User Testing, Continued

This is the really tough part: finding users to participate in your tests. Depending on your project, there are different approaches to tracking down users. Your first step, which you should have already addressed during the early stages of your site's planning, involves targeting a specific audience. Once you've narrowed your scope that way, you can begin looking for participants.

Where can you find members of your target audience?
You can track down potential test participants through customer lists (including marketing mailing lists or records of sales), related organizations or associations, email discussion lists, conferences and events, and so on. If your audience is parents, you might consider visiting your local school system, finding out if there's a parenting magazine in which you can place a classified advertisement, or contacting a national parent advocacy organization. You might supplement that by including people you know, such as an acquaintance, neighbor, or coworker.

Some companies contact temp agencies when they need to hire users for product testing. For example, if you run a skiing site, you might request temporary workers with some computer experience who also were active skiiers. This approach is one viable option for companies with a general adult audience. However, it's fairly useless if your audience consists of kids or highly trained professional people such as doctors or lawyers.

Using your own staff, immediate family members, or close friends can be helpful, but they will always pull their punches. You're not likely to get completely honest answers from people you're very close to, because they won't want to hurt your feelings. Take the time to find participants who can be brutally honest if necessary.

Do you need to compensate participants?
There's not much agreement in the field on whether to compensate user testers or use volunteers. I'm a firm believer in compensation. The selection process tends to go more smoothly if you provide an incentive. A cash stipend ($30-50 per person) seems to work nicely. You can also try product giveaways or service discounts. When compensating participants, make it clear you are paying for their time and honest reactions, not for validation or ego stroking.

Test Your Designs -- on People!
Webmonkey article offers a common sense approach to testing with users.

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