Adaptation and evolution: essential changes to the Protech pilot study

By Isabel Schilg, Protech Project Manager and Scientific Associate for Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

In the world of research and technology development, adaptability isn't just beneficial - it's essential. As we continue our journey with the Protech project, we've had to be flexible. The expert project consortium has collectively made several strategic adjustments to preserve study participant rights and optimise our research approach. In this blog, we want to share these changes and explain how they will strengthen our research exploring the use of safety tech to prevent the viewing of child sexual abuse material.

Key changes to our pilot study

We've implemented three main modifications to the pilot phase of our project, each one carefully considered to enhance the quality of our research.

1. Timing adjustment

The pilot phase began later than initially scheduled, which proved to be a valuable decision. This additional preparation time allowed our team to refine processes, enhance support systems, and ensure all technological features were live before deployment. While delays can be challenging, this one has ultimately strengthened our foundation for success.

2. Focused implementation

Perhaps our most significant change has been the decision to concentrate on three pilot sites instead of the originally planned four. This wasn't about scaling back - rather, it was about scaling smart. By focusing on fewer locations, we ensure more intensive support to each site and minimise technical issues that arise due to geographical factors, ensuring the capacity to respond quickly.

3. Adjusted sample size

In conjunction with the reduction in pilot sites, we've also modified our target participant numbers and our study approach. The reduction in sample size reflects a higher level of interaction with our study participants than initially anticipated but it ensured they could access comprehensive support throughout their experience in the study. This change allows us to dedicate more time, support and resources to each participant, collect more comprehensive data about user experiences and maximise learning opportunities from each individual participant.

The impact of these changes

These modifications represent more than just operational adjustments - they reflect our commitment to conducting thorough, responsible research. By choosing flexibility over rigidity, we're better positioned to:

• Ensure participant wellbeing remains at the forefront

• Maintain high standards of research quality

• Generate more meaningful and actionable insights

Maintaining our core mission

While we've adjusted our approach, our fundamental objectives remain unchanged. We're still deeply committed to understanding how technology can be used to support people effectively and safely to manage their behaviour online. During our decision-making process, we have had to be candid about some trade-offs. We're naturally disappointed that we won't be able to engage with as many participants as originally planned. Each potential participant represents an opportunity to learn and improve, and reducing our sample size wasn't a decision we made lightly.

Additionally, we've moved away from including a control condition in our study design. While this changes the nature of the evidence we'll be able to gather, we believe the outputs of the project will ultimately still serve our fundamental goals. This pilot phase is about understanding feasibility, identifying challenges and creating clear pathways for future development.

Impact and opportunities

These changes, while significant, align with the exploratory nature of pilot studies. Our refined approach will ensure that at the end of our project, we thoroughly understand implementation challenges, have documented real-world user experiences in detail and can identify key areas for technological improvement. Most importantly, the insights we gather will lay crucial groundwork for future research. If the pilot demonstrates promise, it will provide the foundation for further development of safety tech and more extensive studies, including potential randomised controlled trials that could provide more definitive evidence about effectiveness.

Looking forward

We view this adapted pilot as an essential first step in a longer journey. While elements of the project have been adjusted, our commitment to rigorous investigation has not. The detailed insights we'll gather from this focused pilot will still be invaluable. We are now in the evaluation phase and we look forward to sharing our findings, including both successes and challenges, during the final months of the project. This transparency will be crucial for advancing the field and ensuring future initiatives can build on our experiences.

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