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Please Read: An Important RoadTest Program Change

rscasny

This is the third virtual "fireside chat" that I'm writing regarding the RoadTest Program. For this one, I'd like to roll out a RoadTest Program change and explain why the change is occurring.

 

To start, I'd like to share a snippet of an email I received yesterday from a vendor who participates in the RoadTest Program:

 

"We received only 13% reviews back from the RoadTests we sponsored in 2016. I would like to know the status of each of these roadtests. Are the missing reviews still being pursued? I would also like to know if the members that failed to post a review are now being flagged so we do not chose them again."

 

It was not pleasant to respond to. I had to eat "humble pie," as we say in the US, when I responded to this vendor.

 

To solve the problem, I decided I don't want to go down the road of suspending members from the RoadTest program. Suspensions sound too much like the hard rules of the military. I was in the Navy for 10 years and I didn't like tough rules back then, but I knew they were necessary given the reality of uncomfortable shipboard conditions and potentially dangerous operations we were participating in.

 

But this is a community. It should be a place to have some fun, meet new people, network professionally, be a mentor, or get mentored. Suspending people just is the wrong road to follow.

 

The way I've chosen to resolve the problem is the program change.

 

RoadTest application reports will soon include whether a specific applicant has completed all of his/her previous RoadTest reviews. I'm told by our developers this is very easy to do. We will provide this information to the vendor with a RoadTester's application. The supplier will make the decision where to select the RoadTester or not. Given the above comment by the supplier, I think the answer is self-evident.

 

Now, this change will probably cause me more work. If someone were flagged, I will have to check to see if that person is on a current RoadTest and it's before the due date of the official review. I surely don't want to penalize a conscientious RoadTester. I will also have to ensure there are not any extenuating circumstances that have caused the person not to write the review, i.e., sickness, family issues.

 

I am ambivalent about this whole thing. There are many RoadTesters who are doing a fantastic job. But a 13% success rate is not successful. I really have no choice but to implement this change.

 

Sincerely,

 

Randall Scasny

RoadTest Program Manager

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  • Hi Randall,

     

    I was lucky to be selected for some roadtests in the past. What I noticed, at least it is my impression, that roadtests became more and more big projects and would take too much time for me to finish. It also became a contest of who would make the most genious and biggest project out of it. (again, my impression of it) So I stopped applying because it is a hobby for me, and not my daily job.

     

    Will you take this into consideration too?

     

    I always liked the idea of the roadtest ...

     

    Kind regards,

     

    Reinoud

  • in reply to reinouddelange

    Hello Reinoud,

     

    your assertion is partially correct. The other members that answered you are aware of what a road test is, as you (and hopefully  me image) But when a roadtest become a gigantic project it is something out of topic, IMHO. When I enroll for a road test I always see before if I can introduce the new and almost unknown component in a project I am already working on. This simplifies the things as I see the product under the testing perspective with the advantage of using it at the same time. But we always should focus the attention on creating a report of "what the product is, what can do and what are the performances". A honest test, as a matter of fact. Just making an example, I loved a past road test where a new TI board was introduced in a real project for a car race. But it was not a project though ad hoc. I am in queue for road testing the Raspberry PI compute module 3 and I am very interested to discover as much as possible its characteristics, features and limits just because I am deciding to use it in a large industrial project. I have done the same with the LTE94112 by Infineon, this was the element to complete a project I was working by one year. So why not to test it ? A good opportunity. But a test is a test. Not a challenge.

    BTW I think that this is not the more interesting stuff that the supplier aims to read about.

     

    Look forward your future road test submissions image

     

    Enrico

Reply
  • in reply to reinouddelange

    Hello Reinoud,

     

    your assertion is partially correct. The other members that answered you are aware of what a road test is, as you (and hopefully  me image) But when a roadtest become a gigantic project it is something out of topic, IMHO. When I enroll for a road test I always see before if I can introduce the new and almost unknown component in a project I am already working on. This simplifies the things as I see the product under the testing perspective with the advantage of using it at the same time. But we always should focus the attention on creating a report of "what the product is, what can do and what are the performances". A honest test, as a matter of fact. Just making an example, I loved a past road test where a new TI board was introduced in a real project for a car race. But it was not a project though ad hoc. I am in queue for road testing the Raspberry PI compute module 3 and I am very interested to discover as much as possible its characteristics, features and limits just because I am deciding to use it in a large industrial project. I have done the same with the LTE94112 by Infineon, this was the element to complete a project I was working by one year. So why not to test it ? A good opportunity. But a test is a test. Not a challenge.

    BTW I think that this is not the more interesting stuff that the supplier aims to read about.

     

    Look forward your future road test submissions image

     

    Enrico

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