UX Research Participant Engagement

🐝 How To Write Effective UX Research Invite Emails (https://lnkd.in/erqNpkBX), with examples on how brands across B2B and B2C craft emails to get users to give feedback and what you can do to get more responses. By Rosie Hoggmascall. 🚫 Avoid generic, vague and company-focused subject lines. ✅ Good subject line: “What do you think of [X] so far?”. ✅ Better subject line: “👋 Can you answer one quick question?”. ✅ For subject lines, try a direct question that is easy to answer. ✅ Introduce yourself in the very first line of body copy. ✅ Explain how long the survey is going to take (5–10 mins max). ✅ Include a survey link in the top 50% of the email. ✅ Be specific and explain why you are inviting that person. ✅ Include an authentic email signature from a real person. ✅ Good copy comes from a real person, not a big company. ✅ Show how many people joined already as social proof. ✅ Put company’s logo at the bottom of your invite email. ✅ Test plain text format: no imagery vs. branded template. Some emails prompt users to share their insights to get a chance to win a $250 prize for their time. In my experience, giving a guaranteed $50 voucher works better. And: reward doesn’t have to be cash: it must be meaningful. Suggest to plant trees, or support initiatives, or donate funds to a charity of their choice. The more an invitation feels like an invite from a colleague who is genuinely interested, the more likely customers are to respond. However, we don’t want generic responses. We want honest, constructive, helpful insights — and they aren’t coming from generic emails from corporate research initiatives. Show yourself and your name, and perhaps even your work phone number. Explain how customer’s time and effort will help you and your team. As a result, you might not just get constructive insights, but bring people on your side, willing to participate and help for years to come. Useful resources: How to Write Compelling UX Research Invite Emails (+ Templates and Examples), by Lizzy Burnam 🐞 https://lnkd.in/erfKiCHi Email Templates To Recruit All The Users You Need in 24 Hours, by Chuck Liu https://lnkd.in/ev6MhEGT How To Recruit UX Research Participants, by Gitlab https://lnkd.in/edg9iXKS UX Research Recruiting Email Tips, by Adam Smolinski, Annegret Lasch, David DeSanto https://lnkd.in/e8b556Wy How To Recruit Research Participants By Email, by Olivia Seitz https://lnkd.in/eJFZT6Qf Research Recruitment Email Strategies, by Lauren Gibson https://lnkd.in/e2xBk6MZ #ux #design

People often say what they think they should say. I had a great exchange with 👋 Brandon Spencer, who highlighted the challenges of using qualitative user research. He suggested that qual responses are helpful, but you have to read between the lines more than you do when watching what they do. People often say what they think they should be saying and do what they naturally would. I agree. Based on my digital experiences, there are several reasons for this behavior. People start with what they know or feel, filtered by their long-term memory. Social bias ↳ People often say what they think they should be saying because they want to present themselves positively, especially in social or evaluative situations. Jakob's Law ↳ Users spend most of their time on other sites, meaning they speak to your site/app like the sites they already know. Resolving these issues in UX research requires a multi-faceted approach that considers what users say (user wants) and what they do (user needs) while accounting for biases and user expectations. Here’s how we tackle these issues: 1. Combine qualitative and quantitative research We use Helio to pull qualitative insights to understand the "why" behind user behavior but validate these insights with quantitative data (e.g., structured behavioral questions). This helps to balance what users say with what they do. 2. Test baselines with your competitors Compare your design with common patterns with which users are familiar. Knowing this information reduces cognitive load and makes it easier for users to interact naturally with your site on common tasks. 3. Allow anonymity  Allow users to provide feedback anonymously to reduce the pressure to present themselves positively. Helio automatically does this while still creating targeted audiences. We also don’t do video. This can lead to more honest and authentic responses. 4. Neutral questioning We frame questions to reduce the likelihood of leading or socially desirable answers. For example, ask open-ended questions that don’t imply a “right” answer. 5. Natural settings Engage with users in their natural environment and devices to observe their real behavior and reduce the influence of social bias. Helio is a remote platform, so people can respond wherever they want. The last thing we have found is that by asking more in-depth questions and increasing participants, you can gain stronger insights by cross-referencing data. → Deeper: When users give expected or socially desirable answers, ask follow-up questions to explore their true thoughts and behaviors. → Wider: Expand your sample size (we test with 100 participants) and keep testing regularly. We gather 10,000 customer answers each month, which helps create a broader and more reliable data set. Achieving a more accurate and complete understanding of user behavior is possible, leading to better design decisions. #productdesign #productdiscovery #userresearch #uxresearch

A UX researcher recently told me their team was struggling to get high-quality user feedback. When I asked about their approach, it all made sense. They were relying on email surveys. I knew this problem firsthand. At Weebly, we ran quarterly Qualtrics email surveys, throwing in a mix of questions and hoping they were relevant. We struggled to gain real insights—until we built a better way. Here’s why email surveys fail (and what actually works): 1. Irrelevant Questions At Weebly, we asked about onboarding, free-to-paid upgrades, and churn. The problem? No segmentation. Users who never upgraded got upgrade questions. Churned users got onboarding questions. Fix: In-product surveys trigger at the right moment, based on user actions. 2. Declining Email Response Rates Most recent data shows email survey response rates are 1-1.5%. That means getting 1,000 responses requires 100,000+ emails. Compare that to in-product surveys: 📈 15-20% response rate 📉 Just 5,000-7,000 surveys needed for 1,000 responses Users engage in the product, not their inbox. 3. Email Surveys Are Too Long No one wants to fill out a long, drawn-out email survey. That’s why we keep Sprig surveys to 3 questions or less, triggered at key moments. The result: ✅ Relevant questions ✅ 15-20x higher response rates ✅ More insights, faster I shared this with the researcher. Hopefully, I convinced them. And hopefully, I just convinced you. 🙂