Introducing five second tests

What is a five second test?

In five second tests, you present participants with a visual such as a landing page, ad concept, or hero image to a participant for a short time (often five seconds), and then ask them questions to learn more about what they understand or remember about the image. By limiting the viewing time you reveal genuine snap judgments that help you inform how you can improve a design or idea. Wondering’s AI-moderator then probes participant’s further using dynamic follow-up questions, helping you really learn things like if participants understood the purpose of a web page, what elements stood out, who the participant thinks it targets, whether the design felt trustworthy and so on.

When to use five second tests

Run a five second test any time clarity is essential. A homepage hero can be checked to ensure the value proposition pops rather than passing unnoticed. On a pricing page the test reveals whether visitors immediately grasp the offer. Fresh ad creatives benefit because you learn which concept hooks attention fastest. Empty-state illustrations or onboarding screens can be validated so that next steps feel obvious instead of cryptic. If you are rolling out a brand or logo refresh the test confirms that the new look still feels familiar and trustworthy.

How to run a five second test in Wondering

First, add our new Concept test block to your study, and set the Test type to “Timed test”. Then, set the duration (in seconds) that you want your stimulus to be displayed to users for:

Finally, upload your image, and define the instructions and questions to show to your participants.

Example: Refining an app onboarding screen

Imagine you are building TrailMix, a hiking companion app, and you need at least eighty percent of new users to understand that the app helps them find and share hiking trails. You upload the splash screen, which shows a bright illustration and a tagline, then ask participants what the app does. Twenty-five outdoor enthusiasts from the Wondering panel take the test. The first round shows that only fifty-two percent mention trails while many assume it is a playlist app. You tweak the copy, replace an icon that looks like headphones, run the test again, and reach eighty-eight percent. Now you can ship the design with confidence.

Ready to test it out? Five second test is available now on all plans.

Author

Axel Thomson

Founder

Author

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