12.4. Test Your Prototype

Soliciting feedback from participants is easier when they’re comfortable. One of the tricks I often use is to have the moderator greet the participants, introduce himself (or herself), offer them something to drink, and start a conversation while walking them to the testing room. This gives the moderator a chance to build some rapport with the participants and get them comfortable as quickly as possible.

I’ve found remote participants are pretty comfortable from the beginning. I imagine it helps being in their own environment instead of coming into a strange place and sitting in a room with a camera pointed at them, while someone watches from another room.