1.
How to Recruit
Users for User Testing

2.
At Codal, we take user testing seriously—it’s diffused within our UX design
process, regularly occurring at nearly every phase.
We recognize it as the only way to truly validate the choices a designer makes,
and we recognize it can be a serious headache, especially within the time
constraints of some Agile design cycles. Identifying, locating, and convincing
a representative sample of potentially several different user bases is no easy
task.
But we’ve been doing this for close to a decade at Codal, so we thought
we’d offer a few of our own tools, tricks, and strategies for expediting the
recruitment process. This isn’t high-level advice; rather, we’re providing a more
in-the-weeds perspective from our UX researchers.

3.
Guerilla & Hallway Testing
While some applications have highly specialized user types, others are defined with much
broader brushstrokes—middle-aged women, maybe, or millennials. For cases such as
these, often times UX design agencies will employ guerilla or hallway testing.
Guerilla testing simply consists of approaching potential users, usually in a public setting
like a busy street or coffee shop, and conducting the testing on the spot. It’s useful for when
your user type is something that can be easily eyeballed, or simple enough that it can be
discerned with a brief requisite question e.g. ‘are you bilingual?’.
In a similar vein, hallway testing is conducted on-site, and subjects are recruited simply
by asking around the office. Like guerilla testing, it only works if the user type is a broad
category—if it’s too specialized, it’s unlikely you’ll get a large enough sample.
Designers utilizing these types of recruitment enjoy the benefit of relatively low costs. All
subjects need to be incentivized in some way, and typically those recruited via guerilla
testing are satisfied with a $5-$10 gift card.

4.
Task Rabbit
TaskRabbit is a popular mobile app designed
to connect freelance labor with local demand,
particularly for everyday tasks such as cleaning,
assembling, or moving. Despite it’s errand-
centric design, TaskRabbit can also serve as a
reliable source for usability test subjects.
Like guerilla testing, it’s best for less specialized
user types, but it can often provide a more
representative sample than the local Starbucks.
You pay for the improved subjects as well:
“Taskers” can typically charge $30 at the
minimum for their participation in your UX
studies.
That works out to about $300 per user type, which could potentially hurt the budget if the
platform you’re testing has a particularly diverse user base. Still, it can be a cost-effective option
compared to some other user recruitment services.

5.
UserBob
UserBob is a user testing service that performs just about all of
the heavy lifting of usability testing. You simply provide the app,
website, or even scenario you’re investigating, and provide a list of
tasks you’d like the user to complete.
UserBob does the rest: assembling a representative sample,
providing the subjects with access to the platform, tasking them
with the prompt, and recording their screen and voice as they talk
through their experience. All the UX designer has to do is review the
videos.
UserBob charges $2 per user, plus $1 per requested minute of testing. So depending on the test
you’ve designed, this could be reasonable pricing or something way out of your budget. On average,
Codal finds that our testing sessions typically fall around $100 per user type.

6.
Userlytics
Finally, Codal will sometimes turn to Userlytics, the heavy artillery of test subject recruitment. Like
UserBob, Userlytics offers testing services, but at a much more comprehensive level.
Leveraging a combination of social media and contextually and behaviorally optimized ad networks,
Userlytics can assemble highly representative samples of just about any demographic you can think
of.
These are high quality samples, and the Userlytics engine can build them in a matter of hours.It’s a
massive time saver, but its efficiency comes with a hefty price tag: the service charges about $90 per
user, so you’re getting close to dropping a grand for every user type.

7.
Have questions? Email us at go@codal.com
for help with user testing.