The most brilliant interview script or usability test protocol is worthless if you test with the wrong people. Convenience sampling—such as interviewing teammates, friends, or random passersby—introduces catastrophic bias because internal colleagues understand the underlying system architecture and forgive usability flaws that real users cannot navigate.
Representative Sampling: Participants must match the actual behavioral profile, goals, constraints, and mental models of your target audience, not merely their demographic brackets.
Level 1 · Research Planning & Recruitment