The enigma that is the Early Access program

[Chuck]

I joined the Early Access program a couple of years ago thinking it was going to be like a beta test program. I've been the software development world for decades now and understand that a beta program has its risks along with getting software before others. It also allows beta testers to give valuable feedback about bugs and features that may not be working as desired by the developers. Kind of an inside track, as it were.

In two years I've learned that EA is not a beta program. Not even close. There's no feedback mechanism. Yes, they send out surveys periodically but most of those revolve around the installation process. And, those surveys are selecting from 1 to 10 on specific questions. The survey for the installation of BCHF upgrade came several hours before the actual software. So, this is not a beta program then what is it?

I've never been told in advance that a software update was coming. I've never been told that once it was installed that here's what I should test. Heck, I didn't know about the pre-charge prep addition until it was almost in general release. How am I supposed to test this stuff if I don't know what it is and when it's installed?

Then, I thought, maybe EA is a marketing thing. You know, give people early access to the software so that they can create a buzz about what's coming. Sort of giving the overall community excited about new features. But that doesn't explain the non-disclosure agreement. We can't create a buzz if we can't talk about it.

So, I find myself scratching my head as to what Ford is really trying to accomplish with the EA program. There's no private EA forum or Slack or Jira thread where we can talk about it amongst ourselves. There's no email address for me to report my experience with the software. There's no announcement of a new feature and what to look for. So what is the purpose?

Maybe someone smarter than me about what Ford is up to can explain the purpose of EA.

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[Gimme_my_MME]

There's no email address for me to report my experience with the software.

You mean the email address that sends you the surveys?

 

[Jimrpa]

Ford never billed EAP as a “beta tester program”. All they’ve said is that people in the program will be among the first to receive the latest updates.
I’m sure Ford has some form of beta program, but I’ll bet it’s limited to Ford employees and Ford-owned vehicles for liability purposes.

 

[RickMachE]

Isn't posting about a confidential program violating your agreement? Just email them since there apparently is an email address that they send you things from.

 

[Mach1E]

You mean the email address that sends you the surveys?

Yup. You can email them.

They may not respond, but pretty sure someone gets and reads them.

They also have beta tested things and made changes based on feedback.

Since it’s old info, ok to talk about. The intelligent range was for sure a beta test and changed based on feedback. There are plenty of other examples as well.

 

[Chuck]

You mean the email address that sends you the surveys?

Have you ever emailed that address? Did you get a response?

 

[Mirak]

It’s sporadically used for beta testing. The stuff released for beta testing has been a bit silly, if you ask me.

It’s mostly about “early access” to software already approved for general release. “Early” is as relative a term as “soon.”

The best that can be said for EAP are probably the surveys. Often those are pretty silly, too, but they at least offer an opportunity for feedback, plus the email address.

I mean, I dunno. Better than nothing. I’m glad to be in the EAP, for what it’s worth. It just might not be worth much.

 

[macchiaz-o]

Have you ever emailed that address? Did you get a response?

I have gotten some responses. You can get the email address by signing in to the EAP page and then click on Support.

 

[Mach1E]

Have you ever emailed that address? Did you get a response?

Yes and yes

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

Yes and yes

Same

 

[generaltso]

There's no private EA forum or Slack or Jira thread where we can talk about it amongst ourselves.

If there were such a thing, I could see why you may not be invited.

 

[flapjake314]

it seems like just a particular approach to beta testing where they are not relying on user feedback. i assume they are tracking performance anyway -- they can see your driving patterns, any error codes, etc all remotely. yes they could have also asked you to write stuff but it seems like they opted to just go the observable route...

 

[mikeinet]

I want to respond with "yes, and no"

There are aspects that are being beta tested. Can't go into details for confidentiality reasons...

I have a pretty strong opinion that Ford values the EA program and feedback from it's members and takes it very seriously... can't go into details, but I'm a believer.

I would agree that in general, it's not a beta program though. Moreso how they call it... "early access"

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