Your study will have glitches. Piloting it before launch gives you a chance to fix them before they mess up your results.
Test-driving tasks with a colleague and “previewing” your test yourself are quick and effective ways to find glitches.
Running a realistic pilot test with stakeholders and representative users is an even better way to spot mistakes in your study.
Observing a few in-person sessions is the best method for finding problems.
In addition to content problems, watch for technical issues caused by spam blockers, firewalls, unsupported web browsers, or mobile devices.
If you make changes after the pilot, revise a duplicated copy of the pilot study, and recheck your correct answers as necessary.
Next: Chapter 11 - Running the test