Changelog

We're rolling out a few exciting features for our video call: layouts, active speakers and frictionless cancellation.

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New call layouts

We have added new layouts to the live video calls.

• Auto: This is the default layout which will adapt to the number of participants or screenshare feeds in the call and switch to the most optimal layout.
• Spotlight: Very similar to the previous interface we had. Main speaker is shown on the big screen the other camera and screenshare feeds are shown as thumbnails in the bottom part of the screen.
• Sidebar: Main speaker on the big screen, other camera and screenshare feeds are shown as thumbnails as a vertical sidebar on the right
• Tiled: An adaptive grid of all current feeds to show everyone in equal proportions.

Active speaker

The active speaker is now marked with a green border during calls. This is particularly useful for calls with multiple participants.

Frictionless reschedule

It's now possible to cancel sessions directly from an email, instead of requiring testers to log in to PingPong.

Changed the notification messages in our video call.

• Fixed a bug that caused all transcription messages to appear on the same side.
• Rapid mute/unmute clicks will no longer disconnect the participant from the call.

Multiple moderator feature (beta) is finally here

We implemented the multiple moderator feature that is now available under our enterprise plans. This allows team members to select if they'd like to join the session as a Spectator or Moderator. Having multiple moderators on the call makes user interviews a great team exercise by allowing more than one team member to ask and interact with the user.

Delete teams, projects or recordings individually

We've implemented a delete feature for teams, project and recordings. These removals are instant and irreversible.

• Deleting a team will also delete every project and every recording associated with that team. (only admins can delete a team)
• Deleting a project will also delete all recordings associated with that project. (only project owners can delete a project)
• Deleting a recording will also delete any transcriptions, notes, clips associated with that session.

New tag for example projects

We added a new 'sample' tag on the Example research project to help distinguish it from your actual projects and sessions. These are now also easily deletable with the new delete feature.

• We've made changes to the demographic filter layout. This is mostly a visual update, the functionalities are unchanged.
• We also added 'Back' buttons to make navigation easier during project creation.
• Video call: The device settings window (camera, microphone, audio out) is now accessible on the join session screen too. This provides a way to change the camera or microphone before joining the session.
• We made some minor edits to improve clarity on some of our outgoing email templates for testers (uninvite, reschedule templates).
• For companies registered in the EU, the VAT number is now a mandatory field in the billing details.

We fixed some minor vulnerabilities in our video player.

• Fixed an issue preventing some functionalities on the draft project preview page.
• Fixed chat/note/transcription messages not showing up under the right users on our video player.

Multiple moderator (beta)

With this update, we're launching our multiple moderator feature in beta that'll make it possible for multiple moderators to join the session. Multiple moderator feature requires a subscription.

Overbooking prevention

You can now toggle overbooking protection in your profile settings to prevent PingPong sessions from being booked over any other events that are already scheduled in your connected calendar.

Improved call issue detection

Participants won't be able to join the call with any detected issues (no camera/microphone found, no permissions, etc.) This is to prevent potential confusion during the call.

Shared recording restrictions

User accessing the shared version of a recording can not edit/delete notes or clips anymore.

• Various security updates for front and backend packages.

• The billing page is now hidden for team members with collaborator privileges (instead of showing an error message)
• Fixed an issue with case sensitive accounts that prevented login/registration of accounts.
• Links added to the video call chat now open in a new browser tab.
• Various smaller fixes on shared recordings.

Projects now expire after 2 years

In addition to the recordings, projects now also expire when they reach 2 years of age. What happens when a project expires:

• You won't have access to any personal information besides the testers first name
• All info on previously invited participants are deleted (including screeners and number of invites sent thorughout the lifespan of the project)
• You will still have access to the screener answers on the completed sessions.

New participant selection icon

We have added an indicator to show whether your project automatically/manually allow matching users to book a session.

We've disabled the sound notification when someone joins your session as a spectator.

• Fixed an issue that could cause the recordings to pause while seeking.
• Our demo recording we put on every new account has had its second birthday 🎉🎂. While this is great news usually it also meant that it has expired. We've restored it.
• Testers from the UK are no longer asked for their address details. All previously stored information related to these fields have been deleted.

