UX Research recruitment learnings
July 2025
For the past six months, I have worked as a part-time User Research Assistant at a company named EyeReply. My primary tasks focus on a crucial step of a research project: the recruitment phase. Half a year has passed, and I have, by then of course, evolved, made mistakes, and I continue to learn how to adjust and perfect the craft of finding the most suitable candidates for user tests.
13 recommendations
While some view number 13 as unlucky, to me, it is a testament to a long list of what I have learned throughout my continued growth in the field of user research. I would like to share them with you, to ensure that you do not make the mistake of testing out a prototype on irrelevant user testers. At the bottom of this portfolio page, you will see a list of literature that I recommend you read.
Disclaimer
I will not use real examples of case projects for ethical reasons and due to signing an NDA. Also, all images are from Unsplash.
Preparation phase
1. Set up an organised note-taking structure
We each have our preferred way of storing notes and files; in fact, there is a whole study on this topic, known as Personal Information Management (PIM). I am a real “filer” who likes to categorise notes in separate folders. A pile of documents would truly result in cognitive load, where I would feel a sense of fatigue trying to gain an overview and retrieve my notes. Think of HCI studies where cognitive demands are deemed variable when testing how long users can interact with a digital prototype; it matters. Before all the other phases, make sure to set up a proper note-taking and filing (or if you prefer, piling) system to make the process easier for you.
2. Ask for extra details about the target audience
Once a research brief drops on my lap containing goals, scoping documents and recruitment criteria, I have learned that it is always needed to ask for more details. This is simply because along the road of the recruitment stage, there are always participant traits that could have been explained more clearly in the brief from the beginning. During my UX Research internship last year at GAMUCATEX, the goal was convenience sampling, where the requirements were not as strict (read portfolio case). Now, in the past half year, purposive sampling has been the driving force. Not only that, the cases have often been within fields outside my domain; therefore, when reading the brief, I advise you to note down anything you are unaware of, something you need more details about, as it is crucial before finding suitable candidates.
Finding candidates phase
3. Use your panel
Panel Recruitment is one of the easiest ways to find your candidates. Therefore, I have spent some spare time taking initiatives to grow the panel at my current position, and when I was a User Research intern at Affecture (read portfolio case). This then allows you to create a screener survey and send it out to the panel.
4. Be creative when finding your target audience
However, sometimes the panel does not cut it, especially if it is a niche group or professionals within a field that consists of long hours, and the availability is limited. This is where you need to use different methods to get in contact with them. This could, for instance, be by conducting desk research to figure out where the participants work or finding them on LinkedIn. Cold calling is what I find myself doing quite often, as a convincing voice can go a long way in meeting the potential participant halfway through an approachable personality and great selling points.
5. Be persistent
The dark side of cold calling is convincing receptionists to patch me through to the person I wish to speak to, the elevator music while being on hold and the majority not having time to participate in a user test. This is where being persistent and patient comes a long way, and I am telling you this now, to prepare you. I will also tell you about the thrill you get once you have recruited and booked a participant, or a fish that is hard to catch, as I like to describe it. It pays off, trust me.
6. Start recruiting early on
Finding a balance between perfecting the structure of your notes, gaining extra details about the requirements and desk research and actually executing the recruitment is important. I know from my experience that in some cases I could have started booking participants a day or two earlier to ensure meeting the deadline.
Screening phase
7. Don't give away too much information
When screening potential candidates, some of them might ask who the client is, what will happen in the lab, and how they will be tested. To avoid answering their demand characteristics and the bias it can result in, I usually give a vague answer like “It´s a personal interview that takes an hour”.
8. Often it´s not about many, but the right questions
Before asking questions, consider what you primarily want to know. What is the end goal here? Each question should contain a concept you’re investigating. Otherwise, you can find yourself asking all sorts of questions that do not prove that the person is a suitable candidate.
9. Do not be scared of asking extra questions
Another reason to perhaps limit the questions is not to take up too much of the person's time during the screening call. Another reason is to also give space to ask elaborate questions, clearing up any gaps. One way is to use reflective techniques where you ask, for instance, “So you are saying that…” or “What do you mean by saying…”
10. Listen carefully
Being an attentive listener is associated with politeness and empathy. We are taught in elementary school to listen to the teacher, to our parents and our elderly, since it is a sign of respect. But why is it then so hard to do? It can cause cognitive fatigue to focus mentally, and distractions can come in the way, such as background noise. One solution is to practice as an interviewer. However, some people listen to podcasts while taking notes and then thinkaloud what has been said. For me personally, taking improv theatre classes has helped me since I was truly forced to focus on the words said by my scene partners in order to contribute (read blog post).
11. Trust your gut
​There are some cases where a potential candidate seems really sure of themselves when I ask some questions to reveal their knowledge about a subject, habits, lifestyle, etc., depending on the research project and the requirements of the participants. Some responses I have received were vague and arrogant, like “Yes, of course I know this and I am really good at it”. Then, when I try to ask more into it to gain more concrete data, the response could be “I mean, who doesn't know this?”. How do they? How long have they known? What specific area do they specialise in the most? Do they use this in their daily lives? Just because a person seems confident, remember that they do not know the context behind your questions and all the aspects of the project. Keep in mind that you may occasionally screen someone who is not sincere but wants to participate to gain incentives.
12. Make the demands clear
Is the user test online or in-person? How long does it take? Within what timeframe does it take place? Do they receive an incentive? What value do they gain from participating? Some people I have screened asked if it was possible to participate online, whereas I had to explain that in this case, it would be conducted in-person. Others have said they thought of “just” a questionnaire as a waste of time, when I had to correct them to explain that it is a user test.
13. Practice 10 fingers on the keyboard
I know from personal experience that writing down notes while conducting screening calls would be easier if I practised using all 10 fingers on the keyboard. Since I am not used to it, I have started practising on typing.com as it would serve me well in this phase of user research projects, as well as transcribing audio interviews at a later stage.
Litterature
Bryman, A. (2021). Bryman’s Social Research Methods (6th edition).
Goodman, E., Kuniavsky, M., & Moed, A. (2012). Surveys. In Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner's Guide to User Research (2nd edition).
Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2008). InterViews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing (2nd edition).
Lazar, J., Feng, J.H. & Hochheiser, H. (2017). Research Methods in Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd. Edition.
Olsen, P. B., & Pedersen, K. (2008). Problem-Oriented Project Work: A workbook.
Rosenfeld, Morville, P., & Arango, J. (2015). Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond.