Supportsoft Glossary

Role and Purpose of Alpha Testing in Product Readiness

Alpha testing consists of testing the product internally for errors before being tested by a group of real users (external testers). The people who do the alpha tests include developers, QA teams, and other internal people who understand the product's purpose and can notice anything that might be wrong with it.

Alpha tests help identify most of the major problems with a product before it is made available to actual customers. Since the alpha test is run on a version of the software that is still in development, it gives the testers the opportunity to communicate directly with the development teams regarding new findings or bugs, and subsequently, the opportunity to see immediate improvements based on these findings.

The information from the alpha test is used to help develop a more refined way of navigating through the product, improving design aspects of the product, and developing stronger foundational aspects. In short, the alpha test provides early access to insights that will help reduce the number of problems encountered in beta testing or after the launch of the product.

Another benefit of conducting an alpha test is that it provides an excellent opportunity to validate initial assumptions about the product. For example: does the system function correctly as anticipated? Are the key features easy to use? Have any technical problems been identified that may still need to be resolved? The answers to these questions will create a better foundation for future testing of the product.