guide to low-cost usability tools

7/30/2019 Guide to Low-cost Usability Tools

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Guide to Low-costUsability Tools

Dr. Peter J. Meyers

2009 User Eect. All Rights Reserved.


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Why I Wrote This Guide

Guide to Low-cost Usability Tools 2009 User Eect. All Rights Reserved.

i. Introducon

Weve seen a ood of new web-based usability tools hit the market over

the past year or two, many of them free or very low-cost. There have been

some great blog posts comparing these tools, but I felt that webmasters

and usability professionals needed a deeper dive into these resources. In

parcular, I wanted to actually test each of these tools on my own site,

something nearly impossible to do in the scope of a blog post.

This guide covers 20 tools, grouped into 4 major types. My goal is to present

you with an open-minded review so that you can beer compare your

opons and decide for yourself where best to put your me and money.

Enjoy!

Dr. Pete


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The 4 Types of Tools


i. Introducon

I. Heat MappingHeat mapping (or click mapping) tools record visitor clicks to create visual

maps of user acvity. Secon I also includes eye-tracking simulators.

II. Screen RecordingScreen recorders track individual visitors to your website to create asimulated video for each of those user sessions.

III. User TesngUser tesng tools simulate tradional, task-based usability tesng.

IV. User FeedbackUser feedback tools solicit direct feedback from your website visitors.


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How to Use This Guide


i. Introducon 4

Each of the 4 types of tools has a secon in this guide, and each tool has 2

pages: a general summary page and a page of more detailed screenshots.

For each tool in the guide, I provide the following informaon:

Free - Capabilies available in the free trial version (if applicable).

Basic - Pricing and features for the most basic paid version.

Type - Required installaon type (JavaScript, image upload, etc.).

Hps - Lists whether the tool supports secure (hps:) pages.


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I. Heat Mapping

AenonWizard

ClickDensity

Crazy Egg

Feng-GUI

III. User Tesng

Chalkmark

Feedback Army

Loop11

Usabilla

UserTesng.com*

UserVue

............ 6

...................... 6

............................. 8

............................... 10

............................... 12

............

............................. 22

...................... 24

................................... 26

.................................. 28

................... 30

................................. 32

Table of Contents


i. Introducon

II. Screen Recording

ClickTale

Clixpy

OpenHallway

Usery*

IV. User Feedback

4Q by iPercepons

Fivesecondtest

Get Sasfacon

Kampyle

Skribit

UserVoice

..... 14

................................. 14

..................................... 16

......................... 18

.................................. 20

........ 4

................ 34

....................... 36

..................... 38

................................. 40

.................................... 42

.............................. 44

* While I do my best to be unbiased, User Eect is a partner of UserTesng.com and an aliate of Usery.


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AenonWizard Screenshots


I. Heat Mapping Tools

Aenon Heat Map:

This is a sample virtual heat map generated by

AenonWizard. It aempts to map out the

areas that will draw the most visual heat. It

can help you quickly understand how images,

headers, and other visual elements can bothreinforce and distract from your content.

Visual Hot Spots:

This blow-up shows how dramacally a logo

and header text can draw visual aenon. Italso helps to show how aenon ows from

one element to the next. Understanding these

hot spots can help you beer understand how

to strategically place crical visual elements.


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Clickdensitywww.clickdensity.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

Overview:

Clickdensity tracks visitor clicks to produce a click map showing you hot spots

of acvity. Clicks can be displayed as a heat map, click map, or hover map.

Customizaon opons include ltering by browser type and date-range, aswell as a useful transparency adjustment to view the heat map more clearly.

Be sure to use the Follow targets opon to standardize Clickdensity maps

across browsers and resoluons.

1 site, 1 page, 5000 clicks

$5/month*

JavaScript code

Yes

* Basic paid package includes 1 site, unlimited pages, and 10000 clicks.
http://www.clickdensity.com/http://www.clickdensity.com/


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Clickdensity Screenshots



Click/Heat Map:

The heat map view shows areas that aracted

the most visitor clicks. This can be useful for

understanding how your navigaon, links,

and ads compete for aenon. Clickdensity

provides useful informaon even with a fairlysmall amount of data.

