Comments on: Testing Incentives: The Best Way to Pay http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/ Boxes and Arrows is devoted to the practice, innovation, and discussion of design; including graphic design, interaction design, information architecture and the design of business. Mon, 20 May 2013 13:09:05 +0000 hourly 1 By: michaelbeavers http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6494 michaelbeavers Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6494 I think that cash is really the best incentive for users in a lab setting–hands down ($75-$100 per lab hour, depending on the market). However, there is an intangible compensation with many respondent populations that I’m not sure how to get around: the need to share an opinion, be heard, and interact with people.

Regardless of the city or the screening demographic or behavior, one thing I’ve never been able to shake is the professional respondent. These are the people for whom part of their livlihood depends on being a research subject, or a primary outlet for social interaction. We also see that many respondents aren’t “heard” in other aspects of their lives, and it can be quite sad. I realize this post is not entirely related to your article, Cliff, but could make a good story idea if any researchers on B&A have found a good way around it–or if it is really necessary to find a way around it.

]]> By: rebekaht1 http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6495 rebekaht1 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6495 I have run unto some issues with using any incentive with government employees. Due to some recent scandals in our area with local and state officials, there is reluctancy to except anything from an outside entity. Luckily, participants have been willing to participate sans compensation. Did you receive any response from your survey that had tactics for compensating government employees?

I appreciate this article and will look into some of the online gift certificates referenced for some upcoming remote testing. Thanks!

]]> By: svinteractive http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6496 svinteractive Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6496 With the cost of gas these days, it can be difficult getting anyone into their cars for anything other than cash. I have no issues with this, but the problem has always been with finding the appropriate compensation amount for tests of varying sunstance. For instance, there are times when a usability test may last 90-minutes and dive deeply into multiple tasks, etc. Other times, we need to quickly test users (30-minutes) on a single (yet mission-critical) bit of interaction. In both cases users had to travel the same distance and expend the same amount of fuel. The only variant was the amount of time spent with actual test partcipation. Is it fair to compensate the 30-minute test subject the same as the 90-minute test subject?

My experience has been that compensating test subjects for varying lengths of tests is akin to buying a sofa set. A loveseat, though fully 1/3 smaller than a couch, is just a wee bit cheaper. This is because it’s the ends of each piece (round-trip transportation) that are costly to make, not the cushion space between them.

]]> By: davidcdunkle http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6497 davidcdunkle Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6497 Another practical topic to consider: the security of your incentive method.

Cash and gift cards have a level on anonymity that goes with them from test to use. Once those incentive items disappear from your lab, it’s hard to know who really has them, or who really spent them. Of course, it’s not difficult to make sure your participants do get paid, however, it is sometimes difficult to make sure only true participants get the incentive.

Specifically, I was once leading a team when one of our members was quietly stealing gift cheques meant for participant compensation. Because of the ease in “repurposing” gift cheques, and also due to the laxity in our bookkeeping, this continued for over a year, and added up to several thousand dollars.

Surely, a stricter accounting policy would have helped, but personalized checks would have also eliminated the problem.

]]> By: scottynz http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6498 scottynz Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6498 Great article, Cliff.

Our rule of thumb is to compensate test participants around NZ$50 per hour in the form of a food voucher; for example: a gift certificate to a restaurant or grocery store. Food is always appreciated and, well, most people need it :)

]]> By: maryhettinger http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6499 maryhettinger Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6499 Can anyone tell me if offering incentives to increase survey response rate is prohibited by law in countries outside the U.S.? Our research firm is telling us that this is illegal practice in all countries outside the U.S., but I find that hard to believe.

Thank you.

]]> By: birdlavonne http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6500 birdlavonne Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6500 it is sometimes difficult to make sure only true participants get the incentive.
———————————–
bird.lavonne

Didn’t do much with them to test. I got a check yesterday from them for $38 bucks.

I will be using them more now that I have gotten paid.

check it out yourself
http://www.PaidWebSurfing.com http://www.PaidWebSurfing.com

]]> By: kjr87 http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6501 kjr87 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://boxesandarrows.com/testing-incentives-the-best-way-to-pay/#comment-6501 Mary,

I don’t know about all countries outside the U.S., but I did run into this problem working with remote usability participants in Germany. Apparently compensating them (even the small amounts for a usability study, and even in non-cash equivalents) would lead to complicated tax issues, so we were unable to do it. We finally determined that it would be OK to send each participant a Christmas gift (our study was in the fall) of the new software release that they had helped test.

–Kirsten

http://www.dynamicdiagrams.com

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