The 20 Best Usability Testing Tools To Improve User Adoption In 2024
10 The Best Usability Testing Tools Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 20 tools reviewed.
With so many different usability testing tools available, figuring out which is right for you is tough. You know you want to make informed decisions based on user behavior and preferences and validate design choices and hypotheses but need to figure out which tool is best for the job. I've got you! In this post I'll help make your choice easy, sharing my personal experiences using different tools with large teams and dozens of products, with my picks of the best usability testing tools.
What Are Usability Testing Tools?
Usability testing tools are software solutions used by UX researchers, developers, and product designers to test their target audience. They measure how user-friendly and efficient a product or a system is by either simulating real-user interactions or monitoring and gathering quantitative data from real test participants.
Through methods like task analysis, highlight reels, user surveys, or heatmaps, the testing software reveals how users navigate through a product, where they encounter issues, and what aspects enhance or detract from their overall customer experience. This helps businesses streamline their user interfaces, making their products more intuitive, easy to use, and ultimately, more successful in the market.
Overviews Of The 10 Best Usability Testing Tools
UserGuiding is an all-in-one product adoption platform designed to help businesses create in-app experiences without the need for coding. It offers features like product tours, onboarding checklists, and in-app surveys to drive user adoption and enhance product strategy.
Why I Picked UserGuiding:
This platform is unique in that it focuses specifically on creating better product adoption and onboarding experiences. To test the usability of onboarding experiences, UserGuiding offers features like in-app surveys as well as analytics to help product teams understand the effectiveness of their content. The analytics feature can also help identify areas where users may be experiencing difficulties during the initial adoption of the entire product or of newly-introduced features, enabling targeted improvements.
UserGuiding Standout Features & Integrations
Features include product tours for businesses to create interactive guides that enhance user engagement and activation. The onboarding checklists feature provides users with a clear, step-by-step guide to navigate through the product, reducing confusion and improving conversion rates. Additionally, the resource centers consolidate all educational content into a single widget within the app, offering self-service support and improving user onboarding.
Integrations include Intercom, Mixpanel, Segment, Slack, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Woopra, and HubSpot.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Good onboarding analytics
- No-coding necessary
- Ability to customize onboarding experiences
Cons:
- Could have more advanced features, such as the ability to add audio to guides
- Initial setup can be challenging
Lightster is a user testing tool and survey platform that allows users to quickly gather crucial data from their target audience through surveys and conversations. It is an ideal tool for teams looking for user-focused feedback collection because of its ability to facilitate direct interactions with audiences, offering real-time reactions, ideas, and insights that are crucial for making product decisions.
Why I Picked Lightster:
I like that Lightster offers an intuitive interface and a comprehensive set of tools for gathering user-focused feedback. The platform allows for live feedback sessions in the form of audio, video calls, and chat. Furthermore, the software has a robust matching system that offers detailed audience selection based on a wide range of criteria, including demographics, interests, and professional backgrounds.
Lightster Standout Features & Integrations
Features include surveys and unmoderated tests to collect feedback from your target audience and UX testing functions to see reactions to your product and its usability in real time. Lightster also facilitates collaboration between team members with access features that allow others to join each session.
Integrations include Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar, and more.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Multiple options for collecting feedback
- Direct interactions with target audience
- Detailed target audience criteria
Cons:
- Software cannot guarantee engagement
- Integration limitations
UserTesting is a leading usability testing platform that gives you the ability to receive video feedback from users interacting with your design. It’s particularly effective if you need a wide variety of user perspectives, due to its extensive participant demographics.
Why I Picked UserTesting:
I selected UserTesting for this list because of its vast and diverse participant pool. It stood out because it gives you the capability to understand how different users interact with your design, ensuring your product appeals to a broad audience. When it comes to having a comprehensive user base spanning various demographics, this tool is simply unmatched, making it the best for broad user base in usability testing tools.
UserTesting Standout Features & Integrations
Features include 'Live Conversation' which enables you to interact with participants in real-time, and 'Longitudinal Study' for observing changes in user behavior over time.
On the integrations side, UserTesting works well with major product management platforms like Jira, Trello, and Slack, facilitating easy coordination and timely updates.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Integration with popular project management tools
- Offers live interaction with participants
- Provides a broad demographic of user testers
Cons:
- Advanced features require higher pricing tiers
- Some learning curve for first-time users
- Pricing is based on the number of videos, which might not be suitable for all budgets
Applause
Best known for its extensive community of professional testers
Applause is a comprehensive usability testing tool that employs a global community of qualified testers to assess your digital experiences. This unique approach lends itself well to those who are looking to benefit from a diverse range of professional insights, pinpointing usability issues that might go unnoticed with other tools.
