Remote usability testing
11 Mar 2010 - 5:15pm
18 replies
1063 reads
shonar
2010
Does anyone have any suggestions for companies offering remote user testing including in-country recruiting in either Asia (Japan and China) or Europe. We are looking to test a prototype of some new site functionality and need a fast and cheap way to achieve this. Looking for something along the lines of usertesting.com.
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Have you considered UserZoom for this type of project? We are an international company with many successful international studies under our belt. We have translated our software into 15 languages (including Japanese, Mandarin, and Cantonese), and many European languages. We specialize in testing prototypes and can even host on our servers. Studies usually take between 2- 4 weeks to plan, deploy, and collect data. Check out our site at http://www.userzoom.com and give us a call for an estimate!
I can vouch for UserZoom, it's by far the best tool out there.
The cost is also very reasonable, particularly when compared to lab testing.
You might find this site useful...
http://remoteusability.com/
On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 9:52 AM, Louis Georgiou <contact@ixda.org> wrote:
I have just completed a large project for bSkyb. We used Webnographer for the remote testing. http://www.webnographer.com/ They were exceptional as their value is in understanding the core nature of the research, translating this into a suitable test, running the test and then reporting back in a way that sheds light on the fundamental causes of the issues. A lot of these services are dumb online questionnaires that can do more harm than good. James Page and Sabrina Mach have been fascinating to work with. Their background in behaviour science, engineering, anthropology, ethnography, UCD, psychology is astounding. There broad range of skills makes a huge difference to the quality of work produced. I should say that I am no affiliated in any way whatsoever with Webnographer. I am a freelance UxC that knows Webnographer from the days I worked at Flow interactive. Good luck with your research.
Bolt|Peters. Innovative and smart people, a blast to work with.
http://boltpeters.com/
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On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 7:51 AM, virtual3 <contact@ixda.org> wrote:
If you want an overview of the wide variety of options available, please also refer to this previous IxDA thread (which, I will point out, is listed in the "Related threads" area of the website alongside this current thread):
http://www.ixda.org/node/19724
In particular, follow the link to the Google spreadsheet that contains a round-up of various remote usability testing systems.
Cheers,
Liz
For remote moderated usability testing, I highly recommend gotomeeting.com. I did a short writeup of a similar process using a different set of tools. It's here:http://bit.ly/9fEPxW
And Rebecca Richkus commented that GTM worked even better. After trying it, I agree with her. But your needs may vary, so check out both methods.
Bottom line, if you're looking for cheap, easy and moderated testing, try GTM or the process I described in the article.
Regards, Paul
Paul Sherman | ShermanUX E: paul@shermanux.com Ph: +1.512.917.1942
On Mar 12, 2010, at 1:09 PM, Elizabeth Bacon wrote:
If you want an overview of the wide variety of options available, please also refer to this previous IxDA thread (which, I will point out, is listed in the "Related threads" area of the website alongside this current thread):
http://www.ixda.org/node/19724
In particular, follow the link to the Google spreadsheet that contains a round-up of various remote usability testing systems.
Cheers, Liz
For remote *moderated* usability testing, I highly recommend gotomeeting.com. I did a short writeup of a similar process using a different set of tools. It's here: http://bit.ly/9fEPxW
And Rebecca Richkus commented that GTM worked even better because it was non-modal; that is, you didn't have to perform an action to switch control between you and the participant. After trying it, I agreed with her. Plus, performance was pretty snappy. But your needs may vary, so check out both methods.
Bottom line, if you're looking for cheap, easy and moderated testing, try GTM or the process I describe in the writeup.
Regards,
Paul
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Paul Sherman | ShermanUX
E: paul@shermanux.com
Ph: +1.512.917.1942
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Thanks for all these great suggestions! I am going to assess them all individually and figure out which one is the best fit for us. I will update this thread post-testing with any interesting findings. The clincher for us is that we need : recruitment in our target market, moderation and tranlsation back to English of the test results.
Thanks again
Shona
The best that I have known for Remote Usability Testing is UserZoom.
Try www.boltpeters.com
> Does anyone have any suggestions for companies offering remote user
> testing >
you can contact HFI Mumbai, Kern Hyderabad. both do remote usability testing.
On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 4:47 AM, shonar <contact@ixda.org> wrote:
For remote moderated usability testing, I highly recommend gotomeeting.com. I did a short writeup of a similar process using a different set of tools. It's here: http://bit.ly/9fEPxW
And Rebecca Richkus commented that GTM worked even better. After trying it, I agree with her. But your needs may vary, so check out both methods.
Bottom line, if you're looking for cheap, easy and moderated testing, try GTM or the process I described in the article.
Regards, Paul
Paul Sherman | ShermanUX E: paul@shermanux.com Ph: +1.512.917.1942
On Mar 11, 2010, at 5:17 PM, shonar wrote:
Does anyone have any suggestions for companies offering remote user testing including in-country recruiting in either Asia (Japan and China) or Europe. We are looking to test a prototype of some new site functionality and need a fast and cheap way to achieve this. Looking for something along the lines of usertesting.com.
I also am searching for an alternative to UserVue and appreciate the discussion.
When using GoToMeeting or Webex to allow observers, can the facilitator mute observers to avoid their trying to communicate with the test participant? Or do you have to rely on observers muting their own connection?
Does anyone who has used GoToMeeting for remote testing, know whether it works well across mac and pc platforms ? i.e can the user testing participant be on a mac?
thanks, shona
It works well on a Mac for a participant - for you as a researcher, to my knowledge they've not yet worked out how to let a session leader record if you're using a Mac.
I've not used GoToMeeting in a few months - have they got that worked our yet, does anyone know?
Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 2, 2010, at 4:20 PM, shonar wrote:
> Does anyone who has used GoToMeeting for remote testing, know whether it works well across mac and pc platforms ? i.e can the user testing participant be on a mac? > > thanks, shona > >
I haven't used it for testing, but yes, GoToMeeting works well on a Mac.
Best,
Jack
The most cost effective tool and out there is Loop11. It's also the simplest, easiest tool to use. It's completely online and unmoderated. No downloads, and no coding required means you can test any website (including your competitors) in just minutes. Best of all it's only $350 and completely DIY!
Check it out:
www.Loop11.com