I'm coordinating user research for our product team, and I'm worried we're not talking to the right people. We often just recruit from our existing user base or use quick screening surveys. What's the most common pitfall in selecting participants for user interviews, and how do you ensure you're getting a sample that actually reveals diverse perspectives and not just echoes of our own assumptions?
That's an excellent and critical question. The most common pitfall is recruiting for demographics instead of behaviors and contexts. If you only talk to your most engaged users, you'll miss the critical pain points that cause people to struggle or churn. Your screening should focus on recent, relevant experiences (e.g., "Have you tried to compare insurance plans online in the last month?") rather than just job titles or age. To combat bias, deliberately recruit for diversity in experience levels, scenarios, and even for non-users or people who recently abandoned your product. This helps challenge your team's assumptions. Also, avoid leading questions in your screener that hint at the "right" answer. A robust recruitment strategy is what separates feel-good feedback from transformative insights. For a comprehensive guide that covers participant selection, screening techniques, and how to align interviews with research goals, this resource on user interveiws is very thorough.
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