Confederate

A person who plays a scripted role in a research study while appearing to participants as a naive participant, bystander, or user. Confederates allow researchers to observe how true participants behave in realistic social situations — for example, how a blind user interacts with an AI assistant when sighted bystanders are present. In accessibility research, confederate designs are particularly valuable for studying social dynamics that cannot ethically or practically be staged with real users, such as role-playing the reactions of strangers or co-workers.