Testing AI-generated prototypes with UserTesting

On this page:

• About AI-generated prototypes
• Before you begin
• Host your prototype
  • Netlify
  • Tiiny Host
  • Vercel
  • Host with your engineering team
• Adding your prototype to a Navigation Task inside an Interaction test or new Think-out-loud
• Best practices

About AI-generated prototypes

• AI prototyping tools can produce working web prototypes from a natural-language description.
• Some AI prototyping tools include built-in publishing or sharing that generates a URL for your prototype, with no extra hosting step required. 
  • Examples include Figma Make, Claude Design, Lovable, v0 by Vercel, Bolt.new, and Replit. 
  • If you're using one of these, copy the URL and skip to Add your prototype to a UserTesting test.
• Other AI prototyping tools (including Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, and other code-generation assistants) produce a folder of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files that run on your computer. 
  • These prototypes need to be hosted on a public URL before they can be tested with UserTesting. 

Before you begin

Confirm the following before publishing your prototype:

• The prototype runs on your computer. Open it locally first to make sure it works as expected. If it doesn't run locally, it won't run once hosted.
• The prototype runs entirely in the browser. The services below only host static prototypes, which means the prototype doesn't need a backend server, database, or login system. Most AI-generated prototypes meet this requirement.
• Nothing sensitive is in the prototype. Once published, the prototype may be accessible to anyone with the URL. Don't include real customer data, internal screenshots, or other confidential material.

Host your prototype

The three services below are free to start, support HTTPS by default, and don't require any developer experience or command-line tools. Pick the one that best matches your needs.

Netlify

• Netlify Drop is the simplest option for a one-off prototype. 
• Drag your prototype folder onto the Netlify Drop page and you'll receive a public URL within seconds. 
• No account is required to get started, but unclaimed URLs are deleted after 24 hours. 
• Sign up for a free Netlify account to keep your prototype available for longer.
• Choose Netlify if you want a fast path from a local folder to a public URL.

For setup instructions, see Netlify's deploy guide.

Tiiny Host

• Tiiny Host is designed specifically for non-developers sharing prototypes and files. 
• It supports drag-and-drop publishing of HTML files or ZIP folders, and includes optional features like password protection, custom subdomains, and QR codes for in-person sharing.
• Choose Tiiny Host if you want a polished sharing experience with optional password protection. This is useful when prototypes contain confidential design work.

For setup instructions, see Tiiny Host's help center.

Vercel

• Vercel supports a broader range of prototype types, including more complex applications. 
• The dashboard supports drag-and-drop publishing, although the setup may involve more steps than alternatives.
• Choose Vercel if your prototype is more complex, if you're already using Vercel for other projects, or if your prototype was generated by v0.

For setup instructions, see Vercel's getting started guide.

Note: The instructions linked above are provided by Netlify, Tiiny Host, and Vercel directly and aren't maintained by UserTesting. To ensure the latest setup process is being followed, always refer to the relevant vendor's help center.

Host with your engineering team

• If you'd rather not use a third-party service, your engineering team may be able to host the prototype on your organization's own infrastructure. This can be a good option when your security policy restricts the use of external hosting services, or when your prototype contains pre-release content that shouldn't sit on a public vendor platform.
• Choose this option if your organization has security or compliance requirements that prevent the use of external hosting services, or if you'd prefer to keep the prototype on internal infrastructure.
• For this approach to work, the prototype must be reachable from outside your corporate network. 
• A URL that only works inside the company network won't be accessible to UserTesting participants. 
• Speak to your engineering team about setting up a hosting environment that produces a publicly accessible URL, with password protection if needed.

Adding your prototype to a Navigation Task inside an Interaction test or new Think-out-loud

Navigation tasks are best for structured, goal-based testing where you want to measure task success.

1. In the UserTesting platform, choose Create test, then Interaction test.
2. Select + Add, then choose Navigation task from the panel.
3. In the Starting URL box, paste the public URL of your prototype.
4. Add task instructions that make it clear participants are working with a prototype. For example: "The following is a prototype, so not everything will be clickable. Imagine you're looking to book a flight. Show us how you would search for flights to Paris next month."
5. Optionally, add a Success URL to track whether participants reached the intended end state.
6. Add follow-up questions to capture confidence, ease of use, or other metrics.

For full setup details, see Navigation task in UserTesting.

Best practices

• Tell participants it's a prototype. Include this in your task instructions so participants understand that not everything will be clickable and they should comment on what they expect to see.
• Test the URL from outside your network. Open the public URL on a phone using mobile data (not your office Wi-Fi) to confirm participants can reach it.
• Keep prototypes lightweight. If a prototype takes more than 10 to 15 seconds to load, most participants will abandon it before starting.
• Use clear task endpoints. Tell participants when the task is complete. For example: "Once you've added the item to your cart, you can move on."
• Apply password protection for confidential prototypes. If your prototype contains sensitive content, add a password to limit access during the test. Some solutions offer this service but other don’t - in which case you can ask your AI prototyping tool to add a simple password screen to the prototype itself. Share the password with participants in your task instructions.
• Take down the URL after testing. When your study is finished, delete the prototype from the hosting service. This prevents the URL being shared or accessed after the test is complete.

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