Selecting and Recruiting Participants

Selecting Participants

Selecting participants involves deciding who will be appropriate for the usability test. Hopefully a user profile has already been assembled with the needs analysis. The following are some common sources for assembling a user profile:

• Surveys of user groups
• Product registration
• Marketing department

Sometimes it is not convenient to recruit actual users of the product for the usability test. In these cases, finding suitable substitutes may be possible. The following characteristics are probably the most important for describing users and finding a suitable match (adapted from Usability Engineering by Jacob Nielsen, p. 44):

• Experience with the product
• General computer experience
• Knowledge of domain

In addition to user categories that indicate tasks, these user characteristics are probably the most important for describing users and test participants.

Recruiting Participants

Common methods and sources include:

• User groups
• Email lists and electronic bulletin boards
• Flyers
• Announcements at presentations or in classes
• Product registrations (existing customers)
• Employment agencies
• Newspaper and website advertisements
• Marketing research
• Personnel department
• Personal contacts

Compensation

• Money
• Interest in study and results
• Product samples
• Snacks

Issues for discussion

• Good questions for selecting participants
• Appropriate level of compensation