Why I Picked Applause:
Applause made it onto my list due to its extensive global community of professional testers. They've also been in the crowd-sourcing category since 2007 and this aspect sets it apart, making it a unique tool compared to its competitors. The rich, diverse insights garnered from professional testers of various backgrounds significantly enhance the value of the usability testing process. This is why I believe Applause is the best for its extensive community of professional testers.
Applause Standout Features & Integrations
Features include the real-world testing setup which allows the testers to test the applications under actual usage conditions. This provides a more realistic understanding of the user experience. Additionally, Applause allows for testing across various devices, platforms, and locations, catering to a global digital product.
Applause integrates with a variety of popular bug tracking, project management, and communication tools such as JIRA, Slack, and Asana. These integrations ensure a smooth workflow, making it easier to manage and implement feedback from usability tests.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Integrates with popular project management tools
- Real-world testing conditions
- Global community of professional testers
Cons:
- The vastness of the tester community may lead to inconsistency in feedback
- No free trial available
- Custom pricing may be a barrier for small businesses
Crazy Egg is a website optimization tool that allows you to understand user activity on your website through heatmaps, scroll maps, and other visual reports. Its unique selling point is its powerful heatmap functionality, which provides you with a visual representation of user clicks, scrolls, and mouse movements.
Why I Picked Crazy Egg:
I selected this tool for its exceptional ability to visualize user interaction on a website. Many tools offer user behavior tracking, but Crazy Egg sets itself apart with its clear, easy-to-understand heatmaps, which give you direct insight into the most engaging parts of your site. As a result, it's my top choice for visualizing user activity through heatmaps.
Crazy Egg Standout Features & Integrations
Features include its heatmap technology, which lets you see exactly where users are clicking, scrolling, and even where their mouse hovers. This provides a visual understanding of user engagement and can help inform site design and content placement decisions. Other noteworthy features include A/B testing and conversion rate optimization tools.
As for integrations, Crazy Egg integrates with a variety of popular platforms including WordPress, Shopify, and Joomla, making it easy to incorporate into existing workflows.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Comprehensive A/B testing and conversion rate optimization features
- Integrations with popular website platforms like WordPress and Shopify
- Powerful heatmap functionality for understanding user interaction
Cons:
- Annual billing may not be ideal for all users
- Limited functionality beyond heatmaps and A/B testing
- Pricing may be too high for smaller businesses or individual users
Userbrain is a usability testing service that provides you with videos of real people speaking their thoughts while using your website or app. The core of Userbrain's appeal lies in its commitment to continuous, weekly user feedback, keeping you constantly in touch with the user experience.
Why I Picked Userbrain:
Its unique proposition of delivering weekly user feedback videos caught my attention. This consistent, regular feedback system provides an ongoing stream of insights into user experience and interface design, which is rare in many usability testing tools.
Userbrain Standout Features & Integrations
Features include its weekly testing cycle that ensures regular user feedback. It also offers remote usability testing which means you get testers who are unbiased and speak their mind freely. The tool delivers videos of users navigating your website or app, providing crucial insight into how users interact with your digital product.
Userbrain does not provide specific third-party integrations, but its focus lies on providing a dedicated testing platform that can be utilized alongside other tools for analysis and feedback management.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Subscription-based model allowing for budget predictability
- Unbiased, remote usability testing
- Weekly user videos for continuous feedback
Cons:
- Not ideal for one-off testing due to subscription model
- The service may be cost-prohibitive for small businesses or individuals
- Lacks specific third-party integrations
Userfeel is a usability testing platform with a key strength: its ability to support multilingual testing in over 40 languages. This tool facilitates the process of remote usability testing, providing you with videos of real users speaking their thoughts while using your website or app.
Why I Picked Userfeel:
Given its extensive language support, Userfeel shines when you need to conduct usability testing on a multilingual or global scale. It is this multilingual approach that made me choose it. With support for over 40 languages, it stands out from other usability testing platforms that may only support a few languages. I also considered the fact that businesses often need to reach audiences who speak various languages, and this tool serves that purpose excellently.
Userfeel Standout Features & Integrations
Features include highlight videos that help you present the results of your usability tests to your team, like critical issues. The tool also includes an advanced dashboard for clear, efficient analysis of test results.
