Record a walkthrough

Record yourself clicking through a prototype with your voice and camera, for up to 30 minutes, and get a link to share

A walkthrough records what you do on the prototype (where you move, what you click, which screens you visit) along with your narration and, if you like, your camera. It isn't a screen video: viewers watch it replayed on the live prototype.

Before you start

The prototype needs the Glitterball tag, or to be a build you uploaded to Glitterball. See Add Glitterball to a prototype.
Open the prototype on the screen you want people to start on

Recording works in any modern browser. There is nothing to install.

Start recording

Any of these starts a walkthrough:

On the prototype, choose Record on the Glitterball bar in the bottom-right corner
On the prototype, open the list of walkthroughs from the bar and choose Record a walkthrough
From the web app, choose Create walkthrough, pick the prototype and choose Record it. The prototype opens with Record ready.

Recording happens on the prototype. A small Glitterball panel opens in its corner for your camera and mic, and setting up, recording and editing all happen there, in the same window.

The one exception is a multi-page site (Astro without view transitions, Hugo, WordPress and the like, or any site you've already seen load a whole new page on a link). There a small Glitterball window opens beside the prototype for your camera and mic, so nothing is lost between pages. Allow pop-ups for the site, and keep the window open until the link is ready.

Glitterball works out which kind of site it is when you press Record. If it guesses wrong and a page loads mid-recording, the recording carries on onto the next page.

Sign in, if you aren't already. The first time on each prototype's site, choose Sign in and a small window confirms who you are, then closes.
Turn Mic and Camera on or off. The first time, your browser asks for the microphone and camera for this site.
Choose Start recording

On a single-page app, nothing else needs to stay open.

While recording

A bar at the bottom of the prototype shows the time, with Stop and Discard. Your camera shows in a bubble in the bottom-left corner, or in the Glitterball window on a multi-page site.

Click through the prototype and talk it over. Glitterball draws your cursor for viewers with your name on it, so point at what you're talking about. Recording carries on when you move to another page of the prototype.

Stop

Choose Stop in the bar. Discard throws the recording away. Recordings stop on their own at 30 minutes.

Glitterball saves the recording, narration and camera, then shows the walkthrough link.

Choose Copy link to copy it
Type a name if you like, then press Enter. This name is how the walkthrough is listed everywhere.

Your narration is transcribed, and Glitterball writes a short summary of the walkthrough. Both appear on the walkthrough's share page under Summary and Narration.

If the site blocks the camera and mic

Some sites don't let other services use the camera and mic on their pages. On those, Glitterball offers Open the window instead: recording then runs in a small Glitterball window. Allow pop-ups for the site, and keep the window open until the link is ready.

What gets recorded

Password, email and phone fields are masked. Other text you type into the prototype is recorded, so use test data. See Your data and deleting it.