From the
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Testing Tests
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files:
Mozilla’s Test Pilot initiative is moving out of its testing phase – for the application.
Test Pilot started in January of 2009 as a Firefox add-on that enabled Mozilla to poll users about various issues with surveys. The effort was expanded in August and now is growing again with its 1.0 alpha release.
“This Test Pilot 1.0a version includes a number of bug fixes and
improvements to the user interface,” Mozilla developer Jinghua Zhang blogged. “In particular, it’s now easier to
manage the studies you have participated in as well to access the
knowledge we have learned from all Test Pilot studies.”
Those studies have grown from about 5,000 participant per study to 9,000 per study according to Zhang.
Some of the results of Test Pilot studies ended up in a recent omnibus developer trends report from Mozilla.
Understanding what users want and need is critical to the success of any software application. Having a solid base of 9,000 users that are able to participant in surveys is a tremendous assets for Mozilla and one that should hopefully mean better browsers in the future for us all.