User Feedback Integration in Testing

🚀 Maximizing Success in Software Testing: Bridging the Gap Between ITC and UAT 🚀 It's a familiar scenario for many of us in the software development realm: after rigorous Integration Testing and Certification (ITC) processes, significant issues rear their heads during User Acceptance Testing (UAT). This can be frustrating, time-consuming, and costly for both development teams and end-users alike. So, what's the remedy? How can we streamline our processes to ensure a smoother transition from ITC to UAT, minimizing surprises and maximizing efficiency? Here are a few strategies to consider: 1️⃣ *Enhanced Communication Channels*: Foster open lines of communication between development teams, testers, and end-users throughout the entire development lifecycle. This ensures that expectations are aligned, potential issues are identified early, and feedback is incorporated promptly. 2️⃣ *Comprehensive Test Coverage*: Expand the scope of ITC to encompass a broader range of scenarios, edge cases, and real-world usage patterns. By simulating diverse user interactions and environments during testing, we can uncover potential issues before they impact end-users. 3️⃣ *Iterative Testing Approach*: Implement an iterative testing approach that integrates feedback from UAT into subsequent ITC cycles. This iterative feedback loop enables us to address issues incrementally, refining the product with each iteration and reducing the likelihood of major surprises during UAT. 4️⃣ *Automation Where Possible*: Leverage automation tools and frameworks to streamline repetitive testing tasks, accelerate test execution, and improve overall test coverage. Automation frees up valuable time for testers to focus on more complex scenarios and exploratory testing, enhancing the effectiveness of both ITC and UAT. 5️⃣ *Continuous Learning and Improvement*: Cultivate a culture of continuous learning and improvement within your development team. Encourage knowledge sharing, post-mortem analyses, and ongoing skills development to identify root causes of issues and prevent recurrence in future projects. By adopting these strategies, we can bridge the gap between ITC and UAT, mitigating risks, enhancing quality, and ultimately delivering superior software products that meet the needs and expectations of end-users. Let's embrace these principles to drive success in our software testing endeavors! #SoftwareTesting #QualityAssurance #UAT #ITC #ContinuousImprovement What are your thoughts on this topic? I'd love to hear your insights and experiences!

Your early users aren't just test subjects—they're co-creators of your product's future. 🌱 This lesson has been top of mind as we navigate PMF, especially now that we’ve hit the three-month mark for our Clarify‎ pilot program. Austin Hay‎ and I spent some time writing up the main lessons learned—both in running pilot programs and for our product space specifically—in our latest blog post. Below is a TL;DR version 👇 First things first: words matter. We chose "pilot program" over "design partner program" for a reason. It reflects to our community, investors, and customers we've built something tangible and ready for real-world testing. 🎯 Secondly: The structure of the program also has to be intentional to ensure you get the most out of it. We broke ours down into four phases: 🧠 Learning: Cast a wide net, talk to everyone. ✅ Validation: Focus on solving real problems. 🚀 Onboarding: Qualify leads, start your sales motion. 💰 Sales-ready: Integrate monetization, prepare to scale. Each phase helped us refine our product and our processes to build a better product for our users. By the end of the program, we were given five core lessons from the experience and all the amazing user feedback. Serious shoutout to everyone who went through the pilot process with us, you’re the best. 🏆 Here are five key takeaways from our pilot program: 🔮 Embrace feedback: Early adopters are visionaries. They don't just tell you how they work now; they imagine how they could work in the future. This input is gold for shaping your product. 🧪 Validate your RATs (Risky Assumption Tests): We all have assumptions about what customers want. Actively seek to validate these. The insights can be surprising and invaluable. 🎯 Qualify, qualify, qualify: It's tempting to onboard anyone who shows interest. Resist that urge. Proper user qualification saves time, energy, and team morale in the long run. ⚡ Deliver value quickly: Users are often more forgiving of rough edges than you'd think, especially if they see the potential value. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. 🔄 Share feedback with your team: User insights aren't just for product development. They create a positive feedback loop that energizes your entire team. Bonus advice for other early-stage companies chasing PMF: Acquiring pilots is only half the battle. Retention is equally crucial. Go slow, qualify correctly, set clear expectations, and build customer care early. Turn your pilots into valuable partners in your product development. 🤝 ❓For those of you on the other side of your pilot program journey: What was the most surprising lesson you learned from your early users? If you’re building out your own pilot program or want to dig in to the CRM-specific learnings ours uncovered, check out our full blog post at the link in the comments 👇

