Article Idea:
Remote user research tool roundup
suggested by Carol Allen on 2009/10/30
In these crunched financial times, one way to save money on user research is through remote testing. I propose an article detailing current offerings in remote user research tools – from Adobe Connect to Yuuguu and more. Each tool would have a short list of pros and cons, platform compatibility info, links for more information, cost, etc…The focus should be on tools which allow the moderator to ask questions and adapt the user research based on real-time feedback from the participant(later I would like to develop a list of unmoderated tools as a separate article). I have already compiled most of this information and would like to write it up as an article for Boxes and Arrows. I would love to hear feedback about what specific information people would like to see included. What are your criteria when selecting a tool for remote user research?
Want to see this idea turned into a story?
5 people said yes. | 0 people said no.
Larisa Brandt
0 Reputation points
Posted 2009/11/02 @ 13:16PM with
I would be very excited to see this…I have a short list of my own, but none of them have been tested yet…criteria: Easy to use, easy to set up, easy to “practice” test with, inexpensive, and global is sometimes an issue. I’d like to hear some real-world examples or testimonials from people who have used some of them too
Tony Tulathimutte
19 Reputation points
Posted 2009/11/03 @ 10:17AM with
Sounds great, and good to hear that there’s a distinction being made between automated and moderated remote tools! And right now, some good places to start looking are:
—Elizabeth Bacon’s public Google Docs spreadsheet of remote research tools: http://remoteusability.com/remote-testing-tools-round-up-…
—Our tools page on our website, RemoteUsability.com: http://remoteusability.com/tools/
—Chapter 8 of the forthcoming Remote Research book, by Nate Bolt and yours truly, covers not only moderated and automated tools and services, but also recording, notetaking, and recruiting tools for remote research: http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/remote-research/
Hope that helps!
Tony Tulathimutte
19 Reputation points
Posted 2009/11/03 @ 10:31AM with
Oh, and one other thing I’d add is that while remote methods do save on certain costs (mostly travel and recruiting), the actual difference in the total project cost isn’t really that huge. I think that the cost savings are a nice plus, but that the main benefits of remote methods are that you’re able to talk to users who are on their actual computers and in their usual computing environment—and if you’re live recruiting (that is, recruiting visitors to your website using a form), then you can contact users right as they’re about to perform a task you’re interested in observing. That means that users are intrinsically motivated to perform their tasks; you’re not just telling them to pretend that they want to do something.