Screener Design

Use this when you need to recruit the right participants for user research -- interviews, usability tests, diary studies, or concept tests. Produces a screening survey with qualifying questions, disqualification criteria, and recruitment channel recommendations. Recruiting the wrong people is the fastest way to waste a research budget.

Related skills: Feeds into /interview-plan and /usability-test-plan. Use /persona-draft to define the target user before writing the screener. Part of the discovery-sprint and evaluative-sprint recipes.

Process

Step 1: Gather inputs

Ask the user to provide:

1. Study type -- interviews, usability test, diary study, survey, concept test
2. Target user -- who do you need? (Role, behavior, experience level, context. Link to persona if one exists.)
3. Number of participants needed -- and any quotas (e.g., "3 power users, 3 new users")
4. Disqualification criteria -- who should NOT participate? (Competitors, employees, people who recently participated in research)
5. Incentive -- what are you offering? (Gift card amount, product credit, early access)
6. Recruitment channels -- where will you find these people? (Customer list, panel service, social media, in-product intercept)
7. Timeline -- when do you need participants confirmed by?

Step 2: Design the screener

## Participant Screener -- (Study name, date)

### Target profile
- **Who we want:** (1-2 sentence description of the ideal participant)
- **Sample size:** (Number needed, with any segment quotas)
- **Disqualify:** (Who should not participate)

### Screening questions

**Q1: (Demographic/role qualifier)**
(Multiple choice or short answer)
- (Option A) → Qualifies
- (Option B) → Qualifies
- (Option C) → Disqualify
- (Option D) → Disqualify

**Q2: (Behavior qualifier -- what they actually do)**
(e.g., "How often do you [relevant activity] in a typical week?")
- Never → Disqualify
- 1-2 times → (Qualifies for segment A)
- 3+ times → (Qualifies for segment B)

**Q3: (Experience qualifier)**
(e.g., "How long have you been using [product/tool category]?")
- Less than 1 month → (Qualifies for "new user" segment)
- 1-6 months → (Qualifies for "growing" segment)
- 6+ months → (Qualifies for "experienced" segment)

**Q4: (Context qualifier -- optional)**
(e.g., "What is your team size?" or "What industry do you work in?")

**Q5: (Disqualification check)**
"Do you or does anyone in your household work in [industry/competitor list]?"
- Yes → Disqualify
- No → Continue

**Q6: (Availability)**
"Are you available for a [duration] session between [date range]?"
- Yes → Continue
- No → Waitlist

**Q7: (Consent)**
"This session will be [recorded/observed]. Do you consent to [recording details]?"
- Yes → Continue
- No → Disqualify

Step 3: Write the qualification matrix

### Qualification matrix

| Question | Qualifies | Disqualifies | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1: Role | (Accepted answers) | (Rejected answers) | |
| Q2: Behavior | (Accepted answers) | (Rejected answers) | |
| Q3: Experience | (Accepted answers) | (Rejected answers) | Segment by answer |
| Q4: Context | (Accepted answers) | (Rejected answers) | Optional filter |
| Q5: Conflicts | No conflicts | Any conflict | Hard disqualify |

**Must-qualify:** Q1, Q2, Q5 (all must pass)
**Segment-by:** Q3 (use to fill quotas)
**Nice-to-have:** Q4 (use for tiebreaking if over-recruited)

Step 4: Recruitment plan

### Recruitment plan

| Channel | Expected yield | Timeline | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer email list | (e.g., 10-15% response rate) | 3-5 days | Free | Existing users |
| Panel service (UserTesting, Respondent, etc.) | (e.g., 1-2 days for common profiles) | 1-3 days | $50-150/participant | Specific demographics |
| In-product intercept | (e.g., high volume, low effort per recruit) | Ongoing | Free | Current active users |
| Social media / community | (e.g., variable, harder to screen) | 3-7 days | Free-low | Niche audiences |
| Internal dogfooding | (e.g., immediate availability) | Same day | Free | Quick hallway tests only |

**Recommended approach:** (Primary channel + backup if primary underperforms)
**Over-recruit by:** (Typically 20-30% -- e.g., recruit 7 for 5 sessions to account for no-shows)

Step 5: Outreach message

### Recruitment message

Subject: (e.g., "Help us improve [product] -- [incentive] for [duration] of your time")

Hi [Name],

We're looking for people who [brief description of target user] to participate in a [duration] [study type]. Your feedback will directly shape how we [what the research informs].

What's involved:
- [Duration] [remote/in-person] session
- [Brief description of what they'll do]
- [Incentive] as a thank-you

Interested? [Link to screener survey] or reply to this email.

(Researcher name)

Step 6: Review and validate

Ask the user:

• Do the screening questions actually distinguish your target users from everyone else?
• Is the screener short enough? (Anything over 8 questions loses respondents. 5-6 is ideal.)
• Are the disqualification criteria too strict? (Over-screening is as bad as under-screening.)
• Will the recruitment channels reach the right people in time?

Screener design rules

• Screen for behavior, not demographics. "Uses project management software 3+ times per week" is better than "Age 25-40 in tech industry."
• Hide the qualifying answers. Don't make it obvious which answer gets you in. Randomize option order. Include plausible wrong answers.
• One question per concept. Don't ask "How often do you use X and how satisfied are you?" -- split it.
• Keep it under 3 minutes. Long screeners reduce response rates and attract people who have too much free time (not your target user).
• Always include a disqualification check for competitors, employees, and recent research participants (within 6 months).
• Over-recruit. Plan for 20-30% no-show rate. If you need 5, recruit 7.

Output location

Present the screener as formatted text in the conversation. The user copies it into their survey tool (Google Forms, Typeform, panel platform) and adapts formatting as needed.