[Sigia-l] Test Subjects: Compensation for a non-profit site study?

[Whitney Quesenbery]

At 03:56 PM 11/3/2003 -0800, Chris Chandler wrote:
>"susan.paulsen" wrote:
>
> >> how to compensate high-net worth usability test subjects for a study
>
>Ziya wrote:
>
> > Why do you think you need to compensate "high-net worth" people at all?

It's not just about "high net worth" - there are situations in which cash 
compensation can backfire - usually when the participants already have a 
strong association with the site/company/organization, or when it might be 
otherwise insulting to suggest that they would participate for the money.

In those situations, an offer of a spiff like a shirt, hat, clipboard, mug 
with the company name on it, along with an immediate paper letter thanking 
them for their time, can be enough.

At a UPA conference session a few years ago, the folks from Staples 
reported that the gift certificates that they gave out as incentives were 
rarely used. I was doing some work with a university and we offered to pay 
transportation costs. No one took us up on it.

Just all part of being sensitive to the people we work with <grin>

Whitney Quesenbery
Whitney Interactive Design, LLC
w. www.WQusability.com
e. whitneyq at wqusability.com
p. 908-638-5467

UPA  - www.usabilityprofessionals.org
STC Usability SIG: www.stcsig.org/usability