As a participant, you'll be asked to navigate prototype(s) and/or website(s) to complete a task so that organizations can learn from your experience and find ways to improve it. The studies may also include survey questions.
It is not a test of your ability. There are no wrong or right answers!
Getting started is incredibly simple. There's no extra desktop extensions or logins needed.
How to get started
Accessing the study. When you click the study link provided to you, the study will either open in your web browser or direct you to the Optimal Participant mobile app if you are accessing the study on your mobile app and recording is required. For more details on the mobile experience, please visit this help doc.
If no recording is required and you are accessing the study on your mobile app, you'll be directed to a mobile browser to take the study.
Allowing permissions. If the study includes AI moderated questions, prototype tests, a live site test, or AI moderated interview, the study will ask for you to grant permissions. Please enable them when your browser requests permission:
Video recording (dependent on the study)
Audio recording (required)
Screen recording (required)
If you are taking a test on Google Chrome with website or AI prototype testing, you'll need to allow picture in picture.
In the case that the picture-in-picture window with the task doesn’t appear on the test website or you have accidentally clicked "Don't allow" for picture-in-picture, please return to the original study tab and enable automatic picture-in-picture permissions by clicking the control icon to the left of the URL.
*If the study creator has made the camera recording option optional, you can click Skip without recording. Otherwise, you'll need to allow the appropriate permissions in order to continue.
After selecting your permissions, you’ll be directed to a confirmation page showing your selected permissions and a preview of your video, if you’ve enabled that permission.
Start recording. Your recording won’t start until you begin the first task. Recording capabilities are available for all Mac and Windows up-to-date browsers on desktop. If you encounter any issues with setting up your permissions, please visit this help doc for guidance.
Completing a study with a prototype test
Here’s how it works:
You will be presented with an interactive prototype and a task to complete.
Navigate through the prototype until you believe you have completed the task, if you have enabled microphone recording, talk through your thinking as you go. This is not a test of your ability, there are no right or wrong answers.
Once you feel you have completed the task, hit the Finish task button.
Once you have finished all the tasks, please keep the study tab open until your recording has uploaded as indicated by the progress bar. After the recording has finished uploading, you’re free to close this window or navigate to another web page.
Completing a study with a live site test
Here’s how it works:
You may be first presented with instructions.
The website will open in a new tab after you click Continue. Navigate through the website until you believe you have completed the task. Talk through your thinking as you go. This is not a test of your ability, there are no right or wrong answers.
For live site tasks (Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge), you will see the task overlaid on the website. You can move or expand/collapse the task box as needed.
Once you feel you have completed the task, hit the finish task button in the task box (available for Chrome or Edge) or return to the original study link (all other browsers) to hit finish task.
Once you have finished all the tasks, please keep the study tab open until your recording has uploaded as indicated by the progress bar. After the recording has finished uploading, you’re free to close this window or navigate to another web page.
Completing a study with a native mobile app test
Here’s how it works:
You may be first presented with instructions.
You’ll then see a task with a preview of the app, along with the task or question you’ll be asked to complete. Click Start task to begin.
If you don’t already have the app being tested installed on your iOS or Android device, you’ll be directed to download it from the App Store or Google Play. Otherwise, the app will open automatically.
Navigate through the app until you feel you’ve completed the task, talking through your thoughts as you go. There are no right or wrong answers.
If you've navigated away from the app or ready to move to the next task, switch back to the Optimal Participant App where you can Resume task to open the app you're testing again or Finish task to continue.
Note: Your screen recording will continue as you switch between apps during the study. Before you begin, we recommend closing any other apps or tabs containing private information before you begin.