How Hornet Networks Matches Millions With Testlio

BACKGROUND

A seamless connection

For Hornet and the 20 million men using the Hornet app to date and connect with like-minded individuals, a quality user experience is a matter of success or failure. In a digital ecosystem ripe with dating apps and websites, the customer experience often takes a backseat to user acquisition and marketing — not at Hornet. “When we started, we wanted to build the best mobile gay social network,” says Hornet CTO Armand du Plessis. “Quality has always been essential to our business model.” In fact, a focus on enabling users to meet each other and connect in meaningful ways without digital snags is deeply woven into Hornet’s culture — from the engineering team to customer support and across the organization.

“Testlio always adapts to our needs,” du Plessis says. “When we’re able to submit a build for testing and receive results in two days or less, it assures our team that the product doesn’t have any major issues — they don’t have to constantly worry about it.”

When Hornet launched in 2011, the QA team was a lean three members. Armand and his colleagues knew they needed additional resources to scale their testing and support rapid user growth. They chose Testlio because of its access to a vast array of test devices and the expertise of its testers, who are vetted thoroughly before being invited to join Testlio projects. Hornet also benefits from the ability to submit release cycles for testing on-demand and with very short notice. “Testlio always adapts to our needs,” du Plessis says. “When we’re able to submit a build for testing and receive results in two days or less, it assures our team that the product doesn’t have any major issues — they don’t have to constantly worry about it.”

Men use Hornet’s grid-style interface on three platforms: web, Android, and iOS. With help from Testlio, Hornet provides its tens of millions of users a superior consumer experience while fulfilling its mission of becoming the digital home for the gay community and the trusted source for all aspects of gay life.

Services and Benefits

The world’s premier gay social network

Hornet wanted a partner that could help its QA team achieve scale and ensure a superior customer experience for its users. Since partnering with Testlio, Hornet hasn’t needed to grow its internal QA team — Testlio fully manages the testing process from the moment builds are submitted to our service platform to when Hornet receives their test reporting in 48 hours or less.

According to du Plessis, benefits of Hornet’s partnership with Testlio include:

Testlio provides unparalleled device coverage:

Because of Hornet’s is one of the most popular apps for millions of men around the world, the app needs to function flawlessly on a wide array of devices. “Acquiring all of the devices we would need to test ourselves would be costly and time-consuming,” du Plessis says. “With Testlio’s help, we can have guaranteed access to every device we need with minimal overhead cost.”

Testlio can support a consistently outstanding customer experience:

Because of Hornet’s partnership with Testlio, the app’s chat function hasn’t crashed in years. This couldn’t be more important, as the chat function is what matters most to the majority of Hornet’s 20 million-plus users. If it’s not working, they’re going to find another solution. Fortunately, for Hornet, its users don’t have negative experiences on its app. “We want our users to be able to find and respond to messages quickly, so they can use the app to get the information they want as quickly as possible and consistently stay connected,” says du Plessis. “They want to connect with other users who have similar interests as well as quickly find news and entertainment content.. Testlio ensures we can always deliver on that promise.”

“Testlio has become part of our extended team,” du Plessis says. “They’ve helped up stay efficient. We’ve enjoyed a great relationship with their QA and account managers from the start.”

Testlio fully integrates with Hornet’s team, creating a seamless and productive relationship:

Testlio doesn’t supply arms and legs to its customers — we provide dedicated support and integrated software to make identifying and reporting potential bugs as easy and painless as possible. In fact, Testlio’s service platform integrates with the most popular issue tracking software out today, including JIRA, Asana, Visual Studio, and GitHub. “Testlio has become part of our extended team,” du Plessis says. “They’ve helped up stay efficient. We’ve enjoyed a great relationship with their QA and account managers from the start.”

Support for Business Objectives

Growing the network

With 20 million men and counting using the Hornet app to connect with each other in meaningful ways around similar interests, Hornet is positioned to cement its reputation as the quality leader in gay social networking and continue growing its ranks to 30 million, 40 million, and beyond. “Testlio has definitely helped make a superior user experience a key aspect of our competitive advantage,” says du Plessis. “Our users are having a great experience on our app — and they’re spreading the word about Hornet. Ultimately, this helps us grow not only our network but also our bottom line.”

Results in Action

Mobile Momentum

As app developers face constant headwinds in achieving success, Hornet continues to pioneer a flawless user experience that its customers love and appreciate. “Our engineering team can’t imagine life without Testlio,” du Plessis says. “They’re critical to our success as we continue growing and making user satisfaction a cornerstone of the mobile social networking experience. As Hornet continues growing, its relationship with Testlio will ensure its technology is cutting-edge — an advantage not easily duplicated or overcome.

“Our engineering team can’t imagine life without Testlio,” du Plessis says. “They’re critical to our success as we continue growing and making user satisfaction a cornerstone of the mobile social networking experience.”