If the software testing company often receives big multi-platform projects, surely, the Project Managers can start to consider the idea of volunteers’ engagement for testing.
Sometimes this approach really makes sense and may significantly benefit the project. In most cases, the third-party users are engaged in such types of checking as usability testing and multi-platform testing, but their help may be required also for other processes of the software quality assurance.
It also happens that the software testing company quite often goes in for volunteers’ help and, thus, knows that the more people will test the program the more there is a possibility that the maximum error number will be discovered. With a view to engaging the maximum number of volunteers, the company can provide some kind of rewarding system.
Possible Rewards for Volunteers in Software Testing:
- Gift certificate. For example, functional testing is executed and those volunteers, who discover the most severe bugs and crashes in the functional, get an opportunity to use the software free of charge after its release or even may get a certain sum of money.
- General commendation. The statistics prove that the more a person is praised in public, the more motivation he receives for work. Sometimes public apprehension is more important than monetary reward.
- Motivation. Some volunteers know that by taking part in testing, they cannot count on the money reward. But what makes them work in this case? It happens that the external users work for free for the company or the brand which they truly like. Therefore, the test team can motivate them by the idea that they do a good deed and help the favorite product or the brand to become better.
In a conclusion, one can say that software testing from time to time needs the engagement of third-party users and volunteers, so one should not forget about their encouragement and motive. Introducing the rewarding system for the free-will testers, the company will receive a decent return and the opportunity to continue the effective collaboration with the external audience.