Hello, Colleagues!
I hope this email finds you all well! My name is Dr. Krista Sarraf, and I am a part of Cal Poly’s User Experience (UX) for Social Impact Research team. We are conducting a research study focused on how universities and community organizations can collaborate to learn about and address community needs.
As a part of this study, we have developed a set of focus group questions that offer participants who work in academia the opportunity to share the following:
- Experiences partnering with community members on User Experience
- Opinions on how User Experience can be beneficial to nonprofits
This focus group will be:
- Held on Zoom during October or November 2023
- Approximately 1 hour long
- Conducted with 5-9 other individuals
- Compensated with a $50 digital gift card to Amazon or Target
If you are available and interested in participating in this study, please email me at ksarraf by October 11. As you consider participating in the study, please review the “informed consent” form below, which you will be asked to sign if you agree to participate.
INFORMED CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN A RESEARCH PROJECT:
Focus Group: User Experience for Social Impact: Establishing a University-Nonprofit Collaboration
This form asks for your agreement to participate in a research project on User Experience collaborations between nonprofits and universities. Your participation involves attending a virtual focus group session in which you will be asked to share your workplace experiences with User Experience design and research. It is expected that your participation will take approximately one hour. There are minimal risks anticipated with your participation. You, the organization you work for, and other people engaged in User Experience design and research, may benefit from your participation in this study. If you are interested in participating, please review the following information:
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY AND PROPOSED BENEFITS
- The purpose of the study is to understand nonprofit and academic professionals’ perceptions and applications of User Experience design and research, as well as to identify barriers and opportunities for collaboration between community organizations and academic institutions on User Experience projects.
- Potential benefits associated with the study include increased understanding of User Experience’s application to your organization as well as pathways to collaborate with other professionals on User Experience projects.
YOUR PARTICIPATION
- If you agree to participate, you will be asked to attend a video recorded focus group session hosted on Zoom by researchers at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. During this Zoom session, you will be asked to answer questions about your understanding of and experience with User Experience design and research in your workplace. You will also be asked to answer questions about your prior or future experiences collaborating with people outside your organization on User Experience projects.
- Your participation will take approximately one hour in one Zoom session.
- Your participation will be confidential but not anonymous, as you will be in a video and audio recorded Zoom session with 5-9 other people. You will be asked to keep your camera on, and the session will be recorded.
- If you decide to participate, as an incentive, you will receive a $50 digital gift card to either Amazon or Target. Please let the researcher know your preference. If you choose not to participate, you will not receive this incentive. Your decision to participate or not will have no effect on your relationship with the researchers and/or Cal Poly.
PROTECTIONS AND POTENTIAL RISKS
- Please be aware that you are not required to participate in this research; refusal to participate will not involve any penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled, and you may discontinue your participation at any time by leaving the Zoom room or by choosing not to respond to a question during the Zoom session. You may also email the researchers after the Zoom focus group to request that your responses be removed from the data set. If you withdraw from the study, you will not be eligible to earn the gift card incentive.
- There is a slight risk of loss of privacy and/or breach of confidentiality from other focus group participants, but it is not expected to exceed the privacy risks encountered in everyday life.
- By signing this informed consent, you agree to protect the confidentiality of other focus group members by not sharing their names or other identifying information with anyone beyond the research session.
- Your confidentiality will be protected by the research team, as your name and other identifying information will not be used in reports of this research. Prior to publishing or sharing the data, all data associated with your participation will be stripped of identifiers and coded using a pseudonym. Video recordings will be used for data analysis purposes only; the videos will not be released beyond the research time. This informed consent form, with your signature and name, will be stored in the lead researcher’s password-protected OneDrive.
- The recorded session and transcripts will be stored in the lead researcher’s password-protected OneDrive for 5 years after the date of data collection (and then files will be permanently deleted).
- Identifying data will be removed from the identifiable private information and, after such removal, the information could be used for future research studies or distributed to another researcher for future studies without additional informed consent.
RESOURCES AND CONTACT INFORMATION
- If you should experience any emotional or professional distress, please be aware that you may contact or visit Cal Poly Health & Wellbeing at 805-756-2511, Room 27-136, for assistance.
- This research is being conducted by Krista Sarraf, a professor in the Department of English at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, with the assistance of Lauren Heck, a student in the Department of English at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. If you have questions regarding this study or would like to be informed of the results when the study is completed, please contact the researcher at ksarraf.
- If you have concerns regarding the manner in which the study is conducted, you may contact Dr. Michael Black, Chair of the Cal Poly Institutional Review Board, at (805) 756-2894, mblack, or Ms. Trish Brock, Director of Research Compliance, at (805) 756-1450, pbrock.
AGREEMENT TO PARTICIPATE
If you are 18 or older and agree to voluntarily participate in this research project as described, please indicate your agreement by selecting one option below and signing below. Please keep a copy of this form for your reference, and thank you for your participation in this research.
Check One:
____Yes, I agree to participate and have my interview recorded.
____ Yes, I agree to participate and have my interview recorded, but I would like to review the recording transcript before it is used in the analysis.
____ Yes, I agree to participate but do not allow my interview to be recorded.