Free remote usability testing taster

I've been a long time subscriber to the remote usability testing tool UserTesting.com. They've recently introduced a free taster service - "Peek" - which I recommend you try out.

First impression on receiving the email was "What's the catch?" The paid service is good value, but not that cheap, so how can they be doing it for free?

But having tried the Peek service I can see why they're doing this and recommend you give it a whirl. You will probably want to pay for the full service when you have, which obviously is the point.

What happens:

1. You provide your email
   
2. You provide the URL of a site you want a user to try out
   
3. They recruit a participant to undertake a small number of set tasks and record a 5 minute video
   
4. You receive an email with a link to this video

It's that simple.

It's a great way to dip your toe in the water of remote usability testing and to get something to show the boss.

If you have specific things you want to learn about your site, you're going to be frustrated. You're not the target audience. I think this is for people who never get round to testing because it feels intimidating, and those yet to be convinced of its value.

Your video will be about 5 minutes long and the questions answered by the participant are standard ones set by the service. So very limited, but what do you expect for nothing?

Remember Steve Krug's advice: "Recruit loosely and grade on a curve." Recruitment is about as loose as it gets but you will learn something, and it's up to you what you do with this information.

Try Peek, the new free service from UserTesting.com

I've written a few blog posts on the topic of remote user testing, so if you want to learn more it's a good place to start.

My blog posts on remote usability testing