One of my latest side hustle experiments is as a User Interviews survey respondent.

(I’ve earned $105 so far, in exchange for about an hour and a half.)

What is User Interviews?

User Interviews is a consumer research company that helps match companies with questions to consumers with opinions. (That’s you!)

Often, these companies are launching a new product or testing a new website or app design, and want to get real feedback from prospective users. So far, they’ve helped over 4,500 companies gather that feedback, including household names like:

Adobe
Pinterest
Wayfair
Spotify
Amazon
and more

And since going to market with the wrong product or a confusing website can be a super expensive mistake, those companies are happy to spend some money upfront to help get it right.

Is User Interviews Legit?

Yes, User Interviews is a legitimate facilitator of consumer research projects. Last year, over 87,000 participants got paid and the site adds around 2,500 new studies every month.

Since 2016, the company has paid out over $25 million in incentives. The average study pays over $65.

In total, User Interviews participants have completed over 400,000 sessions across 80,000+ studies.

In late 2022, User Interviews raised an additional $27.5M in venture funding to continue their growth, bringing their total funding to over $43M.

How Does User Interviews Work?

Once you sign up for User Interviews, you’ll be able to see all available projects. For example, here’s what it looks like for me after I log in:

You can see:

how much each study pays
roughly how long it will take
what type of study it is
a brief description of what the researcher is looking for

From there, you can and click on individual studies to learn more (and apply).

You’ll be prompted to complete a brief screener survey for each study you’re interested in. Then, you’ll get a text/email if you’re selected with instructions on next steps.

After the study is complete, you get paid via PayPal, Amazon gift card, Visa gift card, or other digital gift card.

The average participant qualifies for their first study within 24 hours of joining!

Does User Interviews Pay in Cash?

A gift card? WTF? Show me the money!

The biggest beef most people had with User Interviews was the payout options. It used to be that nearly every study only paid via Amazon gift card. (That didn’t really bother me since I knew we’d be spending money at Amazon sooner rather than later.)

However, in response to participant feedback, they expanded their payout options to include PayPal, Visa gift cards, and gift cards for dozens of other stores. But these do vary study to study so just be sure to check you’re happy with the payout method before you apply.

Sign Up Process

Signing up for User Interviews is easy.

From there, you can sign up with one of these options:

An email address, phone number, and password
LinkedIn
Facebook

If you select the email option to create your User Interviews account, you’ll get a text message to verify your phone number.

Next, the system will guide you through a short series of forms about your Professional, Demographic, and Technical details.

Add Your Professional Details

For example, on the Professional page, you’ll fill in your:

Employment status
Job title (some studies are job role-specific)
Work email
Company
Company size
Industry

Add Your Demographic Details

User Interviews will also ask you for some basic demographic information, including your:

First and last name
Date of birth
City
Gender
Ethnicity
Household income
Level of education completed
Marital status
Living situation

Why do they need this information? Companies want to target specific populations for their research, or may need to collect feedback from a diverse audience.

Add Your Technical Details

Finally, you’ll fill in some information about your computer, tablet, and smartphone. Some studies will want to record your reaction when interacting with a new website or online tool, or you’ll have a video call with the interviewer.

For best results, fill in your profile as completely and honestly as possible.

If you signed up with an email address, you’ll be encouraged to connect your LinkedIn and Facebook profiles to qualify for more studies. This helps researchers verify your identity and professional credentials (if applicable).

Who is Eligible to Join User Interviews?

User Interviews is open to participants worldwide, who are at least 18 years old.

Still, as a US-based company, there’s definitely a US-based and English-speaking focus. Per a User Interviews support article:

At the moment, we recruit [participants] in the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and South Africa.

If you’re outside of those countries, you’re still welcome to join, but may not qualify for many studies. Might be time to consider another side hustle idea instead.

Filtering and Selecting Paid Studies on User Interviews

To sort through the paid research study listings on User Interviews, use the handy filters in the interface:

You can filter by interviews that are only online or over the phone. Or in-person studies, if you prefer.

The system also lets you filter by a few “popular professions” — mostly in the Tech field — such as IT, Data, Software, and Product Manager.

