Designing Trust with Knowsi
We hosted a tutorial with our SAGE 2020 Concept Grant winner, Andrew Lovett-Barron, on how to design trust relationships with participants in research using Knowsi. Here we share the webinar video with you. We have also added the questions that were asked during the live session and their responses. If you have a question, please send it through using the form below, and we will follow up with a response and any other resources.
Designing a research program is a difficult task. So, it comes as no surprise that often the participant experience gets cut in favor of focusing time and resources on refining your interview guide, recruiting more participants, or wrangling your Research Ethics Board. In this tutorial, Andrew Lovett-Baron proposes a structure for applying the front-stage/back-stage model articulated in Service Design to designing the participant experience.
About the Tool
Knowsi is a portal to manage research participant consent in compliance with data privacy regulations. Enjoy the post and get started with Knowsi today by signing up for a free account. If you want to upgrade to the paid-for version, use the code SAGE to get two months free.
About the Speakers
Andrew Lovett-Barron, a software designer and entrepreneur, launched the consent management platform Knowsi in 2019 and recently launched the open source outfit blog, Stupid Fits. You can find his brilliant newsletter and other projects he is working on here.
Q&A
+ Does Knowsi work with all computer platforms?
Yes. Knowsi is a progressive web application, so it lives in your browser like a normal site. You can also add Knowsi as an “app” on your mobile device by clicking the Add to Homescreen link on IOS or Android.
+ Can you generate consent forms in different languages?
There is a still beta version of form translation in the system right now. When you are editing a form, there is a tab for Translations that allow you to create a duplicate but linked version of that form in a different language. You’re ultimately responsible for providing the proper translations for your documents, but we try to support as much as possible with headers and similar. Currently, this feature is incomplete — but if it’s something that you’d like to use in the near term, please get in touch and we can move it up on the roadmap.
+ What are the key benefits of Knowsi in building a trust relationship in research?
Knowsi provides a consistent platform for participants to manage their consent and relationship with the researcher — respecting their agency in the process and putting actions behind the privacy rights and expectations they have under law and social norms. Perhaps most importantly, Knowsi also takes the guesswork out of good privacy practice in a research team. Forgotten forms, unclear communication, and complexity of regulatory compliance make for considerable liability concerns that any research team needs to navigate. Knowsi automates the complexity of compliance, and helps you and your team focus on the content and the research.
+ Does the Knowsi platform come with detailed instructions/guidelines on how to use it?
For the most part, Knowsi relies on a clear user experience to guide both researchers and participants through the application. However, there is a growing set of documentation that lives in the question mark icon on the bottom of the screen. You can also use this feature to directly contact the Knowsi team for any kind of assistance.
+ Sometimes we need to use deceptive strategies in research so participants do not change their behaviour. Is it always necessary to obtain full consent from participants while doing research on them?
Knowsi allows you to collect consent both remotely and in person - but it is incumbent on you to not be deceptive in how you collect that consent. Basically, consent needs to be informed, freely given, and generally unambiguous when it comes to data collection about individuals. You can update consent after data has been provided though, and send users the appropriate consent form to use the gathered data in this new way. I’d suggest engaging with your REB to specifically workshop the language of your form before sharing it with your participants, as frequently you can gather specific consents while also maintaining the integrity of the study.
+ Does Knowsi work directly with any Ethics Review Boards at universities? As Knowsi is GDPR-compliant, I think it could make getting approval through Ethics Review Boards easier.
Absolutely. Please contact andrew@knowsi.com to arrange a meeting.
+ The excel tracker template shown in the webinar was great! If I sign up to Knowsi can I download this?
You can download the template [here] 1. I share templates like this and other handy assets in my newsletter. You can sign up to the newsletter by registering for Knowsi or simply from the form at the bottom of our website.
