Launch With Confidence Centercode

Dive into the world of beta program management in industrial robotics on this episode of Launch With Confidence. We're joined by Israel Nunez, Beta Program Manager at Universal Robots, who has transformed their beta testing into a crucial part of product development.



In This Episode:

(0:00) - Intro

(1:00) - The origin story of Universal Robots' beta program and its evolution.

(4:20) - The motivation behind Israel's role and the inception of the beta program.

(6:06) - Early challenges and growth pains of establishing the beta program.

(8:36) - The importance of internal marketing and convincing stakeholders of the beta program's value.

(16:16) - Tactics for showcasing the beta program's importance and ROI.

(21:45) - Rapid-fire questions revealing personal insights and professional wisdom from Israel.



Tune in for an insightful look at making beta testing a strategic asset in a tech-driven industry.

Unveil the groundbreaking developments in fitness technology and much more in this enlightening episode of Launch With Confidence. Join us as John Trainor, an expert in tech innovation and leadership, delves into the four pivotal themes that are reshaping the tech and fitness landscapes:

Innovating in Connected Fitness Tech: Explore the latest fitness device and platform advancements that keep us connected, motivated, and in peak health.

The Power of Beta Testing: Discover how beta testing revolutionizes product development, enabling teams to deliver superior value at unprecedented speeds.

Remote Teams & Productivity: Gain insights into effective strategies for managing remote teams, ensuring high productivity, and fostering collaboration in a dispersed work environment.

Overcoming FUD in Tech Teams: Learn techniques to bust fear, uncertainty, and doubt within tech teams, empowering them to innovate confidently and tackle challenges head-on.

Welcome to our latest episode, where we dive into the health and fitness industry with Alexa Murray from Whoop.

Join us as we explore what's going on in women's health, the power of continuous discovery, and the art of involving your market in development. Alexa shares her insights on using OKRs, beta testing, and the balance of beachheads and blinders in tech innovation.

Get ready to be inspired by a leader who's shaping the future of wearable technology!

Managing programs for hardware companies is tough, so in this episode, we bring in a seasoned professional to help. We're joined by Mike Marrs a program manager at Watkins Wellness and formerly Hewlett-Packard, about his experience taking new products from concept to market.

About This Episode

On the Delta Huddle Podcast, we've discussed two areas that really benefit from beta testing, that being support and customer success. And one other area that really really benefits from getting the voice of your customer in early is customer experience. Now, customer experience is much more than just how the customer interacts with your product. It also extends to how they interact with your entire organization, whether that's reaching out to support for help or working with sales to get more of your product.

And today's episode, we talked to Colin Flanagan, director of Customer Experience at Sayge. Now, in Colin's ten years as a leader, he's helped fight churn, create seamless experiences for customers and really strengthen the voice of the customer across organizations. Now, during our conversation, we talked about how trends are changing customer experience, how surprise and delight is suddenly out the door, why it's best to be transparent in a customer experience environment across your entire organization, and how tracking the customer's journey is essential for building a really great customer experience.



In This Episode:


(0:00) - Intro
(2:27) - Colin’s start in customer experience and what customer experience entails
(7:50) - How CX, Support, and Beta Testing mesh together
(11:50) - Changing trends in CX and leveraging testing to discover those trends
(22:52) - Empowering support via feedback and understanding the end user experience through testing
(30:35) - How early should the conversation about CX start in product development?
(36:28) - Why great beta program managers understand CX and keeping stakeholders informed during planning
(40:45) - How sales and support can massively impact a beta program
(44:20) - What keeps Colin passionate about CX?
(50:47) - Using context to help understand the customer journey
(56:44) - Advice Colin would give to his younger self



About Our Guest

Colin Flanigan is the Director of Customer Experience at Sayge (http://hellosayge.com). In his 10+ years as a CX leader and consultant, he has grown and assisted churn-fighting, delight-producing customer-facing teams across industries. He delights in building and scaling excellent, seamless experiences for customers, strengthening the voice of the customer across organizations, and developing quality leaders.

