Remote Usability Testing

Participant disposition

There are three common dispositions: the overly positive participant, the complainer, and the fixer. Many participants show a mixture of dispositions.

The pleaser

It is common human behavior to want to please, and this is especially reflected in artificial settings, such as studies. The overly positive person exhibits this tendency in a more extreme manner than most. They report liking pretty much everything that they encounter, or downplay any confusion or negative experiences. Their information is not very useful or insightful.

To redirect a pleaser, it can be helpful to refer to a setting outside of the study by asking: "If you were to use this product outside of this study, ....?" If the participant has given some ...