Foundation release

The loudest opinion shouldn’t win.

Find out what people actually do. Six kinds of unmoderated study, each answering one question about your design — build one, share a single link, and read what came back. No participant accounts, and no research background needed.

How it works

Three steps, start to answer.

  1. Start from your question

    Pick whichever of the six matches what you need to know. The study gets built around it.

  2. Share one link

    Publish and you get a single link. Send it anywhere — people answer without making an account.

  3. Read what came back

    Responses land as people finish, summarised the way that method is meant to be read.

The methods

Six ways to end the argument.

Tree testing

Can people find things in my navigation?

Give people a task and watch which path through your menu they take.

30–50 people 5–10 min each

Card sorting

How would people group my content?

Hand people your content as cards and let them sort it into groups that make sense to them.

15–30 people 10–15 min each

First-click testing

Where do people click first?

Show a screen, give a task, and record the very first place people click.

30–50 people 2–5 min each

Preference testing

Which version should we ship?

Put two or more options side by side and ask people to choose, and say why.

20–50 people 1–3 min each

Five-second testing

Does my page land in five seconds?

Show a screen briefly, take it away, and ask what people remember.

20–30 people 2–4 min each

Short surveys

What did people make of it?

Ask a handful of rating and open questions, on their own or after another task.

30+ people 3–5 min each

These are the ranges usually recommended for each method — treat them as a starting point. A study with eight people still tells you more than a study with none.

Side by side

Still deciding between two?

What each method gives you back, and what it costs to run.
Method You get back People Time each
Tree testing How many people found it, and how many went straight there 30–50 people 5–10 min
Card sorting Which items people put together, and what they called each group 15–30 people 10–15 min
First-click testing Where the first click landed, and how often it was the right place 30–50 people 2–5 min
Preference testing Which option won, by how much, and the reasons people gave 20–50 people 1–3 min
Five-second testing What people remembered, and what they thought the page was for 20–30 people 2–4 min
Short surveys How people rated it, plus their answers in their own words 30+ people 3–5 min

Good to know

A few things people ask.

Do I need to be a researcher?
No. Each method asks you for a task and the content to test, and handles the study design around it.
Where do participants come from?
You bring them. There is no panel built in — share the link with customers, a mailing list, or a community you already have.
Which should I run first?
Never run one before? Start with a five-second or first-click test. Both take minutes to set up and give you something you can act on.

Pick a question. The study builds itself around it.

Open creator workspace