Controlled Environment Testing
A controlled environment testing session is moderated in person or remotely
by a trained researcher; who walks through the tasks to participants, answers their queries, and asks
follow-up questions. Conversely, an uncontrolled test is done without direct supervision; participants
might be in a lab, but it's more likely they are in their own homes and/or using their own devices to
browse the website that is being tested. But they can also be unobtrusively monitored by the researcher.
Contextual Testing
Contextual testing is a semi-informal method to obtain information about the
context of use, where users are first asked a set of standard questions and then observed and questioned
while they use the website or application in their own environments. This method suits when an existing
application needs revamp or enhancement to collect maximum possible data for the existing users.