Create a Usability Task question

Ask participants to complete a task in order to capture and understand their experience when interacting with a digital interface. You can also choose to ask participants a follow-up question about whether they were successful in completing the task.

Note:

• This question type is available in modern surveys only.
• This question type works for desktop and mobile participants. However, if you use it in conjunction with the Recording action (which is only supported in desktop), participation will be limited to desktop participants only.

Important: Once the activity is distributed, you cannot edit the Usability Task question by switching the task type between Figma and Website. For Figma prototypes, you cannot change the prototype link, edit the prototype (by adding or removing screens or changing flows), or change the start/end screens and path. These types of changes while the activity is in-field will adversely affect how success is defined and calculated and how heatmaps are compiled, and therefore adversely affect the accuracy of your reporting data. If you need to make changes, hide the old Usability Task question and create a new one.

Including a Usability Task question in your survey is a key part of creating an unmoderated usability test. For more information, see The unmoderated usability testing workflow.

Tip:

Need to get started with unmoderated usability testing fast? Check out our quick start guides:

• Authoring and distribution
• Reporting
• Participant experience

Tip:

Participant Training - Digital Experience Testing Video

Need to show participants what to expect when they complete an unmoderated usability test? Download our how-to video and add it to the beginning of the survey using a Media Player element. Participants can view the video and learn how to complete an unmoderated usability test step by step.

Modern survey:

Figma prototype

Website

1. In the Survey Builder Toolbox, under Advanced Questions, do one of the following:
   • Drag the Usability Task question to the Table of Contents.
   • Click the Usability Task question.
   

Tip:

• Usability Task questions must occur after the Recording action.
• Each Usability Task question must be on its own survey page, and that survey page can only have the Usability Task question.
• You can have as many Usability Task questions as you want in an activity.

2. In the Table of Contents, click the Usability Task question.
   The Edit Pane appears.
3. Edit the Task name.
   Task names:

   • Should be unique.
   • Can contain symbols and all alphanumeric characters.
   • Are not displayed to participants.
4. In the Task instruction field, enter the instruction text.
   Note: The recommended character limit is 2500.

   Tip:

   • Be clear in your instruction text about when participants should return to the survey tab.

     Since participants are completing the task in a new browser tab, you need to give them a clear end point to indicate when they should switch back to the survey tab (for example, Once you're done exploring or you've been able to sign up to join, come back to this tab and click Next).

     The question text should also cover a scenario in which participants are unsuccessful (for example, If you haven't been able to sign up to join within five minutes, please return to the survey and click Next). You want participants to return to the survey and let you know they were unsuccessful instead of just closing their browser tabs and being marked as incomplete.

   • Include language that reminds participants to think out loud.

     This is also shown to participants when they see the Recording action's tips and reminders, but reiterating this message helps.

   • Include language that reminds participants not to stop the recording manually.

     Participants may not understand that the Recording action has to run until the end of the survey, and may be tempted to stop the recording manually.

5. If you are testing a Figma prototype:
   1. Click Figma.
   2. Click Import Prototype.
      If this is your first time accessing Figma from the Alida platform, you are prompted to authenticate into Figma before you can import the prototype. Click Connect to Figma and follow the onscreen prompts. The token lasts 90 days once you're authenticated. If you belong to multiple communities, you'll need to authenticate again when you switch to a new community.
   3. In the Import Prototype dialog, in the Prototype link field, type the URL and click Import.
      Tip:

      Follow these tips to optimize your Figma prototype for responding:

      • Use a dedicated file for testing. Simplify layers, reduce image sizes, remove unused elements, and limit prototype interactions.
      • Set access control to Anyone with the link to ensure participants can view it.
      • Add password protection if sensitive content is included and share the password in the task instructions.
      • Ensure the link's expiration date matches or exceeds the survey duration.
      • Use figma.com/proto/ to link the prototype, not the work file.

      For more information about optimizing Figma prototypes, see Best practices: Figma prototypes.

   4. To refresh the Figma prototype link or link a different prototype, click Refresh and repeat step 6c.
   5. Under Define Start Screen, review the start screen and click Change Start Screen to select a different one if necessary.
      By default, the first screen of the first flow is detected and used as the start screen.
   6. Set the goal type:

      • Path

        • Select this option if you want to validate the user journey in your prototype and ensure the flow is logical and intuitive.
        • After you click Path, click Define Path. You'll be prompted to click through the screens in your prototype to define the happy path that participants would take to get from the start screen to the end of the prototyped user experience. Ensure your path has at least two screens, and the final screen is not a screen that appears earlier in the path.
        • On the left side, under Prototype preview, click through the prototype as a participant would. Note that you can only click the hotspots that were pre-defined in Figma.
        • As you click, the Defined path screens appear on the right side.

        • To delete screens from the path, hover over the thumbnail in the Defined path panel until you see the delete icon.

          

          Click the thumbnail, and then in the Confirm Deletion dialog, click Delete Path. Deleting a screen from the end of the path will remove that screen only. Deleting a screen partway through the path will remove subsequent screens as well.

        • When you are finished, click Finish Path.

      • End Screen

        • Select this option if want to test whether participants can arrive at a specific feature, button, icon, or screen successfully, regardless of which path they take.
        • After you click End Screen, click Select End Screen. You'll be prompted to choose the final screen participants see. When you are finished, click Apply.
6. If you are testing a website:
   1. Click Website.
   2. In the Task link field, type the URL to the website or resource participants will visit to complete the task.
      This website or resource must be publicly accessible.
   3. Turn the Task Success toggle on or off.
      This setting controls whether participants are asked a follow-up task success question.

      Tip:

      • The task success question is a quantifiable measure of whether participants were successful. We recommend leaving this on so you have the data point in reporting.
      • Task success questions can be used in survey logic and quotas. You can build conditions using Yes, No, Has a value, or Has no value.
   4. If the Task Success toggle is on, type the Task success question text.
7. Optional: Once you have authored your question, you can also:
   • Add a question image
   • Format the question
   • Define how participants move through the survey
   • Hide the question
   • Duplicate the question
   • Delete the question
8. To preview the Usability Task question, in the Edit Pane, click Preview.
   
   A preview of the Usability Task question appears.

   Note: Although you can toggle between desktop and mobile in survey preview, once the survey is distributed, mobile participants will not be able to proceed to the Usability Task question if there is a Recording action preceding it. They will be prompted to switch to a desktop to proceed.

Related information

• The unmoderated usability testing workflow
• Create a Recording action
• Writing effective unmoderated usability test questions
• The participants' experience during an unmoderated usability test