By default, the studies are sorted by the latest ones added to the platform. Do a little scrolling to see which ones you might qualify for, and apply to those.

Types of Studies on User Interviews

User Interviews specializes in remote market research. This means that most conversations take place over the phone or via webcam video chat.

(It will say in the description or in the screening questions if you need to have webcam capabilities.)

There seems to be more of a business-to-business focus on the site. By that, I mean I tend to see more studies related to specialized work software, skills, or experience than general consumer studies.

That said, there’s still a healthy variety of projects on User Interviews a non-techy person can qualify for.

The four main types of studies are:

1-on-1 Interviews
Focus Groups
Multi-Day Studies
Unmoderated Tasks

In this section, I’ll give a brief explanation of each.

1. 1-on-1 Interviews

Like the name suggests, this is a one-on-one video call or phone call with the researcher. They’ll ask you questions and you’ll answer, or they’ll give you instructions to follow while you share your screen with them.

(My video editing test below was a 1-on-1 interview, where we talked through my editing process and then tested the company’s new software.)

2. Focus Groups

Online focus groups tend to gather 3-8 people in a Zoom meeting (or other online meeting software) to get feedback about a company, product, or service. A moderator will lead the conversation and you can provide your opinion.

3. Multi-Day Studies

Depending on the niche, multi-day studies can pay really well, but I tend to avoid them because my schedule isn’t always conducive. I’d rather be in-and-out in one sitting, but that’s just me!

Most often, you’ll see these for product tests where the researcher wants to get your feedback on their product over a period of several days or weeks.

4. Unmoderated Tasks

In my experience, “Unmoderated Tasks” are the easiest to complete because you don’t need to coordinate schedules with the researchers.

Examples include:

filling out an online survey form
recording your feedback while interacting with a new website or software

Project Screening

As you browse through the available User Interviews studies, you’ll probably begin to answer a few “screener surveys.”

These shouldn’t take more than a couple minutes, and help the companies build a research sample of their target customers.

For example, you might be asked about the software you use, the size of your company, your current role there, or in the case of my “men’s fashion study” — how I cut my hair.

It all depends on the research project and who they’re trying to reach. Use these questions to get a sense of whether or not you’re the ideal person.

Don’t try and force-qualify yourself for stuff you have no business answering. Just be honest so you don’t waste your time or the researcher’s; there are always more studies coming soon.

If you’re in a time crunch, look for studies with the “Quick Apply” icon. These will use information from your profile to bypass some of the normal screening questions.

My Experience w/ User Interviews So Far

I’ve done 4 projects with User Interviews so far, for a total of $105:

The first was a men’s style study, and it was specifically for bald men. Check and mate!

It was a super short online survey, and took less than the 15 minutes suggested.

The next was an interesting phone call about the FIRE (Financial Independence / Retire Early) movement. Since I love talking about that stuff anyway, it was a fun way to make $30.

After that, I got paid $15 to share my opinion about online investment websites, and $50 to test and give feedback on an online video editing tool.

So that’s $105 (in Amazon credit) for a little over an hour and a half, or the equivalent of around $60 an hour. All from home.

I’ve done a handful of other screener surveys but haven’t been selected for more projects yet.

As you click into the screener surveys, you’ll get a better sense of who they’re looking to connect with. I’ve aborted some after a couple questions, realizing I wasn’t a great fit.

How Much Does User Interviews Pay?

Of the studies available on my homescreen right now, the average pay rate is $115 an hour.

(Some were as high as $200 an hour.)

But generally speaking, $1 a minute for this type of stuff is a pretty great hourly rate. It’s much better than you’d do on other online survey apps like Swagbucks or Survey Junkie.

As you might guess, the more specialized the participant the company is looking for, the more they’ll pay. The more general consumer-facing studies tend to pay a little less.

How to Maximize Your User Interviews Earnings

How can you get selected for more User Interviews studies? Patience and persistence are probably the best answers, but there are a few specific things you can do.

Check your Email

I recommend checking the online interface daily or weekly to see if there are new studies you qualify for, but User Interviews does also send emails out about new survey opportunities. Make sure you route those emails to your inbox.

