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title: "Overview of Inviting Participants"
canonical: "https://help.uxarmy.com/space/UT/91226154/Overview%20of%20Inviting%20Participants"
format: markdown
---
Inviting participants is a crucial step in running effective UX research on UXArmy. Whether you're conducting Advanced Usability Tests, Figma Usability Tests, Surveys, Card Sorting, Tree Testing, or using DeepDive for moderated research, the insights you need rely on having the right participants.
You can invite participants in two ways:
- **Self-Sourced Participants**: If you have a pool of participants, simply share the participant link
- **UXArmy’s User Panel**: If you need high-quality participants that meet specific criteria, you can purchase panel credits to access UXArmy’s extensive participant pool. This feature is an add-on and only available for paid plan users. [Learn more about Panel Credits](https://help.uxarmy.com/space/general/196706362/Panel+Credits)
However, for moderated research through DeepDive, you have the added flexibility of hosting 1:1, dyad, triad sessions, or focus groups with up to 10 participants and bringing in up to 25 observers.
Each response received will deduct Platform Credits based on the specific consumption rates, drawing from your overall or allocated credit balance. [Learn more about Platform Credits](https://help.uxarmy.com/space/general/196771866/Platform+Credits)
This guide will walk you through how to invite participants, understand credit consumption, and manage your research projects effectively.
## **Inviting Participants for Usability Tests, Surveys & Information Architecture Tests**
Inviting participants is straightforward with UXArmy. Whether you’re using self-sourced participants or tapping into UXArmy’s high-quality user panel, this step ensures you gather the insights you need for your research.
### Step 1: Select your Research type
- Navigate to the UXArmy dashboard and choose your desired research method: Advanced Usability Test, Figma Usability Test, Survey, Card Sorting, or Tree Testing
- Each research type offers tailored tools and insights for understanding your users
### Step 2: Set up your study
- Create tasks, questions, or objectives that align with your research goals.
- Define participant criteria such as demographics, location, or experience to target the right audience for both self-sourced and panel participants
- For UXArmy’s User Panel, purchase or top up panel credits to recruit participants that fit your criteria
- Add screener questions to ensure only the most relevant participants take part in your study
### Step 3: Invite Participants
- **Self-Sourced Participants:** Copy the participant link and share it via email or other communication channels
- **UXArmy’s User Panel:** Once set up, let UXArmy handle recruitment and wait for responses to start coming in
> ⚠️ Both platform and panel credits are consumed based on the responses you collect, ensuring you only pay for actionable insights
## **Inviting Participants for Moderated Sessions**
For moderated sessions (like user interviews and focus groups), you can invite participants directly through a unique participant link.
- **Instant Session Start**: You can start the session immediately using the link, allowing you to begin without delay
- **Scheduling via Email**: Alternatively, you can send the link in an email to schedule the session at a time that works for the participant. This makes it easier to plan ahead and manage multiple sessions
The participant link can be sent to your participants to join the session. The link works seamlessly for 1:1, dyad, triad sessions, or focus groups (up to 10 participants). But if you want to invite Observers and Interpreters to discreetly join the session, you will have to send a separate unique link that’s for Observers.
> ✅ Soon, moderators will be able to share their available time slots, allowing participants to book 1:1 sessions directly from the platform
## **How to Set Participant Criteria & Screener Questions**
To ensure you're inviting the right participants, UXArmy allows you to set demographic criteria and custom screener questions for any test or survey. Here's how you can do that:
- **Demographic Criteria**: Filter participants based on key demographics like age, location, gender, etc. This ensures you're targeting the right user group for your study
- **Screener Questions**: Use screener questions to filter participants further, ensuring that the respondents meet the specific criteria you need for the research. For example, you can ask if the participant is familiar with a particular product, service, or industry to ensure they have the required experience or background
You can set these filters when configuring your Advanced Usability Tests, Figma Usability Tests, Surveys, Card Sorting, or Tree Testing. When you purchase panel credits, you’ll be able to specify these criteria and filter out non-relevant participants.
> ℹ️ If you have Demographics switched off, their Age will be shown as '-', Nationality as 'Other' and Gender as 'Unknown'.
## **How Are Credits Consumed?**
Both platform credits and panel credits are consumed based on the research type and the responses you receive. Here’s a breakdown (credits consumed per response):
| ### **Type of Research** | ### **Platform Credits** | ### **Panel Credits** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Advanced Usability Test with Recording | 5 | 29 |
| Figma Usability Tests without Recording | 1 | 8 |
| Moderated Sessions | 10 | Not Available |
| Surveys | 0.01 | 5 |
| Card Sorting | 0.01 | Not Available |
| Tree Testing | 0.01 | Not Available |
> ℹ️ **Important**: Platform credits are consumed regardless of whether you're using self-sourced participants or UXArmy's user panel. Panel credits, on the other hand, are only used when you recruit participants through UXArmy’s user panel (for targeted research).
> ℹ️
> ℹ️ For moderated sessions (like User Interviews and Focus Groups), credits are consumed based on the number of sessions, not the number of responses.