Demographic requirements

Frequently, the study sponsor can provide the demographics of the participants to be recruited, based on who their typical users are. Having no hard requirements is an acceptable response, because while an educative app for toddlers will only be relevant to parents of young children (and their children, of course), an email application, for example, is very broadly used, and it would probably be difficult to narrow it down to specific demographics.

Some common demographic characteristics that might be relevant include the following:

• Age
• Gender
• Marital status
• Number and age of children
• Ethnicity
• Occupation
• Income
• Location
• Education
• Digital literacy

It is not uncommon to be in a situation where the user groups are known, yet quite vague, such as seniors or millenials. The exact definition of what age ranges those designations encompass can be somewhat different for different people. The UX researcher should ensure that these characteristics are discussed, and that all stakeholders are aligned on the ranges (for example, ages from 18 to 35 years), any distinct values or exclusions (for example, only finance-related occupations), and ratios (for example, 30% male and 70% female participants). It's important to make sure that everyone is on the same page, before starting the recruitment.