Fold Visualizaon:

Use the Show folds feature to see where

popular screen resoluons would cut oon your test pages. This is very useful for

visualizing how a wide variety of audiences see

your site. Clickdensity also allows you to lter

by major browsers.


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Crazy Eggwww.crazyegg.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

10

Overview:

Crazy Egg generates a variety of visualizaons based on click acvity,

including a tradional heat map, simplied overlay, and confe mode

that lets you track clicks by source and other visitor metrics. The Crazy Eggreporng interface is very easy to use and, while the customizaon opons

are limited, the core reports are powerful and well-designed.

n/a

$9/month*

JavaScript code

Yes

* Basic paid package includes 10 pages and 10000 visitors/month.
http://www.crazyegg.com/http://www.crazyegg.com/http://www.crazyegg.com/


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Crazy Egg Screenshots


I. Heat Mapping Tools 11

Overlay Mode:

The simplest visualizaon in Crazy Egg is an

overlay which aggregates clicks across objects

(such as menu items). In this example, you

can see that Services received 6 clicks over

the me period of the test. Color-codingrepresents the relave click density.

Confe Mode:

Crazy Eggs confe mode allows you to dive

deeper into visitor analycs. In this example,you can see a list of referrers and their relave

acvity. The colors next to each referrer are

used to create points on a confe map.

Other metrics include search engines, country

of origin, OS, browser, and me-to-click.


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Feng-GUIwww.feng-gui.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

1

Overview:

Feng-GUI uses a sophiscated algorithm to mimic the kind of heat map that

would be produced by an eye-tracking study. This is not a click map, but a

simulaon of what actual gaze paerns might look like. Simply upload ascreenshot, and the algorithm returns a heat map. While Feng-GUI isnt

meant to replace a laboratory eye-tracking study, the results are impressive.

1 image/day*

$50 (50 images)

Image upload

Yes

* Warning: Free heat-maps are publicly viewable by visitors to www.feng-gui.com.


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Feng-GUI Screenshots


I. Heat Mapping Tools 1

Gaze Paerns:

Gaze xaon paerns are simulated for

graphics, form elds, and other items that the

algorithm decides are visually interesng. Each

item is marked with a visual scan order. Some

items may be scanned more than once as thevirtual visitors eyes move around the screen.

Complex Paths:

This shows a more complex path, with the

virtual visitors gaze returning to the graphictwice, once to focus on the man, and later to

focus on the arrow that hes holding. Feng-GUI

can help you get a clearer understanding of

how visually complex a web-page can be.


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ClickTalewww.clicktale.com


II. Screen Recording Tools

Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

14

Overview:

ClickTale records individual visitor sessions and plays them back in a video

format. The interface allows you to easily control the playback speed, ip

through pages viewed, and see demographic informaon (country, browser,

etc.) at a glance. The free plan is limited and only allows you to watch paral

sessions for some visitors.

1 domain, 400 pageviews

$99/month

JavaScript code

Paid plans only

* Basic paid package includes 10 domains, 20000 pageviews/month, and 45-day history.
http://www.clicktale.com/http://www.clicktale.com/


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Clixpywww.clixpy.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

16

Overview:

Clixpy captures and plays back individual visitors sessions (up to 10 for

the free trial). The Clixpy playback interface is simple and very easy to

use. Visitor screen resoluon is easy to track in Clixpy and screens render

accurately, making it easy to see how visitors with dierent browsers and

screen sizes are interacng (or having diculty interacng) with your site.

10 captures

$5 for 100 captures

JavaScript code

Yes
http://www.clixpy.com/http://www.clixpy.com/


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Clickpy Screenshots


II. Screen Recording Tools 1

Session Summary:

The Clixpy session summary makes it easy to

play back visitor sessions and tracks basic data,

including: pageviews, session length, browser,

resoluon, and visitor locaon. Clixpy also

allows you to save sessions for easy viewing ata later me.

