Google’s new Toys
Jun 11th, 2008 | By David Rothwell | Category: ARTICLES
Google has now invited participants in its (Gmail) email browser to contribute to its future development.
In a way, it’s a first.
A first because Google has not explicitly done this before.
A paradoxical second because of several reasons:
- Google has published many programs as "Beta"
- "Beta" usually means pre-release and not available to the wider public
- Usually, Beta testers have a lot of input into a product before final launch
Beta testing is ubiquitously common in the software world, and Google seems to now be embracing the approach more fully, and actually using a full "beta" model.
This is good for Google, and it’s users, for the following reasons:
- Perception: Google looks good because they’re becoming more open and inclusive
- Many hands make light work: a lot of testing is outsourced from Google to a voluntary workforce
- Quality: Google releases a product it’s users had input to so it more fully meets their needs
Will we see more user-involvement in Google’s testing?
I think it’s a trend that’s likely to continue.
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