Take part in an independent study of everyday online services
This is independent, non-commercial research into how people get ordinary things done online. You will use three simulated services — a bank transfer, a medical appointment, and a driver's license renewal — and answer a few short questions about each one. It takes about 15 minutes, it is open to adults anywhere, and the research dataset never holds your name, your email address, or your IP address.
By continuing you confirm you are 18 or over and agree to take part. Taking part is voluntary and you can stop at any point — no account, no email address, no payment.
- Time
- About 15 minutes
- Cost
- Free, and unpaid — no reward is offered
- Who
- Adults 18 or over, anywhere in the world
- Data
- No name, email, or account. Answers are stored under a random code.
- Languages
- English, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil)
- Details
- Read the privacy notice
What you will do
Three short tasks, in an order that varies between participants. Each one is a simulation built for this study. No real money moves, no appointment is booked, and no government record changes.
- Online bankingSend money to someone you have not paid before.
- Medical appointmentsBook a visit about a skin problem.
- License renewalRenew a driver's license that is about to expire.
After each task you answer a few short questions about what happened and how it went. Some of those questions have a correct answer, and how long you take to reply is recorded — the study is measuring how the pages work, not how you perform. There is no time limit, and you are never shown a score.
Everyone taking part is shown one of several versions of the same tasks. Which version you see is decided automatically, to keep the groups a similar size — it is not based on anything about you, and it is not a test of you. Which version you see, and what the study is comparing between them, are not described on this page — knowing that in advance would change how people use the pages. Nothing you are told here is untrue.
What is collected, and what is never asked for
What is recorded
- The choices you make inside the three simulated services.
- Your answers to the questions after each task.
- How long each step takes, and the path you take through each task.
- Which version of the tasks you were shown.
- Optional background you choose to give: an age range, how comfortable you are with technology, and how often you use banking, medical, and government services online.
- The language you read the study in.
What the research dataset never holds
- Your name.
- Your email address or phone number.
- Your IP address.
- Any device, cookie, or advertising identifier used to profile you.
Your answers are stored under a random code. That code is what makes it possible to delete them later, and it is why the data is best described as stored without identifying details rather than as fully anonymous. The privacy notice explains the difference.
At the end of the study you decide whether your answers stay in the dataset or are deleted.
If you close the page partway through on the same device and browser, you can come back and continue where you stopped.
If you leave partway through, the answers you have already given stay in the study.
Answers are kept until the research is published, then kept as an anonymized dataset for verification.
Used only for research. Answers are analyzed together with everyone else's and published as group results. They are never sold, never used for advertising, and never shown to anyone as an individual response.
The site itself uses a privacy-focused analytics service to count page views. That service sees your network address; it is separate from the study and never sees your answers.
Before you start
Questions people ask before starting
Do I need an account?
No. There is no sign-up, no login, and no email address. Opening this page is all that is needed to begin.
How long does the study take?
About 15 minutes in total — three short tasks, plus a short set of questions at the end. You can stop at any point. If you come back on the same device and browser, you continue where you left off.
Is it paid?
No. This is unpaid, non-commercial research, and nothing is sold, advertised, or promoted anywhere in the study.
Can I take part on a phone?
Yes. The study works on phones, tablets, and computers, in any current browser with JavaScript enabled.
Who can take part?
Any adult aged 18 or over, anywhere in the world, who reads English, Spanish, or Brazilian Portuguese. Taking part is voluntary and you can stop without giving a reason.
How this study is run
This is independent, non-commercial research, not a commercial product test. It is not funded, commissioned, or sponsored by any bank, health provider, insurer, or government agency, and it is not affiliated with any of the organizations whose services the tasks resemble. The three services used in the study are original simulations built for this research and are not copies of any real product.
It is not run from a university, and no ethics committee has reviewed it. It follows the Declaration of Helsinki, the APA's research ethics standards, and the GDPR and LGPD requirements that apply to it.
Results are reported only as anonymous group summaries. No individual session is ever published, and the data is never sold and never used for advertising.
Ready to begin?
The study starts with a few optional background questions — you can skip every one of them — and then the three tasks. Nothing is sent to the research record until you move past that first screen.
By continuing you confirm you are 18 or over and agree to take part. Taking part is voluntary and you can stop at any point — no account, no email address, no payment.
Read this study in:EnglishEspañolPortuguês (Brasil)