In this episode, Carol and Erin dive into all things research sample sizes with Lauren Stern. No matter your experience with user research, you'll need to recruit folks, making this an evergreen topic. Lauren has coached both new-to-research and junior UXRs on this critical topic and she shares some of her best advice.
Lauren shares importance considerations and nuances around different types of studies and even analysis approaches. She also unpacks her approach for international samples, the impact of drop-off rates, and participant compensation strategies.
Going beyond sample sizes, we conclude with a discussion of how to better engage with stakeholders when advocating sample sizes, making these conversations about "how many to recruit" more informed. She also shares resources to use when making the case to stakeholders.
Episode Highlights
About Our Guest
Lauren Stern is a mixed-methods research leader focused on creating the most human-centered technology possible. Over the last ten years her work has explored how perception and social cognition shape our experiences with automated systems from military zones to living rooms. Whether exploring individual experiences in the field or looking at large-scale data collections, she loves the puzzle of study design and coaching new researchers through the process.
Resources on Sample Sizes
#107 - Making Research Ops Visible with Benson Low of REA Group
#106 - Navigating gender, religion, and politics in UX research – with Zoë Glas
#105 - Tacos and Tide Pods: Big plans, a product relaunch, and healthy organizational tension
#104 - User Research Incentives with Nick Baum of Tremendous
#103 - Ethical Design and Respectful UX Research with Kat Zhou of Epidemic Sound
#102 - Tacos and Tide Pods: Authenticity, Exciting Milestones, and LinkedIn
#101 - Onboarding UX: How to Research and Design a Great First Impression with Pulkit Agrawal of Chameleon
#100 - UXR Productivity Hacks with Michele Ronsen of Curiosity Tank
#99 - Leading UX Research for Healthcare Apps with Wendy Johansson of MiSalud Health
#98 - Customer-Centricity in Practice with Ferdinand Goetzen of Reveall
#97 - Tacos and Tide Pods: House Cats, Research Repositories, and the Economy
#96 - Your UX Career Is a Product with Sarah Doody
#95 - UX Writing and Content Design with Yuval Keshtcher of UX Writing Hub
#94 - Tacos and Tide Pods: A New Series from Awkward Silences
#93 - Digital Ethnography and Real-World Context in UXR with Megan McLean of Spotify
#92 - What Librarians Can Teach UXRs about Insights Repositories with Nada Alnakeeb of DoorDash and Joanna Perez of Netflix
#91 - Design Psychology with Thomas Watkins of 3Leaf
#90 - The State of User Research 2022 with Roberta Dombrowski
#89 - UX Agencies: Setting Clients Up for Success with Karen VanHouten
#88 - Research Operations for Democratization at Scale with Garrett Tsukada
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