Maybe your legal department requires an NDA, or maybe you’ve determined you need a research consent or release form signed by participants before a session. You email out your document, and then...crickets. Your sessions are rapidly approaching, and if you don’t get that document signed beforehand, you have to cancel the session. You’re emailing participants back and forth trying to wrangle signatures. Yikes!
Research teams frequently need documents signed by user research participants before a session. We know this can be a pain point—and we have your back. With the Document Signing add on feature, available for paid subscription plans, simply attach the document requiring a signature to your project and we’ll ensure it gets signed before your research session. Other than uploading a file, there’s no extra effort on your part. That means you can say goodbye to the days of chasing down signatures and cancelling sessions if you don’t get a critical document signed in time.
This feature was influenced by countless requests from researchers struggling to get documents signed before a session. Do any of these ring a bell?
I'm unsure of the best method to send the document to the participant
“What's the appropriate procedure for asking people to fill out an NDA? Should I email them that directly from my own email address? Send it through the messenger?”
Even the simplest research studies involve a myriad of logistics (far less so if you use User Interviews! We make recruitment, screening, scheduling, and distributing incentives super easy). Add in a document signature requirement, and you’re adding multiple extra steps to the mix. You need to send the document to participants, remind them (possibly repeatedly) to sign it, and then make sure you receive the signed document back in time before your session. That’s 2 to 5 (or more) emails or messages per participant, back and forth. Imagine a study of 20 participants, and you may be emailing 100x just to get your necessary document signed. Cumbersome, to say the least.
With Document Signing, all you have to do is attach a document in the project builder and UI will automate signature collection. Participants will be required to sign your document before confirming their time slot, meaning anyone who’s booked for your study has already signed the document. No time-consuming string of emails or messages between you and the participant!
I don't want to create an e-signing account
“We don’t have a document e-signing account. Would the participants be willing to receive the pdf, sign it, scan it and send it back to us digitally?”
We get it— whether because of budget constraints or simply because you don’t want another account to keep up with, you don’t want to pay for an esigning account like DocuSign, HelloSign, etc. With Document Signing, there’s no need to create a separate account! Simply upload a .pdf, .doc, or .docx while building your project on User Interviews, and we’ll send the document to approved participants, get it signed, and email you the signed document for your records.
If the participants don't send the document back signed before the session, I need to cancel their session
“Three participants have not sent back the NDA. I have emailed them twice. If they don’t send back the document, I cannot interview them.”
The last thing you want to worry about right before a session is whether or not the participant you’re about to interview has signed your NDA or release form. For most researchers, if you haven’t received the signed document, you can’t proceed with the interview. This brings up a whole new set of inconveniences—you need to find a replacement participant, potentially within the same day, and have that replacement sign the document before their session.
With User Interviews’ Document Signing add on feature, signatures are collected before a participant can book a time with you—meaning you never have to worry about last-minute cancellations caused by an unsigned NDA, release form, etc.
Save yourself hours of back and forth that you’d normally spend sending and collecting NDA’s and release forms—and give yourself peace of mind knowing that all your participants are ready and cleared for your research session. Add the Document Signing feature to your paid subscription when you launch your next project and check an annoying to-do off your list!
Check out our pricing page and support guide for more details.
