Following the recent launch of our new survey and online task recruitment service, we would like to share more information on some of the additional services we can now offer to help you get the most out of your remote self-moderated tests and quantitative research.

📝 Test your survey with real people

As Survey Gizmo say in this blog post, testing your survey involves more than a simple proof read.

Surveys and remote unmoderated research usually require higher a volume of people than in-person research, which in turn means it’s important to get the it right the first time. Without testing it, you may not realise you have missed something until after the participants have completed the survey or self-moderated test.

As standard, when hosting a survey for a client there are some basic checks we go through to ensure the survey is clear and easy to understand for the participant. Plus, as part of our new service, we can also send the survey out to a test batch of participants ahead of officially launching the survey. This will not only test the content, but also give you a snapshot of the responses you can expect.

📝 A/B testing

A/B testing is a method of testing variations to a survey or remote self-moderated task, allowing you to assess the impact that different design or content has on responses when comparing what group A’s experience was versus group B.

This is a great tool allowing you to assess the impact different stimulus may have on responses. This is particularly relevant when comparing content such as a call-to-action, relaying benefits of a certain product/behaviour, trialling different marketing designs and when assessing the impact the questionnaire design has on the underlying response.

If you are in UX, you probably don’t need us to tell you the benefits of this approach. However, what you might be interested to know is how we can help with A/B testing. We can create two (or more) audiences to send out different surveys or tests to, help you monitor the response, and we can even provide reporting on the results.

📝 GDPR compliance

Everyone’s favourite subject… and one which is unavoidable (I’m afraid) when running quantitative research, as the collection of data at this volume naturally has implications. If you want an easy introduction, why not check out the blog post we published back in 2018? Or, for a more comprehensive guide, we always recommend visiting the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The team here are experts in ensuring both the process and subsequent data collection means both parties are compliant throughout. One of the easiest ways to reduce the risk is to allow us to host your survey: this way we can guarantee a compliant self-moderated test and provide anonymised data to you after the survey has closed.

📝 Pilot studies

Want to run an initial pilot study to work out final changes ahead of getting high-volume completion? This is always a worthwhile task! It allows you to check that the data collection will be both meaningful and provide actionable insights. It also helps to protect you from any potential problems participants may have on completion, such as technical errors.

We recommend running an initial pilot study – for example, getting 25 people to complete your survey before launching with a wider audience to get 2,000 completes – where budgets permit. It’s much more costly to address any issues further down the line.

📝 Guidance on content

If you are a seasoned researcher, you may have a lot of experience building and designing surveys or complex research programmes. We, on the other hand, have a lot of experience engaging with people who are interested in taking part in research and completing surveys.

It’s always worth sense-checking your self-moderated test for bias or potentially leading content with someone slightly removed from the original project, who can review objectively without any context/prior knowledge – which is where we come in.

To take part in most research projects through People for Research, participants have to complete short online application questionnaires built by our team, which means we have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to ensuring good completion rates by using targeted content.

Summary

If you are running a survey or remote self-moderated research, get in touch to find out how we can help find the right participants for you. You can also check this blog we wrote, listing 10 steps to create a successful survey. It is our job to make sure you get the most out of these studies, so arrange a call to find out what else we can do to support your remote research projects.

Jason Stockwell, Digital Insight Lead

If you would like to find out more about our in-house participant recruitment service for user research or usability testing 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.