Pros and cons to common UX research questions

These are some of the discussions our current Ask Like A Pro cohort is having as they finalize their recruiting screeners and begin their recruiting efforts.

Q: What are the pros and cons of asking research participants to download what you are testing before your live sessions begin?

A. Pros and cons of asking to download something prior to testing include:

- Participants may forget to download it
- They may not be able to download it
- You won’t be able to assess first impressions when they realize downloading it is a requirement to achieve X
- You won’t be able to assess whether they would actually download it under normal conditions, or not
- You cannot control the time it will take to download
- They may not have enough space to download it on their devices
+ It will save you time during your session

Outcome >> The screener will include “Participants will be asked to create a quick photo book, download an established book editing software, and share feedback along the way.” (Provide this info upfront, allow them to progress in the journey to the point where they see the download, gather first impressions about downloading, etc., then download.)

Q: What are the pros and cons of asking participants to gather their own images to use when creating a quick photobook during a live session activity?

A. Pros and cons of asking study participants to gather their own images to use during a research activity in which they will create a quick photobook. 

- They may forget to gather the images beforehand
- They may not feel comfortable sharing their own images (e.g. pictures of their kids, confidential images, etc.)
- You won’t have control over the image sizes which could slow down the activity
- They may not join the session from the device where they can easily access the images
+ Seeing the images they choose
+ There is an emotional component to working with their own images when creating a book
+ They will likely care more about the details of their own images compared to working with someone else's images or images that are provided.

Better idea?

Ask about their preference in the screener and be prepared:

“Participants in the live sessions will be asked to create a quick photo book with images. Do you have easy access to 15-20 images we can use for this activity? The sessions will be confidential and no identifying information will be shared or disclosed.

• Yes, I can organize 15-20 of my own images on my device to use during this session. (Accept)

• No, I prefer to use images provided to me. (Accept)”

(Do not terminate based on the response, consider providing preference to those who agree to use their own images, and prepare images to share in advance.)

Preparing for research studies requires careful consideration, ascertaining the tradeoffs, and planning ahead.