UserTesting Launches New Behavioral Analytics Capability–Friction Detection, Powered by Machine Learning

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – April 12, 2023 – UserTesting, a leader in experience research and insights, today announced product updates to the UserTestingⓇ Human Insight Platform. The new platform features, which include machine learning innovations, allow businesses to gain a richer understanding of their customers more quickly, providing them with the context needed to understand and address user needs. The platform updates make it easier for companies to identify what customers are doing when interacting with products, and share insights across the organization. The new updates include friction detection powered by machine learning, and Microsoft Teams integration for easier sharing of video feedback directly from the UserTesting platform to Microsoft Teams. UserTesting's ongoing commitment to providing actionable customer insights helps organizations make more informed business decisions with confidence.

Highlights in this product release include: 

Friction Detection
UserTesting's new friction detection uses machine learning models to visually identify moments in both individual video sessions, and across multiple videos, where people experience friction–behaviors like excessive clicking or scrolling–while using digital products, including prototypes, apps, and websites. Organizations can now combine behavioral data with rich video feedback to gain the context of the challenge and optimize outcomes for success. This feature is particularly useful for product and design teams, as it allows them to visualize the user journey, and then optimize flows before investing in expensive development resources. Unlike other more limited solutions, UserTesting’s friction detection feature is more robust and comprehensive, and can be used when testing live sites as well as prototypes. Friction detection saves time, makes it easy to drill down into the moment of friction, highlighted in videos, to gain the context needed to understand and address user needs more quickly. It also provides more efficient analysis, while reducing risk and rework associated with bringing poor experiences to market.  

Microsoft Teams Integration
UserTesting has made it easier for organizations to share human insights by integrating with Microsoft Teams. Users who use both UserTesting and Microsoft Teams can easily share videos and related content with colleagues without leaving the UserTesting platform – enabling more people across an organization to get a first-hand view of an experience and hear their thoughts out loud. This integration allows customers to save time and apply insights gathered from UserTesting to drive business decisions. Even colleagues who do not have a UserTesting subscription can benefit from this feature, creating more value from a UserTesting subscription. 

Additional Feature Enhancements
To further help companies unlock the power of experience insights for better business decisions, UserTesting also introduced expanded capabilities for Invite Network, enabling teams to gain  access to more audiences with increased privacy, while saving time analyzing feedback from contributors outside the UserTesting Contributor Network. UserTesting also made improvements to transcriptions, including the addition of Spanish-language transcripts for unmoderated tests to go along with existing languages of English, German, and French. 

Additionally, to enhance the overall product experience for UserTesting’s customers going forward, as a step toward a unified, end-to-end solution, soon UserTesting is going to offer an integrated login experience for customers when they access the UserTesting, UserZoom and EnjoyHQ platforms. Customers can easily move between each solution, to take advantage of all the benefits that each has to offer.  

"Businesses, as well as their customers, are significantly impacted by the rapidly-changing macro environment. It is critical for companies to understand and stay ahead of changing consumer sentiment to be successful," said Michelle Engle, Chief Product Officer at UserTesting. "At UserTesting, we are committed to providing companies with rich and actionable experience insights, quickly. Companies that can adapt to meet their customers' needs tend to succeed, and we continuously enhance our platform to ensure that our customers remain competitive in their markets."

Register here for a webinar providing a more detailed overview of the UserTesting April 2023 product release on Tuesday, April 25, at 11:00 a.m. PDT.