Recruitment Explanations Experiment 1:

We recruited young participants (as these are our main target audience) who feel like they are feeling challenged socially because of the effects of the pandemic/isolation or because they have recently moved somewhere and are interacting with new people daily. Of our 3 recruited participants, one was a part of our intervention study, so she could compare with the other experience. The second participant has felt themselves affected by the social isolation of the pandemic. For our third “participant” we chose a group of 3 young students who are making friends on campus for the first time. 

Recruitment Explanations Experiment 2:

We recruited young participants (as these are our main target audience) who feel like they are feeling challenged socially because of the effects of the pandemic/isolation or because they have recently moved somewhere and are interacting with new people daily (matching our key personas). Of our 3 recruited participants, one was part of our intervention study, so that we could also follow up on if the intervention study questions led to short or comprehensive answers. The second participant recently graduated but all of their friends remained at Stanford for a 5th year, which they feel has affected his confidence in his Stanford relationships. This participant is also in a new city and is attempting to make new friends. Our third participant is someone who feels their friendships have been getting weaker due to the pandemic. 

Recruitment Explanations Experiment 3:

We recruited young participants (as these are our main target audience) who feel like they are having a lot of conversations throughout the day. Of our 3 recruited participants, one was a college student going to in person classes/labs and interacting with old friends and new acquaintances regularly. The other participant is a young professional in New York who goes to many meetings everyday and lives with a few roommates. And the final participant is an RA, regularly checking in on their resident and a former participant in our intervention study.