At the start of this chapter, we stressed that using participants that resemble the target user as closely as possible will yield the most insightful user feedback. To identify the right participants, the candidates must be screened for those profile requirements.
When working with a panel company, it is important to clearly communicate the profile requirements and list them in order of importance, especially when the profiles are challenging to recruit for. The UX researcher should review the screener before the panel company starts recruitment.
Screeners can be conducted over the phone or online, using a survey. Phone screeners are more personal, as there is direct person-to-person interaction. It is also a slow and labor- and time-intensive process. A survey is impersonal, but can be created quickly and sent out to a large number of people with ease. Costs may vary depending on the platform used, but they are typically much lower than phone screeners...