Intro to Unmoderated Research

Welcome! In this first lesson of our Unmoderated Research with User Interviews course, you’ll learn:

• What is unmoderated research?
• When and why to do unmoderated research

Academy courses are designed to be self-paced and free of fluff to help you learn and master research with User Interviews. At the end of this course, you’ll have the option to download the lesson slides to adapt for your own internal use, and/or take the course quiz to review what you learned. 

What is unmoderated research? 

Unmoderated research is a type of user research where the researcher is not present during the testing session. Instead, researchers provide participants with the tools and instructions they need to conduct the session on their own time. Unmoderated methods include surveys, usability tests, A/B tests, diary studies, “think aloud” tasks, and more. 

For a more comprehensive introduction to unmoderated research, check out the Types of User Research Methods chapter of our UX Research Field Guide. 

When and why to conduct unmoderated research

Unmoderated research might be the right approach for you when:

• You have limited time, budget, or resources: The nature of unmoderated tests makes them easier, less expensive, and faster to run than research facilitated by a professional moderator. 
• You’re doing evaluative research: Unmoderated tends to be best suited for testing existing product designs, rather than exploring new concepts. 
• You’re primarily interested in collecting quantitative data: Unmoderated is a great choice when you need quantitative data, because it’s quicker and easier to collect large amounts of data using unmod methods. Some methods (such as qualitative usability tests) include the option for participants to provide a recorded self-narration for qualitative insights. 
• You need a large sample size: Because unmoderated tests can be conducted without the researcher present, they’re more scalable for studies that require insights from a large population.

Below are some examples and common use cases for running unmoderated research. 

As always, our team is here to support you in running effective research with User Interviews. If you have questions or need guidance on whether or not unmoderated research is right for your next study, your CSM will be happy to advise you.