How many participants should you aim to recruit?
For a standard user test, you should aim to run 10 sessions minimum, but you should over recruit to account for any no-shows.

What participant criteria am I looking for in my target audience?
Select people based off age, gender, geographic location, profession, income, hobbies, technology owned.

Does the product I’m testing call for a specific, niche recruit?
Consider if you have a specialty, tough recruit on your hands (like machine learning engineers or fashion-forward consumers) and how you may go about having to target and find them. For example, your target audience could be electric vehicle owners and finding them may pose more of a challenge forcing you to get creative in recruitment and seek out charging stations.

What is the right amount to pay participants for their time?
Compensation for those who participate in a usability study will vary depending on the type of recruit and they type of user test you run.

Professional Industries: Participants' average hourly pay needs to be taken into consideration when determining the payment amount. General population recruits may accept a $25 Amazon gift card, but a surgeon with a busy schedule and high hourly pay may require a $500/hour compensation due to how valuable their time is.

Type of user study: Completing a 5-question survey does not warrant the same compensation as a 90 minute in depth interview or weeklong diary study.

Once you’ve identified the right people, it’s time to wrangle all the other pieces:
Vetting, scheduling, ongoing management and customer service, getting participants set up and familiar with any online tools/technology you will use to ensure a smooth usability testing session, and finally compensation.