What is Task Research ?
About Task Research
Live website testing is a research method used to observe how participants complete tasks on a real website. Participants navigate pages, search for information and complete actions as they would in real life, while researchers observe their behaviour and collect data on how they interact with the site.
It is used to identify usability issues, understand navigation behaviour and evaluate whether a website supports the tasks users need to complete.
How Live Website Testing Works
The researcher provides a website URL and defines a task for participants to complete. Participants visit the website and attempt to complete the task within a set time limit. Their screen is recorded throughout the session, and tracking technologies such as Eye Tracking and Facial Coding can be enabled to capture where they look and how they respond emotionally.
Website: amazon.in
Task: Search for a 55 inch LED TV and add it to your cart.
Participants navigate the website freely to complete the task.
Results show every page visited, time spent on each page where participants looked, where they dropped off and their emotional responses.
When to Perform Live Website Testing
Conduct a live website test when you need to evaluate how well a real website supports user tasks in its current state.
Common scenarios include:
- You want to understand whether participants can complete a specific task on your website without difficulty
- You have launched or updated a website and want to identify usability issues before or after release
- You want to observe how participants navigate to a goal and which paths they take along the way
- You need to understand where participants drop off or lose their way during a task
- You want to capture both behavioural data such as navigation paths and emotional data such as facial expressions during a real website interaction
USE CASES
E-commerce task completion
A team wants to understand whether participants can find a specific product and complete a purchase on their website. A live website test records every page visited, the time spent and where participants looked, revealing whether the navigation and product discovery experience is working as intended.
Navigation evaluation
A team has updated the navigation structure of a website and wants to understand whether participants can find key sections. A live website test captures the paths participants take and identifies where they get stuck or take unexpected routes.
Content discoverability
A content team wants to know whether participants can find specific articles or resources on a website. A live website test shows which pages participants visit and how long they spend searching, revealing whether the content structure and labelling are clear.
Checkout flow evaluation
An e-commerce team wants to test whether participants can complete a purchase from product selection to payment confirmation. A live website test records every step taken and identifies where participants drop off or encounter difficulty.
Competitive benchmarking
A research team wants to compare how participants perform the same task on two different websites. Running live website tests on each site provides comparable data on task completion, navigation paths and time spent, helping identify which experience performs better.