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Streamline Your UX Research with AI-Assisted Screener Writing Templates and Prompts

By Philip Burgess | UX Research Leader


User experience (UX) research depends heavily on recruiting the right participants. Writing effective screeners is crucial to ensure you gather insights from the right audience. Yet, crafting these screeners can be time-consuming and tricky, especially when you want to avoid bias and cover all necessary criteria. AI-assisted screener writing offers a practical solution by providing templates and prompts that simplify this process. This post explores how you can use AI tools to create clear, targeted screeners that improve your UX research outcomes.


Why Screener Writing Matters in UX Research


A screener is a set of questions designed to filter potential participants based on specific criteria. It ensures that the people you interview or test match your target user profile. Without a well-crafted screener, you risk wasting time and resources on participants who don’t fit your research goals.


Common challenges in screener writing include:


  • Unclear or leading questions that bias responses

  • Overly broad or narrow criteria that exclude useful participants or include irrelevant ones

  • Lack of consistency across different studies, making it hard to compare results


Using AI-assisted templates helps address these issues by providing a structured starting point and guiding you through question formulation.


How AI-Assisted Templates Improve Screener Writing


AI tools trained on UX research best practices can generate screener templates tailored to your project needs. Here’s how they help:


  • Save time by offering ready-made question sets you can customize

  • Ensure clarity with well-phrased, unbiased questions

  • Cover essential criteria such as demographics, behaviors, and attitudes

  • Adapt quickly to different research goals or user groups


For example, if you are studying mobile app users, an AI template might include questions about device usage, app frequency, and familiarity with similar apps. You can then adjust the template to focus on your specific app’s features.


Practical Prompts to Use with AI for Screener Writing


To get the most from AI tools, use clear prompts that describe your research goals and participant profile. Here are some examples:


  • “Create a screener for recruiting frequent online shoppers aged 25-40 who use mobile payment apps.”

  • “Generate questions to identify users who have experience with fitness tracking devices and use them at least three times a week.”

  • “Write a screener to find participants who have never used video conferencing software before.”


These prompts help the AI understand the context and produce relevant questions. You can then review and tweak the output to fit your study’s tone and specifics.


Tips for Customizing AI-Generated Screeners


AI-generated templates are a great starting point, but you should tailor them to your project. Consider these tips:


  • Review each question for relevance and remove any that don’t apply

  • Add open-ended questions if you want richer participant insights

  • Check for bias by avoiding leading or double-barreled questions

  • Test your screener with a small group before full deployment to catch issues


For example, if the AI suggests a question like “Do you find our app easy to use?” rephrase it to “Have you used any apps similar to ours? If yes, which ones?” This avoids bias and gathers more useful data.



Examples of AI-Assisted Screener Templates


Here are two simplified examples of screener templates generated with AI assistance:


Template 1: Recruiting Frequent Online Shoppers


  • How often do you shop online?

- Daily

- Weekly

- Monthly

- Rarely

  • Which devices do you use for online shopping? (Select all that apply)

- Smartphone

- Tablet

- Laptop/Desktop

  • Have you used mobile payment apps like Apple Pay or Google Pay?

- Yes

- No

  • What is your age range?

- 18-24

- 25-34

- 35-44

- 45+


Template 2: Finding Users New to Video Conferencing


  • Have you ever used video conferencing software?

- Yes

- No

  • If yes, which platforms have you used?

  • How comfortable do you feel using video calls?

- Very comfortable

- Somewhat comfortable

- Not comfortable

  • What is your occupation?


These templates can be expanded or refined based on your research focus.


Integrating AI Screener Writing into Your UX Workflow


To make the most of AI-assisted screener writing, integrate it into your existing UX process:


  • Start with a clear research plan outlining participant criteria

  • Use AI tools early to draft screener questions

  • Collaborate with your team to review and adjust the screener

  • Pilot test the screener with a small sample

  • Use the screener to recruit participants efficiently


This approach reduces the time spent on recruitment and improves the quality of your participant pool.


Final Thoughts on AI-Assisted Screener Writing


AI-assisted screener writing offers a practical way to create focused, clear, and effective participant filters for UX research. By using templates and prompts, you can save time, reduce bias, and improve recruitment accuracy. Remember to customize AI outputs to fit your specific needs and test your screeners before full use. This method supports better research outcomes and helps you understand your users more deeply.


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