Q.......What kinds of people are you looking for?
All kinds! You don’t need to be a Google user, computer expert, or technology enthusiast to sign up. We’d like to talk to anyone over the age of 18 who’s ever used the Internet in any way.
Q....I don't live near a Google office. Can I still sign up?
Absolutely. Most of our studies take place in person at our California offices in Mountain View, San Francisco, and San Bruno; our Washington offices in Seattle and Kirkland; and our New York office in Manhattan. But even if you don’t live near a Google office, you may be still able to participate in a study remotely via your computer or mobile device.
Q.....So what will I do in these studies?
When you sign up, you can choose the types of studies that interest you. Here’s some info about the different studies and how they work:
Usability study at a Google office
These studies work best for people who live close to one of our offices. Typically, you’ll meet one-on-one with a Google researcher who’ll ask you some questions, have you use a new or existing product, and then get your feedback.
Remote usability study
In these studies, we’ll gather your feedback via a screen-sharing session with a researcher or a website where you can try something out on your own. You can be almost anywhere in the world, but you’ll need to have a high-speed Internet connection.
Experiential sampling study
These studies require a small amount of activity every day for several days or weeks. Google researchers will ask you to respond to questions or take notes about your experience of using a product, and you’ll do everything on your own mobile phone, tablet, or laptop.
Field study
In field studies, Google researchers will visit you in your home or office. They’ll never show up at your door unannounced though — they’ll always check in with you first to discuss study details and make an appointment.
Surveys
For these studies, we’ll simply send you a survey form to fill out. Please note that we don’t typically offer a gift for participating in a survey.
Q......What’s the time commitment?
In usability studies and field studies, you’ll typically spend between sixty and ninety minutes with a Google researcher. This will almost always be during business hours (i.e., Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm). If you’re visiting your local Google office to participate, you’ll need to allow extra time for travel, which will be at your own expense. Remote sessions may take place outside of typical business hours depending on your local time zone.
Q......How soon will you contact me?
We can't guarantee that we’ll invite you to participate in a study, and even if we do it may not be right away. For example, we may not have a match for you now, but we may contact you in nine months when we launch a new study that seems to be a perfect fit.
Q.....If I sign up, will you send me spam or sell my information to other companies?
Not a chance. All the information you provide is kept confidential in accordance with Google's privacy policy. We only use it to help us find suitable participants for our research studies. We — or an outside agency working on our behalf, in accordance with our privacy policy — will only contact you if we want to invite you to participate in a study or need to clarify the information you provided.
Q.....Why did the sign-up link send me to a Qualtrics website?
Qualtrics is a site we use to host our sign-up questionnaire and surveys.