3rd party call integration

You can now choose to conduct video calls through external video platforms. Users will receive your 3rd party session links in the reminders and will be able to join you directly outside of PingPong.

Advanced tester selection options

Added the ability to select users manually based on their screener answers or profile data.

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New DPA and Security Policy has been published.

E-mail verification

E-mail verification is now required when signing up or changing e-mail addresses as testers or researchers.

Notes and chat improvements

The number of unread chat messages or notes are now displayed on the bottom of your toolbar during your sessions.

A chat message is now shown when participants join the call.

We've made a number of changes regarding the security of our databases.

• More secure encryption
• Fine tuned our backups policy

You can now download the text transcript or all your notes from each session in txt format. Import these into your Miro boards/spreadheets or whatever your tool of choice is to analyse your research findings.

We added a link to our Help Center in the profile dropdown.

We now have different password reset forms for tester and researcher accounts, since they have different password strength requirements.

Fixed a bug which occasionally caused custom compensations to reset to default on some projects.

Introducing the Microsoft SSO

In addition to the passwordless Google login option, you can now sign on with your Microsoft (Azure) accounts as well. This security feature will make our customers life simpler and safer if they're using Microsoft SSO.

New session review design

The session review page you get after each session on PingPong has received a visual overhaul. The update should provide more clarity on the available options and a nicer overall look.

Calendar event invitations

We are now including calendar event invitations in the session confirmation emails. These .ics files can be opened with all major calendars providing a way to create calendar events with a single click for your PingPong sessions. These events are private, no one else will see your email address.

We send similar emails to the testers as well which will hopefully improve the show-up rate a bit further.

Compensation shown in project details

The compensation offered to the participants of your project is now shown at the first step of the set up process. For already started projects the compensation is visible in the left sidebar. This is particularly useful if you regularly run projects with different compensations.

Fixed the position of a few particularly pesky carets throughout the app.

• Session moderators now receive an email when a new session gets assigned to them. If the user’s calendar is connected to PingPong, a calendar event is also created automatically.
• Changing the moderator is no longer possible after either participant (the tester or the moderator) has joined the call to avoid the edge cases where in-session moderator change doesn’t work.
• Testers who use Facebook login have the option to remove all their associated data from our systems with a single click.

• Fixed an issue that caused recordings to be out of sync in some cases.
• Reviewing the session while the tester is still in the call now successfully closes the session. Processing will also start automatically.
• Corrected typos.

New assign moderator feature: You can now assign different moderators to each session individually. This is perfect for teams to distribute the moderating tasks in a project however you like.

We have renamed the two session cancel options to better reflect their functionality.

• Cancel and remove user: Cancels the sessions and removes the participant from the project. They won't be able to schedule another slot.
• Cancel and ask for a reschedule: Cancels the session while giving the tester the option to choose another slot from the available times.

Fixed an issue with longer transcriptions failing to load in time. Transcriptions should now process in about 5-15 minutes depending on session length.

Added the 'Other' gender option to the already existing options (female / male / rather not say).

We now require researcher accounts to have a much stronger password (at least 16 characters including special characters). We are planning to introduce more passwordless authentication methods in the future in addition to the currently available Google login.

• Fixed an issue with clips getting created with a few seconds off the selected region. This was a temporary issue caused by our last fix to the session start timer.
• We have fixed a rare issue when session confirmation emails didn't have the start time in them.

• We have reduced the screen flickering and reloading when you join a session. These were caused by our background checks and initial connections.
• The recordings are starting at 00:00 now. We are cutting out the initial 5-6 seconds where the room is being created. This is just a cosmetic change basically, no actual footage is lost.

We are now displaying messages to both participating if either party is having network issues during the call. The system will try to reconnect the participants automatically for 30 seconds in case their connection has been lost.

Fixed an issue where the in-call emoji markers were created with wrong timestamps.

Adjusted the call settings layout in Firefox.