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RoadTests: Project vs Unboxing vs Experiment vs Other

rscasny

Over the past few months, I have implemented some changes to the RoadTest program. Some of these changes had to do with things that needed to change in order to have the program work for all stakeholders. Of course, some of them have to do with things that would help me manage the program better (e.g., asking applicants to use their profile email address on applications or my asking supplemental questions.)

 

But one comment caught my attention last week. To paraphrase it, the commenter thought that RoadTests were more or less morphing into prototyping "big" projects. This has led some individuals not to apply because of a lack of time.

 

While creating a big project would be nice, it's definitely not required. After all, we give you 60 days to complete testing and write a review. Not a whole lot of time to create something totally new.

 

A RoadTest can be a combination of performing an unboxing (start up/installation), conducting some experiments or tests (e.g., verify a power supply's load regulation is in specs), building a prototype, or doing something else.

 

When I review the applications -- all of which get sent to the supplier -- I do provide some recommendations. Sometimes they go with my recommendations, sometimes they do not.

 

But I've observed the following things regarding applications:

 

  • We are looking for a concise plan of testing.
  • Is the project do-able? Some projects aren't in 60 days.
  • Does the RoadTester appear to be able to pull off the testing and write the review.
  • The plan isn't being re-hashed over multiple RoadTests.
  • The application sounds like the applicant took the time to study the product; we have had some RoadTesters that submitted applications that were irrelevant to the product being tested.
  • Long applications may get looked at, but the winners are a combination of long or short applications. The application should be only as long as need be to explain your testing plan. But 1 sentence applications are rarely taken seriously.

 

I encourage everyone who is interested to keep on applying for RoadTests. Since we are given a limited number of units, we can't get everyone to test all the time. But a good plan will rise to the top.

 

Randall Scasny

RoadTest Program Manager

Parents

  • I wonder how long people spend on a road test?

    Perhaps a metric to capture with the roadtest reports?

  • in reply to Workshopshed

    Yikes - I'm not keen to start filling out time sheets and I suspect there would be a large variation in reporting accuracy.

    I often spend inordinate amounts of time, but it is the content that counts - that is what is interesting. (which includes the story of what happened on the journey of course) When the time is of interest it should make its way into the story.

    Maybe it is a holdover aversion from work obligations, but I always considered time sheets to be a thankless chore. If you log all the free overtime you spend on a project, the project manager gets upset that the project is going over budget. If you don't log all the actual time spent on a project, the finance people get upset that they can't invoice for all those extra hours.

  • in reply to dougw

    How true. I get this all the time. I have difficulty justifying the number of hours on some projects but the client wants a working solution.

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