| Applies to | Usability tests and media surveys |
You can bring your own external participants to usability tests and media surveys. Below, you'll find a list of frequently asked questions and their answers.
How do I screen external participants to a BYO study?
There will be no screener questions or targeting attributes in BYO studies, so researchers should only invite pre-screened participants. You can access the invite link for your mission on the Overview tab.
How do I invite my participants to my BYO study?
You have two options to invite your own participants to a study:
- Invite via share link.
- Invite from Private Panels.
You’ll select your recruitment method when setting up your study. If you choose to invite using a share link, the link will become available as soon as you launch your mission. If you choose to invite participants from Private Panels, you’ll do so directly in the builder. For more information, see Private Panels.
Which devices can participants use to complete a BYO study?
Usability tests and media surveys can be completed via a desktop/laptop computer or via mobile device. You will set this specification at the mission level. For example, if you set the device type to desktop, all participants will be required to complete the mission on a desktop or laptop computer.
Can I invite participants outside the United States?
Yes! As you’ll be pre-screening your participants and sharing the URL to your BYO study directly with them, you can invite participants from all over the world and gain perspectives from multiple global markets.
Is there a participant limit?
No! You can invite as many participants as your budget and bandwidth allow.
Note: you’ll need to monitor how many participants have completed your mission and manually “deactivate” your mission once you’ve reached your target N-size, so as to not have overages. You can work with your Dscout Research Advising team to help you with best practices.
Can I add additional documentation that I may need my participants to complete before participating (informed consent, Figma consent, etc.)?
Yes, you’ll have the ability to add these documents to your BYO studies just like those that recruit from our Dscout Scout Panel (learn more here).
Does my BYO study need to be submitted for review?
No! You can launch your BYO study whenever you’re ready. You do not have to submit a review request from a member of the Dscout team. However, we’re always happy to review your mission before you launch if you’d like.
How long will participants have to complete their BYO study?
Once they have started, participants will not have any set time limit to finish the BYO study. Participants will be able to start the mission as long as they have access to the shared link (and the researcher has launched and activated the mission from the builder).
Note: Any participants that have started the mission before you deactivate the share link will still be able to complete the mission. Deactivating only prevents new participants from starting the mission, if they haven't already done so.
Can I reopen my BYO study to allow more participants in after I’ve deactivated my mission?
Yes! You can simply toggle your BYO study back to “active” if you’d like to allow more participants the chance to complete your mission. You’ll likely want to re-share your mission URL again to ensure that traffic is coming to your mission. The URL will remain the same regardless of how many times you activate/deactivate it.
How will my participants be paid?
The way your BYO participants will be paid is dependent on the way they were brought into Dscout:
- Private screener - If you screen your participants in Dscout through a Private screener in Dscout's Recruit tool, Dscout will automatically pay your participants.
- Share link - If you bring your own participants to the Dscout platform through a share link to complete a study, you will be responsible for facilitating payments directly to your participants. These participants will not be auto-paid through Dscout, but you will be able to add your incentive in a custom text field as you build your mission. Amount, currency, and type of incentive are up to your discretion.
For more information on bringing your own participants to a study, see Recruitment options in a usability test and Recruitment options in a media survey.