Really helps conduct collaborative research

Love this product and the direction it is going in for user experience researchers conducting usability tests on mobile devices and computers.

Pros

I LOVE that observers can enter and exit the virtual observer room as needed, it saves a lot of pinging and distractions for the research participant.

Cons

Improvements that could be made including having an "in person but 2 computers" mode, allowing you to start a "live" session from another computer but not need to turn on the microphone or audio, as you're purely using it to check in with observers if there are questions while running an in person test.

First day using Lookback for research - total game changer!

This tool made it really easy to smoothly run a research session with a team. Everything is in one place. Recording, note-taking and comments were all in the interface. I felt confidence that my recordings were saved and had no problems at all. Great tool for doing usability studies in particular - today's sessions used a prototype and Lookback saved the participants from having to go through multiple steps to access it.

Pros

Today was my first day using Lookback for user research. Previously I have used a variety of recording software and none of these were as easy as this tool. The participants had no problem connecting and the research went very smoothly as a result. Everything about Lookback was easy for both myself and the participants!

Cons

I don't like that participants have to put in their name and email address in order to use it.

Awesome when it works, but it often doesn't

It's an awesome little tool when it works, but it has often ruined my research sessions so I am switching to another tool that supports more browsers and devices

Pros

Participants can join as observers Geared towards user research Allows clips highlights to be created Automatic recordings Relatively simple to use

Cons

Only works on Chrome. iOS often doesn't work properly. Often complaints of poor connection, even when the connection is fine with other software. My participants often have technical difficulties. The exported clips are in an unpopular file format that I can't use with other tools without converting.

I can't get this service to function

Pros

The price is accessible to a small startup.

Cons

The service encounters errors EVERY TIME I conduct a session with a user. I've lost so much time and resources to this service. There's absolutely no excuse for the amount of technical errors I encounter using this service every. time.

Love the features BUT have to use work arounds

- Having notes and videos together in one place! - The ability to quickly find a video snippet to share based on the timestamped notes.

Pros

I use this for user testing and I would have to say my favorite part is the ability for multiple people to take notes real-time and the notes are time-stamped to the video. Pros: - Notes in Real-Time Time-Stamped to the Video -Project Folders For easy organizing - Ability for people to watch but not be seen - Ability to create highlight snippets (Very Easy to Do) - Ability to download notes & videos - Ability to share videos with Link - Ability to view camera and screen share at the same time

Cons

Again, I am using this for user testing and users have to have the google chrome plugin installed for us to be able to use lookback. Some of our users do not use google chrome and it feels weird to ask them to install something on their machine. Our workaround is to use zoom and Lookback at the same time. The only downside is the person recording cannot take notes in Lookback at the same time. Cons: - Must have google chrome plugin - Cannot Upload videos

Lookback

Pros

Awesome tool for user tests with facilitating additional features like live stream, chat and video editing.

Cons

You must download an extra app to conduct tests on smartphones, AND a web extension on each browser you want to use.

A great recording application, but not a reporting tool

Pros

It was very easy to set up a session, and the UI for the "participate" app that's needed for remote sessions is very easy (which is critical for getting participants to actually participate!). The video playback is fine and I like being able to see the screen and participants' faces in the same shot. The note-taking interface was easy to use, too.

Cons

I would have liked an additional layer of reporting based on the notes from user sessions - something like Optimal Workshop or Loop11 provides, where they can generate insights based on tags and words used in comments. Also, I had some trouble editing comments (one out of 10 times, it would reload the entire video) and the timestamps in the exported video notes weren't ideal for importing into Optimal Workshop/Reframer to generate additional reports.

Lookback have serious problems with charging wrong values

It works, but after that I had problems a lot to solve with wrong charges.

Pros

The platform consumes a lot of bandwidth, so works good only when you have a good internet signal and a superpower device (specially talking about smartphones).

Cons

They double charged me for one year and never gave my money back. When you cancel your account, they keep charging you, and there's no way to cancel the charging once you cancelled your account. Nowadays all my fees, but they returned to charging me, without my authorisation.

Comparable and cheaper than User testing.com

Pros

This application is great for doing remote user tests. It allows you to perform self and moderated tests remotely which saves tons of money.

Cons

It doesn't have as many features as usertesting.com but the cost difference makes up for it.

I don't have patience anymore to clarify how to use Lookback :(

I loved it very much, i also used as a reference in my scientific publications about UX testing. Now I feel that I don't have patience anymore to clarify how to use Lookback :(

Pros

It is very useful to research how users use different applications. I liked is very much that I had a possibility to saw their face too. It was very easy and simple to use.

Cons

Some years ago everything was quite simple and clear with Lookback, but the system was changed appr. 1-2 years ago and after this I couldn't clarify how can I record a full UX test and how and where can I find records. Moreover, how much does it cost.

Looks good but frequently fails

Support is slow and unhelpful. Seriously TEST this product before deciding to pay for a year's subscription!

Pros

I theory the remote testing functionality is helpful, but I haven't been able to test this as IT departments won't install the extension.

Cons

Frequently fails to record audio and sometimes video and audio. It is no reliable or very robust. The helpdesk has never resolved any of my technical issues and can take weeks to get back to you. They do not seem to care much about the issues their customers are facing.