What beta is

Beta comes after discovery (where you learn about the problem) and alpha (where you try different solutions to the problems found in discovery). Beta is where you’ll release the first version of your service to users.

The purpose of beta

Beta is where you take your best idea from alpha and start to build it for real. During beta you should roll out the service to real users while minimising risks.

It is important that the service team:

• has the capacity to iterate based on any lessons learned during beta
• can help users who might struggle to use your service in ways you had not predicted
• think about how you migrate users from an existing service to the new one
• plan for how the live service will be run and continually improved

You can start out in a ‘private beta’. This is where you invite a limited number of people to use your service so you can learn and iterate based on their experience. Once you are confident you can run the service at scale you can move into a ‘public beta’. This is where anyone who needs your service can access it.

Think of your users

If you’re replacing an existing service, keep the previous service running until your new service moves into its live phase. This helps to manage risk and reduces the impact of any issues on users.

After discovery and alpha, you should have an understanding of your users’ needs. In beta you should be testing a way of meeting those needs. At this stage it is likely you will still be improving pain points in the service as well as testing it end to end.

To ensure your solution works as well as possible you should gather data to measure the success of your service. As you collect data you should use the evidence to iterate and improve your service.