Читать книгу Validating Product Ideas - Tomer Sharon - Страница 23

Study participants will make or break an experience sampling study. When the study is run, you are not there to see what your participants do and correct it if needed. Therefore, take all the necessary steps to make sure that participants understand what is asked of them and that they provide useful answers.

Tell participants in advance what’s expected of them. For example, if you expect them to answer five notifications per day for three days, tell them exactly that. Explain that fewer responses do not help you learn from them. Don’t give them an example of a good answer to the study question; otherwise, you’ll bias them, and you’ll just get answers similar to your example. Stay vague. Tell them a good answer is one that you can understand, that is detailed enough, and that does not include one or two words but at least a full sentence.

Always double-check that the participants do not have a holiday or foreign travel planned, unless it’s the focus of the research. Let them know that it’s okay to miss an answer here and there if they’re busy and that they can answer a little bit later.

Tell participants they will get an incentive if they meet your answer quota. If you can’t pay participants with money, be creative and think of other ways to provide an incentive for participation. For example, dedicate a wall in your office (or a page on your website if you don’t have an office) to study participants. Call it The Wall of Research Fame and print their names on it after they participate. Take a picture and share it with each participant. We humans love our names. Take advantage of it!