Have you ever been frustrated with a website and wanted to provide some feedback? Then maybe you might enjoy making some extra money testing websites. Below is an evaluation of Validately, a website testing company, to give you some insight.
Website testing company
Validately
validately.com
Validately website testing was established in 2011 and is headquartered in New York, New York. They are focused on user research – the way in which a user interacts with a website or app (often known as usability testing or user experience).
Better Business Bureau (BBB)
There is no information for Validately on the Better Business Bureau. It is not registered, it has no file, and there are no reviews or complaints.
Cost to you
Registration: free
Recording software: free
Pay range
Validately pays a flat rate of $10.00 USD but there are some variations between $5.00 and $25.00 USD depending on the scope of the test.
You will be asked to interact with a website or app and perform some tasks. While you perform those tasks, you speak your thoughts out loud while your screen and voice are recorded. At the end of the tasks, you usually answer a few questions.
Some tests are very short but others could take up to 30 minutes. Occasionally, you may get invited to join some higher paying tests where you would perform live remote research sessions with a moderator.
These sessions are typically much longer, perhaps even up to 60 minutes, and pay you better rates accordingly.
Payment method
Validately only pays through PayPal and they pay only in USD currency. To ensure you can receive payment:
- When you register, ensure the email you use for registration is the same email you use for PayPal
- If you registered with a different email, then you need to add that email to your PayPal account
Payment frequency
Validately pays you within seven days of completing your test. Thus far, we can confirm they’ve been reliable and have paid on time.
Report submission
You don’t need to submit any additional reports with Validately website testing as your recorded test sessions are the reports. You use their recording software, that you download for free, on your testing devices. As you perform the test you speak out loud and your screen and voice are recorded.
Website and Mobile App usability
Validately has tests for different devices and each test will indicate whether it’s for desktop or mobile. The desktop tests are usually open to any operating system so you could use a Windows laptop or an Apple MacBook. The mobile devices could be designated as iOS or Android based or either.
Regardless of the operating system or the device, you’ll find the recording software is user-friendly and starts recording when you accept a test.
Social media
Validately is on both Facebook and Twitter.
Testing Category
Validately involves user research focusing on site interaction. You will follow a defined list of tasks and speak out loud while your voice and your screen are recorded. This presents your feedback to the client so they can understand the challenges and frustration points on their site.
If you want to learn more about website testing, read How You Can Be a Website Tester!.
Test availability
Validately is rather unique among website testing companies as it does not provide any sort of dashboard or list of tests available. Instead, they send a broadcast email notification where you can click on the imbedded link to accept and perform the test.
Keep in mind, you’re competing with all other testers who have received the same email so you’ll need to respond quickly. You’ll answer a few pre-test questions to confirm you fit the criteria, and if so, then the test is ready for you to begin.
IMPORTANT: If you use a password management system such as LastPass, you might have customised your browser to open within LastPass as the default. This is not necessarily compatible with the Validately recording software. So you may need to copy the link from the email and paste it into the browser manually to run the test outside of any password management software.
And you MUST use the Chrome browser – that is the only browser Validately accepts.
Tester support
Validately provides an email address for support but they also have a troubleshooting section in their online Help Center. You probably can’t get support quickly enough via email while you’re actively performing a test so bookmark their troubleshooting section for reference.
What do you need?
If you want to perform testing with Validately there are a few things you need:
- Internet – you must have a reliable and safe connection and we recommend you avoid public or shared WiFi when doing your tests
- Device – you can use your laptop (Windows or Apple) or your smartphone (Android or iOS) but it’s not clear whether tablets are supported (please do post a comment if you’ve completed a Validately test on a tablet!)
- Software – you need to download the Validately recording software on every device you’ll use for testing
- Headset and microphone (Optional) – you don’t have to use an external headset/microphone but we’ve found the recordings are better quality
How does it work?
So you want to give it a try? Here you go:
- Go to their website, validately.com, in the top right of the primary navigation menu, click the menu option for “Get Paid to Test”
- Click the button, “START MAKING MONEY”
- Click the button, “Create Account”
- You’ll work through a series of questions to identify your devices, operating systems, etc
- You’ll also need to enter some personal information such as gender, year of birth, education level, employment status/title, etc. NOTE: Register with the same email address you use for PayPal.
- Download the recording software on all the devices you’ll use for testing
- Take the qualification test – this is important:
- Confirms that you are not a robot
- Confirms the recording software and your setup is working
- Gives you an idea of what a typical test looks like
- Gets you comfortable with recording and speaking your thoughts out loud
- Now Validately will notify you by email when you can begin doing real, paying tests
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Recommendation
We have done a number of tests with Validately and rate it well:
- Test availability – there aren’t a huge number of tests available but the site is clear that you should only expect a few invitations each week
- Tester support – the help center has a troubleshooting section that is decent and they provide a support email for contact as well
- Pay range – most tests pay $10.00 USD and require between 10 and 15 minutes to complete
- Payment – they pay on time, as advertised
- Recording software – recording begins automatically when you’ve started a test
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