Tap into hard-to-reach audiences with live intercept testing

Connecting with the right audience is at the heart of great research. But what happens when your audience is highly specific or hard to find? Whether you're targeting a niche customer segment or trying to capture real-time feedback, live intercepts can help you meet users where they are and gather authentic insights as they interact with your product.

In this article, we'll dig into how to use live intercepts in your digital experiences to get feedback from exactly the right people.

What is a live intercept?

A live intercept is a behavioral analytics tool that enables teams to invite users to participate in a test or provide feedback based on their real-time behavior on a website, app, or digital product. 

For example, if someone clicks “Add to Cart,” completes a registration, or logs in to a secure portal, you can trigger a prompt inviting them to give feedback.

This lets you engage with your actual customers engaging with your digital experience in the moment. It also opens the door to a deeper understanding of how people experience your product in their day-to-day life.

Why you should leverage live intercepts

With live intercepts, you can connect with highly targeted users and customers and get their thoughts in the moment. That means faster, richer, and more reliable insights to inform product and design decisions.

It’s one of the most powerful tools for:

• Rapid testing and iteration
• Validating live experiences
• Reaching niche or qualified users
• Understanding the full customer journey

When should you use live intercepts?

1. You’re trying to reach a niche or hard-to-find audience

Sometimes recruiting from a general panel takes too long or doesn’t reach the specific group you need. Live intercepts let you target people already using your digital experience, ensuring you get feedback from the right users who you can recruit for current or future research projects.

2. You want real feedback from real experiences

Instead of recruiting someone to simulate a signup flow or product journey, live intercepts allow you to observe and engage with users who are doing those things in real time. That means more accurate, authentic insights.

How to use live intercepts with UserTesting

Setting up a live intercept with UserTesting is straightforward; just follow these steps:

1. Create an Invite Network test: Start by creating a standard Invite Network study in UserTesting. This gives you a test link you can embed anywhere—like in a modal or pop-up.
2. Trigger the test link on key behaviors: Work your web team to trigger an intercept or modal popup on your site. Then, identify where to trigger to test for specific behaviors based on that. For example, you might display the invite when someone clicks “Request a Demo,” logs in, or completes a specific action.
3. Customize the prompt: Design a user-friendly modal window that invites users to give feedback. This could be a short task, a quick survey—whatever fits your research needs.

Capture and analyze insights: As soon as users accept the invite and participate, you can start analyzing their feedback and identifying opportunities to improve the experience.

Bring customer feedback to life with live intercepts

Live intercepts are an indispensable tool for getting high-quality, in-the-moment feedback from your actual users. Whether you're trying to connect with a hard-to-reach audience or observe behavior as it naturally unfolds, live intercepts help you do both.