Keep Your Profile Up-to-Date

Since many studies target employees in specific job roles, keep your profile up-to-date and include as many details as possible.

You can do that from the “Edit Profile” option in the drop down under your name:

For example, my User Interviews contact sent me this recommendation when it comes to job titles:

Include your seniority level and any supporting details for best matching:

GM ➡️ Restaurant General Manager
Teacher ➡️ 9th Grade Science Teacher
Freelancer ➡️ Freelance Graphic Designer
Consultant ➡️ Business Operations Consultant
Physician ➡️ Oncology Resident Physician
Accounting ➡️ Certified Public Accountant

For the sake of reference, I changed mine from the somewhat cheeky “Chief Side Hustler” to the hopefully more search engine-friendly “Content Marketer”.

I also connected my account to Facebook and LinkedIn to verify my identity.

Respond Quickly

General population studies fill up quickly. You’ll have your best chance of being selected if you’re among the first to apply.

Be Honest

Fill in your profile truthfully and answer the screener questions honestly.

With hundreds of new studies added every month, why risk losing all those future User Interviews opportunities to try and make a quick buck?

Share with Friends and Colleagues

One cool aspect of User Interviews is you can get paid even if you don’t qualify for a study.

How?

By referring someone who is qualified!

At press time, the site is offering a $30 incentive to help find participants for certain studies:

So definitely keep your immediate network in mind as you’re scrolling through. You might not be a great fit for the study, but you might know someone who is!

User Interviews Alternatives

If you don’t care for User Interviews or are having trouble being selected for projects, not to worry.

While User Interviews is one of the highest paying survey sites, there are other programs where you can make decent money as well.

Respondent

Respondent is the most similar service to User Interviews I’ve found. The company also specializes in one-on-one market research interviews, mostly done over the phone or online.

According to the site, the average payout is over $100 an hour. Check out our full Respondent review for more.

(I’ve earned $395 so far — $190 of which was for a focus group that involved playing with Legos!)

Rare Patient Voice

A leading source for medical research, Rare Patient Voice pays patients and caregivers $120 an hour. Most of the studies are phone or webcam interviews, and you can browse a full list of available studies on their site.

If you suffer from any sort of medical condition (even if it’s not super rare), I think this one is worth a look.

FocusGroup.com

FocusGroup.com is run by Sago, a long-running research company. They offer nationwide phone or webcam research opportunities that pay between $75 and $200.

I earned $115 for a 45-minute online survey — check out my full FocusGroup.com review to learn more.

Fieldwork

Fieldwork is a company the runs (mostly) in-person focus groups. I took part in one of their studies in San Francisco, and earned $150 for a 2-hour focus group, plus a $50 bonus prize for showing up early.

They have locations throughout the US.

Fieldwork focus groups normally last 1-2 hours, and pay starts at $75.

Check out my full guide to Online Focus Groups for more money earning opportunities.

Other Online Survey Options

Most of the consumer-facing survey options below won’t have hourly rates nearly as strong as the more industry-specific studies that User Interviews does, but they can still add up and you can knock them out in your spare time.

Here are some of Side Hustle Nation’s top picks:

Is User Interviews Worth It?

Is User Interviews worth your time? It’s certainly not passive income, but for the work involved, I’d say the pay rate is pretty strong. (Generally $50-200 an hour.)

For the remote research projects, there’s no commuting time or cost, which is an advantage over some other side hustles.

A few drawbacks to consider would be:

You’re not getting paid for time spent doing screener surveys. These are generally short (less than 5 minutes), but can add up and get frustrating if you don’t get selected.
There’s a limit to how much you can reasonably expect to make on User Interviews. Given the nature of this side hustle, it’s not going to replace your day job salary.
Most studies only pay out in via gift cards. Again, Amazon credit is almost as good as cash in our house, so that’s a non-issue for me.

Still, User Interviews is an interesting and viable way to make some extra money.

Finally, consider the opportunity cost. What else could you be doing with your time?

If you’re confident you could earn better than the $50-200/hour these projects pay doing something else, by all means, go do that instead!

Your Turn

Have you participated in a User Interviews study yet? What did you think?

Let me know in the comments below!

