The South West’s annual conference dedicated to user experience design, Collaborate Bristol 2015, set out to be different from other events. It did not disappoint!

Attracting speakers from around the world, showcasing designers, lecturers, UX leaders, and jazz musicians; some of the messages were direct (don’t use jargon), while others were much more elusive (be human).

Here are the top eight things related to participant recruitment that we have taken away from Collaborate 2015.

“Humans are messy” 🎤 Jason Mesut

Jason’s talk centred on the craft of collaboration, specifically between people who have the same job title, but who do totally different jobs. Collaboration relies on humans, but humans are messy.

This is certainly something that applies to participant recruitment, as no matter how organised you think you are being invariably one to two participants in every 10 will have a life event that prevent them from being able to attend on the day.

People for Research recommend having a backup slot at the end of each day if it is essential you meet a certain quota of participants.

“User as advisors” 🎤 Matt Corrall & Matt Chequer

Matt and Matt have the benefit of working directly with their users, as they are responsible for designing the in-house software used by engineers at DNV GL. They made use of this close relationship by enlisting a user to be their ongoing advisor.

People for Research often recruit from a list of customer provided by our client, and the majority of the time we find that customers feel they can contribute a lot to the design process.

Although it isn’t always appropriate to have a user so heavily involved in the process, some situations may benefit from this practice.

“Using design to solve social problems” 🎤 Lauren Currie

Lauren has been involved in some incredibly interesting projects, and she is trying to redefine the role of a designer by reassessing how design can solve social problems.

The role of a participant recruiter is to ensure diversity and inclusion at all times, in line with the needs of our clients.

“How you treat people defines your brand” 🎤 Mike Atherton

People for Research are often asked to represent organisations when recruiting participants on the behalf of our clients from a customer list. This means we are building our own brand, while maintaining the brand values of other organisations.

This can bring challenges, which means that every interaction we have with participants must be carefully planned and thought out to maintain a consistent message. That is why our brand values are; quality, delivery, service, partnership, integrity and transparency.

“Embrace uncertainty” 🎤 Jim Kalbach

Jim was tasked with creating a jazz band with other musicians he had met only an hour before. This was an example of embracing the uncertainty of performing on stage with three strangers.

It was phenomenal, and really inspirational to see something so brave.  This reminds us to enjoy the incredible range of projects we are able to take in and work on.

“Put structure first” 🎤 Jon Fisher

Jon’s talk was specifically with regard to websites, but this approach also makes sense when creating the recruitment screener (document used to ascertain if a participant meets the required criteria).

A screener should have a good introduction, a logical order and a clear end point, which leaves the participant aware of the next stage of the process. There is more information about screener writing on our blog.

“Don’t be over-invested in outcomes” 🎤 Ian Fenn

When recruiting participants it is important to have a clear idea from the start of what kind of participants will be relevant to include in any usability testing you do.

However, you might not always be able to get people who fit the exact brief you shared with your recruitment partner. Real people don’t always fit perfectly with certain persona behaviours. Don’t forget that people are messy.

So be prepared that the outcome of the recruitment may be different to expected, but this doesn’t mean it won’t be as useful. The process alone of getting to know real users can be a valuable exercise it itself.

“Make the journey more enjoyable” 🎤 Jon Hadden

In a deadline driven environment, where our projects are often very short with quick turnaround from start to end, it is easy to forget that essentially we are helping to shape the experience of users in a broad range of situations. It is really exciting work.

We must not forget to enjoy what we do because, although recruiting participants for usability testing is just a small part of the design process, it is a very essential part.

If you would like to find out more about our in-house participant recruitment service for user testing or market research get in touch on 0117 921 0008 or info@peopleforresearch.co.uk.

At People for Research, we recruit participants for UX and usability testing and market research. We work with award winning UX agencies across the UK and partner up with a number of end clients who are leading the way with in-house user experience and insight.