Manual Tester Selection Criteria

Test cycles can have many requirements, but the common ones are:

• Device and software specifications

• Geographic location of the tester
• Tester characteristics and demographics
• Available payment instruments & subscriptions

Make sure your profile is complete and updated. If your profile isn’t complete, you
may miss invitations to eligible paid test cycles.

Tester Selection beyond the profile parameters

For projects containing requirements that are not currently captured within the Tester
Profile, uTest will use these methods to recruit testers :

• Projects Board: uTest post the project details in Projects Board where
testers who match the cycle requirements will have the opportunity to apply
directly to the project
• Special Requirement Survey: uTest invites testers through email to
participate in Special Requirement Surveys (SRS) to collect additional profile
information to find the perfect testers for the project

What is a Special Requirement Survey (SRS)?

The primary tool uTest uses to fill difficult test cycles is the Special Requirement
Survey (SRS). Here are the main points of SRS:

• Sent out before a test cycle begins

• Each SRS is unique to the test cycle being filled
• Written to address special requirements of a test cycle
• Gathers additional information from potential testers
• Test Engineer reviews all SRS responses
• Invitations will be sent to the testers that best match the test cycle

Note: All information on an SRS is verified and falsifying your information is a

violation of the uTest code of conduct.

Identity Verification
Having your identity verified can make you eligible to receive invitations to a broader
range of projects, such as hardware testing.
Follow the steps for opting in for identity verification:

1. Open the Tester Profile page and make sure you are on ‘Personal’ tab
2. Scroll down to ‘Location Info’ section
3. Check the box for ‘Yes, I agree to have my identity verified using my phone
number and street address’
 4. Enter your phone number and street address save the details

Your Name, birthdate, phone number, and street address will be used to verify your
information through an internationally trusted third party platform. This step makes us
more protected in the event that we are sending you a piece of hardware to test with.
Note: Identity verification is not required, but we recommend and encourage you to
opt into this step.

A note from our uTest staff

To improve your chances of being matched with paid project opportunities:

• Keep your Tester Profile accurate, complete, and up-to-date

• Participate in SRS surveys
• Apply for projects on the Project Board for which you qualify

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How do I earn money

Part of our vision at uTest is for our testers to earn money. Testers earn money by
doing testing and completing various tasks. This happens through:

• Issues: Testers are paid for each approved issue they submit in a paid test
cycle
• Test Case: Testers are paid for each approved test case they complete in a
paid test cycle
• Reviews: In addition to reporting issues and submitting test cases, some test
cycles provide the option for testers to "write a review" of the customer
application/website. And testers are paid for approved reviews in a paid test
cycle
• Usability studies: uTest also conducts usability test cycles where testers can
express feedback and get paid
• On-site testing: Testers can perform testing on-site(visiting a specific
location) and get paid for their approved work
• Referrals: Testers can also earn money by referring new testers to join uTest.
Testers are only paid for valid referrals when uTest announces a referral
program

The amount earned varies on a number of things:

• Payout Rate: The payout rate for approved work depends on the complexity
of the project. The payout rate will not be the same for every cycle
• Value: Testers are paid more for valuable issues
• Testing Tier: High rated testers are paid more than low rated testers. Quality
is the key to improve rating and to be a high rated tester
Frequency of Payments
Testers are paid twice a month:

• On the 15th
• On the last day of the month

If the 15th or last day of the month lands on a weekend or US holiday, testers will be
paid the next business day.

Payment Methods
You have two choices in how you receive payment from uTest:

• PayPal
• Payoneer

Before uTest can pay you for your work on a Paid Project:

• You must set up an account with one of these vendors

• Connect it to your uTest account
• To connect your account go to the Payments section located in the left side
profile menu
o Click Setup in the Payment Method option

o Input your choice of PayPal or Payoneer

o Input necessary information to connect your account
Please note: PayPal and Payoneer may not be supported in all countries. Make sure
you read their terms and conditions carefully when registering with these vendors,
specifically information around supported countries and country restrictions.

Special Requirements for Testers within the United States

For testers who are located within the United States and make $500 or more per
calendar year, there is a legal requirement to submit a W-9 form to uTest.com.
Testers can receive up-to $500 without the need to submit the W-9, however
payments will be suspended once the total amount of earnings in a year reaches
$500.
To submit your W-9:

• Download the form from the Payments section located in the left side profile
menu

• Fill it out
• Send to https://help.utest.com/contact-support/

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What is the tester rating system?

uTest has built a Rating System designed to reward testers for their activity and
quality of work within test cycles.
 Tier Description

Unrated Testers that have less than 25 points

Rated Testers that rank within 0-49.99% of all

testers and have at least 25 points

Proven Testers that rank within the top 50-74.99%

of all testers

Bronze Testers that rank within the top 75-84.99%

of all testers

Silver Testers that rank within the top 85-92.99%

of all testers

Gold Top 7% of Rated Testers

Actions that change your point total

You can increase your tester ratings by:

• Participation: Accepting a test cycle invitation and participating in the test

cycle
• Declining Cycle: Declining a test cycle invitation early if you cannot
participate, this is considered as good practice as you do not block the place
and other testers who are available can participate in
• Issue reports: Approved issue reports improve the rating. High quality and
high value issue reports improves your rating significantly
• Test Case: Approved test cases
• Reproductions: Providing +1 reproductions with attachment

These actions will lower your points:

• No Participation: Accepting a test cycle invitation and not participating in the

test cycle
• Rejected work: Submitting bug reports or test cases that are rejected (except
bugs that are rejected as Working As Designed; WAD rejections do not
negatively impact your tester rating)
• Low quality: Receiving a low integrity rating when testers submit low quality
issue reports
• No response: Not responding to TTL or TE in a test cycle

uTest uses an algorithm over time to determine the final tester rating of a tester at
any given point in time and are recalculated every night.