Playback Controls:

Clixpy has very simple and intuive playback

controls with a small screen prole. Pageviewsare broken out (the numbered buons at

the top of the image) to allow you to easily

skip between screens or jump to mid-session

before playback.


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OpenHallwaywww.openhallway.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

1

Overview:

OpenHallway captures recordings of visitors sessions, but instead of

capturing direct website visitors, lets you send out an invitaon link to your

own test subjects. Subjects aempt to perform a chosen task or answer a

queson in an unmoderated fashion, recording unl they feel the task is

complete. OpenHallway also supports audio, so that test subjects can record

their observaons through a standard PC microphone.

1 single-user test

$49/month*

Direct visit

Yes

* Basic paid package includes unlimited tests up to 3 hours of recording, SSL data transmission.
http://www.openhallway.com/http://www.openhallway.com/


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OpenHallway Screenshots



Recording Session:

Test subjects arrive at an instrucon page

with a simple task, click on Start Recording

when theyre ready to begin, and then browse

normally in a new window unl they feel

theyve completed the task. No addionalsetup is required on the subjects side.

Video Playback:

OpenHallway uses more of a tradional web

video interface to play back test sessions,with a player embedded in the administrave

system. The video is a bit compressed, but

playback quality was ne for normal uses.

Open Hallway supports audio, but I wasnt able

to test that funcon for the guide.


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Userywww.usery.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

0

Overview:

Usery captures individual visits in video format, including scrolling and

clicks (on both clickable and non-clickable areas). A simple playback interface

allows you to pause the acon and ip through pages viewed by any

parcular visitor. I have experienced some minor rendering issues with the

Usery playback system, but they dont generally aect the data quality.

10 captures/month

$10/month*

JavaScript code

Plans over $50/mo. only

* Basic paid package includes 100 captures/month, 30-day storage, no hps support.
http://userfly.com/http://userfly.com/http://userfly.com/


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Usery Screenshots



Visitor Summary:

Usery allows you to view recent visitors in

one easy-to-manage list. The visitor summary

includes informaon on total pageviews, users

geographic locaon, referring URL, and landing

URL.

Playback Interface:

The visitor session playback interface is very

easy to use, with simple play, pause and stopfuncons, a progress indicator, and a pulldown

of all of the pages viewed during that parcular

session.

l


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Chalkmarkwww.opmalworkshop.com


III. User Tesng Tools

Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

Overview:

Chalkmark allows you to upload a series of images and create pre-dened

tasks. You invite users to parcipate (via a custom link) and Chalkmark guides

them through the tasks, recording clicks to measure task compleon. The

results of this simplied user tesng are presented as a heat map indicang

where your users clicked to complete each step in the survey.

3 tasks/survey

$109/month*

Image upload

Yes

* Basic paid package includes unlimited surveys and unlimited tasks.

l
http://www.optimalworkshop.com/chalkmark.htmhttp://www.optimalworkshop.com/chalkmark.htmhttp://www.optimalworkshop.com/chalkmark.htm


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Chalkmark Screenshots



Task Overlay:

Survey parcipants see a screenshot overlaid

with the given task. In this example, the task

is: Where would you click to nd out more

about User Eects services? Each task is

considered to be a single step in a process,with a corresponding click to move forward.

Task Compleon Map:

For each task, Chalkmark creates a heat map to

show where your survey parcipants clicked.In this case, we can see that 100% of users

correctly idened the Services menu tab.

This can help reveal whether people are having

trouble with crical tasks on your site.

III U T T l 4


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Feedback Armywww.feedbackarmy.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

4

Overview:

Feedback Army lets you select a short series of quesons and solicits users to

visit your chosen URL and answer those quesons (via Amazons Mechanical

Turk program). Test results are provided as text responses only. While

responses can be basic, the price-tag makes Feedback Army aracve for

geng inial feedback prior to more expensive tesng. Refund requests are

available in the event of low-quality feedback.

n/a

$10 for 10 users

Direct visit

Yes
http://www.feedbackarmy.com/http://www.feedbackarmy.com/


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III U T T l 6


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Loop11

www.loop11.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

6

Overview:

Loop11 lets you combine a virtual user test with survey quesons. Simply

dene your custom tasks, landing URLs, success URLs, and quesons.

