Microsoft User Research - Participant Recruiting

See us at the Bellevue Strawberry Festival this Weekend

Hey!

If you're looking for a fun, free, family activity this weekend head on down to Crossroads Park in Bellevue for the annual Bellevue Strawberry Festival. Microsoft User Research is one of the sponsors and we'll have a tent set up to sign people up in person.

This will be our third year at this event and I can tell you from personal experience that the organizers do a great job of putting together great entertainment, food, and exhibits.

Stop by and say hello.

Thanks - Andrew

www.strawberryfestival.org

Seattle Area Gold Certified Partners Needed for User Research Study

If your company is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and you are the designated Microsoft contact for your company our Researchers would like you to participate in a two-hour User Research study at our Redmond campus. This research study is directly related to the Partner Program and will provide us with valuable feedback to improve the partner experience for you and other partner companies.

Scheduling is flexible to fit your schedule, the study will run within the first few weeks of June.

Additional criteria:

Must be able to come to the Microsoft Redmond campus for the session

US Citizen or permanent resident with a social security number

Must use the CSAT tool for Partners

Interested? Please contact me directly and I will ensure that you are considered for participation.

At SakuraCon 2009 in Seattle This Weekend

If the words animé, manga, or cosplay mean any thing to you then you're probably aware of SakuraCon 2009. 10,000 plus people will descend on the Washington State Convention and Trade Center this weekend for video games, expo, tournaments, and much much more. So what are we doing there? We're sponsoring the Xbox 360 Gaming Lounge where people can pop in and play the latest titles, participate in a tournament, and sign up to participate in ongoing User Research and Playtest studies at Microsoft.

If you're headed down make sure to stop by room 4C-2 and say hello.

Thanks - Andrew

http://www.sakuracon.org

Seattle Area - Small Business Owners with at Least 10 Employees for User Research Study

Are you a small business owner in the greater Seattle area with at least 10 employees? If so, Microsoft would like to invite you to participate in a Usability study for a new product during the week of March 2nd. Participants will spend approximately 90 minutes with a User Researcher giving feedback that will help our development team tailor this product to the target audience.

All participants will receive a retail Microsoft software or hardware product of their choice for participating. Current choices include Office 2007 Small Business, Visio Professional, Windows Vista and many more.

Interested? Send me an email with a subject of 'Small Business' and I'll make sure you get considered.

Criteria:

18-39 years old

Own or co-own a small business with at least 10 employees

US Citizen or permanent resident with social security number

Thanks - Andrew

Microsoft User Research Facebook Page

Hey - we launched a new Facebook page to supplement all of our other recruiting activity for Microsoft User Research. I won't stop posting opportunities here but you can probably expect to see a lot more on the Facebook site moving forward.

If you'd like to become a fan, check us out here:

We appreciate your support.

Thanks - Andrew

Puget Sound - Do You Own One or More Domain Names?

MIcrosoft User Research is conducting a 2-hour study with people in the Puget Sound area of Washington state who have one or more domain names registered with a Domain Registration Service such as GoDaddy.

Participants for this study should meet the following requirements:

 * Live in Puget Sound and be able to come to the main Microsoft campus for a 2-hour research session

* Be a US citizen or permanent resident with a social security number

* Own one or more domain names

* Not fluent in HTML or any other scripting or computer languages

All participants for this study will receive a retail Microsoft software or hardware title of their choice from a list of current products. Choices include Office 2007, Expression, Xbox games, Zune accessories and much more.

If you meet the criteria above and would like to participate. Please send me an email with a subject of 'Domain Study' and I will see to it that you are considered.

Thanks - Andrew   andnic@microsoft.com 

Silicon Valley - U-Verse Users Invited to Take Part in Microsoft User Research Study

Every year Microsoft meets with thousands of real people just like you to determine the future direction of our products. We are currently working on a project in Silicon Valley that involves customers of the AT&T U-Verse product. If you are a current U-Verse subscriber in Silicon Valley and would be interested in talking with one of our Researchers about your experience we would love to hear from you. This particular study is expected to take 2 hours or less of your time and all participating households will receive an American Express gift card.

Criteria:

* Households must have an active subscription to AT&T U-Verse (this will be verified before scheduling) going to more than 1 room of the house and must have a DVR

* Participant must be a US Citizen or permanent resident with a Social Security number

* Households must be in the San Francisco - San Jose corridor of the Bay Area

This study will be conducted in the homes of the participants.We will do our best to schedule the session at your convenience.

Interested in participating? Know someone who might be? Send me an email with a subject of 'U-Verse Study' and I will quickly put you in touch with a Scheduler for consideration.

