Running a moderated user interview is a great way to connect with testers to see them use your product, ask questions, and more. Using BetaTesting, you are able to share your calendar and use external tools such as Calendly and Zoom to conduct your session.
Choose Moderated User Interview from the test type section when you create a new test.
How the Moderated User Interview Process Works
We Invite Participants - We will send out invites to potential applicants that match your device and demographic targeting details.
We Screen Participants - Users will need to pass your screening survey.
You Accept Participants - If you chose Manual Participant Review during the Screening Survey setup, then you will need to manually review and select participants to accept into the test.
Participants Book a Call - Accepted participants get access to book a call on your call calendar
Validate Participation - Participants complete the "Interview Verification Survey" to confirm that they completed the user interview (along with details on who they spoke with, what time, etc).
Pay out Participants - You can pay out testers individually after they complete their interview, or wait until the end of the defined test period.
Test Details
Test Title
Your survey title is shown publicly to potential applicants during recruiting. Make it something relevant to your test, for example: "User Interview- Tell us about your experience booking flights online".
Brief description of your test
In the description, you can describe a bit about what you're researching or who you're targeting. This is also shown to applicants during the recruiting phase
How are my test title and description shown during recruiting?
When you launch your test, testers will receive an email invite with your Test Title as the email subject and Test Description in the email body. It will look similar to the screenshot below and will ask testers to apply to participate.
In the below email "We want your feedback on a new packaging design" is the Test Title, and "Help us understand what resonates..." is the Brief Description of Your Test.
Test Instructions (Moderated User Interview)
Linking to your Calendar
Link to Calendly, Google Calendar, or anywhere else that testers can choose a time on your calendar. Make sure your Zoom/Meet/Teams call info is included in the session.
Test your call calendar to ensure that your calendar only includes dates/times that your testers should be able to book.
Providing Instructions
You can include:
Any instructions you want testers to complete in advance of the call, such as links to your app to sign up, help videos to watch, or anything else to prep them for your interview.
Details on what devices a tester can use and confirmation if they need a webcam
Date range that you want testers to book within
Optionally attach any other document that can be helpful
Some people like to have testers use their product for the first time during the interview, while others want testers to use their product on their own and then setup an interview to discuss their experience. Be specific in your instructions so testers complete the right steps, aligned with your research goals.
Timing & Pricing
Test time period
This defines the total test duration, including time to recruit participants. Ensure you leave enough time to recruit and screen users, manually review and accept participants, and then the time required to book and conduct your interviews.
Note: At the end of the test duration defined, your test will automatically end regardless of how many interviews you actually conducted. You will then be asked to validate completion and payouts. Before reaching this deadline, you can extend the test period once to add up to 50% more time.
How long will each interview last
Define how long you will speak to each participant on the phone / video call.
Rewards
On our Recruit plan (pay-as-you go), you'll see a price per tester, based on the time required, test duration, and targeting requirements. This price is inclusive of all costs and tester rewards, and there are no additional fees.
For our Professional plans (including subscription plans or custom plans), you can customize the incentives that you offer to testers and save up to 50% per tester. Our system automatically recommends average incentive amounts based on your test type, time expectations, and your target audience. You can learn more about choosing how much to incentivize in this article.
Recruiting & Screening
You can choose your recruitment criteria and screening questions like you normally would on any test. Learn how tester recruiting works here.
Manual Participant Review
For moderated interviews, it helps to enable Manual Review during the Screening survey setup, so you can select the right candidates to accept into your test. After you launch your test and testers apply to participate, they will be put in a list where you can accept them into your test. Learn more about Manual Tester Selection.
Replacing Testers
Note: After accepting a user, they are given a deadline in our system to book their call on your call calendar within 24 hours. After 24 hours, they will be considered Behind status, and you should consider replacing them by adding another tester.
Interview Participation Verification
For moderated user interviews, we send a standard Interview Participation Verification survey to testers to verify their participation (date/time of interview, interviewee, etc). This is used by our system to recommend rewards.
Pay Out Testers
During the test, you can pay out any individual testers on-demand after they complete their interview.
Or, you can just wait until the end of the defined test period, and after ending your test, our system recommends participants for completion based on their completion of the Interview Participation Verification survey. You can edit/update to select the testers that actually participated and pay them their base reward and bonus if desired.
💡Want to learn more? Book a call/demo with our team or get in touch through our contact form.