Loop11 will provide a custom link that you can send to your parcipants and

measures task success (via click acvity) and records answers to your survey

quesons. Each project can have mulple tasks (limited to 5 for the freebie).

1 project, 5 tasks

$350/project*

Direct visit

Yes

* Basic paid package includes unlimited tasks and up to 1000 parcipants.

III U T T l
http://www.loop11.com/http://www.loop11.com/


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Loop11 Screenshots



Task Overlay:

Loop11 presents tasks as an overlay on your

website (you set the page the visitor lands on

for each task), displaying the current task and

% completed for the overall project. Quesons

can be placed between screenshots to gathermore detailed informaon from your visitors.

Project Dashboard:

The Loop11 project dashboard provides

summary data and analyses, including taskcompleon rates, aggregate answers to survey

quesons, and addional stascs about your

individual parcipants (browser, me on test,

me on task, page views per task, etc.).

III U T T l


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Usabillawww.usabilla.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

Overview:

Usabilla lets you create predened tasks using either live pages or uploaded

images and then invite users (via a custom URL) to aempt those tasks. The

front-end interface is a simple overlay that guides the visitor with quesons

you create, such as Where would you click next? in this example. Usabilla

records clicks and also allows visitors to leave notes. This tool is currently in

beta and some features seem to sll need ironing out.

Full access (beta)

n/a

Direct visit or Image upload

Yes

III U T T l
http://www.usabilla.com/http://www.usabilla.com/


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Usabilla Screenshots



Show Points View:

The Show Points view lets you see where

individual visitors clicked on screens during the

task. You can also view notes le by visitors,

but currently this feature is only available

through an XML export.

Heatmap View:

Usabilla is a bit of a hybrid - although the

implementaon is more of a user-tesng tool,the back-end data has more in common with

the heat-mapping tools in this guide. Here you

can see an actual heat map view, based on the

click acvity shown in the previous screenshot.

III User Tesng Tools 0


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UserTesng.comwww.usertesng.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

0

Overview:

UserTesng.com uses its own, pre-screened tesng pool to run simple

usability tests based on the pages and quesons you select. Results are a

hybrid of video and voice-over walkthrough, where users think out loud as

they complete the pre-dened tasks. UserTesng.com also allows you to

request users based on specic demographics or custom requirements, and

will aempt to match test subjects appropriately.

n/a

$29/user

Direct visit

Yes

III User Tesng Tools 1
http://www.usertesting.com/http://www.usertesting.com/http://www.usertesting.com/


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UserTesng.com Screenshots


III. User Tesng Tools 1

Visitor Playback:

Like a screen recording tool, UserTesng.com

lets you play back and pause a visitors session,

highlighng clicks. Addionally, visitors talk

over the session, providing crical feedback

about what theyre thinking and why theyretaking the acons as you watch.

Wrien Summary:

Test subjects also provide wrien feedback,

which can help you get a quick synopsisand also insure that your core quesons are

covered. Video playbacks generally run about

10-15 minutes, while wrien summaries are

fairly condensed (less than a page).

III User Tesng Tools


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UserVuewww.uservue.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

Overview:

UserVue is a moderated tesng package from the makers of Morae, a

popular, professional usability tesng plaorm. With UserVue, you can invite

a parcipant and then observe and record a session in a teleconferencing-

style format. Text chat funconality is also supported. The nal session can

be saved as a video le or exported for use with Morae.

14-day trial

$149/month*

Direct visit

Yes

* Basic paid package includes unlimited sessions and unlimited phone me. Requires an addional (free) soware installaon for both the observer and parcipant.
http://www.uservue.com/http://www.uservue.com/


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IV User Feedback Tools 4


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4Q (iPercepons)www.4qsurvey.com


IV. User Feedback Tools

Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

4

Overview:

Co-created by iPercepons and analycs guru Avinash Kaushik, 4Q is a

custom survey engine based on 4 simple quesons, ranging from overall

experience to task compleon, plus room for an open-ended response. The

4Q survey appears as a pop-over window and is permission-based. You can

customize quesons and control the rate at which the survey is displayed to

new visitors, minimizing interrupon to your site.

