ETP iPad App: Round 1 Testing

ETP iPad App: Round 1 Testing

Time sure does fly. Two months ago Al Briggs and I started work on the iPad version of the Emergent Task Planner, and we’re at that point where we need some early feedback to determine whether the user interface is going in the right direction. Al has been chipping away at the code in his free time, and we’re at a place where the first wave of testing is ready to be unleashed for a first group of 20 testers!

October 2 Release of ETP

Testing Methodology for Round 1 Testing

Testing will use rounds of testers so we get some fresh eyes on the App with every design iteration. Eventually, all testers will have access to the prototype application.

For the first round, Al has selected 20 testers from the list, covering a variety of IOS versions, iPad versions, and experience levels with the ETP.

Details

The App as it stands does not have all features or functions in place (i.e. it is not “feature complete”), so what we’re looking for is impressions, suggestions, opinions…any feedback at all to get a sense of where people are coming from and what they’re expecting.

  1. We have over 200 people signed-up to test the ETP app, and we have selected 20 for the first round of reaction/feedback. If you are on the round 1 list, you will receive an email. If you are not in the first round, you will be selected in an upcoming round.
  2. To manage the testing process, Al is using Testflight to deploy the ETP prototype app. Testers in Round 1 will receive an email from him that describes the procedure of registering your iPad with the service so you can start downloading as soon as possible.

  3. The app collects anonymous usage statistics, so we can get an idea of what features and functions are used. This data will not be used for any other purpose other than evaluating the software.

  4. Feedback should be put as comments on our Trello Development Board

Bug Reporting

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p>When it comes to writing bug reports, Joel Spolsky does a nice job of describing the three essentials that you MUST include:

  • Steps to reproduce,
  • What you expected to see, and
  • What you saw instead.

Keep it simple and matter-of-fact; you don’t need to try to diagnose what the problem is, but do describe how you in recipe-like detail so we can see what you saw, and then understand your pain. For example:

  • steps: I opened the App, tapped the date at the upper left of the app, then tapped the TODAY text once, then again, then again.
  • expectation: I expected to see the ETP for today’s date
  • what I saw: the screen turned blue as well as showing today’s ETP, and I don’t know what that means or if it’s supposed to happen.

7 Comments

  1. Timothy Hamm 12 years ago

    If you decide to branch out into developing this or something similar for Android, I’d love to be on board as a tester. I can’t find anything in a traditional to-do list or planner system on Android that quite meets my needs and this would be very close. Despite having many great to-do list apps, Android seems to be lacking in other productivity type apps.

  2. Daniel Ream 12 years ago

    When might we see this avalible for the IPAD?

  3. craige 12 years ago

    Any plans to roll out an iphone version? I don’t carry my ipad with me every day, so a planner on it would not be practical for me. Just wondering. Thanks!

  4. David Ryder 12 years ago

    I’m willing to test ETP too. I have an iPad 1 with 64Gb memory. With the iPad1 I am stuck on iOS 5.0

  5. Brady 11 years ago

    Agreed with Timothy Hamm – I would love and Android version of this. If you need testers I am very experienced and have multiple devices (phones & tablets).

  6. Rex Stevens 9 years ago

    i use the printed version of this every day and would love to see this iPad version happen. Did this ever progress past the first testing phase? I couldn’t find any posts with an update. Thanks!

  7. Jill 9 years ago

    Would love to see this as an app! I love the ETP and the DGB!