Serious About Making Extra Money?

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Lou Rice was breastfeeding her son Archie one night when disaster struck—she dropped her Kindle on his head!

While that experience was upsetting for both of them at the moment, it sparked an idea for Lou and her husband Ben to create a solution.

Ben fashioned a silicone strap with staples to attach Lou’s Kindle to her hand and prevent any future dropping incidents.

Lou tested it out over the next month and absolutely loved having the grip and security of the strap for comfortable one-handed reading during those long middle-of-the-night feeds.

With that, strapsicle.com was born—a side hustle now generating over $50k a month selling innovative Kindle straps. Not only that, but Strapsicle is on pace for its first-ever 6-figure month after recently going viral on TikTok and Instagram.

Tune in to Episode 589 of The Side Hustle Show to learn:

How an accident sparked a successful product idea
Why micro-influencers were key for visibility
How to engineer a successful Amazon launch
How she’s protecting the brand and planning for the future

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Getting Started with Manufacturing

After positive initial testing, Ben and Lou explored whether there were any similar products on the market and found very few competitors. The products they did find were rather unappealing.

As Lou explained, “They had like little metal claws, or they’re very industrial-looking, and nothing kind of sleek and stylish like our straps are.”

This gave them confidence that a sleek, stylish silicone strap custom molded to fit Kindle devices could be a winning product.

Luckily, they had an existing manufacturing contact in China through a friend to produce prototypes and ultimately fulfill inventory orders.

It took 2-3 rounds of back and forth with the factory to perfect the design, dimensions, tension, and sizing of the very first Strapsicle strap.

Once the final production sample was approved, Lou created a basic online survey and distributed it through Facebook friends and family. With a sample size of 50 respondents, the feedback gave Lou assurance they were solving a real customer problem given the enthusiasm expressed by existing Kindle owners.

With this validation fueling their intrinsic desire to develop a solution for Lou’s initial dropping challenge, they decided to move forward and place a minimum order quantity of 500 units for about $2,000 including shipping fees. 

Giving Away Product to Kindle Lovers

After the first shipment of inventory arrived, Lou and Ben found themselves paralyzed on actually launching for months. The overthinking trap many entrepreneurs fall victim to!

But after listening to a podcast that gave her inspiration, Strapsicle officially launched online by giving away product for free! These people only paid the shipping costs, and they were only asked to provide feedback about the strap.

This approach allowed Lou and Ben to begin building community and start a dialogue with real customers using Strapsicle on their Kindles. Plus, it enabled gathering user-generated content and reviews to aid subsequent marketing efforts.

Lou spread the word online primarily through Facebook communities like female entrepreneurs groups and local neighborhood groups. She also made posts on LinkedIn and her personal Instagram account, yielding almost 100 sales in the first month.

BookTok and Micro-Influencer Marketing

Never one to stand still, Lou soon stumbled upon BookTok – an engaged subculture on TikTok obsessed with reading and raving about their favorite books. It didn’t take long for Lou to realize BookTok participants were an ideal target market given their affinity for Kindles as well.

Lou decided to experiment with a micro-influencer affiliate marketing strategy. This involved searching relevant Kindle hashtags like #Kindle and keywords to find nano and micro-influencers on TikTok and Instagram with small but targeted followings between 2,000-3,000 followers.

She reached out lots of micro-influencers, offered them free samples to try, and provided discount codes they could share with their followers to drive sales.

The micro-influencer content not only spreads brand awareness but also creates more user-generated content for Lou to repurpose on Strapsicle’s own social channels. She continues nurturing relationships with her influencers by sending new products and keeping in constant contact as they drive more and more traffic and sales.

This micro-influencer strategy combined with the initial free giveaway enabled Strapsicle to gain significant organic traction in just its first 3 months in business.

Launching on Amazon and Driving External Traffic

Lou and Ben started selling on Amazon using FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) to ease order fulfillment and distribution, especially within the US market.

They knew the power of Amazon but also understood the importance of driving external traffic to the listings. So Lou implemented referral bonus links and affiliate marketing through multiple channels back to the Amazon product pages.

