[Sigia-l] Alternative compensation for usability participants?

[Anthony Hempell]

Does anyone have thoughts on the advantages or disadvantages of
compensating usability participants with cash vs. product, coupons or
other merchandise?

I've had a proposal from a client that we offer compensation in terms of
deals or cut rates on their product. My opposition to this stems from
thinking that this means the compensation offered will have different
value to different people (some people may not be interested in their
product) and that it may bias the respondents in some way.  Obviously it
is cheaper for the client to provide cut rate on product than cash.

I think cash is best: it's relatively neutral and just compensates
people evenly for their time.

Anthony