Tag Archives: Buzz

Follow up: Google Admits Buzz Was Only Tested Internally

Written by Aijaz Ansari. Posted on February 16, 2010. Filed under Computers. Tagged , , . No comments.
Kite Flying on a Summer's Day
In yesterday’s article about Google Buzz, I guessed that “the problem was that the population for whom the system was designed wasn’t necessarily the only population actually using the system.”  I gave Google the benefit of the doubt: I am certain Google tested their application thoroughly.  They’ve been known to do extensive usability tests for [...]

Sometimes Testing Isn’t Enough

Written by Aijaz Ansari. Posted on February 15, 2010. Filed under Computers. Tagged , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment.
A Bee. Buzzing.
In the first few days after the release of Google Buzz many people (including myself) criticized Google for exposing their users' private information. This was a couple of weeks after Apple got a lot flak for their unfortunately-named iPad, and the same week that we heard reports of a woman who broke up with her boyfriend after finding some suggestive text messages on his cell phone - messages that came pre-loaded on the phone. I think that all these cases were not caused by a lack testing, but by testing the wrong audience. Let's examine these three cases and see what we can learn from them: