Nov 27

Nov 27 A guide for conducting quality research with vulnerable participants

This article is featured in UX Collective.

I recently had the opportunity to visit Sarajevo, where I explored the many museums and galleries documenting the Bosnian genocide and refugee crisis that took place in the mid-1990’s. I was deeply moved by the exhibits and also impressed with the difficult accomplishment of the curators and artists to collect such painful stories from their subjects. Srebrenica by Tarik Samarah, pictured above, was one of the most powerful exhibitions I’ve seen. As I stood in front of the bleak black-and-white image of a dismembered toy doll lying in the mud with a gash across her face, I could feel myself moving to a much darker place. I put on my headphones and listened to the audio recording explaining that the doll had been purposely left there as a threat for those on a mission to find the mass graves of Srebrenica victims. I felt deeply moved as I walked from image to image, listening to real interviews with survivors from the Srebrenica massacre. The images successfully build a feeling of mounting dread as viewers slowly learn more and more about the massacre. This feeling of dread is compounded later on by large screen showing additional documentary scenes depicting discoveries of the mass graves, further transporting viewers into the terror that the victims felt and the pain and suffering of their relatives as facts were slowly uncovered.

Samarah succeeded in honoring the victims and helping to ensure their painful history isn’t forgotten by giving them a powerful and indisputable voice. His exhibition is living proof that conducting research with vulnerable populations is both impactful and necessary for empowering their voices. But how can everyday researchers work with their subjects in a way that is respectful, sensitive, and aware?

Whether the end result is a museum exhibition, an app providing free translation for refugees, or any other website, conducting quality research is essential to understanding users, accurately representing their stories, and building products they can actually use. Without a strong understanding of users, products can easily end up completely irrelevant, or worse, harmful to the end user.

Conducting research with vulnerable or underrepresented subjects is extremely challenging and should be done with utmost caution and care. Over the course of my career, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing a diverse array of vulnerable communities for different clients and companies seeking to serve them in some way.

It’s important to stick to best practices of UX research, but vulnerable communities should be treated with additional care and support even beyond these best practices. Below are some additional strategies* to protect vulnerable communities and empower them to speak their truth:

Acknowledge the power dynamic

You are a stranger, probably from a more privileged background, probing on topics that could be highly personal. Here are some strategies for giving back some of that power:

Remove pressure. Emphasize that participants don’t have to answer any questions or talk about anything they don’t want to, and that they can end the interview at any moment if they feel so inclined. Don’t push any question they don’t want to talk about.
Always seek consent to record. Let participants choose the level of recording they’re ok with (full video, audio-only, note-taking only).
Protect privacy. Let participants know exactly how you will protect their identity and anonymity.
Compensate participants. Always offer a research incentive. Your time is valuable and scarce, and you’re probably being paid to conduct research. Your participant should also be paid for their time.

Who is conducting the interview?

Find ways to maximize comfort for your participants by making sure they’ll be comfortable with the interviewers. For example:

Plan research with the community. When planning and writing discussion guides, seek the help of someone from the community. As much as you may read about a community or group, getting a second pair of eyes on all of your materials from someone who understands the context is always a safe bet.
Be relatable. As much as possible, recruit interviewers who can relate to your participants on some level. If you’re interviewing a group of single moms, it might be best to have a female interviewer. Consider who amongst your team is most likely to put your participants at ease.
Keep your team small. Do you remember the last time you were interviewed by a panel of people, perhaps for a job interview? It can be very intimidating, so the less people in the room, the better.
Be personal. Introduce yourself and anyone else you bring with you. Share a story about yourself. This will help humanize the process and encourage them to open up.
Consider languages. If possible, try to interview in the participant’s native language. This doesn’t mean hiring a translator, this means getting an interviewer who speaks the language.
Share your goals. Before beginning, emphasize the positive benefit your research will have. Will their taking the time to answer your questions lead to benefits for the rest of the community? Will it lead to a better life for their children? Research participants who know the context and goals of your questions are more likely to take the time to share their stories.

Location Matters

Conduct the session somewhere comfortable. Hint: a research lab is not comfortable. A bare room with a glass mirror and strangers behind it is not comfortable. Meet at the local cafe, a public park, or even your participants home if they feel comfortable with it. Give them the power to choose where they’d like to be.

Be ready to pivot

Read the room. Did a question make your participant uncomfortable? Pivot to another topic and come back to the original one only if you feel it is appropriate. Did the kids just come home from school during the middle of the interview? Be ready to give your participant a break in the middle of the session if necessary.

And last but not least…

Don’t trigger trauma. While it may be helpful for your research to know your participant’s full story, don’t force them to share potentially traumatic events with you. Respect their privacy and the potentially difficult events they’ve been through. If they choose to share traumatic memories with you, practice empathy and hold space for their experiences.

Final thoughts

While conducting research with vulnerable participants is highly challenging, it is critical to empower the voices of vulnerable populations and disadvantaged people to speak their truth. I’m grateful all of the museums and exhibits in Sarajevo exist today to remind us of this shameful period in world history. This wouldn’t be possible without the sensitive and impactful work of highly empathetic researchers. Whether the end goal is an art gallery, a product, or a website, follow these tips for a more thoughtful and sensitive interviewing process.