Userfeel offers integration with Slack for communication and real-time updates on the testing process.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Offers integration with Slack for streamlined communication
- Advanced dashboard for efficient analysis of test results
- Supports multilingual usability testing in 40+ languages
Cons:
- Real-time support is limited to business hours
- Lacks a broader range of integrations with other project management tools
- Per-test pricing model may not suit businesses with frequent testing needs
Lookback is a user research platform that puts you directly in touch with your users, allowing you to record and analyze user experiences. It shines in its ability to capture real-time user feedback through immersive, in-depth interviews, making it a superb choice for those wanting rich, qualitative data.
Why I Picked Lookback:
I selected this tool for its unique approach to usability testing. It provides an unmatched depth of user understanding by focusing on interactive user interviews. This intimate approach to gathering user feedback makes Lookback stand out from the pack. Finally, it allows you to delve into users' thought processes in real time, enhancing your understanding of the user journey.
Lookback Standout Features & Integrations
Features include its 'Remote LiveShare' function, which offers live, interactive sessions with users. Additionally, the 'SelfTest with Scheduling' feature allows users to participate in tests at their own convenience.
As for integrations, Lookback plays well with popular data analysis tools like Dovetail and EnjoyHQ, making the transition from data collection to analysis smooth.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Allows users to participate in tests at their convenience
- Supports both remote and in-person testing
- Enables real-time interaction with users
Cons:
- Limited integration with project management tools
- Higher pricing tier for added features
- Might require a learning curve to fully utilize
UserZoom is a versatile usability testing tool designed for UX research. It offers a wealth of features to help you understand user behavior and optimize the user experience. Given its thorough research capabilities, it is perfect for those needing an all-encompassing tool for usability and UX research.
Why I Picked UserZoom:
I chose this tool due to its comprehensive capabilities that cover both usability testing and UX research. It offers a variety of research methods, from card sorting to tree testing, that not many other tools provide. I found it to be the best for comprehensive usability and UX research capabilities because it ensures that you're not only testing for usability but also understanding the user experience on a deeper level.
UserZoom Standout Features & Integrations
Features include 'Card Sorting', 'Click Testing', and 'Heatmaps'. These features ensure that you get a clear idea of your user's preferences, their interaction with your design, and areas of your site that get the most attention.
UserZoom integrates smoothly with popular analytics platforms such as Google Analytics, as well as project management tools like Jira, and even some CRM systems, ensuring you can connect your UX data with other business metrics.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Smooth integration with analytics and project management tools
- Variety of testing methods available
- Comprehensive usability testing and UX research tool
Cons:
- Limited customization options in the basic pricing tier
- Could be overwhelming for beginners due to its broad range of features
- Higher pricing compared to some other tools
TryMyUI is a user testing tool that excels at capturing user emotions and confusion points during testing sessions. Because of its emphasis on capturing user emotions and pinpointing confusion, this platform is great for understanding your users' experience.
Why I Picked TryMyUI:
I picked it because of how it combines video footage of the user's interaction with your product alongside their verbal feedback. The tool’s ability to capture video footage and synchronize it with this verbal feedback creates a comprehensive picture of the user experience.
The tool supports testing on both mobile devices and desktop computers, accommodating a wider range of testing scenarios.
TryMyUI Standout Features & Integrations
Features include the user panel which has a large pool of pre-screened participants from various demographics. This can be beneficial for quickly finding participants who match your target audience.
TryMyUI's major integrations include popular project management tools like Trello and Jira, which allow for easy task management and feedback implementation.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Integrates with popular project management tools
- Offers an easy-to-use platform for analyzing and segmenting user feedback
- Synchronized video and verbal feedback provides a detailed understanding of user emotions
Cons:
- User testing videos require considerable storage and bandwidth
- Could have more extensive integrations
- Limited advanced features in the starting tier
The Best Usability Testing Tools Summary
| Tools | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| UserGuiding | From $89/month (billed annually) | Website |
| Lightster | From $50/month | Website |
| UserTesting | Pricing available upon request | Website |
| Applause | No price details | Website |
| Crazy Egg | From $29/user/month | Website |
| Userbrain | From $99/month | Website |
| Userfeel | From $30/tester | Website |
| Lookback | From $25/month (billed annually | Website |
| UserZoom | Pricing upon request | Website |
| Trymata (formerly TryMyUI) | From $399/month (2 seats) | Website |
Compare Software Specs Side by Side
Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.
Compare SoftwareOther Usability Testing Tools
Below is a list of additional usability testing tools that I shortlisted, but did not make it to the top. Definitely worth checking them out.
