Testing without a browser extension

On this page:

• About testing without a browser extension
• When to test without a browser extension
• What you give up by not using the extension
• What the participant experience is like
• What isn't supported
• Preview your own test without the extension
• Enable the option to test without a browser extension
• Pre-launch checklist
• What to do if you launch a test with the wrong setting
• Working with your results
• Accessibility
• Best practices recap

About testing without a browser extension

By default, new Think-out-loud tests and Interaction tests require the UserTesting browser extension to be installed:

• by participants to be able to take a test 
• by UserTesting users to preview their own test before launch. 

On some work computers though, installing browser extensions is restricted. In these cases, you can enable Testing without a browser extension setting at the test level.

Note 1: When it comes to managed devices, removing the extension install step removes one barrier, however, the participants’ IT department might have more restrictions in place.

Which tests can use this setting?

• This setting is only relevant for new Think-out-loud tests and Interaction tests for desktop. 
  The setting is off by default for all new tests. You can turn it on per test.
• Mobile tests are taken inside the UserTesting mobile app, so the browser extension is not relevant. 
• It’s most commonly used when recruiting your own participants, but it's also available for tests recruiting from the UserTesting networks.

Is this setting editable after launching the test?

No, the setting is only editable while the test is still a draft. After launch,  it gets locked and cannot be changed. This means that:

• If you briefly turned it on to preview the test yourself, but you need participants to take the test with the extension, you need to make sure you turn it back off before you launch.
• You cannot mix extension and non-extension participants in the same test. 

When to test without a browser extension

Tests without navigation tasks
If your test does NOT include any navigation tasks, we recommend testing without the extension.

Explanation: There’s nothing else to consider in this case because every other task and question type other than Navigation tasks behaves exactly as it does with the extension, including full tracking inside Figma tasks. It also removes a step for your participants.

Tests with at least one navigation task
If your test does include one or more navigation tasks, you need to weigh it up.

Separately, turn the setting on temporarily to preview your own test and can't install the extension yourself. Make sure turn it off again before you launch your test, if you need your participants to take the test using the extension. See also What to do if you launch a test with the wrong setting.

What you give up by not using the extension

When it comes to tests with and without the extension:

• For the most part they both collect the same information (see exception about Navigation tasks in the table below).
• Participant experience is almost identical (see exception below about Figma tasks in the table below).
• Recordings (including the Blur PII option) and transcripts work the same way.

However, there are some features that are not available without the extension:

Note: Paths and success metrics in Figma tasks are not affected as they are fully tracked through the Figma API and not the extension.

For further guidance on whether you need the extension or not, refer to the section “When to test without a browser extension”.

What the participant experience is like

From your participant's perspective the experience is largely the same, with a few differences.

What's removed

• No extension installation step, so onboarding into the test is faster
• No need to update to newer versions of the extension

What's different

• In tests without the extension, the floating taskbar with the task instructions that appears during navigation and Figma tasks allows participants to resize it* (not possible in the taskbar when the extension is used).
• On multi-task tests, each navigation or Figma task routes the participant back through their UserTesting Test Tab between tasks, so the floating taskbar opens fresh each time.

*The floating taskbar in tests without the extension uses a built-in browser capability called Picture-in-Picture (PiP). This setting could be blocked on certain work computers. If a participant reports that the floating taskbar didn't appear, or that they got stuck, see Testing without a browser extension: Troubleshoot the floating taskbar.

Browser compatibility

• Chrome and Edge are supported.
  In fact the browser extension doesn't currently support Edge, so this setting is the only way to run these tests in Edge.
• Participants on Safari or Firefox see a "browser not supported" message and are asked to switch before they can take the test.

What isn't supported

Preview your own test without the extension

If your organization doesn't permit the UserTesting browser extension, you may not have been able to preview your own tests. Turning on Testing without a browser extension lets you run Preview Test without installing anything.

Important: If you turned the setting on only to unblock your preview, turn it back off before you launch if your study needs page views, click data or task success metrics for navigation tasks. The setting locks at launch and cannot be modified anymore. 

See also What to do if you launch a test with the wrong setting-

Enable the option to test without a browser extension

If you’re not sure about whether you need to enable this option, refer to When to test without a browser extension.

Follow these steps to enable the option to test without a browser extension:

1. Find your test.
   It needs to be a new Think-out-loud or Interaction test for desktop. 
   Mobile tests don't use the extension as they're taken inside the UserTesting mobile app.
2. Go to the Test Builder section.
3. Find the Settings on the right-hand side of the page.
4. Click Edit.
5. Turn on the toggle labelled Testing without a browser extension under the Device section.
   The Device must be set to Computer. Selecting Any device enforces the extension.*
6. Save your changes.
   
   

*The Any device setting does not combine with the Testing without a browser extension setting to avoid blending computer participants without navigation tracking and mobile participants with navigation tracking through the UserTesting mobile app in the same tests which produces results that can't be compared.
 

Pre-launch checklist

Because the Testing without a browser extension setting locks at launch, we recommend going over this checklist before launching your test:

• Do you need page views, click data and/or automated task success metrics in navigation tasks? 
  If yes, turn the setting off before launching. You need the extension to capture these.
• Did you turn the setting on only to preview your test? 
  Turn it back off before you launch, or your live test will run without navigation tracking (see point right above).
• Is the test device set to "Computer"? 
  Selecting "Any device" disables this setting, and turning this setting on restricts the test to computer.
• Are you testing with participants on corporate computers and/or networks?
  When it comes to managed devices, removing the extension install step removes one barrier, however, the participants’ IT department might have more restrictions in place.

What to do if you launch a test with the wrong setting

Once you launch your test this setting gets locked, so before launching make sure the setting is correct. 

If you end up launching your test with the wrong setting:

1. Pause your test.
2. Make a duplicate.
3.  Edit the setting in the duplicate.
4. Launch the duplicate.

Working with your results

When testing without the extension, initially the participants' success status in navigation tasks will be "undefined" (this just means "unknown"). 

You’ll need to:

• manually change the success status to either "success" or "non-success" in any navigation tasks for which need success metrics
  
• do this for all participants in all Navigation tasks for the QXscore to display. 
  
  The QXscore can appear, then not appear again when a new participant completes, until you've scored their responses too.

Useful tips:

• Use filters to narrow results while you're working through scoring. Filters are on the Results page and let you focus on specific participants or responses.
• If a participant retried a task, their time on task reflects the retry, not their first attempt. Bear that in mind when reading time-based measures.

Accessibility

We're confident the experience meets a high standard of accessibility, but the additional screens shown when enabling this option are still pending a full accessibility audit. Any issues found will be addressed along with other upcoming accessibility improvements.

For more detail, or if you have a specific accessibility requirement for a study, contact your UserTesting account team before you launch.

Best practices recap

Here are some things to keep in mind when testing without the browser extension

• As with any test, preview the test before launch to validate the setup.
  Remember that the Testing without a browser extension setting locks at launch, so make sure it's set as intended before launch.
• If you're testing with an audience using locked-down devices
  • Preview the test on a representative device and network before inviting a wider audience.
  • In your test invite, specify what hardware and browser participants will need.
• If your test uses QXscore:
  • Keep sample sizes manageable. Every navigation task response needs an outcome set before the score will be calculated, so the manual work scales with your sample. 
    For navigation tasks without the QXscore, setting outcomes is optional, and only worth doing if you want success metrics.
  • Pick an approach to scoring and stick to it: either set outcomes as sessions arrive, or wait until the test has filled and do them all in one pass. Working in a mix of the two results in inconsistent results.

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