Thanks - Andrew

Seattle Area - Social, Party, Trivia, Music Game Players

Do you enjoy games like Jeopardy, Rock Band, Lips, Singstar, or Karaoke Revolution? Microsoft Game Studios is inviting a select group of people to their state of the art facility in Redmond for a two hour User Research study. You'll get to experience a new product or game and give feedback to our Research team. We will use the feedback from this and other studies to make improvements to the final product.

Here are some additional criteria for participation:

* Must be able to attend a single two-hour appointment at Microsoft Game Studios in Redmond, WA on Jan. 28th or 29th, 2009. Travel reimbursement is not provided.

* Must be at least 18 years of age

* Must be a US citizen or permanent resident with a social security number

* Can not have participated in a Microsoft User Research or Playtest study in the last 2 months

Each participant who completes this study will receive a retail hardware or software title from an extensive list of current Microsoft products. Choices include Office 2007, Windows Vista, Microsoft Project, Xbox 360 games and much more.

If you are interested in participating and meet the criteria listed above, please send me an email and I will put you in contact with a Scheduler as soon as possible.

Thanks - Andrew

Seattle Area - Groove Users For User Research Study

If you live in the Puget Sound area of Washington State and use Microsoft Groove on a regular basis we would love to talk to you. Qualified participants will be invited to the Microsoft campus for a one-on-one Usability study with one of our User Researchers. The session will take approximately two hours of your time and will be scheduled to work around your calendar as much as possible.

All participants will receive a retail Microsoft product from a list of popular titles including Windows Vista, Office 2007, Visual Studio and many more. If you would like to participate and meet the criteria listed below please send me an email and I will help with the details.

Criteria for participation:

US citizen or permanent resident with a social security number

Use Microsoft Groove regularly

18 years of age or older

Thanks - Andrew   [andnic'at'microsoft.com]

Use Microsoft Excel on a Mac at Work? - Redmond User Research Study Opportunity

We have many opportunities throughout the year for users of Microsoft Office. Studies for Office users on the Mac platform are fewer and farther between but we've got just such an opportunity right now. If you live in the greater Puget Sound area and use Excel on a Mac, at work we would love to talk to you. We'll invite you to the Microsoft campus for a 2-hour research session. You'll interact with some new technology, give feedback to our research team and at the end we'll give you your choice of a retail Microsoft software or hardware product, including Mac:Office 2008, Xbox 360 games and much more.

Criteria for participation:

* Use Excel on a Mac at work

* US Citizen or permanent resident with social security number

* 18 years of age or older

* Live in the greater Puget Sound area of Washington state

If you meet the criteria and are interested, please send me an email with a subject of 'Excel Mac' and I'll make sure you get considered for this study.

Thanks - Andrew

US and Canada - Non-IT SharePoint and Groove Users Needed for a Microsoft User Research Study

That's right - this one we even get to open it up to Canada!

For this study we need a mixture of US and Canadian participants. Where you live is not important since the tasks and feedback you provide will be done in your own home or work facility with your computer and Internet connection. The criteria are pretty specific and we will ask additional screening questions of those people who express an interest in participating. This study should take 2 hours or less of your time and all participants will receive a retail Microsoft hardware or software product from a list of our most popular titles including Office 2007, Expression Web, Zune Dock Pack, Xbox 360 games and much more.

Criteria for participation:

* Do not work in the IT field or have an IT-related job role including software developers and programmers

* Work for a company with at least 100 employees

* Company must have a web-based internal portal like SharePoint, Plumtree, Documentum, etc. to share/post documents

* Create/author documents/files and share them with other members of your company using a web-based portal at least twice per week

* Use tags or keywords to personal documents or tagged photos/files for posting to the Internet

* Participants should use social networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, etc.

* Use Office 2007

We cannot guarantee that everyone who sends an email will be screened for this study or that everyone who is screened for the study will be scheduled.

For other User Research opportunities, please fill out our online signup form at www.microsoft.com/UserResearch.

Thanks - Andrew

I realize that's quite a laundry list of qualifications but we know there should be a number of people that fit the bill. If you fit the criteria listed above and are interested in participating or if you know someone who might be, please send me an email with a subject of 'SharePoint/Groove' and I'll put you in touch with a Scheduler. We cannot guarantee that everyone who expresses an interest in this study will be screened and we cannot guarantee that everyone who is screened will be selected to participate.

Thanks - Andrew

Use Microsoft Publisher? Live anywhere in the US? Want to participate in a Microsoft User Research study?

