Library*. And I chucked it in the *Summer Design Club*, and like a bunch of people in the club loved it. Like I didn't even, I didn't even ask for feedback, and people were like sending me messages saying like, my God, this is so sick.
Like it's so worth it. And I had a lot of people in my DMs asking me to launch it as an individual product. They were like signing up for the full *Design Club* isn’t really for me, but I would love the *Layout Handbook* as like a product that I can just buy by itself. So like right off the bat, that was telling me like, okay, this could be going somewhere. So.
I kind of just let it sit for like a few weeks or a couple months until I had like the space to actually think about it more and build it out. So recently I just launched the *Layout Library* as a full individual product. But what I did is I launched it to a small group of beta testers first because basically like the first version of the *Layout Handbook*, and this is also just giving context for how you can do this in stages.
Testing Different Versions
So like the first version of the *Layout Handbook*, which was what it was originally called, was just a PDF. It was just like the most simple, like it might've been like 15 pages of just like really simple, like little thumbnails of layout wireframes that you could then recreate. It had like tutorials and examples and stuff, but it was really a small version of this thing. And then the *Layout Library* is basically like a fully built out Notion document.
Of that original version. So it’s like it has filters where you can choose like do you want portrait? What kind of design style do you want? Like it's got all these really sick filters. Every layout has an example. There's also design notes included for every single layout. So it's just like an evolved version of that first one. But basically I still wanted to get feedback from people to be like:
How do you find this Notion document? Is it easy to navigate? It was important to me to ask people what they thought of it and how anything could be improved before the full launch. Because ideally, when you're launching products or services, you want them to be helpful, and you want people to really love them. Getting feedback is a really good way to ensure that.
Limiting Beta Testers
So that is kind of the evolution of how I did it, and I think that's quite a good way to do it. And this can work for any size product. This product is quite small in terms of my other offers. This one, the pre-sale is like 150 bucks. The full price is like 200 bucks Canadian. So in comparison to my other offers, it's not huge. But yeah.
So that's kind of the evolution of how you can think about them. And so from there, I would say the back end of how I run these is basically like, I built out the Notion version pretty much almost fully built out because I did want the actual beta testers to get like almost the final version.
To like give me proper feedback. So I built that out almost to like a hundred percent and then I posted on my Instagram. And it depends where your audience is, like I have my two main things on my email list and my Instagram. I posted out my Instagram first just because like I'd been getting a lot of DMs, and I felt like there was a good place, and I didn't want to blast this out to my entire email list.
How to Select Beta Testers
Because the other thing with doing these kinds of beta tests is I think you want to be, you don't want like a shit ton of people in these beta tests, like you just want like a small group of people that can give you feedback. Like you don't need to sell this to like 50 people. This might vary depending on the size of your audience and just like your own opinions about this with the way I do them.
So for this beta test, I only had five people who paid for the product upfront, and then I also had five people from the *Design Club* who had already gotten this version for free. They were in the beta test as well. So technically there were ten people, but only five new people paid for it, which is what I wanted. I didn't want any more than five because, again, like this.
So this Notion version I offered at a discount, which is the other kind of piece of this where like you offer this beta test at a
discount in return for feedback. And like the one thing with that, I would say is like, just be very clear that like it's an extra, like they're getting the discount in return for the feedback. Most people will understand this, but sometimes people might like expect that they can just sign up for the discount and not give you feedback and just get the product. So definitely, like, I was very clear about that in mine and like everyone sent in their feedback right away. So that was really awesome. You don't need a really big group of people for this, just a small handful.
Choosing Strategic Beta Testers
One thing I will link another podcast about beta testing by Kirsty Fanton. She's like a copywriter, like business coach based in Australia. She does really cool shit, and she did a podcast about beta testing, and there was a lot of like really good stuff in there that I hadn't thought about. One thing she said is if you want, you can hand-select your beta testers, and each person you choose can be someone who can speak to hesitations that your audience might have about buying the product.
