Show HN: Solid launches auto-moderated User Tests

Jonas, Founder of Solid User Tests here!

I published my first website in 1998 (when I was 12 years old) and learned early that you have to show your interface to real people when you want to understand how they perceive your concepts and designs.

A few years ago, still working as a Freelance UX Designer, I had to conduct 40+ moderated user tests, which was just so much work and we didn't learn much after 10 sessions. But sometimes you just want this extra level of confidence – or your stakeholders request it.

I was never happy with the solutions out there for unmoderated tests. People rush through the tests and when things get complicated, they stop thinking out loud. In a moderated setup you can remind participants to think out loud again, in an unmoderated setup you can't.

With Solid, you can now create auto-moderated studies, where Anna does the moderation for you. She helps users set up their device (sharing screen, microphone, camera) and talks to users – which feels much more natural for a tester than just reading text. Additionally, Anna reminds testers to think out loud, if they get silent.

We already ran 500+ sessions and can say with confidence that you should run all your unmoderated user tests with Solid – auto-moderated.

We are officially launching now after 6 months in beta.

What do you think about my approach? Happy to get feedback.