Hello, testers! Below you can find the transcript that accompanies this video recording. Hopefully this helps those who prefer to read along :)

Recording Intro 

Slide 1

As you know, we recently announced a new test writing language for our platform. We asked you all to give us your thoughts, and we’ve gotten a lot of great comments and questions. We know a lot of you are excited about what this means for you, but we also want to address any concerns you might have.

Slide 2 - Agenda

Today we’ll give a quick overview of the original announcement, and answer some of your questions submitted via the survey.

Slide 3 - What You Can Expect

Test instructions will be more consistent. The format of instructions you see will be the same format, but the language will be more consistent and easier to understand. This change will allow you to execute tests more quickly, with less ambiguity.   

We’ve included a sample test case in the new format on this slide to demonstrate this:

• The image on the left is how the new test language looks when it’s being written by a customer or test writer.
• The image on the right is how the test instructions are displayed to you, the tester. As you can see, the instruction is still displayed at the top in plain English, but the language is simple and clear!

Another thing you can expect is there will be more test writing work in the immediate future. We’re expecting an increase in the overall testing activity in the next few months, especially in the area of test case creation and maintenance.

Many of you have already expressed interest in being test writers. If you haven’t already, go ahead and let us know via the survey we shared earlier. If you’re a qualified candidate we’ll reach out to you with more information.

Slide 4 - Why We're Making This Change

We’re making this change because Rainforest clients want and need to be able to test their products quickly while keeping their costs down, so we need to find ways to help them get results faster without increasing the cost of testing.

Rainforest’s new testing language will allow for some tests to be executed automatically, and for others to have both automated execution mixed with testing executed by you, our testers. A few of you have asked for clarification about what this means for the availability of regression jobs. We expect the number of regression jobs to increase. More customers means more jobs. What we also expect is that the jobs themselves will increase in complexity.

FAQ  (Slides 5-14)

1. I’m interested in being a test author! Can I have more info?
   1. If you’ve expressed interest already, we’ll be reviewing profiles and reaching out to candidates in the near future with more detailed information. However, we’ve had a couple questions about the specifics of being a test author, which we’ll get into now.
2. Does English have to be my native language to qualify for test writing?
   1. No, it does not! Our test writers do need to have very good to excellent written English skills, but by no means is it required to be your native language. For many of our current test writers, English is their second language.
3. Will Rainforest test writers still be able to carry out regression testing as they normally do?
   1. Yes, if you are a test writer and you receive a regression testing job, you are still welcome to do it. However, we do require that test writers be able to dedicate at least 4 hours a day to test writing (Mon-Fri), so please consider your own availability if you would like to both write and execute tests for Rainforest.
4. Will we get paid for test writing?
   1. Yes, you will get paid for test writing. If you qualify as a test writer, we can provide more information about our payment structure and rates.
5. Will there be training for test writing?
   1. Yes, if you are selected as a test author you will go through several rounds of training before writing tests for our customers.
6. It’s unclear — is this just an update to the test writing language, or will regression jobs also be automated away from the testers?
   1. For right now, our new testing language is just that -- a new language. However, we are making these changes as a way of laying the groundwork for automating more of our regression jobs in the future. 
   2. As we’ve mentioned, there will always be regression tests that cannot be automated and will require human testers. Additionally, we expect the number of regression jobs to increase, and for the jobs themselves will increase in complexity.
7. Will the new test language be available in languages other than English? (e.g. Spanish)
   1. Right now the new testing language is only available in English. We know that a few of you have expressed interest in writing tests in other languages, so we will let you know if this changes.
8. Will there be other opportunities in addition to test writing?
   1. Right now our immediate need is for test writers. But we are also exploring other testing opportunities for our community, especially in the areas of usability testing, as well as reviewing automated test cases (much like the current peer review system).
   2. As we have additional information around these opportunities, we’ll be sharing it with you all.
9. Will there be a new set of testing rules to accompany the new test writing language?
   1. Right now most of our current rules should apply, but we are in the process of evaluating them and deciding if a specific set of new rules needs to be created. We will keep you all updated on this and any additional training in the near future.

Slide 15 - Next Steps

We want to emphasize that a huge reason our customers buy and love Rainforest is because of the great work our crowd does! So to continue to expand our footprint with our customers, we’re also adding in different types of jobs for our crowd to perform on the Rainforest platform. So what’s next?

1. Be aware that you’ll see tests written in the new language
2. Prepare for additional documentation and updated guidelines if needed
3. Be on the lookout for updates on test writing opportunities!

Slide 16 - Thank you!

That’s all we have for today. We appreciate all your questions and feedback. If you have any additional questions or thoughts to share, we encourage you to submit them in the survey, which we’ve linked again here. Thank you!