Beta releases used to be restricted to small groups of Beta testers. A Beta release allowed you to work out the bugs before a general market release. When a product shipped, it was considered final until the next release.
Nowadays, many products are in perpetual Beta (and we’re all Beta testers). Gmail, Flickr and del.icio.us carry the Beta designation for years at a time as the products are developed and refined in the open. This creates a mindset of continuous improvement and treats users as co-developers. The pace of innovation happens so quickly that traditional release cycles don’t apply.
This perpetual Beta mindset was born in web-based product development, but it’s instructive for anyone in business. As Olivier Blanchard outlines:
“What does being in Beta mean? It means being in perpetual test mode. It means constantly asking “how could I do this better,” even when this worked just fine. How can I listen better? How could I improve customer service? How can I make my billing process smoother? How could we improve the UI/UX of our websites? How can I engage my user community even better? How could this brochure have been better?”
When I worked at Dreyer’s, we talked about “Ready, Fire, Aim” as our development philosophy. We fired quickly for speed to market and then perpetually improved our aim. The overlooked word is “ready”, which is important to avoid shooting yourself in the foot.
Apple recently discovered that their are limits to what consumers will tolerate in bleeding edge products. While Apple never describes its live product launches as Beta, consumers often put up with bugs as the cost of being an early adopter. When the antenna failed on the iPhone 4, the consumer backlash was deafening. Apple learned that consumers may be prepared to put up with shoddy battery life, but the antenna snafu crossed the line. They also learned that their blame-shifting response to the crisis (asking consumers to hold their phone differently) only fanned the fire.
Russell Davies shares this example of how Flickr positively handles the inevitable mistakes in bleeding edge product development.
“One of the other interesting characteristics about always being in beta is accepting that mistakes are going to happen. And preparing for them. And thinking about, maybe, trying to turn them into opportunities. Flickr’s attempt to turn a ‘we’re down’ message into fun probably annoyed some people but I liked it are clearly so did lots of other people. When you’re moving at the speed that the modern world demands mistakes are inevitable. Being surprised by them shouldn’t be. Mistakes are also when the veneer tends to slip, if there is a veneer. The authentic voice of a brand or organisation is exposed when something goes wrong, if it’s not the same as the voice you normally speak with people will notice.”
One of my favorite new brands is designed entirely around an “Always in Beta” mindset: BetaBrand, in San Francisco. Every Tuesday at noon, they announce a new limited-edition fashion invention to their mailing list. This week, it’s the World’s First Farmer’s Market Backpack. BetaBrand continually releases new products and invites consumers to participate. Only selling online allows them to have weekly limited-edition launches as a physical product. Small-batch local production allows them a product development cycle that is only six weeks long.
Every brand should have a new idea of the week.
Phil Koesterer says
I love Cordarounds, and now I love BetaBrand. Great post.
Ted Simon says
Excellent observations, as usual, Tom. You’ve highlighted how the increasing pace of technology has not only impacted brand in that sphere, but how ALL brands and companies need to be thinking about the process of bringing new products to market.
As you point out, there is a point that one would deem “too early” to go to market (pre-“Ready”). Consumer tolerance for products that fail to meet/deliver on their claims has its limits, even for the best of brands.
Apple is surviving their antenna snafu because they are Apple and have years of goodwill for the brand built up by great product delivery time after time — they get cut a little slack. There are few companies with that kind of track record, and such a snafu could be fatal to a young company with little or no “rope in the pile.”
I think another great example of extended beta and on-going improvement is Posterous, the easy-as-pie blogging/sharing service. They just suffered a malicious Denial of Service attack that crippled their service, but they handled that negative experience in a great way. See my post on “What’s an Apology Worth?” at http://bit.ly/9De1el.
Keep ’em coming!
Ted
Stef says
I’m happy to be a beta tester IF I have accepted the product CHOOSING to be a beta tester. I.e., I’m willing to help a company work through bugs if I’m getting something in return (early access to the item before the general public, for example). However, when a company dismisses clear defects because the product “is in beta mode”, when in reality the product is being marketed widely, broadly, and publicly, I have a BIG problem with that approach and accompanying company mindset. Beta should mean something more than “it’s not our fault”.
Ghettomanga.blogspot.com says
great post. This speaks on the need to be a “fast” company, and make changes on the fly.
“always in beta” works best for companies that offer a free product (like say, gmail) or are small enough to correct product problems without going broke.
like you alluded to with the iPhone, companies must remember to take ownership of the problem, and be prepared to quickly correct them, when customers reach critical mass…
as a blogger and comicbook artist, I’ve found I’m pretty much always in beta.