For example, the *Layout Library* is made for both designers and non-designers. So I want there to be clear. All of my products are kind of for those two categories, but like I could be specific, and I did have people who bought it who were designers who could speak to how it helps them in their process and also non-designers because like I want people to see that even if they aren't a designer, they could still use the layout library.
So I thought that was really smart, and I hadn’t thought about that. You can get really strategic about who you choose for your beta tests if you have a wide range of people asking to be beta testers for your products. You can be specific about it and speak directly to any hesitations people might have about your product, which I thought was really cool.
I will link that podcast if you want to listen to it because it’s just really cool. She talked about a lot of more strategic stuff like that. So yeah, that's the main thing. You can sell it at a discount. For me, I did like the full price. So the presale price for the first two days of launching the product is like $157 Canadian. The full price will be $197. And then for the five beta testers who purchased it, I did it for $100.
It’s totally up to you how much you want to do that discount for. Some people do half price, and I’ve seen that with other people who do beta testing—get it for 50% off. It kind of depends what you want to do with that. But don’t feel like you have to give it out for free. Like I said, I did my very small original version of the handbook for free because it was so small, and I just wanted to test it. But this version, I spent a lot of time building out, and you don’t have to give your stuff away for free if you spend a lot of time building it. You can give it for a discount because people are going to get a lot of value out of it.
Be Open to Genuine Feedback
So that’s important. The next thing I will say is that, and I want to be clear that when you’re doing beta tests or even when you’re asking for feedback on your products and services, it’s really important to be open to genuine feedback. Beta testing isn’t just asking for a testimonial and calling it a day. You’re not just asking people to tell you how much they love your product. That’s just not it, or just sleazy, weird vibes. You want genuine feedback so you can make the product better.
That’s the whole point of a beta test. That is really important. And when you do it, like I just use Google Forms and created a really simple survey. So as you’re doing that, think about the questions, which I can go over my questions in a minute. You want genuine feedback about how things could be better or what could be clearer or how the product can actually be improved. That’s the whole point of the beta test, to be honest.
Questions for Your Beta Testers
So the questions that I asked, again, if you want ideas or just to get an idea of things you might ask, and also this is something you can totally Google. If you use ChatGPT, I actually used it to help me form some of these questions. I gave it a bunch of info about the Layout Library and what I’m doing with that, and I was like, “I’m running a small beta test. Can you help me come up with a few questions that might help me with this feedback?”
So the main questions I ask are:
- What are your go-to design tools?
This product can be used with any design tool, but I wanted to get an idea of what programs people are using these layouts with, just to give me some context. And also for future versions of the product, maybe if I want to make templates of this, that just felt important to know, even if it's not something I’m going to use right now.
- What did you think when you first opened the Layout Library?
What was your first impression? Were you overwhelmed, or was it super intense? Or were you like, “Okay, this is really sick”? Literally, what was your first impression?
- How do you see the Layout Library fitting into your projects, or alternatively, why did you purchase it?
This is a good one because you want to know why people are buying this thing. Why are they interested in it, and how do they see themselves using it?
- How did you find the overall design and organization of the Layout Library? Is it easy to use, or are there things you think could be better for usability?
This was important for me, especially because in all of the things I build, I want it to be easy to use. I don’t want anyone to ever feel overwhelmed using it. I want it to be easy to navigate. It’s also part of my job as a designer, as I’m building stuff like this, to make it as accessible as possible. And this open question gets really good responses that help me improve the product.
For example, some people said it was really easy to navigate, while others said one of the things on the sidebar was showing up weird. These are very open-ended questions that I actually want answers to. The feedback I got here did help me take a look at a couple of things and adjust them.
What’s a Total Win?
- Which part of the Layout Library was a total win for you? What had you super stoked?
This is pretty obvious—what are people really excited about when they opened it?
The next question was quite specific, but I wanted to ask:
- What would make you use the Layout Library over other design resources, such as Pinterest or similar design inspo sources?
