Set up an Invite Network test

Learn about how to use Invite Network to recruit your own participants for your tests.

This article applies to: ut logo tiny.pngUserTesting 

 

Invite Network is available on the following subscriptions:

Advanced Ultimate  Ultimate+ ✓

 

On this page:

 


 

Key features

  • Invite Network allows you to launch tests with your existing customers, industry experts, and more, not found in the UserTesting Network.
  • Participants recruited via Invite Network can optionally download the seamless recorder extension.
  • With Invite Network, you can...
    • Manage recruitment, compensation, and communication.
    • Customize email templates to invite people to take your test.
    • Decide whether to collect emails or not for desktop tests to improve acceptance rates.
    • Access Interactive Path Flow (IPFs) data for think-out-loud tests completed on all desktop browsers.
  • Recruiting participants for surveys and interaction tests via Invite Network follows a different set up process. Refer to our articles on recruiting audiences for surveys and recruiting audiences for interaction tests.

Watch the video below to see how Invite Network works for participants.

To share this video with participants, use this link: fast.wistia.com/embed/iframe/lm0mld1sua

 

 

How it works

To use Invite Network for an unmoderated think-out-loud test, follow these steps:

  1. Select the Create test button on your dashboard, then Unmoderated test.
    Screenshot 2025-08-18 at 3.06.11 PM.png
  2. Choose Create link when asked how you would like to recruit your audience.
    audience recruitment options.png
  3. Click Customize invite.
    customize invite.png
  4. Audience settings: Decide how many contributors you need, which type of device they should use, the estimated time for the test, and what language they should speak.
    invite network audience settings.png
  5. Decide if you want to collect contributors' email addresses. If you choose not to collect emails, see the next section.

    Note: Invite Network mobile tests must collect contributor emails.
    ask for email address.png
  6. Customize brand: Add your company/team name and upload any brand assets.
    customize brand.png
  7. Build your test plan as usual.
  8. Launch your test and Copy the generated link to share directly with participants.
    invite network test invitation link.png
  9. Optional: Click View message template to edit the template before sending it to your participants.
    Screenshot 2024-01-17 at 19.31.01.png
  10. Click View test details to return to your dashboard.

 

 

Identifying participants without emails

If you choose not to collect emails, add a reference ID to the test URL or send the test URL as is. UserTesting will automatically generate a reference ID for each test participant.

To add your own reference ID, follow these steps:

  1. Copy the test link and paste it into a web document.
  2. Add the free string ?participant_id=1 to the end of the URL.
  3. Repeat as needed with different identifiers (i.e., ?participant_id=2, ?participant_id=3, etc.).

    Note: Include an identifier greater than zero. Identifiers that begin with zero (e.g., 007) will not appear with the zeroes in the Excel Export (see Where to find Contributor identifiers for Invite Network tests).
    reference ID.png

Optional: You can also provide contributors with a redirect link that will return them to the page they were on before taking the test or to a new location.

  1. Repeat the steps for adding the reference ID to the test URL.
  2. Add &redirectURL=https://www.google.com after the reference ID string in the URL. Make sure to include https:// in the redirect.
  3. Repeat as many times as needed for each contributor.
    redirect link.png

 

 

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