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🏃♀️ Speed up your research with my best tips to boost participant show rate
Published 4 months ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader,
Did you miss me?? I missed YOU! I normally send this newsletter out every 2 weeks, but it's been nearly 2 MONTHS since I sent the last issue (and diehard fans may notice that it's also Wednesday today rather than Tuesday, oops).
The radio silence wasn't planned, but I think I needed it: running a consulting business while parenting a toddler and growing a baby is no joke.
Btw, the upcoming cohort of my Maven course User Interview Skills for Designers & PMs is the last one until 2026, so get in on that 20% off discount while you can. The meat of the course starts next week, though there's also an optional meet & greet session this Thursday. Hope to see you there -- there are 10 students signed up so far from all around the world and I think it's gonna be a great group 😊.
✨ Speed up your research by boosting your participant show rate
Photo credit: Steven Lelham
Have you ever spent a bunch of time and effort getting a research project off the ground, only to find that barely any of your customers are signing up for your research sessions? Or maybe they sign up in droves, but then cancel at the last minute or simply ghost you when they're supposed to show up? It used to be one of the most annoying things I dealt with as a researcher, but over time I've picked up some strategies that help me ensure that recruiting customers runs smoothly: ✍ Write a great subject line Keep it short and mention the incentive. Something like "🌟 $50 gift card to participate in a 45min research interview with [company]!" or " 👋 You're invited to participate in [company] research for a $50 gift card!" (Yes, including an emoji sometimes boosts my open rates.) 💝 Make them feel appreciated Offer a financial incentive as a thank-you for their time -- I typically use an electronic gift card. If you don't have budget to provide a gift card, you could offer X months off their subscription, or some other discount related to your product. One of my clients who makes food products simply offers a bunch of coupons, and that actually works really well for them! 📋 Always use a screener I always use a short online questionnaire to screen my participants, even if I know they're real customers. Not only does it let me learn a bit more about the potential participants and select only the ones that exhibit the criteria I'm looking for, but I also include written-answer questions to help me weed out people who would rather let ChatGPT answer for them. Yes, it happens 😒 ⏰ Be respectful of their time Your customers are probably busy people. Consider limiting your interviews to 30min to make it easier for them to say yes and commit to finding time in their schedules. 📅 Allow for rescheduling if they give a heads up Stuff happens. If you can accommodate it, be gracious and let participants reschedule if they let you know they won't be able to make it. Most calendar tools will have a setting so they can do this automatically -- Cal.com is my top choice these days. 😅 Don't expect them to remember Make sure that whatever tool you're using for scheduling allows you to send reminders to participants before their sessions. From my experience, sending them out 24 hours & 2 hours before their session reduces no-shows and last-minute cancellations. 👻 Seriously...don't expect them to remember If the participant doesn't show up within the first couple of minutes, I send them a quick email asking if they're still planning to join, and I make sure I include the meeting link so they don't have to dig for it. This has saved me from so many no-shows over the years! If they have provided their phone number, text them as well -- not everyone lives and dies by their email and calendar, especially if they don't work in desk jobs. 🙅 Rebook no-shows at your own risk Ok, this one is controversial. Sometimes participants have really great excuses for why they didn't show up! But I find that if someone ghosts me once, they almost always do it again if I give them another chance. I'd rather put my efforts towards scheduling someone else if I have other potential participants available.
Hopefully these things will save you some headaches in next research project. If you have some hot tips of your own, please share!I
🎟️ Events
April 3: The research challenge: Planning UX research
Work in small instructor-led groups to determine the best research approaches to solve real industry problems. UX Research experts will guide you through the process of choosing methods and designing studies, and you'll get feedback from peers and industry experts.
April 10: Cognitive biases 101: How they impact users, researchers, & teams
This free 1.5-hour session from Smashing Conf will help you recognize some biases, understand how they shape user behaviour and decision-making, and learn how to work with (and around) them to improve your projects.
April 23: How to overcome the top 5 product strategy mistakes
Without a sound product strategy, teams can experience analysis paralysis. Yet, strategy doesn't need to be complex; it should simplify decision-making. This session helps you understand what makes or breaks product strategy so you're better equipped for the product world.
Course - User interview skills for designers & PMs
My course is back for one last hurrah before I go on parental leave until 2026! As a Research For All subscriber, you get 20% off enrollment -- hope to see you there!
Podcast episode - The human element of user experience
In conversation with Emmanuel Omole and Ini Abiodun, Jeremy Miller explores topics like surviving and thriving in low design maturity environments, managing volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, and practical approaches to networking within your org.
Design and execute your "Unbusy Experiment", then integrate it into your life. This on-demand program from Kat Vellos works for anyone, anywhere, in any time zone. No zoom calls necessary.
In this 6-week course, learn how to create, conduct, analyze, and present your quantitative survey research. We'll cover essential statistical topics and tools for analyzing quantitative research data from surveys and AB Testing.
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