Concerns over students role as test users in virtual environments

It is common to use students as test users in virtual environment studies which focus on the evaluation of virtual products. This paper discusses the usefulness and limits of choosing students as test users. That is done with comparative analysis of three user tests, to which both students and specific group of people participated. We identified two dimensions which determine whether students are acceptable as test users: the need for professional skills and the use of novel technology. If the tasks in the test use need high professional skills, students are ineligible as test users. The description of test users is incomplete in virtual environment studies (e.g. in journals Presence and Virtual Reality ). For empirical user-test studies in future, we recommend accurate description of test users, which underlines the quality of test users, not only the quantity.