Recruiting Users for Usability Testing
Usability tests are only valid if the test participants are drawn from a representative sample of your target audience. Visitors to a particular site will have certain key traits in common and it is important to identify what these are.
Defining your target audience
First you must determine the key traits of your target audience.
General Background Information to Collect.
- Gender
- Age range
- Educational status
- Working status
- Average income/household income
- Previous internet experience
Business Related Information to Collect.
- Websites previously visited
- Purchasing preferences
- Prior exposure to product/service being reviewed
- Knowledge or familiarity with content area of site being tested
Advertising for participants
To be able to generalize your results to the whole of your target audience, you need a representative sample. This means you need to select participants that match your key traits identified in the first step.
Recruitment can be done in a number of ways...
Posters, email, local press ads, website bulletin boards etc TO REACH YOUR MARKET
When you advertise, it is important to hide the identity of the website users will be required to review, as they typically go away and practise/learn how to use it. Usually it is preferable for test subjects to have had no prior exposure to your website.
We recommend testing with 5 to 10 users, depending on the size of the website and scale of the project. It is always a good idea to identify more suitable candidates than you really need in order to ensure at least 5 of them are available for participation at the time of testing.
Refrain from using the word 'test' as this encourages the volunteers to go away and research your business and also the users will be slightly nervous when they first arrive. We usually talk about market research that involves reviewing a number of websites. Ensure that you stress it is the website that's being reviewed and not the users abilities!
You should allow at least 2 weeks for recruitment and should complete this process at least a week before testing is due to commence. There is a typical 10% drop out rate so keep a reserve list in mind and remain flexible to changes.
Offering incentives
We recommend an incentive of between £30 and £40 for an hour session.
Usability testing with children
There are a number of issues to bare in mind if you are planning on involving children in your usability study. Here are some key points to remember:
- Consent: For a child under the age of 16, consent must first be obtained from the parent or guardian before the child can be approached and asked to take part.
- Incentives: Cash incentives cannot be used in usability testing with children. Instead, any monetary incentive must be in the form of vouchers. Secondly, sweets and other high sugar foods cannot be used as an incentive/reward for children taking part.
- Testing: The interviewer must clearly state their name to the child and wear a name identification badge throughout the session.