UK MNer 45+? Want to test a problem-solving game around retirement? Each tester will receive a £20 voucher!

[JustineBMumsnet]

Zodus, a behavioural science start up, is looking to test their problem-solving game and is looking for Mumsnetters who are 45+ to test the simulation game. The testing will involve playing a minimum of 5 and maximum of 10 rounds of the game (each round takes 2-3 minutes) 5 times over a 2 month period. You will not have to play all rounds in one session, you can resume at any time during the test period. In total, it will take about 2 hours of your time (over the 2 month period).

Here’s what Zodus has to say: “FutureSpace is a gamified simulation that captures decision-making in problems similar to retirement. FutureSpace invites players to set goals and then challenges achievements of these with different scenarios of news, events and opportunities. Zodus’ ambition is to help organisations design policies, products and services that work with the grain of human nature.”

If you’re selected, you will be sent a link to the game and will be asked to complete a minimum of 25 rounds over the course of a 2 month period. We will also send you detailed instructions. There will be no feedback thread on Mumsnet.

MNers who meet the minimum requirement of 5 rounds in each test will receive a £20 voucher and will also be entered into a prize draw and one person will receive a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Please sign up here if you’d like to take part.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard T&Cs apply

I had an email from MNHQ last week to tell me they hadn't been getting my emails concerning this project.

In that email it stated that there'd be another email with details of a 'private thread' for discussion ...... I'm still waiting!

Has anyone been on this private thread?
I totally agree this has been a total disaster

I got sent a link to the private thread. However, I can't see it even when signed in to my MN account. It's just a blank page.

I have not received a link to a private thread nor received a reply to my email stating I have problems playing the game, even though it would fine previously. Could someone from the insight team please contact me as I am not sure you are receiving my emails.

I've emailed the Insight team again too, @Flapdoodles. Here's hoping one of us gets a response.

Hi all, apologies for the lack of response on this thread. We've been made aware that the email address we chose to use for this product test (because of the scale of communication expected between ourselves and testers) is being filtered into some users' spam folders, and we've also found some emails from users in our spam folder - this isn't something we usually experience, and so it's something we'd missed initially. We believe we've now been in touch with all users who have been in touch about withdrawing to confirm their request has been received, and we're very sorry if this isn't the case for you. We'll be running through all emails and this thread again with a fine tooth comb tomorrow morning in an attempt to pick up anything we may have missed the first time around. If you haven't received a response from us by around 2pm tomorrow afternoon and think you should have, please PM me and we'll look into it urgently. As we're a Monday to Friday team, any queries coming in over the weekend will likely be responded to on Monday.

If you're experiencing trouble playing the game because of technical issues, please post on the private thread on Mumsnet about this. If you don't think you've been invited to this or have had trouble accessing this area please let us know by emailing us on [email protected]. Because this test is a development exercise rather than a product test in the traditional sense, it makes sense for the threads discussing the test to be private, so that Zodus are able to engage more with participants.

I can't SEE the private thread at all. And yes, I am logged in when I try to view it. So engaging with Zodus doesn't actually seem to be possible.

Yes, I can't view the thread - "this topic does not exist".

I just get a blank page.

@Epanoui - we think we've fixed this for you now. If you're still having trouble accessing the area could you let us know?

@starlingsintheslipstream - we're not sure why this is happening for you! Look out for a PM - we're trying to get to the bottom of it

@JustineBMumsnet

Re your message above saying "We believe we've now been in touch with all users who have been in touch about withdrawing to confirm their request has been received, and we're very sorry if this isn't the case for you."

As mentioned on another thread, just to confirm here too, I originally advised of my need to withdraw in an email sent to Insight team on 15th January and again on 8th February, neither of which have been acknowledged yet.

Thanks, @JustineMumsnet, that seems to have fixed it. I will take a look.

I get a blank page when I follow the link to the private thread too. I've just emailed asking to be withdrawn.

I have managed to access the private thread today!
Sadly laptop just crashed as I was trying to play the game aaarrghhhh!

I am still getting the message 'topic does not exist' when trying to open the private thread.

Lorka - I had the same and Justine emailed me a link which worked. Perhaps report your own post and she may see it and contact you.

@lorka
Message MNHQ and they can give some advice. My problem was that I was waiting for the link.

Thanks - I emailed before but not had any reply yet.

I can't access the private thread - it says the topic doesn't exist. Have emailed Mumsnet but no response so far.

I still can't get as far as the game!! Repeatedly get error message when inputting personal data. Mumnet please can I withdraw?

I gave up on this the first time I played and also hated the questions. Can I officially withdraw please.

Im still waiting for confirmation that I was withdrawn from the 'game', that my data was deleted when I requested it, and that my data was not included in the infomation that was sent to participants recently. I've asked multiple times by email and am yet to receive a response other than ones which ignore my actual questions. Completely hacked off with the amount of time I've wasted on this nonsense and how MN have ignored answering my specific questions.

Can I also withdraw too? Have sent 2 emails to say I have never managed to get to load the thing on either pc or phone. No reply to either email.

It would be much easier to assess and improve success if there was a high scores page at the end and we could see whether that run was more or less successful than our others. It really is the worst game in the world.

We really tried with this. We answered all the Qs, but I could not understand the game at all. I mean at all. Things just randomly appearing, over which I seemed unable to control. Did I miss the instructions of something, or was it just not working properly? We persevered all in for about 2 hours. At that point my DH wondered out loud quite how much I wanted a £20 voucher. Not that much, it seemed. Sorry. We really did try.

What is happening with this? Does anyone know? I've tested it don't really understand it though every time I've had an email. It all seems to have gone very quiet.