MFT Owners willing to Beta test

[dco43054]

Our employees not only volunteered to beta test, but they were also chosen at random from the list of volunteers. We did have some employees decline, but that's to be expected. With the holidays coming up, people tend to travel and they knew they wouldn't be giving us a fair evaluation of the software if they only used it for a day or two.

Thanks for the response Rebecca - but here's one big issue - all of your beta testers share one big demographic factor - they are all auto company employees who are part of the vehicle program who live in SE Michigan..

To do this effectively you need to have a more diverse population - people from different geographies, walks of life, ages, technology, and uses of technology. People like Loganfilm and his iPhone with 6,000 contacts, and my friend's 60+ year old wife are using your software, that population needs to be included as well, not just 30 - 55 year old auto execs with a fleet vehicle.

 

[stripesace]

Agree'd. What they're doing now is FINE for the first round of testing, but there needs to be a 'non control' beta test with end users. I call the Ford employees a control group because well, they are all Ford employees, and there feedback could possibly be less reliable as they fear some sort of retaliation for negative feedback.

I feel like general population beta testing is required for Ford to say "we tried everything to do our best on this release, in unprecedented testing!". Otherwise, if it flops, there's going to be another long line of dissatisfied customers, or spouses of customer's. (ie my wife who won't drive the ex, after the MFT froze up on her while the seat warmers were on high and couldn't turn them off.)

 

[FordIVTteam]

Thanks for the response Rebecca - but here's one big issue - all of your beta testers share one big demographic factor - they are all auto company employees who are part of the vehicle program who live in SE Michigan..

To do this effectively you need to have a more diverse population - people from different geographies, walks of life, ages, technology, and uses of technology. People like Loganfilm and his iPhone with 6,000 contacts, and my friend's 60+ year old wife are using your software, that population needs to be included as well, not just 30 - 55 year old auto execs with a fleet vehicle.

Agree'd. What they're doing now is FINE for the first round of testing, but there needs to be a 'non control' beta test with end users. I call the Ford employees a control group because well, they are all Ford employees, and there feedback could possibly be less reliable as they fear some sort of retaliation for negative feedback.

I feel like general population beta testing is required for Ford to say "we tried everything to do our best on this release, in unprecedented testing!". Otherwise, if it flops, there's going to be another long line of dissatisfied customers, or spouses of customer's. (ie my wife who won't drive the ex, after the MFT froze up on her while the seat warmers were on high and couldn't turn them off.)

Thank you both for your feedback!

Like I stated before, we do have a diverse group of people in different age ranges and walks of life, along with having different phones, media devices, etc. I'm confident that our employees won't hold back while giving their feedback. They all know there won't be any retaliation for giving their true thoughts about the software.

Rebecca

 

[harlenm]

Thank you both for your feedback!

Like I stated before, we do have a diverse group of people in different age ranges, phones, media devices, walks of life, etc. I'm confident that our employees won't hold back while giving their feedback. They all know there won't be any retaliation for giving their true thoughts about the software.

Rebecca

The question I have is how many of these beta testers are current MFT owners? While something might work and seem OK to them, someone like me that is pulling my hair out trying to accomplish every day tasks might think the total opposite. You can't test something if you don't know what the problems were before that are trying to be fixed.

 

[FordIVTteam]

The question I have is how many of these beta testers are current MFT owners? While something might work and seem OK to them, someone like me that is pulling my hair out trying to accomplish every day tasks might think the total opposite. You can't test something if you don't know what the problems were before that are trying to be fixed.

Hi, harlenm!

Yes, all of the testers are current owners of MFT vehicles.

Rebecca

 

[gdecamp]

Hi, harlenm!

Yes, all of the testers are current owners of MFT vehicles.

Rebecca

Rebecca,

Did they all install it off a flash drive?

 

[Spengracin]

Folks who are dedicated in this forum, which I would hope Ford takes note of all issues. Ford shoud allow folks to beta test across our medium, many experienced folks with very technical, and just everyday users.

 

[FordIVTteam]

Rebecca,

Did they all install it off a flash drive?

Hey, gdecamp!

They all received a USB flash drive in the mail and as far as I know, they've all installed the software themselves.

Rebecca

 

[gdecamp]

They all received a USB flash drive in the mail and as far as I know, they've all installed the software themselves.

Rebecca

OK that's good, they will do the exact same thing us users will do when we get ours.

 

[FordIVTteam]

OK that's good, they will do the exact same thing us users will do when we get ours.

That's correct! Our intentions are to make the beta-testing process replicate the upcoming performance upgrade experience. This way we'll know exactly what to expect and will also help us handle anything that should arise. We want to be here for our customers from start to finish!

Rebecca

 

[LDogg]

I would be willing to beta test as well. I am a network engineer by trade, and would be willing to give honest feedback on software updates.

 

[broken strut]

Sad really. You're already beta testers. They scour these forums looking for glitches and mft mishaps. There will be a new system. It won't be the one we are using and to get it we'll probably have to upgrade. By buying a new vehicle.