Not every business can be proud of over 25 years of ongoing activity. People for Research are happy to say they are not only proud of that, but also of the constant improvement and evolution of its services and facility.

A lot has changed since 1990, but our goals have remained the same, although we now have a lot more to offer than we did 25 years ago. People for Research, now “equipped” with a market research and usability testing viewing facility User Viewing, offers something truly unique.

“On our participant recruitment side, we effectively tore up the rule book of traditional market research recruitment and developed our own bespoke database and methods of recruitment. We now offer a bespoke service and facility to carry out market research and usability testing,” says Paul Gooding, People for Research’s CEO.

Of course, the last 25 years didn’t come without challenges. However, the most recent challenge faced by the People for Research team is one that Paul Gooding is quite happy to deal with.

The best type of challenge for us

According to our CEO, “a recent major challenge, and a more positive one, is coping with rapid growth. It might seem like a nice problem to have, but it’s also a challenge to manage this type of growth.”

You won’t be surprised to read that the evolution of technology since 1990 has been one of the factors that pushed People for Research into a growing wave of success.

The increasing number of devices, from smartphones to wearable tech, has led to the mounting need to conduct usability testing across the UK and overseas to make sure all products and services are user-friendly and bug-free.

Although usability testing and market research might cross paths sometimes – People for Research, for instance, recruit participants for both –, they are quite different. Market research has a long past and a complex history, while usability testing is still in its infancy.

Whereas market research facilities have always been defined by the presence of a one-way mirror that allows the researcher to see the session happening next door and the reactions of the participants, User Viewing took a step forward thanks to feedback and advice provided by UX experts. Instead of relying on the old-school mirror, the facility allows the researchers to see the session through a state of the art set of screens and cameras.

According to Paul Gooding, “we now offer a bespoke service and facility to carry out market research and usability testing. There is nobody else in the South West of England that does what we do.”

All these changes have definitely helped People for Research develop almost at warp speed. Still, Paul Gooding isn’t holding on to the present, but looking at the future. “I find it’s really exciting what the future holds, what we are building now is something that in another 10 years’ time, it could be something huge and not just stuck in research,” Paul says. “The exciting thing for me is really looking forward and not looking back. The most exciting stuff is yet to happen.”

Here’s to another quarter century in business! We wonder what the future holds for the PFR Team…

Maria Santos, Head of Digital Ops & Data Protection

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.