Recruiting test users: step by step guide, tips and template (2024 update)

Recruitment in quantitative research

Quantitative research is conducted among large numbers of respondents (100+). Since a large group of respondents needs to be involved in the research, it is important to pay attention to the design and execution of the study. This way, you can prevent a lot of support questions from coming in.

Tips for Recruiting Respondents for Quantitative Research

To ensure good execution and reliable results, it is good to keep these tips in mind:

• Start on time. Make sure to start recruitment on time to avoid delays in the research.
• Broad criteria. Consider not making the target audience criteria too specific. Recruiting specific profiles for quantitative research can be time-consuming.
• Random selection. Based on a specific sampling method, a random selection is made within a pre-established target audience segment.
• Soft launch. Have you recruited respondents and is the research ready to start? First, invite a small portion of the respondents to ensure everything is running smoothly. 
• Tool. Use a platform and/or respondent agency to guide the process effectively.

The 7 step plan to recruit test users

Are you going to start recruiting test users yourself? With the step-by-step plan below, we prevent you from making the most common mistakes.

1 - Draw up the research objective and choose the methodology

Your recruitment process is dependent on the research methodology. In the case of qualitative research, there are roughly three options:

1. In-depth interviews. Interviews are often used early on to validate the need or concept.
2. Moderated user tests. In these 1-on-1 sessions, prototypes can be tested, as well as websites and apps that are already live.
3. Unmoderated user tests. For testing websites and apps that are already live.

Whereas user interviews and moderated user tests require recruiting test users who are available at the desired study time slots, test users in unmoderated user tests make the test independently. Learn more about user testing here.

In addition to qualitative research, more quantitative methods such as online surveys, card sorts and tree tests could also be deployed. The recruitment for these methods can be slightly easier as test users can participate in these studies whenever they have time. Additionally, these methods often do not require any recordings which helps to speed up the process as well. 

2 - Determine the test user's profile

Have you previously conducted user persona research and have a good idea of who the user personas are? Then use the user personas as a guide for setting up the test user profiles.

No user personas drafted yet? Don't panic. Then use a selection of the criteria groups below to create the test user's profile.

• Demographic characteristics (e.g. age, gender and marital status)
• Geographic characteristics (e.g., region and place of residence)
• Socioeconomic characteristics (e.g., education level, income, occupation)
• Psychographic characteristics (e.g., interests, lifestyle and personality)
• Behavioral criteria (e.g., experienced Internet user, regularly shops online, et cetera)

Pro tip: Use behavioral criteria as much as you can. These often provide more insight than demographic characteristics.

Also determine who should not participate.

To ensure that you obtain honest and unsubtle feedback, do well to exclude certain groups from participating. For example:

• Anyone who has been involved in the development of the product
• Employees of the company itself
• Friends or family of employees 
• The expert group (UX researchers, designers, CRO specialists and online marketers)

3 - Set up recruitment screener

To determine if test users fall within the desired test user's profile, ask potential participants to complete a questionnaire. This is also known as the recruitment screener or screener survey.

The purpose of the recruitment screener is to determine who does and does not fit the profile so that you can make a good and spread out selection of test users. Tips for preparing a recruitment screener:

• Time indication. Give interested parties an idea of how long it will take to complete the screener.
• Data. Specify why you need this data, how you will handle it and how long it will be kept.
• Avoid guiding questions. Try to avoid questions from which the correct answer can be inferred. For example, do not ask, "Do you ever shop at Supermarket X?" but rather, "At which supermarket do you shop?".
• Motivation. Ask about why interested people want to participate in the survey and try to exclude as much as possible the group who want to participate only because of extrinsic reasons.

4 - Align practical details and compensation

After you have determined the criteria for test users, it is important to further fine-tune the practical details. This means taking the following into account:

• Determine the research dates. When determining the survey dates, allow for a 2-3 week lead time for test user recruitment. Have you determined the dates? Then make sure they are not changed in the interim to avoid having to start a new recruitment campaign. 
• Determine the session length. Make an estimate of how much time you will need per test user. Do you find this difficult? Then do a test run with a colleague so you get an indication of how long the session will take in practice. 
• Plan the time slots. Provide at least 10 minutes of rest between sessions, so that you can recharge and do not have to rush from one session to another.

Paying a fee to the test user reduces the likelihood of no-shows and creates additional sign-ups. In general, the following rules apply:

• Test users with higher incomes require a higher fee
• Test users who have to come to location expect a higher fee than when the survey is conducted online
• Test users expect a higher fee for longer sessions

5 - Approaching test users

Now that you've made the preparations, it's time to actually approach test users for your interview or user test. There are numerous ways to ensure that as many people as possible fill out the recruitment screener and you can recruit as many test users as possible. Below we have listed the most common ways.

Recruit test users yourself
Do you have a tight budget or enough time to recruit test users yourself? Then you can consider starting a recruitment campaign yourself. There are several options:

• Send out a mailing. Do you regularly send out a newsletter? Then you can add a call to persuade people to sign up as test users. For optimal results it is advisable to clearly communicate the compensation and research data.
• Pop-ups on the website. Use a tool such as Hotjar to show pop-ups on the website and ask visitors if they want to participate in the survey.  
• Social media. Whereas the above two methods are best suited to recruit customers, you can use social media to recruit test users who are not yet customers. Consider Facebook, Instragram, TikTok or LinkedIn for B2B target audiences.

Outsource test users recruitment
Outsourcing the recruitment for your survey can save you a lot of headaches. Therefore, consider using a traditional test user agency or a party like ... User Sense!

6 - Timely scheduling and follow-up

It is important to follow up in a timely manner with test users who have signed up for the survey. This way you avoid test users losing interest, getting frustrated or scheduling something else in the meantime. We recommend using the following communication schedule:

1. Response within 48 hours. Let test users know within 48 hours whether they can participate and send a confirmation e-mail. You can also send any instructions right away. Pro tip: enclosing a calendar invitation reduces the chance of no-shows.
2. Personal contact before the start. Email or call the test user a week before the survey starts to answer any questions and re-confirm their availability. Test users often find it exciting to participate in research. Personal contact before commencement often makes them feel more at ease.
3. Reminder emails. Email instructions for the survey again 48 hours prior to start and re-confirm the day and time they can participate. Also consider sending the reminder again several hours before the start.

7 - Thank test users for their participation

Test users often like to know what happens with the feedback they have given and whether the contribution they made was useful. So be sure to give them this confirmation.

Also make sure that, if possible, you transfer the test user's payment the same day. That way you avoid a lot of questions and ensure even more happy test users. Do you conduct research for a webshop? Then you can send test users a gift certificate as an additional reward.