Why aim for a high rating

The benefits of moving up in the Rating Tiers are:

• Increased payout: Bronze, Silver, and Gold tester receive a bonus in bug
report payouts
• More Invitations: Testers in higher tiers receive more invitations to test
cycles

The Statistics Section on your Tester Profile will provide you more information on
your historical activity and rated status. For testers who are rated, you will also find
your rating here
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Security measures
You must keep your uTest account safe and secure. Here are the security measures
you should follow:

• Don’t allow anyone else access to your uTest account

• Don’t share passwords
• Use only secure networks
• Keep computer security programs updated
• Download from only known and trusted websites
• Maintain email security

Email security
Concerning email security, phishing scams have become part of normal life on the
internet; even if an email looks legitimate it may not be. Hovering your cursor over
the “from” email address will reveal its domain, which is the information after the “at”
sign.
As a reminder uTest will only send you emails from the following domains:

• uTest.com
• m.uTest.com (our community / project email domain)
• Applause.com
• Applausemail.com (members of testing services)

If you receive an email claiming to be from uTest but is not, please let us know by
submitting a ticket to our support form http://help.utest.com/contact-support and use
the category Potential Cheating/Fraud/Misbehavior.
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General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR)
What is GDPR and personally identifiable information
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a standardized law for data protection
and privacy in the European Union. It regulates the processing of personal data in order to
protect it. The term “personal data” relates to any information that makes a person
identifiable (also known as PII or personally identifiable information). ”Processing” means
any operation such as storing, sharing, collecting, etc. of that personal data.
Be aware of the following examples of personal data that is protected by GDPR:

• Name
• Bank details
• IP-address
• ID or passport number
• Email address (for example if it includes your name)
• Photos
• Race
• Ethnic origin
• Political opinions
• Religious or philosophical beliefs
• Genetic data e.g. your DNA
• Biometric data e.g. fingerprints
• Sexual orientation

Furthermore, remember that not only your own personal data, but also the personal data of
others such as your friends, family, colleagues, and third parties fall under GDPR regulations.

Common GDPR violations by testers

At uTest, we have observed the following common GDPR violations by testers in their video
recordings which should be avoided:

• Recorded the uTest platform

• Recorded the uTest chat with other customers and tester names visible in the video
• Getting messages and notifications while recording e.g. WhatsApp, Facebook, emails, uTest
notifications for other projects and customers, etc.
• Receiving calls during recording with the name and phone number visible
• Showing email inboxes with your email address and received emails and senders
• Recording themselves via webcam
• Speaking out loud their names, address, ID-number and other sensitive data
• Pictures from relatives as a background image of the device
• Browser autofill function displays addresses, names, phone numbers, etc.
Guidelines on how to avoid GDPR violations
Applause is committed to respecting your online privacy and recognizes your need for
appropriate protection and management of any personally identifiable information you share
with us. By accepting a test cycle, you are providing your agreement for Applause to use this
information for the purposes of test cycle recruitment and execution. This personal data may
be shared with a third party if required for access to test environments.
Be particularly careful if you are recording a video. Pay attention to the following guidelines
to avoid GDPR violations:

• Create an email address that you use for testing only and which does not include your name
e.g. [email protected]
• Do not record yourself via webcam, unless specifically asked
• Do not record the uTest platform, the chat or any other personally identifiable information
of yourself and others. Because other customers are visible there and also other testers with
their full names
• Don't show your uTest profile with your name, other projects or any information about
payment
• Turn off notifications while recording, as otherwise names, emails and private messages are
visible
• Avoid unnecessary switching between tabs. If you need to review something, use a second
device
• Disable your browser's autofill function

Note that some test cycles may request you to record the registration process while entering
your name, address, email, phone number, credit card information, password etc. with real
data. In such cases the TTL of the test cycle will review all videos and edit or blur your
videos in order to hide any sensitive information before the videos are provided to the client.

Methods and tools to hide / blur sensitive data

• VSDC Free Video Editor

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Helpful Acronym Definitions

Here is a list of the most common acronyms used on uTest.com and within uTest projects.

Acronym Definition

Testing Team:
Acronym Definition

TTL Test Team Lead

TE Test Engineer

TA Test Architect

CM Community Manager

Testing Types:

TC Test Cycle

Fn Functional

Ln Localization

Ux Usability

ET Exploratory Testing

Bugs:

WAD Working As Designed

DUP Duplicate issue

OOS Out Of Scope

DNFI Did Not Follow Instructions

Acronym Definition

Ratings:

G Gold

S Silver

B Bronze

P Proven

R Rated

U Unrated

Badges:

U (blue orb in uTest Employee

top right of
profile pic)

M (orange “M” Moderator

orb in top right
of profile pic)

TTL Test Team Lead for uTest cycles

Miscellaneous:

OS Operating System

QA Quality Assurance
Acronym Definition

SMB Small Medium Business

GUI Graphical User Interface

IE Internet Explorer

KI Known Issue

NDA Non Disclosure Agreement

BFV Bug Fix Verification

ROI Return on Investment

SDLC Software Development Lifecycle is a process followed for a software

project, within a software organization. It consists of a detailed plan
describing how to develop, maintain, replace and alter or enhance
specific software. The life cycle defines a methodology for improving the
quality of software and the overall development process

SUT System Under Test

SPA Single Page Application

BAT Business Analysis Testing

UAT User Acceptance Testing (aka Beta Testing or End User Testing)

RAD (model) Rapid Application Development

ISTQB International Software Testing Qualifications Board

Acronym Definition

BBST Black Box Software Testing

UX bug User Expectation Bug

UI bug User Interface Bug