I genuinely wanted to know what people had to say about this because there was a small part of me that thought, “Is it really easier for me to just go to Pinterest, look for design inspo, and then turn that into a layout?” There are things that will be easy for me that might not be easy for customers, so I want to hear what they had to say about it. The answers to that were really interesting and super valuable.
- Did you run into any bugs or weird glitches while using the Layout Library?
This question was more for technical feedback to catch any issues.
- What’s Missing?
Lastly, I always ask: Is there anything missing, or what could be better? Is there anything that would make this more usable or more amazing for you? Let me know.
The last question is:
- Do you have an extended testimonial you’d like to leave for the Layout Library?
That’s just a spot where they can expand on what they think about it. This last question isn’t required. You know how you can make it so they can’t submit the form without answering? I don’t do that with this one. The rest of the feedback is more important to me. The rest of the feedback I can use as a testimonial if I want, but I still leave space for them to give me an actual testimonial.
Those are the questions that I had for this specific product, and again, that will change depending on the product or offering that you're doing. But generally, it’s like: What do you like about it? What is confusing, or what do you think could be better? And then you can get more specific from there.
Definitely recommend using ChatGPT to help you form those questions because it is really helpful. Like I said, I used it for this, and it was pretty awesome. And so the other point I want to come back to with this, and what reminded me of why beta testing is so valuable, is getting to hear feedback in the words of your customers. That can give you a completely different perspective on your own work, which is so fucking cool because I think sometimes, with your work—no matter what you do—it’s so easy to just…
Like you have your own vision, you have your own idea about what your offerings are, and what your work is, and how you want it to help people, but people are always going to have their own interpretations of that and their own experience with it. Just getting that feedback is so cool, because it’s going to be different than what you think.
Why Feedback Matters
I think it was recently I saw someone talk about this in another way. I think it was Isabel Griffin, I’ll link her Instagram and stuff below. I think it was in an email where she said that when you’re looking for ways to describe your work (she’s a copywriter by the way), one way you can look for how your work is different, or why people come to you, is to mine your testimonials for what people say about your work. And I feel like this beta test gave me so much valuable perspective on my work that feels really cool to have.
Even just for the future of my business and things I want to offer, just the way people described how this *Layout Library* is helpful was really cool. That’s so valuable to have, to see and hear in people’s own words how they experience your brand. This is another piece of branding as a whole, which I might do a separate episode on—something I’ve always thought about, but basically, branding to me is: you, like I said just before, can come up with your own brand voice, values, mission—you can craft the whole thing. That’s what you do as a brand, you build it out. But how people experience it and how your audience makes up their own mind about what your brand is, that’s a whole different thing.
You can construct things as much as you want, but you have to live up to that and actually build things aligned with your branding. And then, let people make up their own minds. That is what this whole beta test reminded me of. Even when I’ve done them in the past, I guess I kind of forgot about this aspect of it, but this reminded me of how valuable it is to make stuff, then get feedback from your people about how they experience your work.
Wrapping Up
So that’s pretty much the gist of what I wanted to talk about in this episode, because this recent beta test just reminded me how freaking cool they are and how valuable it is to get people to give you feedback on stuff before you fully launch it.
If you haven’t done a beta test before, I would totally recommend it. Just give it a shot, whether it’s a service you’re thinking of running. Even if you just offer it to one person and say, “Hey, I’m thinking of doing this thing, here are the details. I’ll give you a discount, and there’s only one spot available.” Whatever—throw it out to your audience. If you don’t have a specific person in mind, just throw it out there.
You definitely want to limit the number of testers. That’s the number one thing. Same with a product—limit it to five or ten people, whatever you want. And then spend some time developing a really good survey where you can get their feedback. It’s going to help you make really cool stuff, and it’s going to give you some cool perspectives through other people's lenses on your own work, which is just really valuable.
If you picked up anything cool that you want to try out in your business, I would love to know about it! Send me a DM on Instagram. And yeah, I think that’s it for this episode. I’ll see you soon.
