Task education screens help participants understand how to complete different task types in your unmoderated study. These system-generated screens appear before participants begin interacting with a task, providing essential instructions and setting clear expectations.
What are task education screens?
Task education screens are instructional screens that automatically display to participants before they start a task block. Unlike task instructions (which you write to describe what you want participants to do), education screens are generated by Askable to explain how to use each task type.
Education screens communicate:
How to navigate and interact with the specific task type (prototype test, live website test, card sort, tree test, etc.)
What to expect during the task, including any limitations
What recordings are being captured (screen, camera and microphone, if enabled)
Encourage participants to think out loud
How to end the task or move to the next block
How to toggle task education screens
To control whether a task education screen displays:
Navigate to the task block in your study builder
Locate the "Task education screen" toggle switch
Toggle on to display the education screen, or toggle off to hide it
Previewing task education screens
You can see exactly what participants will experience, including task education screens if enabled, by using the preview functionality:
Click the Preview button in the top right of the study builder
Progress through the study as a participant would
Task education screens will display at the appropriate points before each task
The preview allows you to review the complete participant experience and ensure education screens are displaying as intended.
Best practices
While education screens are helpful, showing the same instructions multiple times can make your study feel longer and more repetitive. Aim to educate participants efficiently without overwhelming them.
We recommend disabling education screens on consecutive tasks of the same type to reduce repetition and make the transition more seamless for participants. For example, if your study includes three prototype tests, enable the education screen on the first one and disable it on the second and third.
Preview your study to see how education screens flow with your task instructions and overall study structure. What makes sense in the builder may feel different in the actual participant experience.