I didn’t realize how much I’d miss deployed testing environments until I didn’t have them. In previous projects, I relied heavily on test environments, from feature-specific previews to branch deployments, and they made collaboration so much easier for everyone. But in my current project, where this is missing, I’ve started to see how valuable those environments are.
Things that felt easy to get feedback on past projects feel more challenging now. Reviewing pull requests is slower and less effective. Feedback from non-developers comes in later after features are done. It’s harder to know everyone is aligned because the easiest way to understand what we’re building is by using it, but that isn’t happening until much later.
Deployed testing environments aren’t a fancy tool, but they are the kind of thing that quietly makes a team’s workflow smoother. They’re a live, shareable link that gets spun up for every pull request. Yet they make a big difference. From my experience having them — and now, not having them—here are three ways they can improve collaboration and teamwork.
1. Pull request reviews are faster and more effective.
When I review a pull request, it’s a bit of a process. I’ll pull down the branch locally, configure my environment correctly, and test the changes. Sometimes, that process takes 10 minutes, sometimes longer — especially when my local setup trips over itself (as it often does).
Some teams rely on screenshots on a PR, long testing instructions that set up the right data needed, and other preconditions. These are bad practices, and automated preview deployments are much more reliable.
In previous projects, deployed testing environments made this process so much better. Every branch automatically has its own live, hosted environment. Reviewing a pull request was as simple as clicking a link, testing the changes, and making notes.
A live environment helped me catch things I missed — especially edge cases or usability issues. I’ve noticed that I’m quicker to skim PRs and trust the person submitting the code without these environments. I miss how much confidence comes from genuinely seeing and testing every change before signing off.
2. Non-developers can get involved earlier.
Here’s what’s happening on my current project: designers, product managers, and QA testers want to get involved early, but testing new features depends on having a local setup or waiting until something hits staging. For most non-developers, that’s a high barrier. So, they tend to get involved much later — when things are fully developed.
In contrast, deployed testing environments make it easy for anyone on the team to take a closer look, regardless of their technical skills. I’ve worked with delivery leads who loved clicking into those previews to test features themselves. I also remember one designer who made a list of minor tweaks just hours after interacting with a deployed environment, none of which would’ve been as evident from a static mockup.
When feedback happens earlier, the entire process feels more collaborative. On my current team, I can see how late-stage feedback often leads to rework. Having deployed environments would relieve some of that overhead by bringing non-developers into the loop much sooner.
3. They keep teams aligned.
Deployed testing environments are more than a technical convenience — they give the whole team a shared reference point for in-progress work. Whether you’re a designer, QA, or other stakeholder, having a live version of the feature means everyone can look at the same thing and ask, “Does this feel right?”
I remember working on a feature that felt great in theory on a past project. The code was clean, and it technically worked. But when the team saw it live in the preview environment, we all realized something felt off about the flow. In a quick meeting, everyone could see it and develop some small tweaks that made a huge difference. That kind of alignment wouldn’t have been possible without everyone interacting with the feature directly and seeing the same thing simultaneously.
On my current project, that kind of organic collaboration feels harder. Questions tend to pile up without a live environment until staging is ready. So many times, we answer the question, “Is this in staging?” and give a confusing update about how half of it is. When those questions go away, and it’s obvious, there’s way more room to iterate and improve.
Collaboration needs tools that bring people together.
I’m realizing how much less connected teams feel without a shared way to interact with in-progress work. I’ve seen firsthand how deployed testing environments make pull request reviews easier, bring non-developers into the process earlier, and create a space where alignment happens naturally.
If your team doesn’t already use them, there are plenty of tools you can explore — like feature branch deployments, ephemeral testing environments, or cloud-based CI/CD setups. It’s a simple adjustment, but it has a surprisingly big impact on how teams work together. A great place to get started is Lauren’s recent post about Vercel’s preview deployments.