Not being selected for a study can be a pretty big letdown. Everyone wants to get paid to play and talk about video games — even us! So you might be asking, “How do I get selected more often?”
We’ve already discussed why many people get denied, and the truth is that (99.9% of the time) it’s nothing anyone is doing wrong. Our recruiting parameters (and sometimes our timelines) are super tight, and the window of opportunity can often start off small and close very quickly.
In order to get selected more often within those highly unpredictable boundaries, here are a few tips:
The best way to be chosen more often is to be honest every time you fill out a screener. We know it may be tempting to try and answer screener questions with what think we are looking for, but our recruiting parameters are often incredibly unique — just like you! Sometimes, having not played a game or genre is more important than having played it. And while your personal gameplay style, habits and preferences might not be a fit for every study, every study they do fit will be that much more effective for us and fun for you. Conversely, if you can’t provide the experience or expertise your screener promised, we will most likely not invite you back in the future. We want to be respectful of everyone’s time, so we often check and double check participants’ screeners to ensure everything is a perfect fit. Dishonesty can really throw a wrench in everyone’s experience, including ours, our clients’, and other participants’.
See a screener, take a screener. When our studies happen on tight timelines, so does our recruiting. And in that time, we have to move so quickly, slots fill up before some applicants make it all the way through the review process. So sometimes, a screener might be worth clicking as soon as it appears! We know filling out screeners takes time. And sometimes, you’re being asked the same questions over and over again, which can feel annoying and inconsequential. That’s why we can never overstate how much we appreciate everyone’s participation in our screeners and studies. We are working hard to be even more respectful of your time by working to update our tool’s screener technology. Soon, each screener will only ask you the most pertinent questions in order to collect unique (rather than repetitive) information.
Stay responsive, stay respectful, stay reputable. (Here comes that .1% from paragraph one.) While it doesn’t happen often, sometimes we have to draw boundaries when it comes to our participants, prospects, and followers. If you are selected to attend a session, confirm and RSVP with our team, only to not show up, it might be a while before we invite you back. Our participation slots are highly contested, and while special circumstances understandably happen, we tend not to invite back no-shows. Our sessions intentionally bring all kinds of different people together, and we always expect the utmost respect to be shown to everyone, regardless of any differences. If we observe discriminatory, inflammatory, or insensitive behavior against others before, during, or after a session, we may decline a user for the protection of our participants and the integrity of our research. Our social media platforms are a place for everyone from the curious to the Well Played veteran to ask questions, stay up-to-date on events, enjoy our content, and participate in our community. While we always have our fair share of skeptics, we do our best to answer questions honestly and clearly. We work to keep all on-topic conversations going in our social threads, but we will delete comments that are not conducive to maintaining a safe, curious, and diverse community of gamers. In extreme cases, behavior on social media could directly result in exclusion of a user from future participation.
But more great news — there are many studies and screeners to come, and we look forward to the opportunity to host you in one of our sessions. Until then, here’s the short list to help prepare you for your next opportunity.
Be honest.
Complete screeners.
Be responsive, respectful, and reputable, online and in person.
In the meantime, we will:
Remain respectful of your time
Always appreciate your effort.
Hopefully see you in the lab or online soon!
Disclaimer: Our paid research studies are not intended to serve as a consistent source of income for participants. We conduct market research for industry-leading clients, which requires us to be very specific in our recruiting criteria that often excludes players for a variety of reasons. We always do our best to fit as many fitting recruits as possible into studies, and are always working hard to make the Well Played experience — from screener to session — more enjoyable for everyone.