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Resources and Links

Beta Test Planning Kit: https://bit.ly/sw_plan_kit

Beta Recruitment Kit: https://bit.ly/recruit_kit

Centercode Visual Theming Guide: https://bit.ly/visual_themes

Beta Agreement Kit: https://bit.ly/agreement_kit

The Beta Shipping Manual: https://bit.ly/ship_manual

The Tester Engagement Pocket Guide: https://bit.ly/tester_map

Beta Test Incentive Kit: https://bit.ly/incentives_kit

Beta Test ROI Kit: https://bit.ly/beta_roi_kit

The Definitive Guide to Delta Testing: https://bit.ly/guide_to_delta

About This Episode

One of the joys of the Delta Huddle Podcast is the fact that we talk with experts in a wide array of fields, from transportation and fitness to B2B platforms and entertainment. Today’s episode is a foray into another field, with its own set of challenges: Healthcare.

Factors like HIPAA compliance, potential test participants working 12-to-16 hour long shifts, and a wide-variety of use cases make Healthcare an incredibly unique environment for beta testing. Navigating that space can be difficult but also fantastically rewarding, especially in the light of making the care experience better for caregivers and patients alike. And joining us to discuss beta in the world of healthcare is a program manager at one of healthcare’s leading device makers.

Casey Hamar is Senior Program Manager Beta & User Testing at Stryker. Stryker produces everything from personal protection and surgical equipment to communicators and hospital beds. In her role as Senior Program Manager, Casey works closely with hospitals, doctors, and other healthcare workers to test and improve products used within the field every day.

During our conversation, Casey talked about things like building a body of context around feedback by testing with different audiences in different hospitals, how building relationships with those hospitals allowed her to expand their pay to program, and also why healthcare is such a unique field.



About Our Guest

Casey Hamar is Senior Program Manager Beta & User Testing at Stryker. Casey began her career at a talent lifecycle and change management consulting firm, which worked with 95% of the Fortune 500. While there, she had the opportunity to partner with many healthcare organizations and grew passionate about improving the experience of caregivers and patients. She then joined a healthcare system, outside of Seattle, as Director of Engagement and PX, where she led strategy development and execution based on understanding consumers' viewpoints. Starting in 2016, Casey served as a Sr. Client Service manager in the PX division of Vocera where she continued to focus on research and experience. In 2021, she transitioned to the newly created role of Sr. Program Manager of Beta and User Testing at Stryker concentrating on an excellent end-user experience and continually improving systems that help drive a GA version of a product that results in rapid market adoption.


Timestamps

(0:00) - Intro

(2:14) - Casey’s program at Stryker and the products they support

(5:29) - What does beta testing look like in a medical environment?

(8:05) - Casey's success metrics for her beta program

(9:50) - Stryker's mission and how their values align with their beta program

(14:21) - Tailoring projects and trying to find the right audience

(18:52) - Working internally and networking externally to build strong relationships

(28:06) - Empowering caregivers and improving the patient experience through testing

(31:52) - How context powers feedback and testing with unique audiences

(36:35) - Finding creative ways to motivate audiences to submit feedback

(42:31) - How Stryker collects and breaks down data during a test

(45:58) - Seeing what others don't and keeping an open mind

(51:10) - Being inclusive to help reduce friction and increase buy-in

(58:07) - What advice would Casey give to her past self?



Zero-Cost Resources and Blogs

Beta Test Planning Kit: https://bit.ly/sw_plan_kit

Beta Recruitment Kit: https://bit.ly/recruit_kit

Centercode Visual Theming Guide: https://bit.ly/visual_themes

Beta Agreement Kit: https://bit.ly/agreement_kit

The Beta Shipping Manual: https://bit.ly/ship_manual

The Tester Engagement Pocket Guide: https://bit.ly/tester_map

Beta Test Incentive Kit: https://bit.ly/incentives_kit

Beta Test ROI Kit: https://bit.ly/beta_roi_kit

The Definitive Guide to Delta Testing: https://bit.ly/guide_to_delta