Product updates and latest releases
Build profiles and define exactly who you need from demographics, location, device, job title, seniority, company size, industry, B2B, and more.
Explore the expanded targeting options for self-service recruitment and new recruitment capabilities with Profiles:
Profiles is now available in Usability Testing and will be rolling out to other study types later this year. Start by selecting Optimal Panels under the Recruit tab.
You can now use MCP to search and explore your automated transcripts from your Optimal Interviews and Usability Testing studies.
Connect Optimal with your preferred AI tool and ask questions about your sessions, without manually searching through transcripts.
Use MCP to:
You can also use MCP to instantly search, analyze, and talk to your Optimal data, including participant results, study setup and metadata, interview insights, task results, and study insights & analysis.
Learn more about how you can use MCP to uncover new insights, create deliverables, and automate workflows.
It's now easier to review and communicate compelling insights to drive informed decisions with automated highlight reels in Usability Testing.
Review highlight reels that bring together key moments from multiple participants to support findings and citations.
To access a highlight reel, select an insight and click on Show citations. Then click on the three dots (⋮) by a highlight reel to Download video.
We've also recently added options to add branding and end tasks automatically for prototype tasks to Usability Testing. Learn more about these updates.
Optimal’s new AI assistant helps you choose the right research method for your goals.
Tell us what you’re looking to learn, what you have so far (such as an idea or prototype), and how many people you want to hear from. We’ll recommend a study type that best fits your needs, along with the reasoning behind the recommendation.
Designed to make research more approachable, it enables anyone on your team to get started with confidence. Whether you’re new to research or an experienced researcher looking for the right method, it makes it easier to choose the right approach, conduct meaningful research, and get to insights faster.
Get started on your Home page.
When we heard that End study and Set auto-end conditions could be hard to locate in Usability Testing, we acted quickly to make these options more visible and easier to access so you can manage your studies with greater ease.
You can now find the End study and Set auto-end conditions on the Results tab along with the Review and publish section under Build.
We are always open to hearing how we can improve Optimal, whether it’s a big idea or an incremental change that makes your experience better.
Please reach out anytime via the feedback and feature request form.
We've expanded the ways you can customize your studies in Usability Testing, giving you more control over the participant experience. Learn more about the latest enhancements.
Up next for Usability Testing:
With the Model Context Protocol (MCP), you can securely connect AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Cursor directly to your Optimal research.
Ask questions in natural language, explore findings across studies, analyze interviews, and generate stakeholder-ready outputs, all grounded in your research.
What you can do with MCP
Get the most out of your Optimal data:
Examples:
The Optimal MCP server currently provides read-only access to your research. AI tools can explore and analyze your studies, but they can't edit, delete, or modify your data.
Access to your data is secured using OAuth 2.0 authentication, giving you control over who can connect to your Workspace and which data you can access. You'll only have access to what you can access already in Optimal.
Getting started
MCP is included with your Optimal plan and takes just a few minutes to set up. Go to Integrations on your Home left side panel to start or find out how to connect with this guide.
Then, you'll be ready to ask any question via your AI tool so you can spend less time hunting for information and more time generating insights that move your experiences forward.
Self-service recruitment is now available for Prototype Testing, Live Site Testing, Usability Testing, and Surveys with AI Moderated Questions, making it easy to recruit with Optimal and start gathering video/audio/screen recordings and insights for your studies.
We've also significantly expanded targeting options to help you reach more relevant audiences.
Whether you're testing a prototype, evaluating a live experience, or uncovering usability issues, it's now easier to connect with the right people, gather the feedback you need, and make more confident decisions that lead to better experiences.
Get started by navigating to the Recruit tab in your study and clicking on Order Participants under Optimal Recruitment to set your targeting criteria and submit an order.
Up next: We're continuing to evolve recruitment at Optimal! Here's what to expect next:
You can now purchase Optimal Recruitment credits directly in the platform using a credit card, and apply them instantly to your next recruitment order.
If you have purchasing permissions, you can buy credits from:
Credits are available in packs of 50 at $10 USD per credit.
Recruitment credits can be used across all supported study types, including:
To use your credits:
This update makes it faster and easier to recruit participants whenever you need them, so you can keep your research moving.
If you have any questions or would like to purchase in in larger volumes or need a custom package, please get in contact with our team.
A common piece of feedback we’ve heard recently is the need for improved access to participant data and data export options in Usability Testing. Based on your feedback, we've made this a priority.
You can now review participant attributes and identifiers and export full participant raw data (Excel file) for Usability Testing.
To download, go to Results > Sessions and click the three dots (⋮) by Integrated session to download all participant session data, including participant identifiers, task outcomes, completion times, transcripts, and a range of other session metrics to make analysis and reporting much easier.
These updates give you greater visibility into your participant data and more flexibility in how you analyze, share, and work with your research.
Up next for Usability Testing: