urTRACE Variables
urTRACE Variables add real, recordable behaviour on top of your design - the interactive pieces a prototype can't produce by itself. Draw over the element you want to activate, and the Variable takes on that element's look, so a designed field or switch becomes genuinely usable.
- Text field. Let testers type into a designed input - a search box, an email, a promo code - and capture what they enter.
- Toggle. Turn a designed switch into a working on/off control, recorded per session.
- Dropdown and options. Offer a menu or a set of choices, and see which testers pick.
- Slider. Capture a value on a range - a rating, a budget, a quantity.
Any Variable can be made required (the tester must complete it before moving on - a working login or form gate), checked against an expected value, or set to branch testers to a different screen based on their choice.
Keep functionalities separate. Give each interactive element its own region - don't stack two Variables on the same spot, or nest one inside another (a dropdown sitting inside a text field, for example). Overlapping controls compete for the same taps and blur what you're measuring.
A Variable dropped on top of a slider. The two controls fight for the same taps, so the heatmap and results can't tell which one the tester meant.
Give each control its own region. Every tap measures one thing, and each Variable reads cleanly on its own.