Full access

n/a

JavaScript code

Yes
http://www.4qsurvey.com/http://www.4qsurvey.com/


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Fivesecondtestwww.vesecondtest.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

6

Overview:

Fivesecondtest allows you to upload a screen image to perform a simple

memory test. Test subjects see your screen for 5 seconds and are either

asked to list what they can remember or complete a click-based task (your

choice). This emulates usabilitys 5-second rule and can help you beer

understand your site visitors rst impressions.

15 responses

$4 per token*

Image upload

Yes

* Each paid token includes 30 responses, within about 2 hours. Free responses take about 12 hours.

IV User Feedback Tools
http://www.fivesecondtest.com/http://www.fivesecondtest.com/http://www.fivesecondtest.com/


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Fivesecondtest Screenshots



Individual Feedback:

Fivesecondtest breaks down feedback by

individual user, leng you see what each user

was able to remember about their 5-second

visit. In this case, the visitor remembered a

header, 2 buons, and a graphic, but missedcore informaon, like the company name.

Keyword Feedback:

You can also view aggregate feedback, based

on individual keywords. For example, 3 visitorsmenoned some form of usability while 2

menoned user tesng. This summary can

help you beer understand themes across

visitors and see if youre hing the mark.



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Get Sasfaconwww.getsasfacon.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

Overview:

Get Sasfacon combines a survey engine with a full-service customer

feedback center. The basic survey lets site visitors communicate an Idea,

Queson, Problem, or Praise, which then gets fed into a forum-style site

dedicated to your company. Full setup requires creang both company

and employee accounts, but even the free feature set is robust enough to

produce valuable feedback and let you communicate with customers.

Basic opons

$19/month*

JavaScript code

Yes

* Basic paid package includes company rep account, customizaon, and ability to host on your own URL.

http://www.getsatisfaction.com/http://www.getsatisfaction.com/http://www.getsatisfaction.com/


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Get Sasfacon Screenshots



Feedback Tab:

The most recognizable feature of Get

Sasfacon is the Feedback tab, shown here

on the lower-le of the screenshot. You can

customize the posion and color of the tab,

which seems to be popping up on more andmore sites recently.

Company Forum:

Survey responses are fed into an online

support forum, where you can respond directlyto customers. In this respect, Get Sasfacon

is less a survey engine and more of an ongoing

customer support and communicaons tool.



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Kampylewww.kampyle.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

40

Overview:

Kampyle installs a feedback tab in the corner of your website that pulls up

a pop-up survey. The survey assesses the visitors overall reacon (using

5 emocons as opons) and also presents choices to report bugs and give

suggesons and compliments. On compleon, the visitor can oponally

submit their email address. Although the Kampyle survey is passive, you can

also acvely solicit feedback on exit for a percentage of visitors.

1 form, 50 items

$99/month*

JavaScript code

Paid plans only

* Basic paid package includes 3 feedback forms, 250 feedback items, hps: support.

http://www.kampyle.com/http://www.kampyle.com/


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Kampyle Screenshots


IV. User Feedback Tools 41

Feedback Tab:

Kampyle creates a Give Feedback tab in the

corner of your website (you specify which

corner). Clicking on the feedback tab presents

a pop-up window with the feedback emocons

and comment opons.

Feedback Monitoring:

The free version of Kampyle only allows you to

see your feedback in a web-based email inbox,including the rang, comments, and some

basic user informaon. Advanced analycs,

visitor demographics, and Google Analycs

integraon are available with paid versions.



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Skribitwww.skribit.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

4

Overview:

Skribit is a user-feedback add-on designed for bloggers, evident from their

tagline: Cure Writers Block. While the funconality is similar to some of

the other survey tools, the structure and focus is designed for blog authors

looking for topic suggesons. Skribit lets you choose between either

having a Suggesons? tab that creates a pop-over form or a widget thats

permanently visible on your site.

