Why Google loves the Beta tag and why Beta is bad for Cloud Computing.

February 5, 2009 in IT Departments, User Experiences by pcalcada | 4 comments

As you can see in the following image, Google has changed again this week the Gmail toolbar. As usual these changes have enhanced the interface and have added nice functionalities.

gmail_new_toolbar

Despite the fact that the added features were in users direct benefit, I think that Google has to start creating a different method to deploy these changes or applications “upgrade”. The method that nowadays they use  is based on the fact that all their sofware has a special beta tag, therefore, their software is still in development.  With this special tag they change everything they want and when they want.

This is like having an IT administrator who is always making software upgrade during the night (without previous notification). And when you arrive in the morning, to start your work, you have always to start by questioning: “Where is the functionality that I need, I almost swear that it was in this menu before I left yesterday”. Then, after a coffee and a talk with your co-workers, you finally realize that your software was upgraded and that the functionality that your are looking for is now in a different menu.

As we cannot accept this kind of method in our IT department, we also shouldn’t accept it in the Cloud Computing ecosystem. I think that it is time for Google to change its methods of software upgrade. We must also stop the Beta tag virus, it’s spread  all over the cloud, and unfortunately, is continuing to spread.

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  1. Chris’s avatar

    Chris on February 5, 2009 at 3:48 pm

    If I’m not mistaken, the beta tag actually impacts how a company treats the expenses associated with software development. If a project is in beta, they can treat it as an expense; if it is ready for release, they have to treat it as an asset. Again, I could just be eating paint chips on this one.

  2. pcalcada’s avatar

    pcalcada on February 5, 2009 at 4:14 pm

    Yes you have a point there :). But I think the problem is that companies are using the Beta tag everywhere and without having the proper care to users. I’m not saying that this is what Google is doing, I’m using the Gmail as a simple example.
    I think that it is time to be more careful with this Beta tagging. If we don’t do it now we will be facing a credibility problem in the future. Users will start questioning why this is all Beta….

  3. Sérgio Lopes’s avatar

    Sérgio Lopes on February 5, 2009 at 4:33 pm

    I see where you’re going there, but I believe beta for Google doesn’t exactly mean that an app still needs heavy testing.
    I do agree that sudden changes can be uncomfortable, but that also happens if you have automatic updates on your Windows system, for instance. Since Gmail already lets two different versions coexist, that’d be solved if they first asked a user “Hey, there’s a new UI/set of features available! Want to check it out?”.

  4. pcalcada’s avatar

    pcalcada on February 5, 2009 at 4:45 pm

    I agree, but the problem is that they are doing it in the inverse way. They update the interface, and after that, if you want, you have the option to use the last version. Once again, Gmail is only one example… :)