How long do user research studies tend to take when the participant needs a translator?
My team is running several user research studies on a mostly internal product with both English-speaking and non-English-speaking users. The studies are written in English.
One is a quantitative Google Forms survey with multiple choice questions. This has taken most English-speaking users 15-20 minutes to complete (internal pilot with self-reported completion time). The other is a qualitative benchmark usability study using UserTesting. This has taken English-speaking participants 15-25 minutes to complete.
Making the following assumptions:
- The translators are familiar with the users' domain, but not familiar with user research. (No one on our team speaks the natural languages that these users speak.)
- All of the studies take place remotely, not onsite. The non-English-speaking users are in different countries from us.
- Due to time zone differences, our team is not available to assist the participants.
- The product is translated into the users' languages and has the same features and a consistent layout with the English version.
How long should we tell the participants that these studies will take? Is there any research that compares how long English-speaking participants take vs. participants requiring an English translation?