Imagine this. You’ve been running remote user interviews all week. You’ve happened upon increasingly interesting insights and are starting to organize key themes in your head. You’re feeling great! You have another interview scheduled in 2 minutes, so you hop on and get ready. Fifteen minutes later, just halfway through the session, you’re red in the face and disconnecting as quickly as you can. What just happened? You may have stumbled upon the a$$hole participant.

Maybe that sounds extreme. Aren’t we, as UX researchers, supposed to be sympathetic to all users’ plights and work to make their experiences better? In short, yes, BUT this type of participant may move beyond helpful feedback and begin to simply take their frustrations out on you. In my most recent run-in, my participant immediately demanded their incentive, wanted me to resolve their issues, implied that I wasn’t listening to them, and simply stopped answering my questions.

There are two keys to success here. The first is prepping your session and participant for success. The second is recognizing if/when the session has turned away from “useful frustration” and knowing when to call it.

Let’s talk about prepping your session for success.

In this world of remote research, I rely heavily on seeing the participant I’m speaking with. I don’t require participants to turn on their video, but I always ask as it makes a world of a difference. Some participants will automatically turn their cameras on when they see me. Others simply don’t realize they have their video on and happily do so when I ask. Seeing a person’s face can cue me in to how they’re feeling, whether they may be thinking about a response, if they’re paying attention, and a host of other important factors. Overall, it helps make the experience more human and results in better research.

Sometimes, you will run into someone who does not want to turn on their camera. Oftentimes, they’ll provide a reason and I’ll let them know that’s ok. Others may not have a camera or may be less technically savvy and we simply move on with the session. The occasional participant will simply say ‘no’, without providing a reason. This isn’t an immediate red flag, but keep in mind that it could impact both you and the participant’s input. On the participant side, they may feel more open to providing negative feedback. That’s (obviously) not a bad thing! However, they may feel more comfortable slipping into directing that anger at you. I’m not saying that will always happen, and I would even venture to say it will rarely happen, but it’s something to keep in mind as you begin your conversation!

Now let’s focus on your introduction. Whether you’re new to the field or have run more moderated sessions than you can count, I’m sure you have a brief introduction script. Generally, the script includes introducing yourself, what you’ll be doing during the session, how long it will take, etc. As you run session after session, parts of the intro can begin to feel trite, sometimes even unnecessary. Most participants happily nod their heads, don’t ask any questions, and the session begins.

Of course, we know our introduction is important, but we can also adjust it to help set up our session for success. Try including a line to let your participants know there may be times where it feels like you are asking them the same question more than once. As researchers, we know that people may respond differently when asked a question in a slightly different way. We also want to make sure we understand what the participant is saying without introducing our own biases and thoughts to it. To a participant, and especially a frustrated participant, it may seem like we’re just not listening. If we explain this in the beginning, that person may be more receptive to our questions. If not, you can always mention it again! Think of it as a little lifesaver if you need it.

Now you’re ready to start your session! As you move through the conversation, keep a temperature check on the participant’s mood. They may get frustrated at points, which is totally fine and sometimes even expected if we know of existing pain points. Let the participant talk through that frustration or walk through the confusing task without interrupting. When it makes sense, jump in with additional questions and clarify those frustrations.

If you’re dealing with an a$$hole participant, this may be where you start to run into issues. Don’t fear! That doesn’t mean you should run and hide just yet. If you feel like the participant starts turning their frustrations back to you or insinuates that you are not paying attention, take a deep breath. I may tell them I know this is a frustrating experience so that they feel heard. Try to get your conversation back on track if you still have questions you would like to cover. Hopefully their frustrations are related to the research you are conducting and could be research gold! Even if the frustrations lie outside of the scope of your research, you can likely share them with a relevant team.

Hopefully, you can get your session back on track and cover what you need. If you can’t do this, this is where the second key to success lies. You have to know when to call a session. If you feel like you can’t gather any more insights from this participant, it’s ok to end the session early. Your mental health will thank you. Politely let them know that you’ve covered all of the topics/questions you had for the session and thank them for participating.

When you end the call, you may feel AWFUL. You might run through the conversation again and again asking yourself where did that go so wrong? Was it your fault? What could you have done differently? If you feel comfortable, reach out to a team member(s) for support and talk through what happened. You’ll be surprised with how much it helps! It’s also likely your team member has encountered an equally frustrating session and may be able to share additional tips.

In the end, take what you can from the session and move on from it. Remember, that participant and that session are not a reflection of you as a researcher. Chin up! You’re doing great :)