Our Recordings feature allows you to easily capture your participants' faces, screens, and audio as they complete tasks during your test. These recordings are meant to help you identify potential usability issues by gauging your users' initial reactions and providing valuable insight into their thought processes as they navigate your design or information architecture. Recordings are only available on paid plans.
Enabling recordings is crucial for capturing think-aloud sessions and other valuable insights during prototype tests. Without enabling this feature, you may miss critical insights from participants.
Enabling test recording
Recording is enabled per section and is supported for the following section types:
Card sort test
First click test
Five-second test
Preference test
Navigation test
Design survey
Prototype test (both free flow and task flow)
Tree test
Live website test
Follow-up questions will also be recorded by default, but you can disable this if you only want the task recorded.
To enable recording for a section, simply follow these steps:
Ensure that recordings are enabled before launching your test, as this cannot be retroactively applied.
Add a new section or navigate to an existing section
While hovering over the section, click on the Record button that appears
Select the recording requirements for your test
When enabled, recording is mandatory for all participants.
Screen recordings for mobile devices
Mobile screen recording is supported for self-recruited participants using the Respond by Lyssna app, and for panel participants using our panelist companion app. To target mobile participants, set Device targeting to Mobile or Any device in your test.
Mobile screen recording is available on Growth and Enterprise plans.
For participant-facing instructions on downloading the app and joining a study, see Mobile screen recording with Respond by Lyssna
Viewing test recordings
On the Results page, you'll find your recordings right below the recorded task.
They will appear in a list on the right-hand side — a blue dot will appear on unwatched recordings that will disappear as soon as they're watched. You can click the star to favorite any recording that you want to save for later.
Downloading recordings
Recordings can be downloaded individually — bulk download of video files is not currently available. To download a recording, click the kebab menu (three dots) icon below the recording player and select Download.
The Download all transcripts button (available at the top of the recordings section) downloads text transcripts as a ZIP file — not the video recordings themselves. To download the actual video files, use the kebab menu below each individual recording.
Renaming recordings
You can rename individual recordings from your study’s Results page to make them easier to identify and reference later.
To rename a recording:
Navigate to the results of a test with screen recordings.
Hover your mouse over the title of a recording to show the edit icon.
Click the edit icon and type the new name. Click the 'Save' button, or press 'enter' on your keyboard to save the new title.
To remove a custom name, click the edit icon again and delete the name you entered.
If the field is left blank, the recording will revert to its original auto-generated name.
Recording transcriptions
Recordings with audio are transcribed automatically in the recording's detected language. To view a selected video's transcription, click the Transcription button underneath the video player:
You can play the video and follow along with the text at the same time, or click a word in the transcript to skip to that part of the video:
If you'd like to download the transcripts in bulk, click Download all transcripts in the top right corner of the recordings section:
You can also copy the full text of the transcription by clicking the three dots in the top right corner of the text box and selecting Copy to clipboard:
If you prefer to include the transcripts in a CSV along with the rest of your test data, click Export as CSV at the top of your Results page and select the option to include recording transcripts before exporting:
Transcription storage
The amount of transcription storage you have access to depends on your Lyssna plan. Limitations are as follows:
Plan | Storage limit |
Free | 5 hours (one-time offer) |
Growth | 50 hours per month |
Transcriptions for both interviews recordings and unmoderated test recordings count toward your storage limit.
If you reach your storage limit, you won't be able to create more transcriptions until the month in your billing cycle restarts. Transcription storage does not roll over month-to-month.
Participant experience
When recording is enabled, participants will be guided through a setup process at the start of the test. If your test contains a screener, those questions will be asked first.
At the beginning of each test section with recording requirements, participants will be reminded that recording will begin:
Recording is mandatory for all participants. If a participant doesn't grant a permission right away, they'll see a prompt to allow access in their browser or device settings, then click I've granted access to continue — no need to restart the test. If a permission is revoked partway through a recorded section, their test session will still be terminated, and you won't receive results for sessions that end before completing the test.
Common questions
How can I preview the recording feature from a participant's point of view?
To preview the recording feature from a participant's point of view, use the recruitment link for your test rather than the built-in preview. The test preview only shows the recording requirements on the welcome screen — it does not replicate the full recording experience.
Can I record the entire test from beginning to end?
You cannot record an entire test from beginning to end. Only individual test sections and their follow-up questions are recorded. If you would prefer a single recorded session covering the whole test, please reach out and let us know.
Can I record participants from the Lyssna panel?
Yes, you can record participants from the Lyssna panel. Orders with recordings enabled incur an extra charge, you can learn more from our Pricing article. At this time, recordings are not supported for orders from our partner panel.
Enabling recordings for any test type incurs an additional per-participant fee. Review your plan details to understand the associated costs.
How can I share feedback about this feature?
Our Support team is available to answer your questions or take feedback. Reach out to us at any time from the chat bubble in your account or by emailing support@lyssna.com.