Learn how to test purchase transactions without asking participants to spend their own money. |
This article applies to: UserTesting
On this page:
- About testing purchase transactions
- Testing prototype designs
- Using a test environment
- Using a live site until checkout
- Providing an account
- Using a gift code or gift card
About testing purchase transactions
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Testing purchase transactions provides valuable insight into a customer’s full transaction journey. You can test these kinds of transactions with UserTesting.
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You can’t have participants pay with their own money. Behavioral changes may arise if participants believe their money is at risk during a test.
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Credit card numbers are sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and are not to be captured on a recording.
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There are ways to overcome challenges when testing purchase transactions (see below)
Testing prototype designs
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Use prototype designs to get feedback on your page designs without the risk of recording the participant's address or credit card number.
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Prototypes neither require integration with a back-end system nor impact your data.
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You can force error messages and get feedback, whereas with live designs, participants might not encounter those messages.
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Even if the prototypes aren’t interactive, you can show the first purchase page to the participants and have them explain its elements. Then, repeat that process with each subsequent page in the purchasing process.
Using a test environment
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If you have already developed a functional design, provide participants with a link to a staging (or test) environment where they can enter the login credentials you provide.
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In the test environment:
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Create an account that has an address and payment information already saved.
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Have the participant log in to that account.
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Or provide the details the participant should enter—name, address, and credit card details—in the text of your task so they can copy the information.
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If you are moderating the test, you can share the details using the chat feature in your web conference tool.
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You can suppress error-checking and enable participants to enter fake information.
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If you can’t—or don’t want to—suppress error-checking, you'd still want to provide the fake information the participants should enter.
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Asking participants to fabricate information independently can lead to confusion and error messages.
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Using a live site until checkout
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When testing in a live environment, test to the point of checkout.
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Provide participants with a way to find a product and add it to their cart, but instruct them to stop before entering any information on the checkout pages.
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This works well for projects where participants evaluate the steps of finding products, reviewing product details, comparing products, and adding them to the cart. However, it doesn’t allow you to collect feedback on messaging during checkout and post-checkout.
Providing an account
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Alternatively, on a live site, provide the information for the participant to enter. This is similar to pointing the participant to the staging environment (see above).
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Before launching the test, set up an account the participant can log in to, with address and payment information already saved, so they do not have to enter any information.
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This is a good solution because you can set up this account in the back end to cancel or put an order on hold so that actual payment systems and inventory are not affected.
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As mentioned above, in an unmoderated test, provide this in the task text.
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In a moderated session, use the chat feature in your web conference tool to share the details.
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Provide any details, such as login credentials, at the point in the test when the participant needs that information.
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Don’t expect participants to remember these details from the beginning of the test.
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Using a gift code or gift card
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Follow the same guidelines when entering the participant account details, but provide the gift code or gift card details rather than credit card details.
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This may be a better path for the team to take since using a gift card/code makes it easier to reconcile charges, and avoids having to provide company credit card details.
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Have separate cards or codes for each participant. This ensures each participant has the correct balance for the purchase.
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One approach is to run a separate test for each participant, changing the details in each test.
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Another approach is to launch the test to one participant at a time (or run individual live sessions with each participant).
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A final consideration is to provide clear instructions to the participant about the amount available on the gift card.
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Tell the participant an amount slightly lower than available to account for taxes, shipping, or other fees.
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For a deeper dive into testing purchase transactions and example task wording, see our course What to test: Purchase transactions.
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