Free UX tools for your class.

For lecturers teaching UX, HCI or product. Free, students need no account, it runs in a browser and there's nothing to install.

Class exercises

Six exercises you can run this week.

  • Card sort, then tree testStudents group a real site's content, then test the structure they found.

    Time60 minutes, plus a few days for responses

    Learning goalSee how real people group content, and check that a navigation built from it holds up.

    Steps
    1. Pick a public site and list 20 to 30 of its pages as cards. You create the card sort and share the link.
    2. Students sort the cards on their phones or laptops. Close the study when the seminar ends.
    3. In the results, merge near-duplicate group names, then use "Build a tree test from this" to turn the groups into a navigation tree.
    4. Write three tasks, share the tree test, and have the class try to find things in it.

    Students hand inA one-page note: the structure they chose, and the tasks that failed.

    ToolsCard sort, Tree test

  • Heuristic evaluation, then prioritiseReview a public site against Nielsen's 10 heuristics and rank the problems.

    Time45 minutes

    Learning goalFind usability problems without users, and decide which to fix first.

    Steps
    1. Each student, or pair, reviews the same public site for 20 minutes and logs issues with a 0 to 4 severity.
    2. Export the issues as CSV and compare lists. Where two people found the same problem, note it once.
    3. Press "Prioritise these issues" to send them to the RICE calculator (impact is set from severity), then add reach, confidence and effort.
    4. Compare the severity ranking with the RICE ranking and discuss why they differ.

    Students hand inThe CSV of issues and a top-five list with the RICE scores.

    ToolsHeuristic evaluation, RICE and ICE calculator

  • Persona and journey mapTurn one interview transcript into a persona and a journey map.

    Time60 minutes

    Learning goalPractise synthesis: moving from what someone said to what they need.

    Steps
    1. Give the class one interview transcript. Use your own, or have pairs interview each other for ten minutes.
    2. Students pull out quotes, goals and frustrations and build a persona.
    3. From the persona, press "Build a journey" and map the person's journey through one task, marking the lowest point.
    4. Pairs swap and say which parts came from the transcript and which they guessed.

    Students hand inThe persona and journey map as PNG or Markdown, with the quotes they used.

    ToolsPersona builder, Journey map builder, Empathy map builder

  • Five-second test of landing pagesShow a page for a few seconds and see what people remember.

    Time45 minutes

    Learning goalLearn what a page communicates at first glance, and how to write a test question.

    Steps
    1. Each group picks a landing page, takes a screenshot and writes up to five questions.
    2. Each group builds a five-second test with a 3 to 10 second display time and shares the link.
    3. Groups take each other's tests, then read their own results, including the word list.
    4. Groups say what the page said, what it should have said, and one change they would make.

    Students hand inThe results page plus three sentences on what they would change.

    ToolsFive-second test, Preference test

  • Accessibility check on a real pageRun contrast, readability and accessibility checks on a live page.

    Time45 minutes

    Learning goalConnect WCAG criteria to real problems on a real page, and write the fix.

    Steps
    1. Pick a public page. Students scan it with the accessibility checker and note what it flags.
    2. They check the main colour pairs in the contrast checker and the key paragraphs in the readability checker.
    3. Students pick three problems and write the WCAG criterion, who it affects and the fix.
    4. Finish with a tool-versus-human discussion: what did the scanner miss that they could see?

    Students hand inA short audit: three problems, each with the criterion, the user affected and the fix.

    ToolsAccessibility checker, Contrast checker, Readability checker

  • SUS and NPS on a class prototypeScore a prototype the class built, with two standard questionnaires.

    Time40 minutes

    Learning goalLearn how standard scores work and what they can't tell you.

    Steps
    1. Each group lets another group try its prototype for five minutes.
    2. The testers fill in the 10-question SUS, printed or on screen, and give a 0 to 10 recommend score.
    3. Paste the answers into the SUS calculator and enter the recommend scores in the NPS calculator.
    4. Discuss the interval around each score and why a group of five can't prove much.

    Students hand inThe two scores with their intervals, and one sentence on what they do not show.

    ToolsSUS calculator, NPS calculator

How it works in class

A link for them, controls for you.

  1. Step 1Students use a linkThey open the study on any device and answer. No account, no install.
  2. Step 2You sign in onceFree, with an email link. You need it to share a study or keep it in My work.
  3. Step 3You set the rulesStop after a set number of responses, or at the end of a chosen day. Or close it by hand.
  4. Step 4You share and exportSend the class a read-only results link. Download CSV, or PNG where the tool offers it.
Privacy for students

No names. No emails. Just answers.

  • We don't ask participants for a name or an email.
  • We don't link an answer to a person.
  • You can close a study at any time, and delete it.
  • Details are in the privacy policy.
Questions

For teachers, answered

Does it cost anything?

No. The tools are free to use, and so are sharing a study, the results and the downloads. There is no trial, no class licence and no limit that switches on for teachers.

Do students need accounts?

No. Students take part from a link. Only you need to sign in, and only to share a study or keep it in My work. The builder tools, such as personas, journey maps, heuristic evaluation and the calculators, need no sign-in at all.

How many students can take part in one study?

A study holds up to 1,000 responses. One limit to plan around: each internet connection can send up to 150 responses an hour to one study, so a whole class on one campus network is fine.

Can I reuse a study next term?

Yes. In My work, choose Duplicate from the study menu. You get a copy of the setup with no responses, a new link and its own closing rules, and the original keeps its results.

How long is the data kept?

A study stays open for 12 months from the last time you opened its results, then expires. You can delete a study yourself at any time. Participant answers are anonymous, and our privacy policy has the full detail.

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