STC Usability SIG Newsletter
Usability Interface

Giveaways to Thank Helpful Users--What's Best?

Compiled by David Dick

What is the best way to thank helpful users for participating in a usability study? Carl Myhill asked this question to popular discussion group of the Usability community. The following are some of the replies:

We've recently used gift certificates at a local electronics/computer/geek stuff store.

—Dick Miller (Dick_Miller@PMUG.ORG)

I've compensated test subjects as follows:

• Federal employees and persons providing feedback on Federal systems: a thank-you letter from the Federal person on the project, as high up as we can get.
• Persons from private organizations who provided feedback on a private company's site: Amazon gift certificates sent via email. Since we identified the persons via email, this worked well.
• Persons from private organizations who provided feedback on a Federal web site: A check, sent after the fact. This was the worst solution, since I couldn't present the check that day, and it was a pain to order the checks and have them sent to the participants.

I'd hesitate to give away chocolate--it's too easily damaged by heat, and some people don't want chocolate. Another problem: I love chocolate! I'd be afraid to keep that in my office for any length of time! During the test, I'd happily provide the person with snacks, coffee, tea, cola, or water, but that's not compensation.

I'd be inclined to have our logo pens in the office and allow the person to take a pen or two if they like them, but I don't think they are nice enough to compensate for the person's time.

I always, always thank the person profusely before and after the evaluation, and send a thank-you note afterward.

—Kathy Bine, ICF Consulting

We recently gave out some little tins of mints at a conference (not my idea) www.clikclak.com.

The box and the name of the tin give it all away - click clack - yes, it makes sense. But when you look at it, it's just a tin of mints with a very stiff lid! Unless you think to turn it over you don't know you are supposed to press the top down and 'click clack' to open the tin. How many mints do you think ended up on the floor? How many minutes did I spend twisting the lid to remove it? How smug is my marketing colleague who developed the knack for twisting the lid off (- a major victory for women's lib she claimed)?

Only after the conference did someone discover the click clack nature of the mint tins!

—Carl Myhill

My parents own a publishing company and were trying to think of something to hand out at a boat show. One thought was candy wrapped in our logo but we didn’t want them to eat the candy and then throw the logo on the ground. But at the same time, we didn’t want to do pens because that is somewhat too overdone and it is hard to find good inexpensive pens. I believe that it is vitally important to consider your audience and the amount of face time, and therefore the amount that you want them to remember you, your company and the experience they had with you.

—John Dozier, Jr., Bentley College, MSHFID

On our Intranet team, we used to find participants in training classes. We gave out the usual logo items such as Frisbees, yo-yos, key chains, notepads, mugs, T-shirts, etc. But I always found that most people volunteered for usability testing either because they were curious or just wanted to be helpful. Some didn't even want the giveaways or accepted them as an afterthought.

Now, most of the time we are working with employees in internal departments that will eventually be using the sites and applications that we are designing. So, their motivation is that they want to be helpful because they will eventually be using these systems. In this case, the usual "cheap" giveaways are almost insulting. And I would be embarrassed to give them out.

For these people, I've found that a sincere thank you e-mail is much more appreciated. Our company has an "e-Card" site for recognizing employees by sending them "e-Cards". Their manager also gets a notice that the employee has received an e-Card. It may sound a little corny, but most employees really appreciate getting this good feedback, especially when their manager gets this notice. It helps at performance review time, which is far more valuable than a mug.

—Jim Ross, Bank One

I have used Amazon gift certificates as well; they are easy to purchase because they have corporate gift certificates. You specify the number of recipients, amount per person, and then type in the e-mail address of each recipient.

—Mickey Monaghan

There are some problems with Amazon (and possibly other) gift certificates:

• Amazon gift certificates come through email with an odd address that resembles spam e-mails. Some people who received email certificates, as a thank you would accidentally delete the email version of the certificate and then complain that they never received it. If this happens, you will have to get Amazon to cancel out that certificate and reissue a new one. Getting gift certificates cancelled can take some work.
• Some people will forget to use a gift certificate or lose their certificate. On a few occasions, I had people who remembered about the certificate after the expiration date and they were disappointed that we could not issue them a new one. Remind people to use gift certificates right away (whether paper or e-mail).
• In the USA, there are different state laws about the minimum length of certificates. You should find out what the minimum, if any, there is in your state. I am not sure what the international rules on gift certificates might be.
• You can order Amazon certificates through email and then hand participants paper copies of the email with the certificate number. Make sure you order your online certificates a few days before testing since the time it takes to get certificates seems wildly variable. With Amazon certificates, I have had lag times range from 1 hour to almost 24 hours.
• If you are handing out certificates in person, create a short script of instructions (including expiration dates if applicable) and make sure people are clear on how to use the certificates before they leave the lab.

—Chauncey Wilson

One of the problems with rewarding good behavior is that it sometimes conflicts with a user's corporate policies. A common policy is that a user cannot accept a gift that is valued at more than $50 or cannot be shared among their coworkers. Chocolate is a good gift for under $50 that "shares" well in most any office.

—Larry Marine, Intuitive Design

I've used:

• Gift certificates for books (e.g. Amazon)
• Cash
• A variety of food and drinks
• Gadgets with company logo

For internal testing I really like the idea of sending a thank you note to the person and their manager. I hadn't thought of that and it's a great idea. Everyone likes getting recognition for his or her contributions. Always consider the image that you want to project with what you give away.

—Laura Downey, CSC

Although pens are a complete cliche, my Effortmark pens have proved to be very popular and one client even asks me to bring my pens as a giveaway rather than using their own pens.

Reason? I think it's because they are immediately recognizable as Parker pens and this brand has a lot of prestige here. They cost me about £3 = approximately $4.50 when I buy them in quantities of 250, enough for about two years for me. Also, they come in a plastic protective box that fits snugly, so the whole package is small and easy to carry but it means that the pen is protected from scratches.

When I've done field studies, I've sometimes taken a big box of biscuits (if it's in an office with several people participating) or a small flowering plant (if it's an individual woman), or just gone with the pens if I'm not sure.

I've also found that a letter of thanks on headed notepaper is very acceptable if the study is in a workplace, with a copy to the participant's boss also being a good idea. This can be the only acceptable thank-you for government departments.

In the UK, wine is acceptable but I guess it's not a great idea in the USA. Also, the UK Association for Qualitative Research did some research into what incentives worked best for participants in focus groups in many countries. As I recall, that from about three years ago, cash money was the best in every country except, I think, Hungary where grocery vouchers were preferred.

—Caroline Jarrett, Effortmark Ltd.