Usertesting Review: Get paid to test websites (2020)

 

UserTesting is a San Fransico based company that helps brands, charities, and companies improve their websites with real people providing feedback. They are now also in Atlanta and Edinburgh. Testers explore websites and apps through Usertesting’s proprietary programs that record clicks, voice, screens, and sometimes video. (I’ll touch on this a bit later)

I have been a tester for Usertesting since 2017 and have seen it change and grow and truly become a powerhouse in the useability field. With companies like Expedia to Facebook using Usertesting to improve their user experience, you can rest assured that they are a legitimate company with strong fundamentals.

How much do you get paid?

Now that we’ve gotten Usertesting’s bona fides, it’s time to get to the business, how much do they pay? Most tests pay $10 and each of the tests takes anywhere from 15 -20 minutes on average. I’ve had tests that took 3 minutes and I’ve had tests that took 30 minutes, but still paid the same $10. However, there are tests that may take longer and the clients (the website or app owner) will let you know if there are additional bonuses on top. Some tests that have taken me 40 minutes I was paid $20.

Now beyond the standard tests, there are one-on-one live interviews you can get qualified to take. These are my favorite for two reasons: first they pay exceptionally well $30 for 30 minutes and $60 for 60 minutes and second they are a lot of fun. Sometimes you get to meet with the actual website/app owners and be able to provide direct feedback. There was one live test where the owner of the site made a point to deliver on one of my suggestions. It was a kick to see that suggest in action on the website just a week later.

So what happens once you sign up?

Once you sign up they are going to send you an email with all the information you need, including links to resources, how-to videos, their huge knowledge base, and your dashboard. Your dashboard is where you will be prompted to take your first sample test. It’s incredibly important to read through all the guidelines before you take your first test, whether you get accepted or not depends on how you perform. But don’t feel intimidated, if you watch their videos and read through their guidelines it will be a piece of cake.

Hint: When you take your test, take your time. If you have questions about what you are experiencing, voice them out loud. In fact, they say “THINK OUT LOUD”. So pretty much whatever you are thinking from “I wish this button was a little higher” to “I don’t quite understand what I am supposed to do here, but this is what I THINK I should do”, say it.

After you have completed your practice test, a team member from Usertesting will review it. And if you pass, which I’m sure you will if you did everything that is mentioned in this article, you’ll get a rating and feedback from the Panel Specialist. Then you are off to the races! On your dashboard, as shown below, you will get opportunities to take screeners to see if you qualify for a test. And unlike a lot of survey sites or testing sites, the screener ISN’T 10 minutes long, it’s a few efficient questions that make sure you fit the study. Once you qualify, you’ll launch one of the Usertesting programs, either a Chrome extension, desktop program, or mobile app and it will walk you through how to get your mic and screen sharing to work. Then just follow the instructions.

My personal experience:

Below is my dashboard with my rating and payout. I’m sporting 5 stars, which means I’m going to be offered more tests than someone with a lower rating. The ratings are an average of your last 12 ratings given by the clients, this helps because as you improve as a tester your first ones won’t count against you. In addition, any rating that is less than 2 stars will be reviewed by Usertesting and be validated. The support team will give you feedback and will let you know if they feel you can improve and where. There are times the support team will reverse the rating, I have personally had this happen.

How do I get more tests?

That really determined by a lot of factors such as:

1. Demographic
2. Availability
3. Rating
4. Devices
5. Number clients

That being said, I’m averaging about $150 a week in between my job and classes. It’s a great side gig, but it’s not something you should depend on because it can fluctuate so much. Last November I had a few weeks where I was over $300 due to several live interviews and just an influx of tests. That being said in December there were a few weeks I made $50 or less.

What do you need to start?:

Now that you know how Usertesting works, let’s cover the pros and cons:

Pro

• You can work from anywhere
• Flexible, work when you want to
• It’s super easy
• Minimum $10 per test
• Qualify for live-interviews for a lot more
• You get to be the first to know about a lot of cool things happening on the web (There are NDAs)
• Paid promptly in 7 days
• Usertesting does some really awesome stuff like providing free or low-cost services to charities 

Con

• Variable number of tests available
• Ratings (in the beginning can be detrimental)
• Takes a while to get responses back from support
• Tests are created by the clients so sometimes they are not consistent or worse yet written in a confusing flow

Conclusion:

If you want to make some side money for bills or maybe to treat yourself, Usertesting is a great side gig. This is not for someone who is looking for a part-time job or something that is consistent in pay.

The Skinny:

The Hustle Team is not affiliated with Usertesting, we just think they are great.

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