Create a Recording action

The Recording action allows you to record participants' screens during a portion of the survey with their consent. It can also capture video and audio through participants' cameras and microphones if these options are enabled.

Note: This survey action type is available in modern surveys only.

Including a Recording action in your survey is a key part of creating an unmoderated usability test. Without it, you will not have screen, audio, or video recordings. 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 (desktop):

1. From the Survey Builder Toolbox, under Multimedia Content, do one of the following:
   • Drag the Recording action to the Table of Contents.
   • Click the Recording action.
   
2. In the Table of Contents, click Recording Starts Here.
   The Edit pane appears.
3. Choose a Supported Devices setting.
   • Desktop and Mobile

     Participants can complete the activity on their desktop or from the Alida mobile app.

   • Mobile Only

     Participants must download the Alida app to record their screens on mobile. Participants who open the activity on desktop will see instructions and a QR code they can scan to start the activity from their phone.

   • Desktop Only

     Participants will only be able to respond on desktop. Participants who open the activity on their phones will be instructed to try again on a desktop.

   Your choice depends on :

   • Your research goals: Which type of participant do you want feedback from?
   • Your prototype: Is the prototype design intended for desktop or mobile?
   • Website responsiveness: If the task is website-based, is the website optimized for screens of different sizes?
4. Under Recording Options, select or clear recording methods.
   Screen recording is always on, but you can choose whether to enable these options.

   Option	Description
   Camera Recording	Record participants through their web cameras and capture video footage. If this option is enabled, participants see a Turn on your front camera for video recording message. They must allow their web browsers to access their cameras in order to proceed. If the activity's Supported Devices setting is Desktop and Mobile or Mobile Only, you can also select or clear Allow mobile devices that are unable to record both camera and microphone simultaneously (due to hardware limitations) to skip camera recording. We recommend selecting this option. That way, you're not preventing good testing candidates from providing valuable feedback because of their mobile devices' hardware limitations.
   Microphone Recording	Record participants through their microphones and capture audio. If this option is enabled, participants see a Speak into the microphone message. They must allow their web browsers to access their microphones in order to proceed.

   Both methods are selected by default.

Tip:

• There can only be one Recording action per survey.
• Place the Recording action where you want to start recording. The Recording action must be its own top-level item and cannot be nested under anything else or on a survey page. It should be placed before the Usability Task question in the Table of Contents.
• Starting from the Recording action to the end of the survey, participants have 60 minutes to complete the task and any follow-up questions.
• If participants exceed 60 minutes, they will be marked as incomplete and the recording will not be available in the report. Participants will have to begin the task again.
• Recordings are considered sensitive and will adhere to your data purge configuration.

5. Optional: Select or clear Hide Recording.
   This option is useful after the survey is distributed. Since you cannot delete elements from live surveys, you can use this option to hide the Recording action if necessary.
6. Optional: To preview the Recording action, in the Edit Pane, click Preview.
   
   A preview of the Recording action appears.

   Note: Although you can toggle between desktop and mobile in survey preview, once the survey is distributed, mobile participants will not see the Recording action and will not be able to proceed unless they switch to desktop.

Note: 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. We recommend putting language in the Usability Task question that instructs participants not to press stop.

Related information

• The unmoderated usability testing workflow
• Create a Usability Task question
• The participants' experience during an unmoderated usability test