In addition to taking short tests, you may every now and then be invited to participate in real-time, face-to-face interviews with researchers. Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about participating in Interviews.
How do I get invited to participate in an Interview?
Interviews are scheduled by invitation only, similar to receiving test notifications. Receiving an invitation to participate in an interview is based on a few things:
Your notification preferences—you are opted in for Interview invitations by default, but if you have opted out in the past, you will need to toggle this feature on in your Notification settings
Your profile demographics and whether they meet the needs of the researcher and their study—oftentimes researchers are looking for specific groups of people to interview so we will only send you an invitation when the researcher's requirements match your profile
Your location and time zone, to ensure you can meet with the researcher during friendly hours for both of you
Your tester rating—be sure to keep your tester rating up by continuing to provide thoughtful, detailed feedback on the unmoderated tests you receive
For most interviews, you will be asked to complete a short screening questionnaire to ensure that you are a good fit for the interview. If you qualify, you will be able to book a session with the researcher and choose from time slots that they have indicated in their availability. You can decline an invitation to an interview without any impact to your future eligibility for invitations.
Please review our Rules for participating in Interviews as breaching any of them can lead to a loss of eligibility for future Interviews, and depending on the severity, your account may be banned from the UserCrowd platform altogether, as is the case with breaches to our Tester rules.
How do Interviews work?
Interviews will be conducted online via a video conference application such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet.
You will receive email reminders leading up to the scheduled session, and you can access the link to join the call 10 minutes before the scheduled time. If you attempt to join and the researcher has not yet added a link, give it a few minutes, refresh the page, and try again. We will contact the researcher in the meantime requesting urgent action to add a link.
Once on the call, the researcher is going to interview you about a specific topic using both video and audio. The length of the session may range from 15 minutes to 2 hours; you will know the specific duration in advance so that you can allocate the appropriate amount of time. Once the session has been completed, your UserCrowd account will be credited with a fixed incentive based on the chart below.
Helpful tip: It can take up to 5 days after the session to receive the credit to your balance.
How much and how will I be paid?
Just like tests, your incentive is based on the duration of the session. Incentives will appear in your UserCrowd balance just like credits from tests do. You can expect to receive the following amounts to your UserCrowd balance based on the relevant session durations:
Session duration (minutes) | Incentive (USD) |
15 | $30.00 |
30 | $37.50 |
45 | $45.00 |
60 | $52.50 |
75 | $60.00 |
90 | $67.50 |
105 | $75.00 |
120 | $82.50 |
Payouts will be handled via PayPal as they already are with your UserCrowd profile.
We understand that you will need to make schedule accommodations to participate in interviews and want to ensure that time is respected. Therefore, if an interview is canceled by the researcher within 12 hours of the scheduled start time or the researcher is a no-show to the session, we will still pay you for the full intended duration.
What equipment will I need to participate in interviews, do I need to install anything?
The equipment you will need depends on the requirements set by the researcher, though almost all sessions will require you to be on a non-mobile device (either a desktop or laptop) and have access to both a camera and microphone.
The meeting software will be selected by the researcher as well, although the most common video conferencing tools are Zoom, Google Meets, Skype and Microsoft Teams. We offer Zoom and Microsoft Teams integrations for researchers to easily set up meeting links within the platform so you will likely see these meetings quite often.
Some tools may require a download so please read the invitation clearly to ensure you have the appropriate video conferencing app installed and ready to use before the scheduled session, if applicable.
Will interviews be private and confidential? Will the interview be recorded?
As part of our terms of use, the information that you share with the researcher can only be used for research purposes. The session may be recorded at the researcher's discretion, but can only be shared with members of their team or with us. We only use the recording for quality assurance purposes.
In terms of the information we share with researchers, we only provide what you have listed as your preferred name. We do not share your full name nor your contact information. Our Interview policy forbids researchers from asking you to provide your private contact information in screeners and during interviews. If you encounter researchers asking for this information, please do not provide your details and get in contact with us.
What should I do if I feel uncomfortable or wish to withdraw from the interview? Can I opt-out or stop participating at any point?
If you do not want to participate in Interviews, you can simply opt out from your Availability and Notifications page and you will no longer receive invitations to participate in future interviews. During an interview if you feel uncomfortable, you can end the session early and contact UserCrowd Support to report any issues you may have had during the process.
What if I need to reschedule or cancel a booked session?
If at any point in time before an interview you need to reschedule or cancel the session, you can do so from the invitation email or one of the reminder emails by clicking the appropriate link. We ask that you please make these changes as soon as you find out you need to; this way we can ensure the interviewer has enough time to make the necessary adjustments on their end.
Canceling or rescheduling a session within 12 hours of the scheduled session time can negatively impact your future eligibility for interviews.
In the same way you can reschedule, a researcher can request to reschedule a booked session with you. If a researcher does want to request a reschedule with you, you'll receive an email with a link to select a new time for your session. You have five days to respond to the request; after five days the link will become inactive and the session will be canceled.
You can also decline a reschedule request if none of the new availability works for you. This will cancel the session immediately.
If a researcher cancels a session within 12 hours of its scheduled start time, you will still be paid the full incentive.
How long is the expected duration of the interview? Will there be breaks if it's a lengthy session? Can you provide an outline or structure of what topics we'll cover?
The length of an interview will depend on each respective study. You will always know the duration of the interview beforehand as it will be noted in the invitation you receive.
If the session ends early, you will be paid for the entire duration. If the session runs over and you need to leave, you are well within your rights to end the session at the expected end time and will still receive the incentive for the full duration, as long as you joined the session at the expected start time. If you are significantly late to a session and the researcher is unable to complete their interview in full, you may not be eligible to receive your incentive for the session, and your future eligibility for interviews may be impacted.
The structure of the interview will be determined by the researcher, but if it is a lengthy session, they're encouraged to follow best practices to ensure that you are able to participate in the session in the most effective way (e.g. allow for breaks, etc.). The topics will be determined by the researcher but themes may include: product usage and feedback, competitive analysis or pricing and value perception.
Is there anything I need to prepare or read before the interview? Are there any specific etiquette or guidelines I should be aware of during the online session?
For each session, all of the information needed for that specific interview will be provided in the invitation and session reminders that follow.
Before your first session, please review our Best practices for participating in Interviews. In general, be on time, have your device and required video conferencing application ready, and ensure you are engaged and detailed in your responses during the session.
Most importantly, please ensure that your profile is up to date and you have represented yourself correctly. If for some reason you have misrepresented any of your profile details or your fluency in a language, the researcher may end the session early and you may be banned from participating in any future Interviews. If it is found that you have breached any of our Rules for participating in Interviews, you may be banned from the UserCrowd platform altogether.
I’m interested! How do I start?
Great! All you need to do is ensure that you're opted in to Interviews and your profile is up to date—we'll be in touch when a suitable interview is available for you.