This year People for Research have been working toward making user research more user-centred. We have spoken at events like User Research London (watch video below), set up a new meetup group in Bristol with our partners at Natural Interaction, and worked with People Thinking, a Bristol-based design consultancy.

People Thinking, run by human-centred design expert Nic Price in partnership with Ben Cubbon (Head of User Research at HMCTS), approached People for Research at the start of the year to request support to conduct research about the journey of a user research participant.

The initial phase of their research culminated in a workshop at UX Bristol. The slides from this workshop are open source, and Nic Price and Ben Cubbon, who ran the workshop, are keen to share their findings for the good or researchers and participants alike. You can access the slides for their workshop here.

Key findings of the research have helped to inform improvements we are making to our internal processes to provide a smoother and enjoyable user experience for our participants. Without our willing community of participants, our job as user recruiters for the UX sector would certainly be a lot harder. We put their needs first, and have a clear duty of care to ensure participants are treated fairly and placed at the centre of the user research process.

A couple of key discoveries included:

+ 48% of participants wouldn’t take part in a piece of research over Skype
+ 41% of participants wouldn’t take part in a home visit research

The team at PFR took part in this workshop as well to review the findings from the research Ben and Nic conducted, and this is the first in a series of blogs we will be sharing about the users experience in research.

Keep an eye on the blog early next year for the next blog about this topic, which will be published after the People Thinking team repeat their workshop at UCD Bristol, on Thursday 18th January. You can find more information about the meetup here.

Also, if you are curious about the participant’s point of view after taking part in a user research or usability testing session, why not take a look at one of the participant feedback videos we have published on our website?

We hope to share more stories from our Project Managers on their experience of supporting user research and usability testing projects, and how to get the most out of the recruitment process, while also providing participants with a smooth and enjoyable experience.

For tips on making your research user-centred, or if you just need support with your user recruitment, get in touch with PFR.

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.