Bringing a new product to life can feel like setting sail into unknown waters. Each new user insight or piece of data can shift your course, guiding you toward the features and functionalities people truly value. This isn’t about just meeting a quota of user interviews or surveys - it’s about thoughtfully integrating important feedback every step of the way. Start with a Meaningful Launch: Begin with what some refer to as a “Minimal Desirable Product” (MDP). It’s not about stripping your offering down to the bare bones; rather, it’s about releasing something foundational yet appealing enough to encourage engagement. This ensures that the initial user responses you gather are based on a product with genuine potential, rather than on a stripped-down prototype users can’t connect with. Practical Approaches to Leveraging Feedback: - Observe User Behavior: Track how people navigate your platform. Are users breezing through the onboarding, or stumbling at certain steps? These patterns offer direct clues for improvement. - Seek Direct Input: Go beyond metrics and analytics—talk to your users. Interviews, open-ended surveys, and usability tests uncover the nuances of their experience you won’t find in raw data alone. - Refine and Iterate: Feedback is most powerful when it leads to meaningful action. Focus on enhancing what resonates, adjust or remove what doesn’t, and continuously refine your product to align with evolving expectations. - Maintain a Feedback Loop: Don’t treat user engagement as a one-off event. As trends and preferences shift, keep the lines of communication open. Regular feedback cycles help you stay relevant and resource-savvy. Statistics show that many startups fail simply because they build solutions that the market doesn’t actually need. Additionally, a surprising number of product features go unused - a waste of both time and budget. By rooting the development strategy in user feedback, we enhance satisfaction, save resources, and ensure that our product adapts alongside changing market demands. Admittedly, feedback isn’t always easy to hear, especially when it points out fundamental flaws. But every critique is a chance to refocus and deliver a product that’s not only more appealing but also more impactful. Rather than viewing negative comments as setbacks, see them as valuable road signs steering us toward better solutions. How do you incorporate user feedback into your product development process? #innovation #technology #future #management #startups

Want to know what separates good design from great design? It’s not just creativity—it’s real user feedback. The best UX isn’t based on assumptions but on listening, observing, and iterating. Here’s how to design with users at the center 👇 1️⃣ Listen to Real Users 🔹 Talk to actual users—not just stakeholders. → Conduct interviews, surveys, and usability tests. → Dig into support tickets & reviews—real frustrations live there 🔹 Watch how people interact with your product. → Run usability tests. → Identify friction points. → Note patterns in behavior. 2️⃣ Observe & Analyze 🔹 Data > Gut Feelings. → Use heatmaps, session recordings, and analytics. → Look for drop-off points and confusion areas. 🔹Ask “why” behind user actions. → What’s causing hesitation? → Where do they struggle? → What do they expect? 3️⃣ Iterate & Improve 🔹 UX is never "done." → Test changes in small steps. → Refine based on results, not opinions. 🔹 Make data-driven design decisions. → Iterate, test, refine—repeat. 🪄 The Key? Let Users Be Your Roadmap. Your job isn’t just to design—it’s to solve real problems. Listen, observe, and keep improving. That’s how great UX is built. For next, Join my journey, Subash Chandra for digital footprints with growth focused user centric digital solutions by UI and UX.

Your engagement and pulse surveys aren't enough anymore... Collecting feedback isn’t the finish line—it’s the starting point! Last week, we talked about building a user research muscle inside HR teams. Today: let’s talk about what you can do differently, specifically User Testing Interviews. If your employees are the users and your EX is the product, then user testing is how you validate what's needed (ie product features) before rolling out big changes. Here’s a problem that is far too common - I saw this as CEO of an engagement survey company over nine years ALL. THE. TIME. ✅ We run exit interviews, onboarding pulses, engagement surveys… ❌ And then? We look at the data, present to our leadership quarterly (when they keep us on the agenda) and then....well....we get busy with other priorities... Forward-thinking HR leaders are fixing this with User Testing Interviews: Direct conversations to uncover real pain points Structured analysis to surface patterns A path from raw feedback → testable hypotheses Here’s a quick playbook on how you can make it happen: 1️⃣ Organize your data (and yes, we want all the data) Standard templates, transcripts, tags by role/tenure. Tools like Sana can provide some amazing super powers here. 2️⃣ Get your hands dirty and spot patterns: This is the roll up your sleeves part. Review critical data sources. Summarize with AI, craft a clear Problem Statement. 3️⃣ Form a Hypothesis using this format: We believe that [solution] will result in [outcome] for [user group], which we’ll know is true when [metric]. 4️⃣ Prioritize – Impact vs effort vs urgency Alignment with business objectives / OKRs / goals will almost always rise to the top and will also help fast track ELT focus and approvals. Example: We believe that adding mentorship + microlearning will reduce Sales onboarding time from 5 months to 3 months, which we’ll know is true when 40% more reps hit quota by Month 3. The huge unlock here? AI makes this lightning fast—what took days now takes minutes. 👉 Want the AI prompt we use to turn transcripts into hypotheses? Hit me up in my DM's and I'll be happy to share. HR leaders—what’s one People Ops process you’d A/B test if you could? 🗒️ Subscribe to MPL Build for more tactical plays like this. #PeopleOpsAsAProduct #MPLBuild #HRTech