Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
Remote User Research: Dos and Don'ts from the Virtual Field
Summary
Faced with the coronavirus crisis, the world switched from office to remote work almost overnight. Likewise, many design teams suddenly found themselves having to conduct user research remotely. For some, this wasn't entirely new. For others, it was the first time going all-out remote, which took some getting used to!
Key Insights
-
•
Remote research suits digital product validation, early concept testing, and asynchronous methods best.
-
•
Contextual inquiry and ethnography lose critical richness when conducted remotely and are often not worth the effort.
-
•
Recruitment for remote studies risks biasing samples toward participants with tech access and literacy.
-
•
Detailed participant screening and pre-interview phone calls help assess vulnerability and stressors during crises like COVID-19.
-
•
Over recruiting by about 50% compensates well for remote no-shows and tech dropouts.
-
•
Remote sessions require significantly more preparation time and energy than in-person research.
-
•
Having formal backup tools and contingency plans is critical to handle inevitable tech failures in remote sessions.
-
•
Clear rules about stakeholder observers reduce interruptions and emotional impact on participants.
-
•
Video inclusion in remote interviews builds trust and helps interpret participants’ non-verbal cues.
-
•
Remote research is not always the best option; sometimes waiting for in-person research is the right call given context and participant conditions.
Notable Quotes
"Remote research is not a silver bullet."
"The best way to understand something is to become part of it."
"If the research question requires deep context, remote probably won’t do."
"It really pays off to prepare way more for remote than for in-person research."
"We recruited 50% more than we needed because no-shows are incredible in remote sessions."
"Video conveys trust and lets you see those purposeful pauses."
"Observers interrupting sessions was a weird behavior we had to manage with clear rules."
"Having a recruitment team that does pre-session phone screenings was a luxury that helped a lot."
"Don’t do remote contextual inquiry just because you can; you lose so much context."
"Remote is a design constraint, but what else can we do with it to improve practice?"
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"I’ve done the headscarf when recruiting door to door at the mosques of East London."
Tamara HaleWar Stories LIVE! Tamara Hale
March 30, 2020
"Customer obsession is actually one of our key values, which makes my job as a researcher a little bit easier."
Joanna Vodopivec Prabhas PokharelOne Research Team for All - Influence Without Authority
March 9, 2022
"Adoption is the only thing that matters in innovation. If you’re not changing behavior, you haven’t innovated."
Saara Kamppari-Miller Nicole Bergstrom Shashi JainKey Metrics: Comparing Three Letter Acronym Metrics That Include the Word “Key”
November 13, 2024
"I am responsible not just for insights but for my team's well-being, legal commitments, and fiduciary responsibilities."
Nalini P. KotamrajuTwo Jobs in One: Being a “Leader who is a Researcher” and a “Researcher who is a Leader"
March 10, 2021
"Downloading and playing with local open source models gives a different experience than using faceless APIs mediated through interfaces."
Ian JohnsonLatent Scope: Finding structure in unstructured data
June 11, 2025
"I know exactly this job, all its problems and dysfunctions, and I don’t want to do that anymore."
Greg PetroffExit Interview #1: Greg Petroff: From Silicon Valley Executive to Sonoma County Possibilitarian
September 24, 2025
"We need more storytelling and positive use cases to help people see how AI affects their specific roles."
Frances Yllana Jorge Arango Maria Taylor Briana ThomasThe Big Question about Impact: A Panel Discussion
September 24, 2024
"Everyone is a designer."
Maria GiudiceRemaking the Making Company: Moving from Product to Experience
June 9, 2016
"Inclusion, collaboration, and iteration are the three pillars of how we work with authors to make a book."
Louis RosenfeldCoffee with Lou: Should You Write a (UX) Book?
March 7, 2024