Within Express, you have the option to run a Media survey or a Usability test activity. To determine which Activity you want to run, you’ll need to consider your use case and functional capabilities.
Media Survey
Media Surveys redefine what surveys can be with a compelling, media-rich twist.
Survey data is great for understanding trends, and through the ability to blend quantitative and qualitative research with fast, media-rich feedback, you’ll get more nuanced insights and get stakeholders bought in by seeing real people jump off the page to illustrate those trends. All with the lightweight lift of a basic survey.
Media Survey Examples
- Capture highlight reels of emotive and articulate video testimonials from users for a stakeholder presentation.
- Collect 100 photos of scouts’ workstations (or whatever the environmental stimulus of interest may be) to jump-start your product brainstorming session.
- Get a quick gut check on two low-fidelity concepts before your team decides which route to take.
- Launch periodic surveys to keep a finger on the pulse of what your customers think of you and your competitors.
Usability Test
Usability tests empower you to optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of your product with task-based usability testing. The cornerstones of usability testing are now on dscout – task prompts, usability metrics, click tracking, full session recording, automated transcripts, and more to help you validate and iterate pre- or post-launch.
Usability Test Examples
- Explore early concepts: Put early-stage ideas in front of your audience to determine which direction you should go in (or if you’re even headed in the right direction). See participants' reactions to general concepts by scheduling a moderated interview or running a quick media-rich survey.
- Improve your website experience: Gather insights about how people experience your site to quickly identify valuable interactions and solve friction points by running a task-based test with power-up questions and click-mapping events.
- Test a prototype pre-launch: Validate the usability and effectiveness of your product before launching by gathering early feedback on user experience. Determine task success with usability metrics, and get an auto-transcript of the full session recording to speed up the go-to-market process.
- Reduce friction in your product: Run task-based tests to see how effective, efficient, and satisfactory your product is, uncover friction points, or find new use cases from customer feedback in a natural environment.
Express Mission Types Capabilities
| Capabilities | Usability | Media Survey |
| Recruiting options |
Auto-recruit from the Dscout panel (up to 10 screener questions) Invite your own participants (share link) Add from a screener |
Auto-recruit from the Dscout panel (up to 10 screener questions) Invite your own participants (share link) Add from a screener |
| Participant limits, incentives, and payouts |
Up to 100 participants (auto-recruit) From $2 – $200 (auto-recruit), $1 - $200 (recruited from screeners) Payment 8 days after completion |
Up to 1,000 participants From $2 – $25 (auto-recruit), $1 – 100 (recruited from screeners) Payment 8 days after completion |
| Media |
Continuously recorded Link URL and Figma prototypes Privacy blur to protect PII on specific questions and tasks |
Unlimited photos Up to 3 videos (selfie, outward facing, or screen recording) and can be a max of 2 minutes in length |
| Targeting attributes | Yes | Yes |
| Device support | Desktop and mobile | Desktop and mobile |
| Comments and mentions, preview mission (in the Usability test or Media survey tab) | Yes | Yes |
| Responses tab |
Time on task, clicks, completion percentage, and effort rating Auto-transcript Click events |
Auto-transcript Compile videos and photos |
| Highlights, clips, quotes, tags | Yes | Yes |
| Playlist builder | Create playlists from clips | Create playlists from video questions |
Still not sure which tool is right for your research? Contact your Lead Research Advisor for additional guidance.