She continues reaching out to micro-influencers on TikTok and Instagram that cater to the Kindle niche. By providing them Amazon discount codes instead of codes for Strapsicle, any resulting sales still credit the influencer while allowing the customer a seamless Amazon shopping experience.

This ongoing effort provides the essential external visibility to help Strapsicle’s products rank higher in Amazon search results. And the high placement then enables more organic sales.

Protecting the Business

Growing a business based primarily on Amazon does come with risks, such as competitors releasing a similar Kindle strap. To protect Strapsicle as much as possible, Lou took measures like:

Registering for Amazon Brand Registry to own her product listings
Trademark
Design patent

She also utilizes programs like Amazon Vine when possible to incentivize more ratings and reviews. While the threat of copycats still looms, focusing on community and brand differentiation helps mitigate this.

Hitting $50k+ a Month with Explosive Growth

Flash forward to today, and Strapsicle is flying high at over $50,000 a month in sales between Strapsicle.com and Amazon. Lou credits consistent effort delivering micro-influencer seed content and wide distribution of affiliated links driving external traffic to Amazon product pages.

The crowning achievement thus far has been a single viral TikTok video that generated over 2 million views.

@themarysarge

I love this kindle accessory over a pop socket! Super comfy, removeable and comes in tons of colors #kindleaccessories #kindleaccessory #kindlemusthaves #kindlereader #strapsiclekindlestrap

♬ Sunshine – WIRA

Combined with a “The 9 Best Kindle Accessories to Shop on Amazon Under $35” PR roundup Cosmopolitan published including Strapsicle, the widespread exposure pushed Lou’s side hustle over $100k in sales its first month topping six figures.

Now Strapsicle has become a gift-giving mainstay during the holiday rush. This perfectly supplements their core customer base thanks to a simple but clever product solving an overlooked reader problem.

Mistakes and Surprises

Despite breakout early success, Lou is quick to admit they’ve been figuring things out as they go. From pricing changes to get the optimal value-based customer conversions to sizing mixups that led to negative reviews, they’ve endured their fair share of lessons about selling on Amazon.

One hard lesson came from a factory quality control issue that had their manufacturer sending the wrong sized units to Amazon warehouses. It wasn’t caught initially, leading confused customers to complain about ill-fitting straps.

Lou used the opportunity to personally respond with thoughtful comments, send replacements from their Shopify-fulfilled inventory, and ultimately change disappointed 1-star reviews into delighted 5-star raves.

This attention to individual customer care reminds Lou that Strapsicle isn’t just another faceless corporate entity. As a bootstrapping startup and family passion project self-funded from her corporate salary, every sale counts.

Lou also began receiving feedback that the versatile silicone strap design helped readers suffering from arthritis, Parkinson’s, and nerve damage comfortably hold Kindle devices and alternatives from Kobo that normally slipped from their grasp.

Word spread and a woman with cerebral palsy even wrote to Lou and said, “You’ve changed my life.” While Lou initially set out to solve a simple problem for exhausted parents like herself, this discovery added a greater sense of purpose and refinement to the brand’s vision. 

What’s Next for Strapsicle?

Looking ahead, Lou plans to continue aggressively expanding awareness of Strapsicle among as many Kindle owners globally as possible. She wants to cement Strapsicle as the #1 brand and top-of-mind solution for comfortable and secure one-handed reading.

This inspires Lou’s “whys” even further—the vision for Strapsicle to enhance the reading experience no matter a person’s physical situation.

No matter what challenges or surprises come next, Lou feels grateful for the community she’s built and the testimonials of how much Strapsicle products positively impact people’s lives. Through consistency and nurturing relationships, both with partners and customers, Lou is confident Strapsicle will continue its upwards trajectory.

Strapsicle proves that sometimes a simple idea can turn into a thriving side hustle and beyond. So get out there and keep chasing inspiration when it strikes! You never know what side hustle might just change your life.

Lou’s #1 Tip for Side Hustle Nation

“Just keep going.”

Episode Links

Strapsicle.com
Strapsicle on Amazon
Facebook communitie
BookTok
FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon)
Amazon Vine
The 9 Best Kindle Accessories to Shop on Amazon Under $35