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While new product activity is an essential part of the marketing mix, it can also be an expensive endeavor. A single test can be costly enough to forgo an entire year’s worth of sales, but what happens if the test fails? The main culprit in new product failures is lack of demonstrable consumer benefit. This is where a test comes in handy. Here are three reasons why you should conduct a test before you launch a new product.

A test involves putting something to the ultimate test. The end goal of a test is to discover if a product or service will meet the intended purpose. It may also involve analyzing body fluids to determine if a pregnancy is present. It can also be used to evaluate pollution in water. Whether it’s an outsourced or in-house test, a test will ensure that the results match expectations and are not biased. If you have an in-house team, consider outsourcing your testing.

In addition to standardized tests, non-standardized tests are flexible and variable in difficulty. For example, a teacher may ask different questions on the same subject to students, some of which are easier than others. The teacher may be stricter with the better students. This can help a teacher determine a student’s level of proficiency, give feedback to students, and modify the curriculum accordingly. There are also numerous benefits of non-standardized tests. The flexibility they bring to the classroom is a great plus.

While free-form testing in production is not recommended, it is highly beneficial in some cases. It is best to carefully monitor it, but a “bug hunt” day, for example, may prove very effective. In such a scenario, each member of the team is assigned a specific amount of time to look for bugs. While this can be productive, it should be accompanied by appropriate guardrails. You should review the risks of testing in production and train bug hunters accordingly. You should also consider that a free-form test can interfere with order statistics or revenue recognition.

Apart from determining whether a test has failed, it can also tell you if the developer is writing quality code. The percentage of tests that fail or pass depends on the quality of the code. It is also beneficial to know how many tests are failing in the execution phase. If a software release is too high, flaky tests may indicate bugs in the code. These metrics can help developers identify the problems in the code and improve the quality of the final product.

Test planning and preparation is essential for the project. Without a plan, testing is likely to become a chaotic mess. A good test plan outlines the objectives, scope, and process. It also lists risks, based on the risk level of each. Without a plan, it may be difficult to know which tests will be the most critical to the success of the project. So, a test plan will help you avoid the most common pitfalls that may occur during the testing phase.