Ask HN: How much should startups pay per beta tester?

5 points by rnochumo 14y ago ↗ HN

For startups that pay for usability testing and feedback what is an appropriate price to pay? I know sites like UserTesting.com charge about $40 per test. It inspired me to create a campaign to try and gather some data about what startups would be willing to pay to use a service like "UserTesting" to get feedback for their site / concept / design etc.

Visit http://takemymoneys.com/usertesting to participate in the pricing campaign. Hopefully we will collect some interesting data.

2 comments

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10dpd 14y ago ↗

Note that beta testing is not user testing. I would read up on the background to usability testing. Briefly, there are two types of usability tests - formative and summative - summative research is more when you are developing the product and want to iterate rapidly based on feedback from users. Summative testing is when you want to create a baseline of data for comparison with future releases.

Your beta testers should be using the product over a longer period of time than a usability test, which is typically a one-off session.

shyn3 14y ago ↗

You shouldn't be paying for beta testers. If you can't find people to test your product and provide feedback then you should look over your target market again. If you e-mail an early adopter of your service you can gleam useful feedback through that and they will gladly provide more to better meet their needs. Also hints of "suggest feedback" and an easy to submit method go a long way.