TodaysTryout: Proven By Users

TodaysTryout is a series of articles in which you can read reviews about UX-related softwares and tools. Each product is tested for one day and the reviews collect the main aspects and impressions of use.

Now we will check out the Proven By Users user research platform and it’s new utilities. The site had exclusively card sorting tests in the past but they came out with a renewed look and an extended pack of goodies on 31.12.2020. With these, the site is suitable for first click testing, preference testing, five second testing, card sorting, tree testing and surveys.

The new release was a huge one with the five new functions and huge changes contain increased danger of clunkyness and unclearness. Proven By Users handled this relatively well. It’s obvious that they dedicated a lot of time to figure out what is necessary to set up usability tests and they have succeeded in most aspects. However, the site has some issues which render these efforts lose their value.

I would phrase as the tool as a whole is pretty much okay but there are small, general inconveniences which makes me feel hindered.

The site as a whole

Firstly, I would like to highlight some aspects which are not test-specific.

PROS:

• You may add as many sections to one test as you want, all six panels can be combined (first click , preference , five second, card sorting, tree testing, surveys.) I am a fan of flexibility therefore I like this.
• Every test has fine tuning options such as blocking a computer from accessing the test multiple times. These settings are very useful.
• You can choose from many languages for your tests. This is very important when your subjects doesn’t speak English.

Useful choices

CONS:

• Exported test results are not readable at all. I am a fan of readability therefore I do not like this at all.
• Tests can not be organized into folders. I find this particularly disturbing because even one product’s project needs more folders — designers with several errands will go nuts.
• General confounding factors. While using the site I stumble upon obstacles which would be difficult to list or describe. I just often feel that something is off. One example for this is the image uploading. When you want to attach images to cards from your previously uploaded files, you have to choose from a list without thumbnails or previews. This makes uploading rather difficult.

Unpractical method of image choosing

First click, preference test, 5 second test

These are the most simple tests and there’s not too much to talk about them. They are working fine except for the general obstacles I mentioned earlier.

Card sorting

PROS

• Card sorting provides the three main sorting types: closed, open and hybrid.
• You can choose if card display order is random, prearranged or alphabetical.
• You can adjust other properties such as allowing unsorted cards or allowing subgroups.
• Grouping can be done with intuitive drag and drop method
• Results can be shown in various forms (eg. raw data, groups, similarity matrix, dendrogram)

CONS

• Thumbnails or image preview are not available at image upload (forced to choose by file name)

Card sorting screen

Tree test

PROS

• Enables more than enough levels in the hierarchy
• The test itself is user-friendly from the test subject’s perspective
• Click route taken by the user is listed step by step

Statistics of a tree test

CONS

• Input method decieves you. You have to create a new hierarchy level in your tree by pressing the tab key. The tool usually deletes duplicate tabs as Medium deletes duplicate spaces, but sometimes the unwanted character remains, accidentally creating a new hierarchy level. This character is invisible so when the error happens you won’t even notice it until test preview. I could use more visual clues here.
• Only one correct answer can be given. This is unfortunate considering that a product, contact or other content is usually reachable via more than one route. Let’s say, you ask the user to find a blue cotton sweater for women on the website. The sweater can be found either in the “Women’s clothes” menu or the “On Sale” menu. You’ve set the “On Sale” route as the correct answer and all attempts via the other option will appear as failed tasks. We don’t want that, do we?
• You can add more tree test sections in a row, which is nice. It would be an obvious feature to duplicate the previous tree and modify only the necessary nodes, but you can’t do that. This is very time consuming in a deep info structure.

Survey

PROS

• Every important question type is available (dropdown, radio, likert, checkbox, single-line and multiple-line free text)

CONS

• None, I’m satisfied with the survey

Conclusion

Proven By Users worked hard to deliver the new features and those are mostly fine. They integrated a lot of useful setting options, they sought usability and thought a lot about practical use. It is bit sturdy, but really cheap for what it can offer.

This tool is great for you if you work in a medium-sized company where UX research is important but the budget is tight.

The logo nails it though