Live Conversation: Participant experience overview

This article applies to: UserTesting 

On this page:

• What's new for participants (and why it matters)
• Notifications and reminders
• Scheduling flow
• SMS verification limits
• Joining a session
• Canceling and rescheduling

What's new for participants (and why it matters)

New features

• Participants now receive SMS notifications (in addition to email), including confirmations and reminders, helping reduce missed sessions and keep participants on time.
• Participants provide and verify their phone number during scheduling, enabling SMS reminders and improving session reliability.
• Confirmation emails now include a calendar (.ics) attachment, making it easy for participants to add sessions to their calendar and stay on schedule.

Experience updates

• Participants now enter a session lobby, where they wait for the moderator before the session begins—helping ensure sessions start on time and run in a controlled, predictable environment.
• If the customer does not join the session, participants are automatically notified by email and the session is marked accordingly. No action required from the participant.

Notifications and reminders

These updates are supported by a coordinated notification system that keeps participants informed and on time.

Participants receive coordinated email and SMS reminders designed to reduce no-shows and keep sessions on track:
 

These reminders help ensure participants are prepared, reduce missed sessions, and keep Live Conversations running smoothly.

Example of a confirmation email participants receive:

Scheduling flow

This flow is designed to verify participants, reduce fraud, and ensure a smooth booking experience.

Participants complete the following steps to book a session:

1. Welcome screen
2. Complete screener questions (if configured)
3. Accept confidentiality terms (if configured)
4. Review before-you-book information
5. Enter contact details, including a phone number for verification and reminders
6. Complete SMS verification to confirm identity and enable SMS reminders
7. Select a time slot
8. Confirm booking

After booking, participants immediately receive a confirmation email and SMS.

This streamlined process ensures participants can quickly book sessions while maintaining high-quality, verified participation.

SMS verification limits

To help prevent fraud and protect study quality, SMS verification has the following limits:

• Participants can request up to 3 verification codes
• Participants can change their phone number up to 2 times

If either limit is exceeded, the study is locked for that participant and they cannot continue booking.

Example of the SMS verification flow during scheduling

Joining a session
 

How participants join a session

Participants can join their session using the link in their confirmation or reminder email, or from the calendar (.ics) invite.

Before the session starts

• Participants can join up to 10 minutes before the scheduled start time.
• If they attempt to join earlier, they’ll see a message indicating the session is not yet open.

In the session lobby

• Participants enter their display name and wait for the moderator to begin.
• The Join session button becomes available only when:
  • The moderator has joined
  • The scheduled start time has been reached

For unscheduled sessions (Invite Network only)

• Participants use the link shared by the customer.
• They are taken directly to the lobby.
• The Join session button becomes available once the moderator begins the session.

This flow ensures participants join at the right time, reduces confusion, and gives moderators full control over session start.

Canceling and rescheduling

Participants can cancel or reschedule up to 10 minutes before the session start time, giving them flexibility while keeping schedules reliable.

Canceling a session

• Both the participant and the customer receive a confirmation email. 
• The calendar event is automatically removed. 
• The time slot is released and becomes available for rebooking.

Rescheduling a session

• Participants are taken directly to available time slots, no need to re-enter their information.
• A cancellation email is sent for the original session.
• A new confirmation email is sent for the updated session time.

This streamlined process makes it easy for participants to adjust their schedule while ensuring sessions stay full and on track.

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