Académique Documents
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1
As a policy, Kern DOES NOT recruit:
• Employees, close friends, and family members of employees
• Interaction designers and market researchers
• People who have participated in a related study in the past 6 months
• People who work with competitors or related fields.
• Students (unless the study demands it!)
2
Kern helps clients during study design
To prevent wrong recruitment, Kern helps clients understand users and usage patterns
in India. Kern helps clients contrast Indian users’ usage patterns with the west.
3
Kern offers world-class infrastructure:
• Kern’s lab can simulate home, office, retail, or hospital environment
• Air-conditioned testing and observation rooms
• Observation room with very large one way mirror
• Fully digital lab – Morae for recording, tagging, note taking, and analysis
• Specially designed to test portable mobile devices and software interfaces
• 32” & 42’’ LCD monitors for observing picture-in-picture (participant & its screen)
• Professional audio setup
• 8 Mbps internet connectivity with free wireless Internet connection for observers
• Uninterrupted power back-up using UPS and self-start generator
• On demand video streaming for remote observers
• Bottled water, choice of beverages, full lunch, and snacks for observers
• Separate facility for simultaneous translation
4
India has a recognized and frequent problem of power outages. However,
Hyderabad/Secunderabad is far better than Bangalore and Mumbai.
• Eight-hour Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) unit for running the entire office
• One self-start generator as the second-level backup if UPS starts draining out
• Kern ensures that all tests happen uninterrupted and there is no data loss
6 • Kern has a dedicated team member to take care of participants outside the
study.
• Snacks and beverages are provided to participants on demand. This is usually
for participants who come early in the morning or late evening from work.
• Many BoP participants are not comfortable with a moderator of a different
gender. Kern has a choice of experienced male & female moderators for such
participants.
• Kern moderators dress up or dress down to make participants feel at ease
with moderators. India is a high power distance country and dressing is an
important part of the social hierarchy.
Does vendor ensure participants turn up?
• Kern provides excellent motivation as well as good compensation for
7 participants.
• Kern provides participants with time slots of their choice.
• Kern runs studies early morning and late evening for office goers.
• Kern runs studies during weekends for participants who cannot attend during
weekdays. Many executives cannot participate during weekdays.
• Participants are sent confirmatory emails, reminder text messages, and phone
calls to ensure they turn up.
• Kern provides pick-up & drop services to ensure participants turn up and
arrive on time. This also ensures very low drop-outs.
• Many participants are recruited through trusted networkers. This forms a
social obligation for participants.
• Kern recruits ample back-ups and floaters for no-shows.
Does the team has relevant experience?
Kern is a boutique usability company and Kern's team is highly specialized and
8
experienced in many domains.
9 and memorable.
• Provides guidance and help with Indian visa
• Help with sightseeing in and around Hyderabad and accompany them for shopping
• Familiarize them with India, its vibrant people, and diverse culture
• Help understand local food, customs, and langauge
• Kern provides local SIM cards for clients on a longitudinal or large study
• Access to Kern’s hi-speed wireless Internet free of cost before, during, and after the
study
http://kernclients.blogspot.com/
Have you asked these 9 questions to your
India vendor?