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News, tips and updates from Consent Kit

Every few weeks we blog about Research Ops, responsible research, privacy and compliance, alongside what's happening at Consent Kit.

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A close up shot of a calendar with pins in some days and a red ring around the 30th, Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash.

Tools

User Research Scheduling Tools - How to Schedule User Research Interviews Effortlessly

Even the best laid UX research plans can go astray when you’re scheduling user research sessions. If you don’t have a fast, simple way for participants to book a meeting time, your studies can quickly hit a roadblock.

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Phil Hesketh

A woman biting her pen as she is looking at her laptop screen, Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

Research Recruitment | Research Ops

How to Recruit Research Participants with Email - Writing Recruitment Email for a Research Study

I can’t even begin to estimate how many email “open or delete” decisions I make in a day. And I’m betting your user research participants are no different.

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Phil Hesketh

A small child stood at the bottom of a large sandstone staircase, photo by Jukan Tateisi on Unsplash

Fundamentals

Common UX research challenges to overcome.

All UX researchers face common challenges in their quest to optimize product design and improve the customer experience.

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Phil Hesketh

A neon sign of the word open in different colours, photo by Viktor Forgacs on Unsplash

Research Ops

How to democratize UX research

Allowing everyone in your organization to contribute to product design and development can help employees feel empowered and valued. But should this extend to letting non-researchers contribute to UX research?

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Phil Hesketh

A laptop on a table with the message I design and develop experiences that make peoples lives simple on the screen. Photo by Ben Kolde on Unsplash.

Responsible Research | Fundamentals

What is Accessibility Research - Accessibility Research Explained

Accessibility research is a growing topic, and the importance and benefits need to be taken into account when you’re running any kind of UX studies.

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Phil Hesketh

Some stone stairs surrounded by green leafy bushes, Photo by Rodion Kutsaiev on Unsplash

Research Recruitment | Research Ops

Recruiting Participants for Research - 10 Step Framework Explained

Finding high-quality research participants is one of the keys to helping your organization develop better products and provide a great customer experience. But what does recruiting participants for research mean?

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Phil Hesketh

A dollar sign in a clear box surrounded by paper aeroplanes

Responsible Research | Fundamentals

Research incentives - Guide for UX Researchers

Recruiting people for UX research studies can be challenging. To attract and retain the right participants for each initiative, it’s helpful to offer user research incentives.

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Phil Hesketh

A blue question mark on a pink background. Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

Fundamentals

Best questions to ask in UX research projects

Running an effective UX research study relies on your ability to create questions for your participants that drive meaningful results for your organization.

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Phil Hesketh

A table full of blocks with smiling faces on with one big smiling face block in the middle, Photo by Shubham Dhage on Unsplash

Fundamentals

Screener surveys for UX research

Finding ideal research participants is the key to getting closer to your customers and creating better products and services. If you’ve been struggling to weed out unqualified people for your research panels, screener surveys are about to become your new best friend.

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Phil Hesketh

A laptop, a tablet and a mobile phone on a desk, Photo by Gabriel Benois on Unsplash

Research Ops | Tools

What is a User Research CRM - Benefits of Using a CRM for User Research

The amount of admin work that goes on before you get to the actual research is a lot.

Before your research even begins, you have to find and screen participants, manage their incentives, collect consent, schedule user interviews and sessions, and do so much more.

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Phil Hesketh

Someone signing a document on a table with a pen while someone else witnesses, Photo by Romain Dancre on Unsplash

Responsible Research | Compliance

Consent forms for UX research - Examples and best practices

Getting informed consent from participants is a mandatory part of any responsible UX research study.

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Phil Hesketh

A very large warehouse full of boxes of paper, Photo by Nana Smirnova on Unsplash

Compliance | Research Ops

Everything you need to know about managing consent in research projects

If you’re undertaking any type of UX research, you need to understand the logistics of data privacy regulations and consent management—and the implications for your business if you conduct research without taking these into consideration.

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Phil Hesketh

A woman with a receptionist paying for a haircut in salon, Photo by Blake Wisz on Unsplash

Fundamentals

What is customer experience research?

Creating exceptional customer experiences has become a key differentiator for many companies trying to compete in crowded markets.

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Phil Hesketh

People sat at a desk discussing a prototype on a laptop, Photo by Headway on Unsplash

Fundamentals

UX Reseach Process - Steps and Advice

If you’re looking to carry out responsible, ethical, and compliant UX research for your company, this guide will walk you step by step through developing a UX research process for your organization

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Phil Hesketh

A person making notes at a table with a pencil, Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash

Compliance | Responsible Research

GDPR Compliant Research - 6 Steps to Ensuring GDPR Compliance in Research Projects

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the most robust global privacy law in effect today, but it shouldn’t be scary!

