# The bird tries your site on for size.

User experience testing: the bird uses the tools on your site the way a customer does, and records what happened.

The bird finds the tools on your site and uses them the way a customer would. When one does not work, you get the screen a customer would have seen, marked in red, with the page’s URL.

## Pick a tool. Watch the bird try it.

| Tool | What the bird did | What it found (example) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Inventory search | Searched the new inventory and narrowed it to the K4. | a new K4 listed at $757 |
| Payment calculator | Took a Sportage’s price, entered a down payment, a term and a rate. | the payment is not a number |
| Trade-in tool | Entered a 2022 Sorento, its mileage and its condition. | no offer shown |
| Credit application | Worked through the pre-qualification, one step at a time. | stops at step three |
| Chat | Opened the chat and asked whether a Telluride was still available. | no reply after four minutes |
| Contact form | Asked a question about Saturday service hours. | the message was refused |
| Service scheduler | Chose a vehicle and a service, then picked a day. | no times offered |

## How it goes

1. **It arrives like a customer.** It loads your site in an ordinary browser, with an ordinary browser user-agent.
2. **It finds the tools itself.** It finds the tools on your site and uses them without a script from you.
3. **It uses them.** It searches the inventory, opens vehicle pages, runs the trade and payment tools, fills in the forms and opens the chat. A step counts only when the page that follows shows it worked.
4. **It records what it saw.** It keeps screenshots as it goes. Every finding comes with the screenshot and the URL.

## What a finding looks like

The screen a customer would have seen, with a red mark on the part that went wrong and the address of the page it was on.

- · The screen: as the shopper saw it
- · The mark: a red box and a short label
- · The address: the page’s URL

The inventory lists tools detected on your site. A count there is tools shown, not tools verified as working: a finding is what the bird saw when it used the tool.

## The same idea on other kinds of site

| Kind of site | What the bird tries | Page |
| --- | --- | --- |
| A lender’s site | Pre-qualification, the rate quote, the online application, scheduling a call. | For loan officers |
| A provider’s site | Find a doctor, online scheduling, the appointment request form, patient portal sign-in. | For providers |
| Software | The sign-up form, the verification email, form errors, the first task. | For B2B software |
| A consumer app | Creating an account, the text message code, setup questions, the free trial. | For consumer apps |
| A consumer brand | The cart, checkout and sign-ups. It stops before it pays. | For consumer brands |

- [For loan officers](https://www.drcanary.com/for/loan-officers/)
- [For providers](https://www.drcanary.com/for/providers/)
- [For B2B software](https://www.drcanary.com/for/software/)
- [For consumer apps](https://www.drcanary.com/for/consumer-apps/)
- [For consumer brands](https://www.drcanary.com/for/cpg/)

## Point the bird at something particular

On monitoring, a saved shopper can carry areas of focus: what to do, in 12 to 600 characters, an optional start page, an optional line on what counts as done, and whether it runs one time or going forward.

- [How a saved shopper works](https://www.drcanary.com/capabilities/secret-shoppers/)

## What it does not do

- It is not an uptime monitor. An uptime monitor checks every few minutes and tells you when the whole site is down, and it is worth running too.
- It is not a speed test. A speed test times how fast a page loads, and it is worth running.
- It is not an SEO audit. An SEO audit checks what a search engine reads, and it is worth running.
- It is not an A/B test. An A/B test shows visitors two versions of a page and counts which one they respond to.
- It does not include a showroom visit. It shops online.
- Coverage is adaptive, not a complete crawl. The pages and tools it tries depend on the site, the time available and what it can reach.
- A page that challenges automated visitors is reported as unverified, not as broken.
- Using a tool is not by itself proof that the tool works. The bird needs the page that follows to show it.
- A check is automated and point-in-time. A report is not a security audit or a compliance certification.

## Ask your assistant

- “Which tools did the bird find on my site?” Uses `list_site_tools`. The inventory lists tools detected on your site. A count there is tools shown, not tools verified as working.
- “Show me the journeys from my latest check and what was assessed on each.” Uses `list_journeys`, `get_journey_assessment`. An empty list of assessments means none was returned, not a failed test.
- “Explain the findings in my latest report and show me the captures.” Uses `list_reports`, `get_report`.

More examples: https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/examples/

## Questions

### What is user experience testing?

Using your site the way a customer does and recording what happened. The bird finds the tools on the site, uses them, and keeps the screenshot and the URL of every finding.

### Is it a real person?

No. It is automated. It loads your site in an ordinary browser from the addresses listed on our crawler page, and an inquiry it sends names itself as an automated Dr. Canary site test.

### Which tools does it try?

On a dealership’s site: the inventory search, vehicle pages, the trade and payment tools, the forms, the chat and service booking. It finds them itself, so you do not hand it a list. Other kinds of site have their own tools, listed above.

### Does it work on a phone-sized screen?

The example captures on this page are phone captures of a fictional store. For your own site, your assistant can read the viewports each journey used with `list_journeys`.

### Can I tell it what to try?

Yes, on monitoring. Add an area of focus to a saved shopper: what to do, an optional start page and what counts as done, one time or going forward.

### Will it break anything or place an order?

On a public or unclaimed site it stops before anything consequential is sent. On a site you monitor, a shopper set to submit sends inquiries and books appointments as a named test, and one set to look only stops at the last step before anything is sent. On a consumer brand’s site it fills the cart and stops before it pays.

### How is it different from a speed test?

A speed test times how fast a page loads. It does not fill in a form or value a trade, so a page can pass it while a tool on it is broken. The bird uses the tool.

## Related

- [Capabilities](https://www.drcanary.com/capabilities/) · [markdown](https://www.drcanary.com/capabilities.md)
- [Lead engagement](https://www.drcanary.com/capabilities/lead-engagement-testing/) · [markdown](https://www.drcanary.com/capabilities/lead-engagement-testing.md)
- [Secret shoppers](https://www.drcanary.com/capabilities/secret-shoppers/) · [markdown](https://www.drcanary.com/capabilities/secret-shoppers.md)
- [Reports](https://www.drcanary.com/capabilities/reports/) · [markdown](https://www.drcanary.com/capabilities/reports.md)

https://www.drcanary.com/capabilities/user-experience-testing/ · updated 2026-11-11