Manage participant experience in a usability test

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On the Overview tab of your usability test, you can choose whether participants must download the Dscout browser extension or provide their name and email address to participate in your study. Removing these requirements can get participants in and out of your study more quickly and with less work on their part, but less data will be collected. Review your options below to choose what makes the most sense for your research.

Note: These settings are only available when inviting your own participants to a desktop study. If you’re auto-recruiting participants, adding participants from a screener, or conducting a mobile study, participants will be required to provide their name and email address.

Chrome extension

The Dscout browser extension lets you capture click data and generate heat maps for use during analysis. This is particularly useful if your usability test has task questions with Figma prototypes.

Warning: This setting cannot be changed post-launch.

By default, participants are required to install the extension to participate in desktop usability tests. However, you can disable this requirement if this data is not important to you.

Note: This setting is only available on desktop usability tests. No browser extension is required for mobile studies.

Setting	Description
Extension required (default)	Participants must have the Dscout browser extension installed to participate in your study. If they don’t have the extension installed already, they will be prompted to do so before starting the study.
Extension free	Participants are not required to have the Dscout browser extension installed to participate in your study. Warning: Click data will not be collected and heat maps will not be generated for participants without the Dscout browser extension. We do not recommend this option if you wish to have this data during analysis.

Participant sign up

By default, participants are required to provide their name and email address before they can participate in studies, including usability tests. However, you can disable this requirement if you don’t want your participants to have to complete this additional step.

Warning: This setting cannot be changed post-launch, and sign-up cannot be skipped when paying participants via Dscout.

Setting	Description
Require participant sign-up (default)	Participants must provide their name and email address to participate in your study. Note: Requiring participant sign-up does not automatically add a participant to Dscout’s Scout Panel. Requiring sign-up simply allows us to better assist if issues arise by collecting the participant’s name and email address.
Skip participant sign-up	Participants are not required to provide their name or email address to participate in your study. Warning: Be aware of the following when skipping participant sign-up: Participant names will not be available (unless you ask for them at some point in your study). Participant emails will not be collected. Participants will not be agreeing to Dscout’s Terms and Conditions. Data and entries will be deleted after 120 days. Dscout cannot provide participant support if issues arise.

Tip: If you choose to skip participant sign-up on a study with an informed consent document attached, participants are still required to agree to the document before they can begin. For more information, see Add informed consent to a usability test.