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Phil Hesketh

A European flag flying against a blue sky, Photo by Christian Lue on Unsplash

Compliance | Responsible Research

GDPR for User Research - An Introduction for UX Researchers

As User researchers, we constantly collect and analyse data to understand user behaviour and create better products and services.

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Phil Hesketh

The research ops map, created by the research ops community

Research Ops

What is Research Ops - UX Research Ops Explained

If you plan to start a Research Ops program for your organization, or get involved as an individual, this guide will give you a thorough overview of what Research Ops is, how these teams support companies as a whole, and a simple framework to get started.

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Phil Hesketh

Printouts of a UI journey pinned to a wall and connected with strings, Photo by Alvaro Reyes on Unsplash

Research Ops

Research Panel Management - How to Build and Manage a Research Panel

Speed is your company’s advantage for growth, and with that comes the need for fast and accurate data to inform the decision-making process.

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Phil Hesketh

A drawig of a calendar in a notebook with the first week highlighted, Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash

Fundamentals

How to create a UX research plan (9 steps)

Having a clear plan in place is essential before you spend valuable time and resources on any type of user research.

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Phil Hesketh

A group of happy people sitting on a bench, Photo by Naassom Azevedo on Unsplash

Tools | Research Ops

Best panel management software for UX research - 7 tools to consider

FACT: You need to do so many things to get a research study going. The most important of all, of course, is to find relevant people to share their insights and opinions with you.

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Phil Hesketh

Some colourful tools and craft things on a table, by Dan Cristian Pădureț via Unsplash

Tools | Research Ops

20 Incredible UX research tools for your next project

Imagine starting a new UX research project…

After you’ve agreed the scope for a project, there’s so much planning and admin to be done.

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Phil Hesketh

A neon sign that says data has a better idea, by Franki Chamaki

Compliance | Research Ops

Who owns your research data

I’ve spoken with a lot of people over the last two years about privacy, data protection laws and people’s rights and specifically, what that means for us as researchers.

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Phil Hesketh

A wall of CCTA cameras watching two women, by Matthew Henry

News | Compliance

What does privacy mean for Research Ops in 2021?

2020 was, well 2020. Part of the mad scramble to move everything online put a lot of pressure on us all. We had to totally re-imagine how we do research, everything was suddenly up for grabs.

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Phil Hesketh

Photo of someone on a beach at sunset, by Mohamed Nohassi

Responsible Research

Consent is freely given

There is a natural imbalance of power that exists between the researcher and the person they’re learning from. There are some things you can do which help to make the participant more comfortable.

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Phil Hesketh

9 min read
Photo of someone staring at a fridge with a lot of drinks in, by Henrik Dønnestad

Responsible Research

Decision making capacity

Decision making capacity (or DMC) comes from the informed consent doctrine; an ethical principle that is pervasive in modern medicine, but is often overlooked when talking about consent in the context of design research.

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Phil Hesketh

Photo of someone collecting berries, by Milan Seitler

Compliance

The data we collect

Being aware of what we’re recording and what kind of processing we need to do to it not only helps communicate our intent, but it can also save a lot of work in synthesis.

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Phil Hesketh

Photo of a woman having fun on a climbing frame, by Team Fredi

Compliance | Responsible Research

Informed consent best practice

When we talk about informed consent in design research, we usually talk about the artifact itself - maybe a digital or paper form, and what should be disclosed in it.

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Phil Hesketh

Photo of a woman thinking, by Tachina Lee

Compliance | Responsible Research

Rethinking the consent template

We’ve been making some improvements to the way we create and utilise consent forms in Consent Kit.

Our initial research uncovered the following problems with creating consent forms:

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Phil Hesketh

Photo of a small bird eating seeds from someone's hand, by Bonnie Kittle

Culture

How we handle participant data

At Consent Kit, we believe that how companies handle and process the information we provide them is fast becoming a key factor in deciding which services to use.

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Phil Hesketh

Photo of someone typing on a laptop, by Stanley Dai

Research Ops | Compliance

Recording and managing informed consent

In the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published a helpful checklist, in line with the GDPR, for how you record and manage informed consent.

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Phil Hesketh

Photo of two toy figures shaking hands, by Paweł Czerwiński

Fundamentals | Compliance | Responsible Research

What is informed consent?

Before you do any research, you need to get evidence that the person you are learning from has understood your research, the potential consequences for them and that they have given you their permission to take part.

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Phil Hesketh

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