StudyAlign: A Software System for Conducting Web-Based User Studies with Functional Interactive Prototypes

TL;DR

StudyAlign is a comprehensive software system that simplifies the setup and execution of web-based user studies with functional prototypes, integrating experiment management, questionnaires, and data logging.

Contribution

We introduce StudyAlign, a new software platform that streamlines the creation and management of online user studies with interactive prototypes, enhancing reproducibility and reducing setup effort.

Findings

Facilitates large-scale web-based user studies with functional prototypes.

Simplifies integration of questionnaires and data logging.

Reduces effort and improves reproducibility of online experiments.

Abstract

Interactive systems are commonly prototyped as web applications. This approach enables studies with functional prototypes on a large scale. However, setting up these studies can be complex due to implementing experiment procedures, integrating questionnaires, and data logging. To enable such user studies, we developed the software system StudyAlign which offers: 1) a frontend for participants, 2) an admin panel to manage studies, 3) the possibility to integrate questionnaires, 4) a JavaScript library to integrate data logging into prototypes, and 5) a backend server for persisting log data, and serving logical functions via an API to the different parts of the system. With our system, researchers can set up web-based experiments and focus on the design and development of interactions and prototypes. Furthermore, our systematic approach facilitates the replication of studies and reduces the required effort to execute web-based user studies. We conclude with reflections on using StudyAlign for conducting HCI studies online.