What ethical user research involves
Conducting ethical user research is about ensuring that anyone who participates in user research is treated with care and respect.
As a user researcher, you are responsible for:
- your participants’ safety and well being
- representing users accurately
- keeping personal information secure
At all times, you should treat your participants with:
- honesty
- sensitivity
- empathy
User research ethics can cover several areas, including:
- morality
- legal issues
- reputation
- the effectiveness of research
Seven guiding principles
Ethical issues in user research can fit under seven guiding principles:
- Be honest and transparent
- Be sensitive
- Accurately represent participants
- Obtain consent and permission
- Keep data safe
- Do no harm
- Be considerate
You should follow these principles at every stage of the research cycle. This guidance outlines the points you will need to consider at each stage.
Planning research
Change can sometimes be met with resistance, but if planned well, it can lead to significant improvements in products and services.
If research is well planned, it helps us to:
- embed transparency
- set expectations
- identify areas for ethical consideration
- build cooperation and support from stakeholders
Questions to ask in the planning stage
Q: Do you have a research plan with a clear purpose?: You should be able to describe the purpose of your research to stakeholders and participants.
Q: Is your messaging around the research clear enough to avoid confusion and misunderstanding? This includes internal messaging with your team members.
Q: Have you allowed collaborators enough notice to get involved without them feeling under pressure to do so? Collaborators can include our staff, residents, customers, our partners and our suppliers.
Q: Have you stated what data is kept confidential, protected or shared? Read our data privacy guide and safeguarding information (Adults / Children) to find out more about this
Q: Do your discussion guides and consent forms contain messaging around data privacy and protection? We should always ask for informed consent from participants and reiterate that it is voluntary for them to take part.
Q: Do participants have an information sheet or a copy of the consent form? This allows them to withdraw their consent after the research session should they wish to.
Q: Have you designed the research session in a way that will protect participants’ anonymity? Ensure your participants are comfortable and that they have privacy during interviews or workshops. For example, meet in a private space if you will be discussing a sensitive topic.
Q: Have you considered accessibility issues? Some participants may need extra help if they are disabled, don’t speak English fluently or have learning difficulties.
Q: Are you raising any false expectations? If users are testing a prototype, tell them that there is a possibility the final product may look different or not be developed at all.
Q: Have you tested your discussion guide with someone? Conducting a run-through can highlight details that might have been missed in the plan.
Q; What precautions do you need to put into place to look after yourself? For example, organising an exit plan in case of an emergency.
Q: Is it appropriate or necessary to offer participants incentives? Sometimes you may need to offer incentives to thank participants for their time and effort. At BCC, we typically do not pay participants to be involved in our research.
Share your plan
Before starting any research, it is essential that you share your plan with another user researcher or designer.
They may spot some potential ethical issues you have missed. It is also helpful for getting team buy-in and ideas to refine your plan.
Check with the lead user researcher if you are still unsure about any part of your research plan.
Inclusivity and accessibility
User research can help us to design services that are inclusive and accessible to everyone.
Starting the session
Research participants should feel empowered and have the right to set boundaries.
Tell them they can:
- ask questions at any time
- have a break or stop the interview at any time
- decline to answer questions or do a task
- tell us to delete any information we have obtained from them during the research
It is important to communicate what your role is and clarify the purpose of your research. This will help to set boundaries with your participant.
Also remember to let your participants know how you will use and store their data.
If you want to record the session, ask for permission from participants first and inform them what will be done with the recording.
Capture consent in writing or as part of the recording
During the session
Consider the role of the observers
Keeping the number of observers to a minimum can help participants to feel more at ease; it can also result in deeper, more meaningful conversations.
Be considerate of your participants’ time
Try not to plan sessions which go on for too long. If you do, make sure that you provide refreshments and schedule in breaks.
Do not use overly complicated software
Ensure research locations are physically comfortable
Take care of your participants’ comfort
Questions can be probing, but not so probing as to be uncomfortable or distressing
Often during research, you may have to hold back certain information from your participants. Do not mistake this for being dishonest or manipulative.
Sometimes a participant may be angry or upset and use the session as an opportunity to vent their frustrations. It can be easy to get drawn into a dialogue with them but try to stay calm and reassure them that you are there to listen and empathise with their concerns.
Ending the session
At the end of the session, let your participants know:
- that their contribution is valued
- you are grateful for their time and effort
- what the next steps are
Follow-up, analysis and reporting
Relationships with your participants should not end after your research sessions have finished.
You should make sure that:
- you follow-up with a thank you email, letting participants know about any next steps
- participants receive any incentives promised and you record it
- participant data is stored securely – it should be in the right place, with the correct access restrictions
- you do not share raw data with anyone, unless explicitly mentioned when asking the user for permission
We champion the needs of users, staff or residents. We need to represent their wishes and ideas accurately.
Do not distort people’s words to fit into a framework, policy or pre-conceived idea.
Always remain honest and loyal to your users’ intentions.
Trust your instincts
If something does not feel right to you, do not do it.
Trust your instincts and common sense. If in doubt, take a pause, and think about how you would feel in your participant’s shoes.
If you are unsure whether something you are doing is unethical, refer back to the seven guiding principles. You can also check with a colleague or the lead user researcher.
Resources
This guidance is not exhaustive. Our work covers a wide variety of contexts and situations, and there will be special considerations for certain situations.
For further information on ethical user research, please see the resources below: