A typical formative usability study for a medical device costs $15,000–$35,000, and a summative (validation) study costs $40,000–$90,000+, depending on the number of user groups, participant types, and study length. Most of the variance comes from one line item: who you need to recruit.
Almost nobody in human factors publishes real numbers, which makes budgeting your first study unnecessarily hard. We run a usability research facility, so here is the actual cost structure — line by line.
Four components make up nearly every study budget:
| Component | Typical range | What drives it |
|---|---|---|
| Facility rental | $2,000–$2,200 per day | Study length, configuration, observation needs |
| Participant recruitment | $150–$600+ per participant sourced | How rare your users are |
| Participant honoraria | $75–$400 per participant | Fair market value by role |
| Moderation & analysis | $10,000–$40,000 per study | Consultancy day rates, protocol complexity |
A purpose-built usability lab — one-way observation mirror, built-in A/V recording, configurable simulated-use space — runs about $2,000–$2,200 per day in most US markets. Multi-day and recurring bookings usually earn a discount. A facility with two labs and a shared observation suite can run parallel sessions, which often cuts total facility days by 30–40% on larger studies.
Hotel conference rooms look cheaper ($500–$1,000/day) but cost more in practice: no observation room, rented A/V, no staff support, and an environment that biases participant behavior.
Recruiting cost is a function of incidence — how common your user is in the population:
Honoraria are separate and must reflect fair market value: roughly $75–$150 for patients, $150–$250 for nurses, and $250–$400+ per hour-equivalent for physicians.
If a human factors consultancy designs the protocol, moderates sessions, and writes the report, expect $10,000–$25,000 for a small formative and $25,000–$40,000+ for a summative with full HFE/UE documentation. Teams that moderate in-house and only buy facility and recruitment can cut this dramatically.
A home-use injection device with two user groups (patients and caregivers), 15 participants each per FDA expectations, plus ~20% overrecruitment:
| Line item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Facility, 8 days (parallel labs) | $17,000 |
| Recruitment, 36 sourced participants | $9,500 |
| Honoraria | $4,300 |
| Moderation, protocol, HFE report | $32,000 |
| Total | ~$63,000 |
A single-user-group formative with 8 participants might land closer to $18,000–$22,000 all-in.
Typically $15,000–$35,000 all-in, depending on participant type and whether moderation is in-house or outsourced.
Most fall between $40,000 and $90,000+, driven by the number of distinct user groups (15 participants each) and documentation requirements.
Around $2,000–$2,200 per day for a purpose-built facility with observation and recording, with discounts for multi-day bookings.
For studies with clinician users, recruitment plus honoraria often exceeds the facility cost. For multi-group summatives, moderation and reporting is usually the largest line.
Usability House provides usability labs, participant recruitment, and study logistics for medical device human factors research in Minneapolis, with national recruitment reach. Questions about budgeting a study? Get in touch — we'll give you real numbers within 24 hours.
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