Remote Testing

Reach your users.

You need to reach global users or users who are otherwise difficult to bring to one location--User Centric has the capabilities to accomplish your goals through remote testing. We gather user performance and feedback while they work from their own computer at home or work. User Centric has conducted remote tests with a variety of websites from electronics catalogues to travel planning.

Remote Testing Methods Include:

Moderated User Testing

A user experience specialist conducts a one-on-one session real-time with a participant using remote technology such as web meeting, streaming sessions to a secure Web site, and conference calling.

We recruit qualified users and invite them to participate in a remote testing session.

An experienced moderator conducts the session including interview, task performance, think aloud, ratings and feedback.

We record video of the participants' screens as well as audio commentary from the sessions.

Unmoderated User Testing Using LEOtrace®

User Centric owns the exclusive North and South Americas distribution rights to LEOtrace® (Logging Experience Online), the first remote testing system that combines monitoring, surveys, and technical metrics, all within the user's natural environment. We can capture user behavior on a website, either while the participants perform pre-determined tasks or follow their own natural intent with the website.

The remote testing system records all actions, visited pages, and a number of other variables.

User experience experts analyze participant feedback in the context of the pages and paths on which it occurred.

Analyzed results may be presented as scorecards, click heatmaps, and a number of other representations based on your needs.

Unmoderated tests can be used for long-term monitoring of user behavior on your Web site.

A comparative analysis shows user behavior on your Web site vs. user behavior on competitors' sites.

The LEOtrace® Advantage:

Reach hundreds of users where and when they use your website

Track user behaviors on competitors' websites

Combine web analytic data, activity-based questioning, natural customer behavior, and "silent movies" that allow you to observe every user session and combine all user data into actionable insights

Make the right decisions when re-launching your website by collecting all the information you need to choose from several design-variants or prototypes that your users prefer

LEOtrace® Technology:

Server: Capture data streamed between the client and the server

No downloads required by the user

Users are invited via an invitation layer on the website

Plug-in: User installs a plug-in in their browser

No download on the client server

Plug-in is compatible with IE and Firefox

Users are recruited from an online panel

For more information about LEOtrace®, contact us!

Related news & publications:

Our research has been published in books and professional journals, and is presented regularly at conferences. Many of our articles and publications can be read online, downloaded in PDF format, or requested by e-mail.

Names in italics indicate User Centric employees at the time of publication.

Lew, G. (2008). The Truth is Out There. User Experience Magazine, 7.3
Show Summary
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Most user experience practitioners realize that they need to get out of the labs and spend more time in “the wild” where products are actually being used. Common methods to capture user experience, such as in-lab usability testing, contextual interviews, surveys, focus groups, and ethnographic research are useful, but pose challenges. Experience sampling captures user experience in the place and time it occurs. When employed over time, it can provide insight into users’ activities, motivations, and product learnability and long-term usage patterns. We now have the technology to conduct experience sampling research using the participant’s own mobile device. This article discusses how advanced mobile technology coupled with experience sampling methodologies can enhance our research toolbox and describes practical uses of the technique in the field.