Tests That Require a Login

One situation requiring each person to log in is when your test material is password-protected. In this situation, provide the password in the text of the first task which directs the contributor to that material. Every contributor can use that same password, even if they are providing feedback simultaneously. Just consider whether it is important to change the password after the test.

In another situation, you may need each person to use unique login credentials. You may have this situation if having two people in the same test account at the same time will cause confusion or if tasks require making changes in the account, which would confuse the next contributor. For example, if the task requires a first-time user to set up a report in a system, you don’t want the second person to see the report that the first person set up.

Four ways to address this second situation include:

• Run one session at a time. Run live conversation sessions or launch a recorded test to one contributor, wait for it to complete, then launch to another contributor. This approach keeps all the data together and allows you to reset the account between sessions (or edit the credentials in the test), but takes longer to complete all sessions.
• Run multiple one-person tests. Create one one-person test for each contributor you need. Create the first test, make a copy of it, and edit the login details contained in the copy of the test. Repeat this process until you have the number of tests to match the number of responses you want. This approach is fast because all contributors can complete the test simultaneously, but distributes your data across multiple tests.
• Point to a tracking sheet. During the test, point contributors to an editable online spreadsheet (or document with a table) listing the credentials you have available. Instruct them to mark or add their initials to the row of credentials they use, so the next contributor sees which ones are still available. In mobile tests, contributors must use the Google Sheets app to edit login spreadsheets made in Google Sheets.
• Point to a login generator. This approach is similar to the previous solution, but you must build a tool that automatically presents the “next” set of credentials to each new contributor. This is fast for contributors and is error-resistant, but may require you to get engineering support, depending on what resources you have available to build the tool.

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