Remote User Testing – Your Saviour for Quick Accessible Results

The main goal of usability testing is to determine whether the interface design is deemed usable. Common practice is to monitor and observe a users behaviour as they test the product to seek results. This usually occurs in a face-to-face scenario where usability testing is conducted in person.

Over the last few years though, a new method has popped up and proven to be quite successful – Remote User Testing. This research method uses online software programs to record the screen and audio of participants who are testing a website or app from any location. Since users can conduct the test from anywhere, various benefits pop-up.

Advantages

Flexibility

When remote user testing is unmoderated, more research sessions can be conducted in a shorter amount of time as examiners are not required to be present for each and every one. Similarly, testers can operate according to their own schedule and complete tests at a time that suits them best.

Number of Testers

Most of the time, the effort required to go to an unfamiliar venue that is out of the way to conduct a test is more hassle than what their incentive is worth. With remote user testing that is no longer the case. Instead, the pool of potential study participants is more likely to grow exponentially. The reason? A lack of location limitations means examiners can source participants from wider geographic regions.

Environment

Completing a test in your natural environment is definitely going to provide better and more accurate results than those conducted in a lab. At a lab, users come in for the first time to new surroundings and are asked to complete a test using technology or perhaps a browser they aren’t used to. At home, users can conduct the tests with their regular browsers and their own computer, providing more realistic insights and better contextual findings.

Turnaround

Traditional testing can sometimes take weeks to gather all the results. Remote user testing can drastically cut down this time. With multiple users conducting tests at home in one day, it’s quite possible to gather all results within 24 hours! This perfectly suits company development sprints.

Remote user testing is definitely not something to be overlooked! It can be a very powerful and cost-effective research method for many companies. The results gathered can often be richer in content compared to moderated in-house testing.

If you’re interested in conducting some remote user testing but don’t know where to start, get in touch with us so we can set something up!