Production is also a test environment
This blog post introduces a paradigm shift – leveraging the production environment as a testing ground to gather valuable insights and continuously enhance your offering.
While dedicated testing environments remain a vital component, they inherently struggle to replicate the complexities of real-world user behavior. This disconnect can lead to unforeseen issues with functionality, performance, or user experience slipping through the cracks during traditional testing.
Further complicating matters is the inherent risk associated with using production for testing. The possibility of a new feature disrupting user experience or harboring bugs is a significant concern. To fully embrace production as a testing ground, we need strategies to minimize these risks while maximizing the benefits of real-world data.
Production testing offers several compelling advantages. Let’s explore them:
Faster feedback loop: Gone are the days of waiting for user reports to identify issues. By observing real user behavior in production, you can pinpoint problems faster, leading to quicker fixes and a more responsive development cycle.
Data-driven refinement: Witnessing firsthand how users interact with a product in the real world provides invaluable insights. This data empowers you to make informed decisions about feature refinement, ensuring your product caters to user needs and delivers a remarkable experience.
Strengthening the user bond: Production testing opens a direct channel for user feedback. This demonstrates your commitment to addressing their needs and fosters a stronger connection with your user base, building trust and loyalty.
The next installment in this series will equip you with the tools to navigate this new approach. We’ll delve into various deployment strategies that facilitate the safe introduction of changes and data collection. As a starting point, here’s the list of those deployment strategies that we’ll be analyzing in future publications.
Blue-Green deployment: This strategy involves creating two identical production environments – a “blue” environment (active production) and a “green” environment (new version deployment). New features or changes are deployed to the green environment first, allowing for thorough testing and validation without impacting live users. Once everything is confirmed to be working as expected, traffic is switched from the blue to the green environment, making the new version the active production environment.
Canary deployment: This strategy involves slowly rolling out a new application version to a small subset of users (the “canaries”). By monitoring the canary group for any issues or performance degradation, you can identify problems early on and prevent them from impacting a larger user base. If the canary deployment is successful, the new version can be gradually rolled out to more users until it becomes the active production version.
Feature flags: Feature flags allow you to enable or disable specific features within your application without having to deploy a new version. This enables you to test new features with a limited group of users before making them available to everyone. Additionally, feature flags allow you to roll back a problematic feature quickly by simply disabling it, minimizing user disruption.
A/B testing: A/B testing allows you to compare different versions of a feature or user interface to see which one performs better. You can use A/B testing during production testing to gather real-world user feedback and data on the effectiveness of new features or changes before fully rolling them out.
We Embrace Continuous Improvement
At GBH, we understand the importance of staying ahead of the curve in software development practices. We actively explore and implement innovative approaches like production testing to ensure our products deliver outstanding value to our clients.
If you’re interested in learning more about how production testing can benefit your development process, we invite you to connect with our team of experts. We’re happy to discuss your specific needs and help you chart a path towards a more efficient and user-centric development cycle.