So a while back after 2 bad updates in a row I updated my review both times. Dropping a star each time. Immediately after the second time I was asked to be a Beta tester which struck me as odd. I accepted in the hopes that my concerns would be heard.
After a while of doing this and several bizarre updates later I went to the play store to check the reviews to see what other users with the same device are experiencing. It seemed the right thing to do to see if it is device specific. Only now Iām blocked from see the other reviews. At least from the account I am Beta testing from.
So I googled Beta testing and hidden reviews and found a bunch of different info. Including that Beta testers reviews are hidden entirely. Not just us seeing other reviews, also the reviews we write are removed. I understand a developer might want to protect info not yet released, I also wonder if this is a way to silence negative reviews. The timing seemed suspicious. See a negative review, offer them to be a Beta tester, and magically the lower stars disappear and the your star total goes up.
What were other peopleās experiences with Beta reviewing here?
Iāve seen those screen shots youāve posted. It looks like it is not getting better.
havenāt found that Memrise is responsive to Beta testers. I donāt know who they listen to. It seems tpo me they are only interested in the people who are into points and leaderboards. Not actual learning.
Not following you on that path guys. As a Beta tester, our feedback is not the only feedback, itās like a vote in a democracy, it does not necessarily get there in the end.
As for the comment section, I have not looked for mine, it is 5 star anyway. I am not into points and leaderboards but I thoroughly enjoy the Memrise experience; things get tried and being in the Beta we get the best and the worst.
I understand your doubt at the coincidence of events, but I doubt they can micromanage that way.
Hi, thanks for your concern. The Beta invitations are sent out automatically based on criteria such as the date you signed up, how much you have been using the app recently, the types of courses you learn etc.
Also, thereās no way for us to find out which Memrise account or email address is linked with a certain PlayStore or AppStore review (unless you mention it in your review).
Beta reviews are hidden by default, in order to only display reviews relevant to the version currently in production.
Iām not personally involved in the Beta test groups and know very little about its working, but my colleague @knarusk knows all the ins and outs of our Beta program.
I get that. I wasnāt expecting them to take my feedback and do what I want. The problem is what they are doing doesnāt seem to fit with what I am seeing on the forums either.
A couple updates in a row they even mentioned something about listening to user feedback and improving the point system. Which is counter to what I am seeing from feedback in the forums. Yes, there have been posts from a few people about point systems and leaderboards. Mostly though, there are posts about the app not functioning properly and poor mems, etc etc. Things relevant to learning not gaming. Yet they never change that.
If the beta testers are similar to the forum users in any way then they are not listening to anyone who prioritizes the learning over the gaming aspects and the aesthetics.
Donāt forget there is also a silent minority/majority of users who donāt voice their concerns on the forum, simply because they are pretty happy the way things are going. Personally, Iāve been overall rather satisfied with changes and improvements in the app. And I can say for sure I prioritize learning over aesthetics and points, even if they go hand in hand.
I see Betas as solders who will report a major functionality problem SIP.
You will have to be very persuasive to change something thatās out of that path.
You are right. Hence my nuance about the majority/minority.
Luckily, Memrise has access to that kind of empirical data. I just hope/trust they act on it.
Well, so, just to speak for myself, Iām a silent individual whoās happy about the way things are going.
Donāt know about anyone else but a couple of friends.
Not really. If they are silent then they arenāt voicing their opinions either way. So who knows what the people who donāt come to the forum really think. Iāve yet to receive any kind of survey asking.
I still think they have access to quite some data. User retention, study
frequency, A/B group analysis, points versus number of words learned,ā¦
are all pretty solid indicators to assess if users are happy and if they
are there to stay because they want to learn or rack up points, or both.
Still, users are free to voice their concerns. Itās good some are more
vocal than others. I encourage that.
I just wanted to balance some of these discussions with my own experience
as a more silent user.
Speaking of which, i think Iāll go back to being silent.
I think that 99,99% of the users donāt even know that they can dislike the app. That there is even a possibility to dislike it. They accept the things they are. There were so few people active on the G+ Beta Group, and the amount of people active on this forum is insignificant. People are just using the app and accepting it with all the changes like you are accepting the world with the changesā¦
But all this is known accepted commercial behavior. I trust Memrise is professional enough to know and filter such feedback/analysis/silences/voices/likes/dislikes usw.
I am sure they spend many hours in meetings to talk about it. We all have a role to play, and we are playing it. Whether we are the sheep or the wolf or the shepherd of this story. Or the blade of grass or the hunter, if you wish to complicate itā¦
It is normal to ask, criticize, encourage. If Memrise were to be oblivious to it, I donāt think I would be updating the beta versions as often as I do it. If that is a sign, let me reassure you, much work is done on that front.
the user base is by far not as uniform as some might consider ā¦
And sorry sorry sorry if I am upsetting members of the team with this - believe that this is not my intention! Almost all of my work colleagues and friends gave up using the app, regardless of age group: for them, the app is simply too tiresome after a hard days work - too many rocketsflowerscoloursjingles/difficult navigation. On the site one can activate userstyles, but to do that with the app is a bit more difficult.