Selection Criteria For Usability Testing Tools
When choosing a usability testing tool, there are several important criteria that I consider based on my extensive experience in this area. I have personally tested and researched numerous tools, evaluating their features, usability, and core functionality, among other things. In the end, the tools I have chosen to include in this list are those that most effectively meet the specific criteria I have outlined below.
Core Functionality
A UX testing tool should be able to do the following:
- Facilitate both moderated testing and unmoderated usability testing: This allows for more flexible testing scenarios and more comprehensive data.
- Record user sessions: This gives valuable insights into how users interact with a website or application. Hotjar is a good example of session recording software.
- Provide detailed analytics: Insights into user behavior are vital for improving UX.
Key Features
A good UX testing tool should have the following key features:
- Heatmaps: Visual representations of how users interact with a webpage (where they click, scroll, or hover) can provide invaluable insights about UX design and user understanding of the UI.
- Screen recording: Seeing what users see during their sessions can help identify problems in real-time. This is particularly relevant in website usability testing and mobile testing.
- Surveys and questionnaires: Direct user feedback can highlight issues you may not have considered. This feature also covers transcriptions of user interviews.
Usability
When considering usability, the following factors are critical for a UX testing tool:
- User-friendly interface: It should be easy to navigate and set up tests without requiring extensive technical skills. This includes the availability of templates to help you get a quick start.
- Efficient onboarding process: Time is a resource. Therefore, tools that can get you started quickly and offer intuitive functionality can be a real advantage.
- Comprehensive customer support: A responsive support team can make a world of difference when dealing with challenges or learning how to use advanced features.
Remember, the most crucial aspect is how well a tool fits into your workflow and meets your specific needs. Hence, always consider these criteria in the context of your unique requirements.
Integrations
Usability testing tools can increase their value for product teams if they can connect to other cloud-based tools. This can help smoothen the creation of different types of usability testing on other tools in your tech stack. Each review covers some of the integrations available with the tools as I'm sure they'll impact your final decision.
Usability Testing FAQs
Find answers to common questions other people ask about this topic.
What are the benefits of using usability testing tools?
Usability testing tools offer a range of benefits:
- They allow businesses to gain a deeper understanding of how their products are used by capturing user interactions and behavior. This can help uncover usability issues that may be hindering user experience.
- They often provide visual representations, like heatmaps and session recordings, to visualize user behavior.
- These tools can also assist in running surveys and questionnaires to collect direct user feedback.
- Businesses can potentially save costs associated with later-stage modifications by identifying usability issues early.
What is a basic usability test?
A basic usability test would involve two people: a tester and an observer. To set it up, you would need a computer where the user will test the prototype that you’ll put in front of them. Then, as they navigate your product, the observer would take note of behaviors and other navigation observations deemed important by the research team.
How much do usability testing tools typically cost?
The pricing for usability testing tools can vary significantly depending on their capabilities, the size of the user base, and the complexity of the tasks they can perform.
There are a few common pricing models for these tools. Some operate on a subscription basis, where you pay a monthly or annual fee for access. Others use a per-test or per-participant model, where you pay based on the amount of testing you do. Some tools offer a tiered pricing model, with more features and capabilities available at higher tiers.
The price can range from as low as $20 per month to over $200 per month for more advanced tools. It’s important to note that the cost is often proportional to the number of features and the level of insight the tool can provide.
What are the types of usability tests?
Usability testing provides you with information about the user. However, different tests throw different data for you to analyze. Here are 5 of the most popular usability tests:
- Moderated usability tests: When two humans, a moderator and a tester, interact for a test. This can be in person or through a video conferencing software.
- Unmoderated usability tests: When you send a test to your target audience but do not observe or moderate. Instead, you receive a recording of the session after they complete the test.
- Card sorting: When you ask users to group items according to what makes sense to them. Card sorting is a great exercise to test taxonomy for a website.
- First-click test: Not surprisingly, first-click testing is exactly what it sounds like. When you provide a user with instructions and record the place where they make the first click.
- Preference testing: When you present the user variations of the product. The intention behind preference testing is to record the feedback users give on why they prefer an option over the other.
Are there any free usability testing tools?
Yes, there are some free options available. Tools like Chalkmark by Optimal Workshop offer a free plan, but these are often limited in features and scope compared to their paid counterparts.
Can these tools be used for mobile app testing?
Yes, many of these tools offer the ability to conduct usability testing on both websites and mobile apps. Be sure to check with the specific tool, as capabilities can vary.
Other Usability Testing Tools Reviews
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