How Real Beta Testing Reveals What Users Actually Want | Garrett Lang

Garrett Lang has spent over a decade building PlateRate, the only pickup/delivery app that credits diners for trying a restaurant's highest-rated menu items. PlateRate won the TPMAS (The Product Management Awards) award for Visionary Product of the Year 2019.

In this Product Excellence clip, Garrett explains how he validated PlateRate by running beta events at real restaurants with real diners. The product confirmed. Diners could order, manage checks, tip through the app. And the feature that generated the strongest response was the freedom of walking out without waiting for a check. Order, tip on the app, leave. The restaurant already knows you paid.

That signal showed up because Garrett tested in real environments with real users. Real-world beta events surface behavioral data that surveys and assumptions leave on the table.

Garrett also shares his quality thresholds for moving from beta to public marketing: user friendly, intuitive, bug free, and performant. If you are building something and trying to figure out when you have enough signal to move forward, this is what that process looks like from a founder who has been iterating on the same product for over a decade.

🔗 Join The Product Way on Patreon for deeper strategies on startup methodology, turning beta feedback into product direction, and knowing when your product is ready for growth: https://patreon.com/theproductway/membership

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🔗 Connect with Garrett: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrettlang1/