User recruitment. Select the best users for your UX tests.

User recruitment done right is the first step to getting quality information from your UX research. Poor user selection can lead to incomplete results that do not allow you to make decisions, or even lead to the wrong conclusions. This could compromise product design and development, which can lead to additional costs, delays and loss of competitiveness.

User recruitment is a risky business, and today we tell you everything you need to know to do it with confidence.

How to recruit your ideal users?

User recruitment is the process of identifying, selecting and inviting suitable people to participate in studies on the use of websites, apps and digital products.

Recruiting quality users requires you to be very careful at every step of the process. With these practical tips you can recruit your users with confidence and trust.

Define the ideal user profile

Before looking for people, you need to know exactly who you need. This includes essential socio-demographic data (such as age, gender, educational level…) and usage habits of products in the category you want to research (regular users, occasional users, non-users within the target or ex-users…). Sometimes you can also include other aspects related to motivations for use, or common frustrations that could be resolved.

It is just as important to define who you want to recruit as who you do not want to include in your UX research. Avoid the temptation to invite family or friends, even if they are users of the category. It will be difficult to get an objective and realistic assessment from them. Also rule out company employees, who may have conflicts of interest in providing you with an unbiased view.

Design a good screener

A screener is a questionnaire that helps you identify whether someone meets the criteria you have decided that the users you want to include in your research meet. But not only that. You also want to select people who can give you better quality information and filter out users who have little to contribute.

• Check the level of motivation of the participants. Include open-ended questions that require the user to give you a reasoned response. Eliminate from your sample those who give you answers that are too short, or those that are so perfect that you suspect they have been answered with the support of artificial intelligence.
• Filter out users who make up their answers. While the vast majority of users are honest and will provide truthful information, there are also some people who are willing to falsify their screener answers in order to participate and collect the incentive. You will therefore need to filter out users who give false answer
  • Avoid dichotomous, yes/no questions. For example: Have you shopped for clothes on behalf oftiendaonline.com in the last twelve months? Some users will interpret that answering yes will qualify them to participate in the study and may tick that option even though they have not shopped there during the period. An alternative way would be to ask an open-ended question (Which online clothing shops have you shopped at in the last 12 months?) or a multiple choice question (Which of the following online shops have you shopped at in the last 12 months).
  • Include questions to sift out users who make improbable claims: Have you bought more than 6,000 euros worth of clothes online in the last month? Few people have that level of spending, so it is unlikely to be an honest answer.

Send the screener to fieldwork

There are several ways to access users:

• Own databases. These are very suitable when you want to interview current users of your company’s digital products. It does not require hiring intermediaries, it is cheap and fast. However, it will not be sufficient if you want a more diverse sample that includes not only users from your company, but also from other competing companies. It will also require recruiting internal resources, as well as managing incentives, which is often less convenient for internal UX research teams.
• User panels. There is some cost involved, but it is also a very quick method. It also gives you access to more diverse user profiles and is more convenient for you, as the company that owns the panel handles all the logistics and incentives. Note also that panel owners have built-in quality checks to identify users who don’t meet expectations, so you don’t have to worry about this either.

In addition to these, there are other methods of user recruitment, such as approaching people when they are using an app, or proposing it in person at physical locations, but these are more infrequent.

Remember that before asking participants to answer the screener, you should inform them of the details of the test, highlight the importance of their participation for the objectives of the study, mention the incentive and validate their intention to participate.

Select the participants

Once you have the answers from the screener, you need to choose the right participants. Look for diversity so that the users offer you a wider range of points of view and avoid having ‘clones’ of a single profile.

In addition to the participants, identify a number of alternates that you can call on if one of the participants is unable to attend.

Manage appointments

Participants should be scheduled at a time that is convenient for both parties. Don’t forget to reserve spaces in their calendars and schedule reminders to minimise the possibility of a participant not showing up.

Check the technology

If you want to get the most out of your sessions, we recommend that you test the quality of the connection and the functioning of the technology. This ensures that the session will not be affected by technological shortcomings.

Manage incentives

Once the test is over, you will need to send the incentives you have accodated for the participation in the study.

Recruiting users with We are testers

Through We are testers you can find the users you need in the easiest way:

• Access to 130,000 users through our own user panel. This allows you to find any profile, no matter how difficult it may be to locate, and access it quickly.
• Users immediately available to participate in your tests.
• Motivated selected users. People who have passed the tests to be part of the panel and who have shown motivation and seriousness. They are also incentivised and take part in gamification programmes to keep their interest high.
• Quality controls. Undesirable behaviour is a reason for removal from the panel.
• Effective screeners. Experience designing filter questions in screenings to filter out unwanted users.
• Legal security. All users accept the conditions for participating in the tests and register their willingness to participate.
• Automated scheduling of appointments, reminders and technical tests. So you don’t have to worry about ‘no shows’ or ineffective technological equipment.
• Fair incentives. Give your users the right incentives for their participation without you having to worry about managing them.

In addition, We are testers has a research platform for conducting studies that gives you other advantages, such as the inclusion of observers, automatic transcripts and session summaries assisted by artificial intelligence. And all with the support of a team of experts who will help you with everything you need.

Interested in recruiting users for your next test? Contact our experts today.