Troubleshooting research sessions

Use this guide to help troubleshoot common issues that arise during research sessions. If there is an issue you encounter often that's not on this list, let us know in an issue ticket.

Problem: User cannot sign into VA.gov

• A good way to avoid this is to ask the Perigean moderator to call participants prior to the session to verify that they are able to sign in to the site. They are willing to do this if you request it.

• Check that the email they’re trying to use matches the Perigean tracker if using ID.me.

• Ask them to try other login options if they have any. ID.me is preferred if they have it since we can verify the email they are logging in with.

Problem: User doesn’t see the feature you’re trying to test

• Check that the participant's email has been entered correctly from Perigean tracker in the feature flipper.

• Ask the user to clear their cache by holding down the shift key and refreshing the page.

• Ask the participant what email they are using to sign in. If they're using ID.me to sign in, they can check the exact email they're using to sign in. It's harder to tell with DS Logon and My HealtheVet since those logins have usernames, so ask if there are any other emails that may be associated with those accounts.

• Check their contact info email address in My Profile. Note that the contact email address may be different than the one they use to sign in, but it may help uncover discrepancies between the Perigean tracker and the email they are using to sign in.

• Ask if they have another way to sign in. If they do, have them try that instead. Preferably have them sign in with ID.me so we can verify the email is correct.

• Ask the participant to sign out and sign back in.

Problem: User cannot hear you/you can't hear them on Zoom

• A good way to avoid this is to ask the Perigean moderator to call participants prior to the session to verify that they are able to use audio and video on Zoom. They are willing to do this if requested.

• Direct the participant to check the audio source from the microphone icon on the far left bottom of the screen using the up arrow next to the icon. If they can hear you, you can say this out loud. If they can't hear you, try putting instructions in the chat.

• If all else fails, ask the user to call in on their phone. Once they call in, ask them to either mute their computer or change the audio source to phone to avoid echo.

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