Good afternoon!

Once again I get to offer my favorite kind of User Research opportunity - one that doesn't require you to live near Redmond Washington. That's right, this study can be done from where you are, provided you meet the criteria listed below and are selected to participate. This study should take 2 hours or less of your time, and all participants will receive their choice of a hardware or software title from a list of current retail products including Office 2007, Xbox 360 games, Microsoft Money Plus, and much more.

Criteria:

* US Citizen or permanent resident with Social Security number

* 18 years of age or older

* Work for a business with 3-100 employees

* Use Microsoft Publisher to create marketing materials such as brochures, flyers, newsletters, posters, business cards, or marketing campaigns

* Not employed as an IT Professional, graphic designer or web designer

* Not employed by Microsoft Corporation

If you're interested in participating, please send me an email with a subject of 'Publisher Study'. Include your daytime phone number so we can contact you for further screening. We cannot guarantee that everyone who sends an email will be screened for this study or that everyone who is screened for the study will be scheduled.

For other User Research opportunities, please fill out our online signup form at www.microsoft.com/UserResearch.

Thanks - Andrew

Let's talk about keyboards and mice - and maybe you can participate in a User Research study next week - REDMOND

People I talk to about what I do are often surprised at the amount of User Research that goes on at Microsoft. Then they're even further surprised to learn that we conduct User Research on keyboards and mice!

This week we're looking for people in the Redmond/Seattle area who have recently purchased a keyboard and/or mouse, are on the market, and then a subset of people who are perfectly happy with what they have and wouldn't consider purchasing a new one. We're interested in people with desktop computers for this study unless you have a laptop that you use with an external keyboard. Another subset we're looking for are people who play World of Warcraft (W.o.W.).

As with all of our studies, participants who are selected for and complete the study will receive their choice of a retail Microsoft hardware (new keyboard anyone?) or software title from a list of our most popular products including Office 2007, Expression products, Xbox 360 games and much more.

Additional criteria:

* At least 18 years of age

* U.S. citizen or permanent resident with a social security number

* Able to travel to Microsoft campus at your expense

 If you are interested in participating please send me an email now and I will put you in touch with a Scheduler for further screening.

Thanks - Andrew

Did you know? - Participants can take Metro to the Overlake Transit Center in Redmond and then take a Microsoft campus shuttle to their destination building for User Reesearch studies.

*Filled* Seattle Area - Looking for Hotmail, MSN, and Live.com E-mail Users for Microsoft User Research Study

UPDATE: This study has been filled - thanks to all of you who emailed to participate, I think we got most of you into this study. If you're still interested in participating in other studies like this we have many different opportunities throughout the year. The best way to be invited to participate is to fill out our online signup form located www.microsoft.com/UserResearch. Once we know more about your interests and experience we'll be better able to match you with a relevant research study. - But don't forget to keep checking this blog - what you see here is just a tiny slice of what's going on every day here but if you see something you like don't hesitate to contact me. - Thanks - Andrew. 

I really like this study since we're looking for a pretty broad audience and we have plenty of spaces to fill. Another good thing about this study in particular is that they are running it on weekends in addition to mid-week so it opens it up to many more people than a typical Monday-Friday study.

Criteria:

- Use Hotmail, MSN, or Live.com as your primary e-mail address

- Internet Explorer is your primary browser

- No Microsoft employees or immediate family members of Microsoft employees (includes contractors)

- US Citizen or permanent resident with a social security number

- Able to travel to the Redmond Microsoft campus at some point in October of 2008 at your own expense

This research study will last approximately one hour. All participants will receive their choice of a retail Microsoft product including Office 2007, Zune Accessories, Xbox games and much more! We have plenty of time slots available to pick from so we should be able to work with the busiest of schedules.

Are you interested? Do you know someone who is? Send me an email with a subject of 'E-mail User Research' and include your daytime phone number. If you have a particular time of day you would like to be called, include that also and we will try our best to honor it.

Thanks - Andrew

Ninja Gaiden 2 Players Needed for Focus Group Next Week - Seattle Area

*Update - this study is actually a focus group. We're gathering a group of experienced Ninja Gaiden 2 players to join an in-person discussion. Should be very interesting and a good opportunity for you to give feedback on the game experience. 

Were you one of the first to play Ninja Gaiden 2? Have you finished the game or gotten close? We could use your feedback for an upcoming research study happening next week. All of the usual rules and perks apply. Send me an email with Ninja Gaiden 2 as the subject if you're local, interested, and over 18 - I'll make sure you get considered.

Thanks - Andrew