UIUX 360 / 20-December-2022 / minute read

Think-Aloud Protocol

Think-aloud protocols involve participants thinking out loud as they are performing a set of specified tasks.

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What is Think-Aloud Protocol?

Overview

Think-aloud protocols involve participants thinking out loud as they are performing a set of specified tasks. Participants are asked to say whatever comes to their minds when they complete the task. This can include what they are seeing, thinking, doing, and feeling.

Think-aloud protocols have been particularly effective in illustrating users' search strategies when navigating databases and the web. This is a usability study where participants are asked to interact with an interface while continuously thinking aloud, so designers and developers can analyze users' verbal thought flow.

Think-aloud is the concurrent verbalization of thoughts while performing a task. When this method is applied, participants are asked to spontaneously report everything that comes to their mind while performing a task, and they are instructed not to explain or analyze their thinking.