Jumping to Conclusions

Inexperienced test moderators tend to overreact to early results. This can cause other members of the test team to act on the data prematurely. It is up to the test moderator to maintain a cool, steady demeanor and remind everyone to avoid forming conclusions until all of the results are in. One of the reasons for testing

multiple participants is just for that purpose: to get a rounded, comprehensive view of the product through the eyes of different types of people with different types of backgrounds. While it is important for the test moderator to pick up patterns in the behavior of participants as early as possible, this does not
necessarily mean reacting to that behavior. Avoiding premature conclusions helps to keep members of the test team from making major product changes before all the data is in.