QA in the HIIV — Issue 007
A reward engine where a miscount mails a tote to someone who never referred anyone
Welcome to issue seven. Every day, we show you what QA is putting through its paces, what could break, and why you should care. Let's get into it.
Synopsis
A refresh to the referral program. Subscribers share a unique link; verified referrals tick toward milestone rewards — a sticker at 3, a tote at 10, a comped premium month at 25. beehiiv now credits referrals in near-real-time and auto-unlocks the reward email the moment a milestone is hit.
What needs to be QA'ed
A referral only counts once the new subscriber is verified — not on click, not on a bounce
Self-referrals and disposable or recycled addresses are rejected
A referred subscriber who unsubscribes or hard-bounces is decremented from the count
A milestone unlocks exactly once — no duplicate reward emails when counts update rapidly
Counts reconcile across devices and don't drift when two referrals land in the same second
The fulfillment export (names and addresses for physical rewards) matches the on-screen count exactly
A paused or flagged account can't farm rewards before review
Why it matters:
Every milestone reward is a promise with a cost attached — postage, swag, a comped month of revenue. Count too generously, and you're mailing totes to people who never referred anyone and giving away premium you'll never recover. Count too stingily, and a reader who did the work feels cheated and stops sharing. Referral growth only compounds while the ledger is trusted; the moment the math looks fake, the whole loop dies.
See ya next time with more QA and why it matters!
Enjoy, Tina
This content is 100% fictional and made by AI for testing purposes