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
#67 - Growing a UX Research Startup with Basel Fakhoury of User Interviews and Benjamin Humphrey of Dovetail
#66 - Agile Research Ops with Joey Encarnacion of Slack
#65 - The Best of Awkward Silences (So Far)
#64 - Civic Tech with Cyd Harrell
#63 - Information Architecture in UX with Page Laubheimer of NN/g
#62 - The State of User Research with Katryna Balboni
#61 - The Role of Research in CX Transformation with Kim Salazar of Nielsen Norman Group
#60 - Discovery Research and Interview Skills with Maria Rosala of Nielsen Norman Group
#59 - Ethical Hacking, Information Security, and UX with Ted Harrington of ISE
#58 - The Lone UXR: Being a UX Research Team of One with Izzy Nichols
#57 - Research Amid Sudden Change: Working on Google Classroom During COVID with Amanda Rosenburg
#56 - 2020, UXR Year In Review
#55 - So You Want to Be In Research Ops? How Roy Olende of Zapier Made The Switch
#54 - End-to-End Experience Teams with Danielle Smith of Express Scripts
#53 - Everything in Context: Anthropology and User Research with Vanessa Whatley
#52 - The Missing Ingredient: How Storytelling Makes User Research More Impactful with Harrison Wheeler of LinkedIn
#51 - Uncharted Territory: AI & User Research with Hana Nagel
#50 - To Manage or Not to Manage? UX Research Careers with Amber Davis, UXR Director at Audible
#49 - The Magic of Diary Studies with Tony Turner
#48 - Rising to the Moment: UXR, Diversity, & Inclusion with Randy Duke
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