MeasuringU is a world-class user experience (UX) research firm, specialising in the statistical analysis of human behaviour and the science of quantifying user experience. Not only do they lend their user experience expertise to some of the world’s best-known brands (including Paypal, SalesForce and Google), they also produce regular and in-depth ‘UX benchmarks’ for a whole spectrum of industries. These benchmarks provide businesses with vital strategic information, without them running their own complex research projects. 

"On previous platforms we threw away 10% of survey responses due to low effort responses or inconsistent answering. On Prolific, we cut that by half."

The production of a UX benchmark involves research study design, complex analyses, interpretation, writing and editing. But the bedrock of the process is a high-quality dataset: user experiences from hundreds of individuals in a specific target group.

MeasuringU compile this dataset primarily using quantitative surveys, but they also conduct video interviews and studies over multiple time-points. Together, these data sources give them deep insight into their respondents’ user experiences. 

Before Prolific, MeasuringU struggled to find a participant recruitment solution that met their complex needs. They needed a platform that allowed back and forth communication with participants, facilitating interview scheduling and explanation of unusual study designs. They needed the ability to re-invite participants for followup surveys, and critically, they needed the ability to target specific demographics for their research. After all, you can’t get a handle on the UX of dating apps if most of your sample has never used one!

MeasuringU were drawn to Prolific because the platform offered demographic filtering functionality, meaning they could target their surveys at precisely their audience of interest. They also loved Prolific’s self-service interface. It meant they could get research projects up and running quickly, without the need for a back-and-forth email conversation, or time-consuming quotes.

But Prolific had two features that really sealed the deal for MeasuringU. 

Firstly, they “loved being able to communicate with participants” and made extensive use of Prolific’s built-in messaging system. The ability to have a dialogue with their research participants meant they could maximise engagement, particularly in studies with unusual designs such as those involving interviews or repeated measurement over time. 

Secondly, MeasuringU were struck by the large improvement they saw in data quality when moving to Prolific. On previous platforms they threw away 10% of survey responses due to low effort or inconsistent answering. On Prolific, they cut that by half.

In just 8 months on Prolific, MeasuringU have conducted 365 studies and gathered data from over 11,000 unique individuals.

They've published three UX benchmarks using data collected from Prolific’s participants (check out the summaries here: The UX of Airline Websites, The UX of Brokerage Websites, and The UX of Dating Websites and Apps). 

But more impressively, they have run hundreds of studies for their clients, surveying the user experiences of thousands of people, and deriving UX insights that create invaluable business impact.  

"The prescreening processes inherent to Prolific ensure we're reaching the right population for each of our studies."