Using a Shared Prototype to Run User Testing

How do I run user testing with my prototype? How do I share my prototype to users for testing? 

Learn about how Home Depot used Voiceflow to scale their user testing here!

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User testing is an important step in validating conversation design experiences against user expectations and behaviour. In the past, conversation designers were limited to running time-intensive, moderated user testing sessions with static flowcharts, capturing only part of the true user experience while utilizing significant resources. 

Enter Voiceflow's built-in, sharable interactive prototypes - a high-fidelity, engaging option to scale unmoderated user testing and share workable conversational assistants with product stakeholders. 

Benefits of Interactive, Unmoderated User Testing

Most closely mimics real-life experience conversing with assistant

Designers only need to press a button to turn their Voiceflow design into a shareable assistant prototype. The prototype will function as if it were in production, removing the need for manual intervention and in turn immersing the user in the full product experience. 

Spend less time and resources while increasing user test sample size

The user research team can leverage Voiceflow's shareable prototype to run unmoderated user testing sessions on a wider scale, using platforms such as UserZoom, Userbrain and UserTesting to distribute their prototype. Multiple users can interact with the prototype at once, and user researchers can dedicate more of their time into insights synthesis and qualitative analysis. 

Build user profiles into assistant prototype logic

Instead of weaving complex, manual steps into the conversation design to accommodate for different type of users, Voiceflow prototypes offer a Variable State feature. By configuring a specific persona for a prototype, you can give a value to variable states that pertain to the persona in the assistant (such as age, account number, home address, etc), and evaluate different user experiences based on a specified persona.

Learn more about personas and variable states here. 

Monitor user testing results real-time for quick, easy iteration

After each test user interacts with the prototype, Voiceflow stores their individual conversations in the Transcripts tab of the assistant-level canvas. By reviewing these saved transcripts, designers can leverage streamlined tools to iterate on their conversational logic design and Natural Language Understanding (NLU) models. 

Learn more about transcripts and design iteration here. 

Running User Testing with a Shared Prototype 

When you and your team are ready to evaluate an assistant design and have already used the in-product tool to simulate and stress-test the conversation within Voiceflow, you can click on the "Share" button near the top right of the assistant canvas.

In the first tab of modal, you can adjust prototype settings to allow for Chat or Voice input (with or without buttons), add appearance and branding details, assign a specified persona with variable states, and turn on password protection. Learn more about prototype customization here.

After calibrating all settings, you can then copy the prototype link to your clipboard and distribute it for both moderated and unmoderated testing.