An in-home usage test (IHUT) shows what happens when people use a product in the setting it was made for. This guide covers product handling, participant instructions, usage occasions, compliance, in-the-moment documentation, and the feedback the development team will need afterward.
Seven parts of an IHUT plan
These planning checks summarize Russell’s IHUT tip sheet, which explains the recommendations in more detail.
- Agree what success means. Decide whether the product must improve on an existing version, compare favorably with a competitor, or resolve a particular problem. Those criteria determine the questions to ask.
- Prepare the product and the logistics before recruiting. Allow for participants who do not complete every task, provide clear instructions and deadlines, and make sure samples are ready to ship.
- Plan incentives and participant contact. Keeping the product may not adequately compensate participants for their time. Longer trials also need contact to answer questions and support completion.
- Collect feedback during use. Short videos or diaries can record preparation, unboxing, and usage details that people may forget when answering a later questionnaire.
- Set rules for follow-up questions. If an AI tool probes an open-ended answer, researchers should define its permitted questions, review its output, and check how participant data is handled.
- Choose appropriate comparisons. Include measures that can be compared with relevant benchmarks. Any forecast also depends on assumptions such as distribution and marketing support, not only product ratings.
- Decide how to investigate the results. Follow-up interviews can explain why participants gave particular ratings. Modeled responses or digital twins remain hypotheses until checked with people or new evidence.
Read the complete IHUT guide or download “Taking IHUTs to the Next Level”.