Silverback: Quick & Easy User Testing Recorded Anywhere, Anytime

You will love this easy to use application for recording user testing sessions.

A month or two ago I heard about a user testing application that was in beta and looked promising. Well, it has now been released and is very cool.

Basically, Silverback (www.silverbackapp.com) records the screen of a Mac laptop while simultaneously recording the user's face and voice with the built in iSight camera and microphone. This means you can record user testing sessions anywhere, anytime with no equipment setup.

When playing back a session, the desktop image is shown full size. The recording of the user is inset in the lower right of the screen as a mirror image. This means when reviewing the recording the user's eyes point to the place on the screen where they were looking.

It is so simple to do that I was able to download the app, install it and record a test session in minutes without even reading a quick start guide.

Here are a couple of links describing Silverback during its beta, but honestly, you can download and test the app quicker than you can read the articles.

• Garrett Dimon on Silverback
• Kyle Meyer on Silverback

It is definitely worth checking out and a trial can be downloaded here.