Tester Chat Etiquette with @By.Stephanie.Erin
I am so excited to introduce the next guest author on the blog - Stephanie of @by.stephanie.erin! Stephanie has put no less than 5 billion designs into testing in the last two years (only a slight exaggeration đ), and she is here to chat with you about the dos and donâts when participating in the tester group chat - essential advice for all testers!
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@By.Stephanie.Erin pictured above in her recently released Black Widow Sweater, and below in her Dream In Diamonds Sweater, her Static Sweater, her tests of the JiJi Cardigan and the Easy Eyelet Yoke by @knitatude, and Stephanieâs Better than Basic Ringer Tee.
[pattern links are to Ravelry]
Hey there! Iâm Stephanie the crochet and tunisian crochet designer behind By Stephanie Erin. I love testing. I love running tests and I love getting to participate in test groups for other designers, although it doesnât happen as often as it used to.
Something that comes up A LOT in testing is some tester chat etiquette. There really are some unwritten ârulesâ about how to participate in a test chat, from BOTH the designerâs side and the testerâs side. I figured Kaseyâs blog was a perfect place to write down those ârulesâ!
***Big note here, this is based on my experience as a tester and a designer. Other designers may have slightly different rules, so itâs always best to ask when youâre unsure!***
So letâs start at the beginning:
You got picked to test! WOOOHOOO! You are super pumped up! Maybe you did a little dance when you got the email and immediately started researching what yarn you could use. This is absolutely something I have done. The first time I was selected to test for Chantal of Knitatude, it was her Easy Eyelet Yoke, I may have yelled, dropped my phone and jumped up to dance around the room. About an hour later, she created the group chat on Instagram and it started blowing up. Everyone is SO excited. Everyone is chatting away about yarn and it really feels like youâre connecting with old friends.
It can be really easy here to forget WHY the group chat exists. For the next few weeks you and your fellow testers are essentially working for the designer. The chat is where you âlogâ all your work. The most important thing to remember in the chat is that you are trying to help the designer make the pattern the absolute best it can be. The designer has already put so much of themselves into the pattern and they are giving you a preview before it is ready to be sold.
The number one thing you need to remember in all your interactions in the chat is to BE KIND!
DO
PARTICIPATE! The designer will be checking who is active and who is not throughout and may directly tag you if you arenât participating. Also by participating you will inevitably make some friends :)
Be Inclusive! Remember that in every test group there will be some people that basically only complete tests, as well as someone who may be doing their first test ever. I know I was super intimidated participating in my first test chat and if my fellow testers hadnât been so kind it would have been a lonely experience
Be understanding that the designer may also have a day job, kids, partner, be taking care of their parents, and also dealing with the hell that is 2020. If they donât respond to you right away, just wait. They will get to it.
Ask questions! If literally anything seems unclear, then ASK. And I mean ASK (more on that in the donâts). If you are confused, it probably means that at least 2 others are confused and donât feel comfortable asking, or youâre a speedster and got to that part first!
Ask when itâs ok to post! Some designers want you posting all of the things, and sometimes they need you to hold off on posting due to various contracts
Share photos in the chat! Progress photos, flat lays, finished objects, share them ALL! 1. This allows the designer to see that youâre working on it and you will be meeting the deadline. 2. It allows you and your fellow testers to freak out together about how awesome your new make is going to be
Encourage others! When someone shares that photo, reply with how much you love it! You never know where someoneâs head is at and you replying with âWOOOWW you look incredibleâ or âThe fit on you is magical!â will give the tester some confidence and give the designer some confidence in their pattern
Be kind when giving corrections. As I mentioned the designer has put a lot of their heart and soul into the pattern and bluntly stating, âThis, this and this is wrongâ can be hurtful and doesnât actually help make the pattern better.
Be prepared to frog, and be on board in the chat. Sometimes the designer will have to make changes and complaining about needing to frog will make the designer feel even worse than he/she already does for finding the error later
Remember that people live all over the world, so someone may wake up to 99+ messages and ask questions again.
Trust the designer! Sometimes designers do weird things to make something work. Actually try what the pattern states before chiming into the group chat saying that you donât understand or that the pattern looks incorrect
So now that you know what to do in the chat, letâs talk about the ugly donâts
DONâT
Send DMs about the test privately to the designer or others in the test questions about the test. If you have a question, someone else probably has it too. So ask it in the chat so that everyone gets the answers.
Just fudge something and later when someone else has the same issue say, Oh I just did this and this instead. Guaranteed to piss the designer off and is NOT helpful to the designer in any way shape or form.
Not say a word in the chat and then chime in on the last day saying you were unable to finish.
Promote your own business. Maybe youâre also a designer, or an indie dyer, or have affiliate links. In the chat, youâre working for the designer. They may have collaborated with another dyer or company and you promoting your business while working for someone else is just icky.
Talk about other tests you may also be participating in. The tester world is small. Maybe you and Sarah are in my test and also testing for someone else, donât talk about the other test in my group chat. There will be enough messages for the designer to go through they donât need to read about what another designer is doing in their chat.
Make statements about the pattern. Always always always ask if youâre unsure. Sometimes you have been testing for a designer for awhile. Maybe you think youâve got their rhythm down. Instead of chiming in âRow 10 count is wrong and that makes all the other counts wrongâ just ask! Rephrasing to âHey Steph, I just finished row 10 and Iâm getting a different count than the pattern. Can you take a look before I try again?â Itâs very possible row 10 is wrong, and I need to fix the pattern. But by asking youâre giving the designer an opportunity to check their work, and itâs just kinder.
Call out another tester for asking an already answered question. Sometimes people live all over the world and when the question was asked and answered they were sleeping. Since then the chat went on a tangent and 99+ messages were sent. Just provide the information again.
The last note I have will be REALLY dependent on the designer. Usually at some point in a group chat people start talking about things other than the test. A few things here and there are usually ok for everyone, think about the, âHow was everyoneâs weekend?â water cooler chat that happens at the office. However, going into a detailed long chat with just you and one other tester? Thatâs not ok. Remember everyone else in the chat is getting all these notifications. If all of you were in the same room for a meeting and 2 of you were monopolizing the conversation about something unrelated to the meeting then someone is going to get annoyed. Itâs GREAT you made a friend, take the conversation outside of the chat.
In my test groups I encourage people to make friends and chat away (within a reasonable limit), but this is because I keep a live google doc of the pattern. I ask my testers to make comments on the live version, so if one day the chat gets out of control then Iâm not missing issues in the chat. HOWEVER, lots of designers do not provide a live version of the pattern to testers. They are relying on the chat to identify any issues that they then edit when they are able.
At the end of the day the 2 main points I hope you take away from this are BE KIND and ASK QUESTIONS!
Tester chats are really fun and I have made some incredible friends both as a tester and as a designer through these chats. I hope you have fun testing and enjoy all your future group chat experiences!
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Thanks for checking out this guest post by Stephanie! Please be sure to show her some love at the links below. And if you want to become a tester for Stephanie, apply through the link on her website.
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