PlaybookUX offers five different research methods (unmoderated testing, moderated testing, card sorting, tree testing, and surveys). These are some best practices for launching all types of studies on the platform.

Here are a few key steps that you’ll need to consider when launching any methodology.

Check URLs in “Incognito Mode’ before launching

• By taking the time to check your links in Incognito Mode to make sure your share settings are set to public, you can proactively address any potential issues. Checking your links before launching your study allows you to proactively address any potential issues and ensure a smoother launch for your study. This extra step of validation will help you provide a seamless user experience to your testers.

Always preview your study before submitting

• Taking the time to review your work allows you to make any necessary adjustments and improvements. A thorough study preview helps to identify potential errors, inconsistencies, or areas that may need further clarification.

Start by launching a pilot study and then add more participants after you’ve received the first results.

• Piloting a study ensures that you can prevent participants from getting confused by the wording of certain tasks or questions in your study. If you launch a study with one participant and then review the session and notice that the participant is confused by a certain question, you can edit the question and add more participants to the same study.

Configure saved audience templates so you can easily pull in your typical demographic.

• Each time you set up an audience for a study, you’ll need to select filters for different demographic criteria as well as configure screener questions to ensure that you are targeting the correct persona for your research project. To ensure your team is consistently targeting your correct demographic in each study, set up multiple saved audience templates that they can pull in. Saved audience templates save time setting up studies and also ensures fewer mistakes in the project creation process. There are two ways to create an audience template.

Use filters first before setting up screener questions

• Our platform has a matching algorithm that will automatically match participants that meet your demographic criteria with available studies. This feature significantly minimizes participant fraud by ensuring that participants only encounter studies that match their profile rather than displaying all available studies. For example, if you use the Job Role filter and select “Marketing”, participants with the job role of “Developer” won’t see that study on their participant dashboard. To achieve better and more precise targeting, we recommend utilizing filters first and then using screener questions. Instead of asking a screener question, “Do you work in marketing” use the job role filter for better, more accurate targeting.

To get quality feedback from your target demographic, follow these best practices for setting up screener questions

• If your study requires the participants to provide personal/confidential information, you’ll need to ask participants for consent. We recommend including a screener with the information that you’ll require from the participant. For example, if you need participants to log in to their bank information, healthcare information, bring a passport/ ID to the study, or log in to company software, etc, you can ask a screener question like this:

  

• Similarly, if your study requires that the participant join the session from multiple devices or needs to join from a certain location, you should also include this information in a screener question.

• We don’t limit the number of screeners (qualifying questions) you can add to your study. However, testers aren’t paid for screener questions, so it shouldn’t be used as a survey to collect information. When applying to studies, testers will see the number of screener questions, and when studies have too many screener questions, they are less likely to get picked up by testers. We recommend having 3-5 screeners per study.

• You’ll receive the participants' demographic information after the session is complete, so you don’t need to ask for specific demographic information in the screeners.

  

• You can set up both single and multi-select screener questions where you can allow the participants to qualify, disqualify, or may select answer choices. Learn more about screener question types here.

Use segmentation to target demographic quotas in your research

• You can create multiple audience segments within one project, helping you maintain quotas. When leveraging the PlaybookUX panel of participants, we strongly recommend utilizing this feature. This strategic approach offers several advantages, particularly when it comes to analyzing your research. By creating audience segments, you gain the ability to filter and analyze data on the Analytics page easily. Once your study is complete, you can conveniently use the filter located at the top right of your screen to view the data by a particular audience segment. Here is a guide to help set up your audience segments.

How many participants should I include in my studies?

Every study is different and has different requirements, but this is what we see most frequently.

• Unmoderated Studies: 5 - 10 participants per study
• Moderated Interviews: 5 - 10 participants per study
• Card sorting: 30 - 50 participants per study
• Tree testing: 30 - 50 participants per study
• Surveys: 100 - 500 participants per study

Writing unbiased questions

• Unbiased questions promote fairness, inclusivity, and the exploration of multiple perspectives. To ensure your research questions are unbiased, several considerations should be taken into account. Here is a guide to crafting unbiased questions.