Review of UserTesting from a Professional Tester's Perspective

So when I started looking at side hustles, one that stood out was a site called UserTesting.  A bit of digging showed what was advertised as 10-20 minute testing blocks that are provided and then you would be paid $10 through PayPal.  As I am a professional quality assurance analyst and tester, I knew I could provide a high level of quality and once I verified that it was true freelancing work, I signed up.

The signup process was fairly simple.  They wanted basic info, a connection to a PayPal account and a verified email.  I did actually start laughing during the application process as it stated that "Testing is not a full-time job" I  was sure they meant "through UserTesting" but it made me laugh!  Now I feel like it was a warning sign but more on that later.

The final step was to have a interview type test session that was reviewed by the company before being eligible to do test sessions for pay.  A test session is actually fairly straight-forward.  They present a Test Scenario and even present a partial test persona for you to keep in mind.  You then use their screen recorder and a microphone to record your thoughts and mouse movements as you navigate a web site.  Some tests have multiple steps and some require a recording of your face - they always make it clear when you first accept the test - you are free to decline those if you are uncomfortable.  At the end of the session, it uploads the data which takes between 20 seconds and 2 minutes.  You are eventually rated by the client in the form of a star rating and if you did acceptable work, you are paid within 7 days.  The main thing they are looking for is a vocal user who follows the scenarios and explains their reaction, thoughts and decisions.  As I rather like talking, and always have an opinion, this was very easy for me and I submitted my example test session with confidence.   It took  a few days for them to review it and then I was approved.

At a screen prompt, I went to the Help Center section of the site and took two 15 minute lessons on testing which were simple but useful.  Finally I was ready to start!  I went to my "Available Tests".  There were over 10 tests available and I noticed there was a short test advertised as a 5 minute scenario but would only pay $3.  It seemed like a good place to start and get warmed up.  Recorded the session and sent it in only to be notified that as it was my first official test, that I would need to wait until it was reviewed before being able to continue.   Welp, there went my Saturday morning plans!

So I waited.  Finally a week later I received my review.  2 weeks, one 5 star rating & 3 dollars in my Payment Pending section I thought I would finally be able to get some scenarios done.   Nope!  Every test scenario has a survey on it to "qualify" for the test.  I have taken over 50 surveys and I only qualified for 1 test scenario.  It was a longer monitored test which makes the payoff higher, so I clicked through to sign up for a time-slot.  But the page showed no time slots on the page at all.  After 10 minutes of selecting every time zone. I finally sent a "help" email and received this as a reply:
Hope you're doing well! 
We apologize for the confusion. If you're unable to find a time slot or none show up then there are no longer any slots available, so feel free to exit out of the test and decline it. Additionally, we appreciate the feedback about this and have forwarded it over to our Product Team to review!
If you have any other questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to write to [email  redacted to protect company]. We're happy to help!
Wow. Just Wow.

To be fair, I was impressed with the speed, clarity and helpfulness of the support team as they responded within an hour of my request, but decidedly unimpressed with everything else.
Overall, I think this is a good idea in theory but the reality is this is a fancy form of paid surveys.  Mind, you are being paid for user testing but you have to qualify first.  Unfortunately being self-employed or having a tech based job, disqualifies you from most of the offered sessions.  If you aren't employed in a tech based role or if you have some form of traditional employment and are hoping for something to try and get some spending cash, I think this might be worth it but unlike paid surveys, you do need a quiet environment for the recording process which means you can't do this in front of the TV.  Which leads me to conclude that it would be better to stick with some form of traditional survey like what Swagbucks offers.

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