Consent and Participant Incentives for US User Research

This guide is not legal or tax advice

The rules described here come from the sources cited below. How they apply to your organization depends on facts we cannot see, such as how your research is funded and how you classify payments. Check your specific situation with a qualified attorney and tax adviser.

What informed consent needs to cover

Consent is the participant's agreement to take part, given with enough understanding to make it meaningful. The Nielsen Norman Group's article on obtaining consent for user research recommends telling participants "just enough detail" about the study for them to make an informed decision without biasing their behavior ¹. In practice, a consent form for a usability study should explain:

• Who is running the study and how to contact them.
• What participants will do, such as trying tasks on a website while thinking aloud, and how long it will take.
• What will be recorded, such as screen, voice or face, and who will see the recordings.
• How data will be stored, for how long and when it will be deleted.
• That taking part is voluntary, and that participants can stop at any time without losing their incentive.
• The incentive, what it is and when it will be paid.

The same article recommends making recording consent modular, so that participants can agree to take part without agreeing to every possible use of the recording ¹. A participant might accept that the research team reviews their session but decline to have clips shown to a wider audience.

Writing a consent form people actually read

Consent forms fail when they are long, legalistic and signed without reading. Keep the form short and plain. Use headings, short sentences and separate checkboxes for each optional permission, such as sharing clips internally. Read the key points aloud at the start of the session and ask whether the participant has questions.

If you need a starting point, the Digital.gov Usability Starter Kit includes a recording consent form template, dated November 2013, alongside a test script ². Update its wording to match your study and your data practices.

The example wording above is illustrative. Adapt every line to what your study actually does.

When federal human subjects rules apply

Some research in the United States is governed by federal regulations on the protection of human subjects, codified at 45 CFR part 46. Under section 46.101(a), the policy covers research that a federal department or agency conducts or supports, or that is otherwise subject to regulation by one ³. Whether that test is met depends on your circumstances, such as whether a federal agency funds or supports the work, and the regulation includes further provisions and exemptions.

Universities and organizations that receive federal research funding often have an Institutional Review Board, or IRB, that reviews studies involving people. The Nielsen Norman Group notes that consent matters with or without formal oversight ¹. Even when no regulation requires it, clear consent is basic research ethics and protects your organization's reputation. If you are unsure whether federal rules apply to your project, ask counsel before recruiting.

Paying participants

Incentives compensate people for their time and make recruiting possible. They can be cash, gift cards or other forms of payment. The amount depends on the session length and the audience: specialists such as physicians or senior engineers expect more than general consumers.

Pay the full incentive whether or not the participant completes every task, and whether or not they stop early. Tying payment to completion pressures people to continue when they would rather stop, which conflicts with the voluntary nature of consent.

The IRS reporting threshold

Payments to participants may need to be reported to the IRS on an information return. The IRS instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC state: "For tax years beginning after 2025, the minimum threshold amount for reporting certain payments" increased to $2,000 "and may be adjusted for inflation beginning in calendar year 2027" ⁴. Carnegie Mellon University's finance guidance, a secondary source, summarizes the change as a $600 threshold for 2025 and a $2,000 threshold for 2026, with inflation indexing from 2027 ⁵.

The same IRS instructions say to "enter in box 3 prizes and awards that are not for services performed", and list among box 3 items "A payment or series of payments made to individuals for participating in a medical research study or studies" ⁴. The instructions do not mention usability studies by name. How to classify a usability incentive is a question for your tax adviser.

Practical steps for incentive tracking

1. Keep a record of every incentive paid, with the participant, date, amount and form of payment.
2. Total payments per participant per calendar year, across all studies your organization runs. A frequent participant can cross the threshold even if no single payment does.
3. Decide in advance, with your tax adviser, what information you need to collect from participants who may cross the threshold, and tell them before the session.
4. Store participant payment records separately from research data, with access limited to the people who process payments.
5. Recheck the threshold each year, since the IRS says it may be adjusted for inflation from 2027.

If a recruiting agency pays participants on your behalf, ask how they handle reporting. Our pricing page explains how we list incentives in our quotes.

Recordings and personal data

Recordings are personal data. Limit who can access them, store them securely, and delete them on the schedule promised in the consent form. Avoid asking participants to enter their own personal information during tasks; provide test details instead. When sharing clips, prefer short excerpts that show the problem without unnecessary identifying details. Our guide to session replay and privacy covers recording on live websites, which raises different questions.