The Nest Research & Razor Research Case Study

The challenge

At both companies they have always paid participant incentives in cash which raises a number of issues, particularly with online methodologies and pop-up communities. Having to collect participant bank details was laborious and fraught with data privacy issues. What’s more, her bookkeeper would either have to go to the bank to collect thousands of pounds at a time, putting her and researchers at risk. Or spend hours uploading participant bank details to their bank, paying participants, and then deleting them off the system.

“When you’re doing a depth interview with people, you can’t at the end ask someone whether they would mind you taking their sort code and account details and then writing them on a post-it note. That’s just crazy. And not exactly GDPR compliant!”

The solution

Once Chloe was shown the Ayda platform she signed up immediately and has been using it for almost a year. The platform allows Chloe to streamline the payment of all participant incentives.

Ayda’s incentive solution was key for Chloe, even before COVID-19. It takes a few short minutes for research participants to sign up to the platform, and they can input their bank details in a safe and secure environment. Once the research project is done, Chloe can flick the switch and pay her participants immediately. No more hard cash and no need to collect and store bank details. Providing peace of mind for both parties.

“We were incredibly quickly converted to Ayda (previously Particity) even before COVID. Now we’re not physically meeting participants it feels like an entirely appropriate way to manage our finances. We haven’t handed over cash in person since we started using the platform”

Ayda's impact

Chloe has seen a number of benefits in using the Ayda platform. One of the most significant was the time saving for her bookkeeper, who is now saving days a month that would have been spent processing electronic payments.

“Without having to process electronic payments, she’s has saved days a month, and she only works two days a week! If we didn’t have Ayda I don’t even know if she would want to do her role with the amount of online research we’re doing.”

But it also provides her peace of mind knowing that any privacy challenges are taken care of. And it has professionalised an old-fashioned process, providing a better experience for the research participant – through an easy to use, secure platform, and swift payment.

“We care hugely that participants have a good experience. I want them to have enjoyed it, to want to do another group – it means we get better participation. Swift and prompt payment for your time adds to that. With Ayda the whole process feels slick. I’ve just met you and now I’m authorizing your payment. Thank you very much. I think that’s hugely important”