Testimonial: Sally's "rather fun" paid research experience

Back in 2015, Sally H. had no idea what to expect after being confirmed as a participant in paid research. A few months later and after taking part in two paid research studies, she is sure about one thing – she wouldn’t change her experience at all.

Sally loved taking part in paid research, and her favourite thing wasn’t even the incentive she received for sharing her feedback with two of our clients. The thing Sally enjoyed the most was “the thought that perhaps, even in some small way, my input and thoughts were interesting and valuable from a consumer/user point of view”.

Although most participants are initially attracted by the idea of receiving up to £100 for one hour of their time, the People for Research team has noticed that people quickly change their opinion after taking part in research. Much like Sally, most people highlight how amazing it is to feel like their opinion actually matters.

Worried about your tech ability?

Of course, some participants still feel like they might not be a good fit because they are too young, too old, not tech-savvy enough… This couldn’t be further from the truth; everyone can and should take part in paid research. Sally, for instance, believes she has average knowledge about technology: “I have parents who are technophobes and a young son who is a tech whizz. I’m somewhere in the middle”.

"I've always been keen to have input into services and offerings for our future where I am a regular user and have valid intel, whether I'm helping to improve the look and feel or make things easy to navigate for all ages”.

Regarding the studies she attended, Sally says that “first time the offices were fun and trendy” and she was interviewed by a “fantastic guy who was well informed and friendly”.

Finally, any advice for future participants? One simple tip from Sally: “enjoy it – both of my experiences have actually been rather fun!”.