Triangulating Unmoderated Usability Testing Methods: Lessons From Evaluating Educational Games

This case study examines the implementation of a fully unmoderated multimethod usability evaluation involving six environmental educational games delivered through a learning management system to undergraduate students. The study triangulated behavioral data from screen recordings, cognitive data from remote think-aloud protocols, and attitudinal data from post-session surveys to examine how different UX methods contribute complementary insights under unmoderated conditions. Prior to deployment, the testing protocol was piloted across three undergraduate classes to refine instructions, stabilize recording procedures, and address participant discomfort with verbalization and recording. Findings demonstrated that behavioral, cognitive, and attitudinal measures frequently diverged, revealing hidden usability friction, fragile mental models, and compensatory strategies that no single method independently captured. The paper contributes practical guidance for UX professionals designing scalable, interpretable unmoderated usability evaluations.