Recording a usability testRecording a usability test

One of the most important parts of conducting usability tests is communicating the results. This means you should share the most valuable findings in ways that people can easily understand. One way to do this is to share recordings of the actual tests. There aren't many requirements for recording other than having access to a device that can record the study and asking your participants if you can record them.

You should ask your participants upfront whether they consent to being recorded. If a participant agrees but prefers to remain anonymous, that's fine—just make sure to remove identifying details before you put it online. It's not a requirement to be able to identify the participant in a usability test.

Recording tools

There are a lot of different tools available to record usability tests.

Modern operating systems will generally provide on-board solutions that enable basic screen recording at no extra cost and without the need to install third-party software. However, a variety of Open Source and even Closed Source / paid alternatives exists, too, which may provide features like recording screen shares and video meetings with sound, summarizing the outcome via AI, and more.

Examples

• Quicktime (macOS) → just press cmd + shift + 5
• Snipping tool / integrated recording (Windows) → just press win + shift + S
• WebEx (requires subscription)
• Camtasia (14-day trial)
• CamStudio
• BB Flashback
• This zapier article lists some more

Putting them online

In the past, we have uploaded recordings of our usability tests to various sites, but we want to standardize their location on Vimeo. We have a group in which we can organize the usability testing recordings. If you are unable to upload them here, please get in contact with members of the UX Team.

Vimeo Drupal UX group

Use the following naming pattern for uploading a usability test: [Test title + year abbreviation] [Participant number]. An example would be the following: Baltimore 09 Participant 4.