User research — making it safe and rewarding for participants
The last couple of weeks on the Deloitte Digital Connect programme, I’ve been grappling with two related issues — how to get enough participants for our user research interviews, and how to make sure they are safe and supported through the process.
The issues are related because they both connect to the key fact that user research can be a one-way process — we, as an organisation, need to get something from our participants (their feedback). And, in some cases, particularly in the charity sector, the process can be even more fraught or emotional for the participant, if they are asked to talk about issues that are difficult or upsetting.
So, is this always a case of taking without giving, or can it be more of an exchange? This week, I’ve been thinking about what we can offer to participants. Here’s some of the ideas I’ve been thinking about — I’ll report back on whether they’re successful at a later date.
· Giving back — their feedback helps inform our future digital development and help others dealing with similar issues. For some people, this can be a reward in itself, but it may not be motivating enough for others, especially with the longer time commitment of an interview vs a survey. Could framing it as a one-off volunteering opportunity be helpful?
· Offering support — I want to be prepared for the possibility that participants get upset during the interview, and am preparing a script for directing to our helpline and ending the interview if necessary. However, even if this doesn’t happen, I plan to send a post-interview email to all participants with details of our helpline and other support options tailored to their situation.
· Incentives — offering money or vouchers is one obvious way to make the interviews a fair exchange. As a small charity, we’ve usually not had budget for this, and are encouraged to do our best to find participants without doing so. However, given the short timelines on the Deloitte project and the funding available, I’ve been able to get approval in this case, so let’s see what difference it makes.
