As a pattern designer, who else struggles with this?

Disclaimer: I’m talking about struggling emotionally with that action, I have the technical side down :stuck_out_tongue:

I’m back

Who else struggles to remove testers who didn’t follow through on testing? :cry: I feel so mean to have to do it. I know it’s ok to do and that I have to, as the work was not completed/have not heard back from the person. But I feel so harsh :sweat_smile:

Just wanting to know who else has a hard time. Let’s love and support each other :heart: Say kind words of encouragement. It’s ok to struggle. It’s okay to feel you’re being too hard. But you’re not :heart: and I love you for being an awesome creator who is brave enough to put their work out into the world.

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Well, I think for me anyway, the struggle stems from people pleasing thought patterns and behaviors.
Even with all the growth I’ve made, I still struggle with the fear of being perceived as mean- when it’s actually the exact opposite.

So, I review my thoughts/behavior and ask myself “whose needs are you meeting theirs or yours?”

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So very well said :black_heart: For me people pleasing is a trauma response to stuff that happened to me in childhood. And I often have to remind myself that it does me no good to let people walk over me. We deserve more than that :heart:

Deadlines are not there to punish testers. They’re there cause I have a busy schedule and if a pattern is not sufficiently tested, I have to reschedule it at a later date and it affects my business :sweat_smile: luckily I’m fortunate enough to have good friends outside of Ribblr who gave me feedback after making some of my patterns. Some were testers, but also some I consider good friends and am eternally thankful. Everytime someone shows me a make I’m so happy :pleading_face:

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I’ve never had to do it but I know I’d feel this way. Even though, as you say, its not mean. They didn’t hold up their end of an agreement. Obv if someone is late and apologises or warns in advanced, it’s not an issue. If someone just didn’t do anything and didn’t contact, it’d feel weird to me.

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I guess I’m too cold cause it doesn’t bother at all. Why would I allow then to keep a free pattern that they didn’t help with? I work HARD on these patterns and I take the testing seriously, I need and appreciate the testers…but they have to hold up their end of the deal. Thats why I put a time limit for those that have not yet started a journal.

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I have a list of testers (for each test pattern) who didn’t answer or didn’t start the test, I don’t select them again (I apply this only with the paid patterns). It happens that they don’t finish the test for various reasons (or on time), I don’t punish the tests for that, only those who don’t show up until the end of the test. Fortunately, I found very diligent testers in whom I can trust!
I thank all the testers who have helped me in my work so far! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Exactly this :heart: I always remind my testers to let me know if something happens. I’ve had tester getting sick or having stuff happen in their life, and I always appreciate them reaching out and letting me know!

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I created a document to track all of my testers. I’ve had one person quit due to a personal reason so I offered all the time they need and a week later told me they had no yarn. Like why even apply to test if you aren’t prepared? I totally get personal reasons and deadlines are more of a guideline for me anyways…

Another person ghosted me and ended up blocking my social media accounts. I managed to contact them elsewhere and warned them of a blacklist if they didn’t complete it in 1 week since it was already days past the deadline.

You can’t be “nice” to everyone. Testing is viewed as a task. It’s an agreement. If they break it then you can choose your own way of dealing with it like removing them from the test, have them buy the pattern or blacklist. People that intentionally ghost/flake are not considerate of you. Sometimes people are just mean and thieves. It only takes a minute to send out a message and let you know if they need more time or something.

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I totally get what you’re saying :heart: and it’s 100% your right!

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And I’m happy to have tested for you :black_heart: my Shadow is on my bookshelf as a decoration :blush: hehe

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Well said! I’m always happy to accomodate but people have got to keep us updated on their situation.

“No yarn” is such a weird excuse O.o that’s fishy like how did you ever expect to test a pattern with no yarn :rofl:

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I should have since my memory isn’t good. I can someday go backwards in comments and create one. I probably will. I tend to think people are all like me. If I say I will, I do.

Also bothers me if it is a short test, and they wait for 2 weeks to start it …

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As someone new to pattern designing, I have thought about keeping a list of people who are reliable versus those I never hear from.

As a tester, it’s always nice when people who make patterns reach out to me and ask about testing when they make new patterns. Sometimes I can’t make a deadline, and I’ll let them know I’d need an extension etc, and even if they decide against having me on (or I can’t complete for another reason), it’s just nice to know they thought of me and reached out.

I think that’s why I like Ribblr as a designer and as a tester - so if something unforeseeable comes up, or someone stops contacting me, I can be removed from the testing without an issue and don’t feel like I’ve jipped or been jipped. That’s always a weird thing I’ve had with PDF patterns.

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That’s true!

I always like it when testers return and are willing to work with me again! I never want to make any of them uncomfortable and I hope I’ve made it easy enough for them to feel comfortable contacting me. However, I also can’t do much to help assigned testers if I don’t hear back. I appreciate when they take the time to let me know something’s happened cause then I can work my schedule around that, or I know I can count on them for future tests. I’ve had amazing testers who just had unfortunate circumstances, and I’m all for giving them more time etc.

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Yes, the darn trauma. It’s burnt a pathway in my brain and it takes work to burn new healthier pathways.

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I thought the no yarn was odd but I’m sure a bunch of designers buy after they join tests. My pattern had specific colors for the character but one of my testers used random colors they had. It still works! :rofl:

Now I leave my casting calls open longer so people can take stock of yarn first.

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Yeah true there are some people who buy what they need for projects! Opposite to people like me who has a huge stash of yarn :sweat_smile: I often forget not everyone does that.

But yep. If you’re testing a pattern and don’t have the yarn, expect to buy some loll. Unless you wanna crochet with noodles, I’ve seen some photos of that :eyes:

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I too feel bad about removing people from testing when they have not completed or ghosted.
If someone communicates and they have given feedback on the beginning half of the pattern I will still gift the pattern to be completed later. If they do not communicate or give no feedback by the due date then they need to be removed and make a note not to pick them again.

I had someone give the same “no yarn excuse” a week after the test had started! Why apply to test if you had no intention of buying yarn and testing?!?

I am always trying to be more organized about testing, one day I hope to have a good pool of testers so I don’t have to deal with the non communicative unprepared people who volunteer to test with no intention of actually testing.

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Yeah same if someone gave valuable feedback they’re staying!

I feel you! In the beginning it can be hard to find serious testers. Another thing people seem to struggle with is giving feedback, if a designer is opening testing, they usually expect full notes along with photos. I promise you won’t hurt our feelings if you didn’t like something about the pattern, we need to know what works and what doesn’t for people :stuck_out_tongue:

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Yes! Feedback is so important.

I need to set something up to get more feedback (encourage testers to give feedback).

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