Project and Test Cycle Types
uTest offers several types of testing projects to appeal to many types of software testers. For example, you can select from:
- Functional testing
- Localization testing
- Usability testing
- Security testing
- Load and performance testing
You may select one or more depending on your experience and comfort level. In your profile, you are given the opportunity to select the types of testing that you wish to participate in.
Each type of project mentioned above can occur in several types of Test Cycles. There are three major types of test cycles: Public, Public with PM-approval, and Private.
- Public: Everyone whose profile matches the project requirements has access to the test cycle. For example, if a project calls for Mac users in Italy, everyone in Italy who entered a Mac computer in his/her profile will be able to see the project under Test Cycles.
- Public with PM-approval: In addition to the description under Public, the Scope & Instructions section states that testers who qualify based on a list of requirements need to submit an email to the project manager for an allocated testing slot. If you do not hear back within 24 hours from the project manager, then all slots have been taken. If you do hear back, there will be further instructions for testing that particular project.
- Private: Only invited testers [from community and project management team] are able to view the test cycle. These projects typically have fewer testers allocated to them versus public ones. The majority of testers in private test cycles are the highest rated testers in the uTest community who have high bug approval percentages and proven their value in previous test cycles. For more information about the tester rating system, please click here.
If you are new to uTest, you do not have a track record of bugs approved, bugs submitted, etc. This makes it very difficult for uTest to place you on our high-priority projects, which are typically private. Therefore, you either need to participate in a Public test cycle or a Public with PM-approval test cycle in order to develop this track record, or alternatively you can request to be added to the uTest Sandbox Program .