Introduction
Participants are the people you recruit to take part in user research. For our user research to be effective, they should be people who use, or be likely to use, Birmingham City Council services.
It is also important to do research with all different kinds of participants. Aim to recruit a good sample of participants that are representative of who may use our services.
This includes those who:
- have a disability or use assistive technologies
- have limited digital skills or poor literacy
- may need help with using our services
Identifying target groups
First you will need to identify all the different types of participants you need to include in your research.
Use existing data to help you do this, including:
- government and industry statistics
- relevant census data
- service performance data and analytics
- survey results
Defining your recruitment criteria
Your recruitment criteria should clearly specify the participants who you want to take part in your research.
Depending on the service and the research you plan to do, your criteria might include:
- a particular demographic – for example, people aged 25 to 34
- a specific target group – such as housing tenants
- a particular experience – for example, people who have recently applied for housing benefits
- a problematic situation – such as people who have had no response on a complaint
- people who have different ways of accessing your service – for example, using a screen reader or speech recognition software
Outside of any specific criteria, always try to recruit a range of different participants by:
- gender
- age
- ethnicity
- disability
- digital literacy
- social and economic status
Review your recruitment criteria with your team before recruiting participants. You want to make sure that you are recruiting the right participants for the research you want to carry out.
Number of participants
The research methods you are using will determine the number of participants that you need. For example, for a round of usability tests, you would normally have between 4 and 8 participants.
Choosing the best approaches to find participants
To recruit participants, you can:
- use a research recruitment agency
- work with a professional body, charity or community group, for example we have previously worked with day centres or contacted digital inclusion charities like Digikick.
- invite existing users of your service to take part
- find them at a venue on the day
- engage with colleagues to recruit the relevant staff
Using a recruitment agency
Recruitment agencies can be a reliable resource for finding participants quickly.
First, you will need to provide the agency with a brief for the participants that you need. You should then work closely with them to find the right participants that meet your requirements.
Finding participants who have a disability or use assistive technology may take more time. You should allow up to a month to find these types of participants.
For more information, see our section below on recruiting participants with a disability.
Working with third party organisations
You can find participants through engaging with third-party organisations.
These include:
- professional bodies
- charities
- community groups
The staff and members of these organisations can be useful sources of information. They should also have good relationships with the people they recruit, so possible participants will be more likely to trust them.
Make sure that the participants you recruit for research are representative of the users of our services.
Invite existing users
Existing users can make good user research participants – people are often interested in helping to improve the services they use.
Make sure you have someone’s permission before you invite them to take part in user research activities. For example, if they have provided feedback on a survey you made, ask whether they would also be interested in taking part in your research.
Finding participants at a venue
If you are doing pop-up research, you would normally recruit participants on the day, at a venue. Make sure that you have permission from the venue to be there and to distribute information about your research.
To recruit participants:
- go to a place where your target participants are likely to be (for example, a library or community centre)
- use leaflets and posters to advertise your research
- encourage people to take part, but do not put anyone under pressure
Engaging with colleagues
Avoid using Birmingham City Council staff for research into public facing parts of our services. Their knowledge and experience can mean that they will use the service in a very different way or influence bias.
Participants with disabilities
We want our services to be accessible for all our users, and not put up barriers to people who want to use them. By including participants who have a disability in your user research, it can help to ensure that our services work for everyone.
Try to find participants with a disability who already use our services, or a service like it. If this is not possible, look for those who could be potential future users of the service, or who might have used it in the past.
It is important to find participants with a different range of disabilities, to ensure that the service is meeting everyone’s needs.
Recruiting participants with a disability
When recruiting participants with a disability, check if they want or need:
- to be contacted in a particular way – for example, people who are hard of hearing may prefer emails or text messages
- communication support, such as a sign language interpreter
- to use assistive technologies, like a screen reader or speech recognition software
- printed materials to be in a particular font size or format
- help getting to or from the venue
- to meet at a particular location
One method to find participants is to contact organisations or agencies that work with people with disabilities.
Please note, these organisations may be protective over their members, so it is important to:
- be clear about what is required
- clarify the steps participants may need to take and how you will support them
- build a relationship with the organisation
- be respectful of people’s time and resources
- make contact with organisations or communities at least a month before usability testing
It is best to leave more time for recruiting participants with uncommon cognitive disabilities. The reason for this is because it can be harder to find enough of these participants to test a service. We recommend that you contact the organisations at least 6 to 8 weeks in advance.
It is also important to note that some people with access needs do not identify as having a disability. You can consider this by asking questions about the difficulties participants may have. For example, when they search through a website page.
Finding participants with a disability
There are several resources available to help you find participants with a disability.
Ask organisations or community groups to promote your research in their forums, social media or communications.
You can also use accessibility firms to help you find participants. These companies can introduce you to people who use different types of assistive technologies.
Things to avoid
When doing user research with participants who have a disability, you should avoid:
- using internal disabled users to test the usability of external services or systems
- over-relying on the same participants continuously across different research projects
If participants get too familiar with the research process, it may skew your results. It is also unfair to use up too much of their time, especially if they have other commitments.
Providing an information sheet
Research sessions are more effective when participants are well prepared and comfortable. Consider providing them with an information sheet that describes your research before you meet them for the session. This way they will be well informed and know what to expect.
Protecting participants’ privacy
As well as recruiting for and managing user research sessions, you will normally collect and use data about participants. For example, contact details, like names and addresses, and answers to screening questions.
You will need to manage this personal data carefully to protect participants’ privacy.
Make sure you:
- collect and use the minimum information you need
- share participants’ details only with colleagues who need to use them
- delete participants’ details as soon as you no longer need them
- are following the GDPR guidelines Birmingham City Council have in place – if unsure, please check with the Lead User Researcher or Data Protection Officer.
Avoiding bias in recruitment
It can be hard to recruit an unbiased sample of user research participants. This is because you are likely to include some people and exclude others, depending on:
- what the research activity is
- when the sessions are scheduled
- where you are doing the research
- how you are recruiting the participants
The best way to limit this risk is to use a variety of user research activities and recruitment methods.
For example, if you are using an agency, make sure that they do not exclude people with disabilities, or limited digital and literacy skills.
Giving incentives
During recruitment and research, incentives may be provided to participants in return for their time. What the incentive is will depend on the participant and the length of the research session.
You may need to pay extra expenses to help disabled participants take part in research. These could be for a helper, transport to the session location, or a sign language interpreter.
Please note, at the moment Birmingham City Council’s current policy is not to use incentives. However, it is still important to know about incentives and the benefits they can bring.
It is recommended that you avoid handling cash incentives yourself. For example, recruitment agencies can send the incentive directly to the participants. If you are recruiting participants yourself, you can use appropriate vouchers, such as shopping vouchers. Check with your service area if you are unsure what is appropriate.
Some recruitment agencies can provide a ‘host’ to manage incentives on your behalf. There is usually an additional cost, so factor this into your budget.
We recommended that you give participants their incentive at the start of the research session. This avoids any suggestion that they have to respond in a particular way to get it. It also makes it easier to end a problematic session without having to deal with the incentive. Another benefit of using incentives is that it can help speed up the recruit