The effects of user testing on the researcher

Mental health and “Research Brain”

6 min readMar 18, 2022

A mug of coffee with the words “I woke up this tired”

Ever wondered why your brain doesn’t function very well after a day of user testing?

Most UXers are familiar with user testing sessions that last 1 hour. Generally sessions don’t last longer than that because, users get stressed and users get tired, which may negatively effect your findings.

But what about UX researchers — do they get tired?

Have you ever conducted research for 6 hours straight? How about 6 hours straight, 5 days in a row?

No?

Ever been to the pub in the evening with someone who’s just been testing for 6–8 hours?

Ok — that.

Research is tiring for the researcher. I know excellent specialist UX researchers — user testing is pretty much all they do. They are brilliant at it. And they go to a meetup in the evening after a full week of testing barely able to focus on a conversation or string a sentence together.

They are happy enough, but mentally exhausted from their job.

We call it Research Brain.

Why does user testing give you Research Brain?

There are several reasons why 1-to-1 user testing, and to some extent user interviews are particularly draining on the brain battery:

They require enormous amounts of focus and attention in-the-moment with a participant
They require you to think on your feet for an hour at a time (assuming you are running non-scripted sessions and why wouldn’t you be)
They require upfront preparation and the insertion of mental models into your head in advance (the product, the session outline, the observer needs)
They are by nature somewhat repetitive, especially when you are testing the same product over a number of days
You might be locked in a small meeting room or lab with minimal access to daylight for hours on end
User testing might not be your full time job — and so this is like a language you have to learn or re-learn.

In user testing, you are paying attention to more in the interaction than you would in a simple conversation with a friend — you need to be attentive to words, tone-of-voice, facial expressions, body language, screen interaction, hand movements and more. Not to mention the live interpretation of all of this and the implications for the next task or question.

And it’s even worse if you don’t do research all the time as your main job.

If you’re reading this, it might be that you’ve just done your first ever full day of testing and are wondering why your brain is suddenly made of cheese.

some cheese — Photo by Alexander Maasch on Unsplash

The implications of Research Brain

Apart from making you feel tired and sluggish at the end of a single day, there are greater implications for longer projects. If you are building Research Brain Debt over multiple days of user testing, you may also see:

An impact on findings — as Research Brain increases, you may notice slower response times, loss of attention, missed details, fewer follow-up questions coming to mind
The rest of the team starts flagging — User researchers are leaders. Their energy and passion is contagious. So on a live testing project, if observers and team members feel you are losing your passion and energy, they may start to lose interest as well. (And if research doesn’t bring the energy and interest, it can get cut)
An impact on your personal life — These days there’s not as much perceived separation between personal and professional but either way for most people, after work they want to do Other Things. If you are too tired to do Other Things for days on end, life may not be as good.

A sign on a road surface that says “stop” — Photo by Bethany Legg on Unsplash

How to mitigate Research Brain

There are ways to reduce Research Brain, but first I want to make it absolutely clear — a certain amount of Research Brain is part of the job. As described above, if you are doing research well and to the best of your ability then you are working Mr Brain very hard indeed. Really good user testing moderation is an artform.

Hard things are hard

Having said that, here are some practical tips to reduce unnecessary stressors and cognitive load outside of that 1-to-1 interaction.

Plan research in advance and run dummy tests with literally anyone. This helps you get the mental model of your session outline into your head, and iron out any potential issues.
Get support with Research Ops so that you don’t turn up to sessions already tired and stressed
Have breaks between sessions — minimum 30 mins if at all possible. Go outside the meeting room / office / lab / cupboard and see some daylight. If not possible, proceed to #4
Book fewer sessions per day. If you don’t want to have extreme Research Brain at the end of the day, or you are testing for 5 days in a row, run 4 tests a day, not 6
If you must run 6 tests per day, try to test one day on, one day off
If someone wants to add in extra participants, add an extra day to testing, don’t extend the day itself
If some fool insists on running 8+ tests per day for a week, make them pay you enough that you can go on holiday the following week.

a person in a hammock. A dog looking towards them — Photo by Drew Coffman on Unsplash

Research Brain and mental health

Feeling a bit tired and zoned out from a day of research means you were probably doing it properly; you were giving each participant your undivided attention and a fair chunk of your cognitive load.

Having said that, there’s a clear tipping point where tiredness becomes mental and emotional exhaustion. No UX researcher should ever completely run out of spoons.

If you can, mitigate effects of general testing overload using the tips above. If your employer will not allow this, it may be time for another employer or a conversation with HR.

Additionally, for those research warriors doing user research with vulnerable participants or emotionally challenging subject matter then additional layers of support must be insisted on.

If you are more than just a bit mentally tired; if you are sleeping all weekend, or going home crying, or not wanting to get up the next morning and start again, then you’re not doing it right, you’re not being adequately supported. And your line manager is definitely not doing their job at all. Have a word.

If you’re a freelancer without a line manager, have a word with yourself.

The importance of self-care

As with most UX jobs, working on the front line where you have to dive into user needs with empathy, while holding the line against the gradual decimation of the scientific method can be exhausting.

You can only do your best research sessions and your best UX work by looking after your own needs first.