[Sigia-l] User testing

[Mitchell Gass]

At 08:58 AM 9/20/2004, Katrien Janin wrote:
>I am part of a London based development department and we are scheduled to 
>redesign an online application for one of our corporate clients.
>
>We would like to conduct user tests on the existing site to find out more 
>and give our design and development team access to users (and their actions).
>In the past we've mostly tested while producing our products with 
>paper-prototypes on fellow employees whom weren't involved in the project.
>
>However, this time, we really would like to use *innocent * people, whom 
>share our users background. But where do we find these poor souls as we 
>have no immediate access to our users locale data. Are there any agencies 
>we can go to and ask for users/people with a certain profile, or how do we 
>create a pool of people? How much is custom to offer to pay? Do you pay 
>per session? Per hour? ... ?

Katrien,

Many market research firms will recruit usability test participants for 
you. Some will do the recruiting only if you also use their facility to 
conduct the test, while others will do recruiting for tests you conduct at 
your facility. Quirks is one directory you can use to find such firms

   http://www.quirks.com/source/search_geo.asp

and there a number of similar directories. However, it's best to get a 
recommendation from a local colleague who has used the firms. The UK 
chapter of the Usability Professionals' Association

   http://www.ukupa.org.uk/

may be able to help.

When using an outside firm for participant recruiting, you need to prepare 
a detailed screener. This contains questions that the recruiters ask 
potential participants to determine if they are appropriate for your test. 
It needs to be "recruiter-proof": recruiters will give you anyone who 
provides the correct answers to your questions, and you generally can't 
count on them using independent judgement on your behalf. Preparing a good 
screener can be a lot of work, and practice helps. If you haven't done one 
yourself, you may want to get the help of someone who has for your first 
one. I'd be happy to send you a sample screener.

The recruiting firm you use can recommend the amount you should pay 
participants, and it varies with how hard the participants are to get, how 
much time you need them, and the local economy. Here in the San Francisco 
area, I pay US$75 to the easiest to find participants for a one-hour test 
session. People with special skills or characteristics get more; in some 
cases - such as top business executives - much more. In general, you don't 
want the amount you're offering to be a reason why otherwise good 
participants turn you down.

Good luck with your test!

Mitchell Gass
uLab | PDA: Learning from Users | Designing with Users
Berkeley, CA 94707 USA
+1 510 525-6864 voice
+1 510 525-4246 fax
http://www.participatorydesign.com/