1 blog

$24.95/year*

JavaScript code

Yes

* Basic paid package includes unlimited blogs, advanced customizaon, and suggeson moderaon.

http://www.skribit.com/http://www.skribit.com/


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Skribit Screenshots



Suggesons Tab:

Skribit installs a Suggesons? tab on your

website that opens a pop-over form. The tab

posion and color is customizable, although

the form customizaon is a feature of the paid

package. You can also opt to install a visiblewidget directly on your site.

Feedback Dashboard:

Suggesons are logged in a dashboard along

with comments. Skribit has some addionalsocial media funcons that allow you to tag

suggesons and follow commenters. You can

also track popular suggesons, as you would

popular blog posts.



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UserVoicewww.uservoice.com



Free:

Basic:

Type:

Hps:

44

Overview:

UserVoice creates a Feedback tab on your site that generates a pop-over

window when clicked. Instead of solicing direct comments, this feedback

window uses a Digg-style vong system, where visitors can easily view and

vote on previous comments. Customizaon is limited on free accounts

(including placement of the Feedback tab), but UserVoice provides a 15-

day free trial on their paid plans.

100 voters/month

$19/month*

JavaScript code

Yes

* Basic paid package includes unlimited, private forums, 100 voters/month, basic analycs.

http://www.uservoice.com/http://www.uservoice.com/


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UserVoice Screenshots



Feedback Pop-over:

The UserVoice feedback window allows visitors

to view and vote on previous comment. Each

visitor is allowed up to 10 votes inially.

Visitors may also click through to the feedback

forum screen to leave a new comment.

Feedback Forum:

The feedback forum screen allows visitors to

view more details about previous commentsor leave a new comment. UserVoice also has

administrave screens for viewing comments,

but the funconality is similar. The vong-

based system may be more appropriate for

larger sites with heavy trac.

V. Quick Summary 46


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V. Quick Summary 46

Free Basic Type HpsAenonWizard Full access n/a Image upload Yes

Clickdensity 1 site/page $5/month JavaScript code Yes

Crazy Egg n/a $9/month JavaScript code Yes

Feng-GUI 1 image/day $50 (50 images) Image upload Yes



Free Basic Type Hps

ClickTale 400 pageviews $99/month JavaScript code Paid

Clixpy 10 captures $5 (100 captures) JavaScript code Yes

OpenHallway 1 user $49/month Direct visit Yes

Usery 10 captures/mo. $10/month JavaScript code Paid

V. Quick Summary 4


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V. Quick Summary 4

Free Basic Type HpsChalkmark 3 tasks $109/month Image upload Yes

Feedback Army n/a $10 (10 users) Direct visit Yes

Loop11 1 project $350/project Direct visit Yes

Usabilla Full access n/a Direct visit Yes

UserTesng.com n/a $29/user Direct visit Yes

UserVue 14-day trial $149/month Direct visitYes



Free Basic Type Hps

4Q (iPercepons) Full access n/a JavaScript code Yes

Fivesecondtest 15 responses $4/test Image upload Yes

Get Sasfacon Basic opons $19/month JavaScript code Yes

Kampyle 1 form $99/month JavaScript code Paid

Skribit 1 blog $24.95/year JavaScript code Yes

UserVoice 100 voters/mo. $19/month JavaScript code Yes

Quesons or Comments? 4


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How to Contact Me

Quesons or Comments? 4

If you have quesons or comments about this guide, or if youd like to learn

more about how to put any of these usability tools to work on your own

website, please feel free to contact me directly at:

Dr. Peter J. Meyers (Dr. Pete)

User Eect501 N. Clinton St.

Suite 1406

Chicago, IL 60654

(847) 708-6007

[email protected]

www.usereect.com

@dr_pete

Phone:

Email:

Web:

Twier:
http://www.usereffect.com/http://twitter.com/dr_petehttp://twitter.com/dr_petehttp://twitter.com/dr_petehttp://www.usereffect.com/

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