Research: Remote UX Research

Does usability testing work for documents? Our answer is a resounding yes.

In this column, we’ll give you three techniques for having people try out documents or any other stand-alone content. These techniques apply whether your document is on paper or online—for example, as a Web page or a PDF. They apply for both in-person and remote usability testing—especially with moderated remote testing.

What Is a Document?

We’re talking about functional documents that provide information to people—not fiction or poetry. Functional documents include informative banners—such as the ones on many Web sites about how an organization is dealing with COVID-19—legal documents, manuals, notices, official letters, press releases, privacy policies, terms and conditions, and more. Read More

In the world of user experience, usability testing may be one of the hardest things to sell, while simultaneously being one of the most critical elements of ensuring an application’s usability. Because usability testing is relatively expensive and time consuming, executives and development leads who have never observed a test session often dismiss testing as unnecessary and devalue the data that comes out of usability studies. In many sectors, the perception is that usability testing requires a dedicated lab with one-way glass, video cameras, and expensive microphones—all to observe users who a company has flown in at great expense and trouble to perform a couple of tasks and complain about their user experience.

However, with advances in technology over the last ten years, the ability to do usability testing with remote users has increased significantly, both reducing the investment in time and money and expanding the reach of researchers. Remote usability testing lets us get access to users from across the globe, ensuring a more representative set of results. This is vital in our hyper-connected reality. And we can now accomplish this without traveling or having a dedicated lab. Remote usability testing is a welcome addition to any researcher’s arsenal—particularly as we try to fit data collection into agile sprints and work within the constraints of an increasingly lean bottom line. Read More

During the COVID-19 pandemic, most UX researchers have shifted to conducting all of their UX research and usability testing remotely. Last month, in the first part this two-part Ask UXmatters series, “Tips for Conducting Remote UX Research and Testing, Part 1,” our expert panel described several factors to consider in transitioning to remote UX research and offered some other helpful tips on conducting effective remote research and testing.

This month in Ask UXmatters, our expert panel provides some additional valuable tips for conducting effective remote research and testing. Our experts’ recommendations include recruiting participants who have the right equipment, but considering how their technology might impact your findings; tips for remote moderation; how to avoid technology pitfalls; and getting your stakeholders up to speed on your new remote-research techniques. In this column, one of our experts also provides links to some helpful online resources that provide tips specifically about conducting remote research and testing during the pandemic. Read More