Seven Rules For Observational Research

When a product or service needs testing for customer reaction, companies traditionally turn to the classical market-research mainstay, the focus group. A focus group is a guided discussion in a meeting room or lab whose intent is to gather open-ended comments about a specific product, service, space or issue.

However, it’s widely acknowledged that people can’t always tell you what they want, what they like, or give true opinions on something. I wonder why so much research continues to ask people to state a preference regarding their favorite product, service, package or ad, or to explain their decision making process. What we like or want is not fixed. It is often context-dependent. And, we’re not very good at explaining what we do. Making people think about their choice unconsciously changes their answer towards cautious, safe, familiar choices because they are easier to explain. This means that people are often highly skeptical of new ideas the first time the see them.

Asking people to reflect on their preferences or behavior can change their answers away from the truth, towards the conservative and the familiar, because they lack the language to express their real feelings.

“US$ 400 for an MP3 Player? It won’t sell, and be killed off in a short time…it’s not really functional.”

“This isn’t revolutionary. I still can’t believe this! All this hype for something so ridiculous! Who cares about an MP3 player?”

“Steve’s mind is starting to warp if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off.”

Former senior marketing executive at Nike and Starbucks, Scott Bradley pointed out in a recent article for Advertising Age:

“Overcoming the desire to test everything under the sun is probably the greatest hurdle for any company seeking brand reinvention. Look past what they say and get deep enough to know what they really mean by what they say and by what they fail to say”

And Roger Schank, the former head of Yale’s computer science department puts it:

“Market research is the worst way to learn what customers want. Surveys can’t determine the real demand for products or services that don’t yet exist. Observation is everything!”

This, of course, is tricky. You need to know what you’re looking for. That’s were an article of industry colleague Walt Dickie comes in handy: Seven Rules for Observational Research. Despite Walt wrote this 10 years ago it is still very valid.

Here are a few bits:

“Start noticing the regularities. Nothing people do is natural. You may watch people walking into a retail environment. The’ll walk in, look around to get their bearings, walk over to a display or proceed down an aisle, maybe pick up an item or two or compare prices. ‘Of course,’ you’ll say to yourself, ‘that’s just what I’d do in their shoes. It’s just common sense.’

Whatever you saw, could have happened differently. Your shoppers could have taken more time to get their bearings, or less time. They might have gone down a different aisle. They might have picked up more items, or not as many. Look at the “rule breakers.” Why are they? What regularities are they defying?

Once you recognize that everything people do is the result of something, you can begin looking for that something.”

 

Comments on MP3 Player from: macrumors 2001

PEZ

SolutionSync Integrates PICTIVE Technique In Its Orchestrated ‘Connect2Grow’ Workshop

 

PICTIVE (Plastic Interface for Collaborative Technology Initiatives through Video Exploration) is a paper mock-up that allows users and experts to co-create pieces of software.

A PICTIVE is a representation of a graphical user interface or a Web page on paper that gives users a sense of what a system or a software application will look like and how it will behave once it is finished.

These prototypes are made from simple office supplies like pens, paper, Post-It stickers or magazine clips. Provided in the Connect2Grow Workshop Techbox the participants use these supplies to represent elements of the project including drop-down boxes, menu bars, and special icons. Multiple feedback loops enable participants to evaluate emerging ideas and manipulate the mock-ups so they become easier for them to use. The development team takes notes and incorporates user ideas into its work. Video and photo cameras record the physical changes a participant might make to the prototype. The team then reviews the ideas generated and incorporates them into the design.

The integration of the PICTIVE technique in SolutionSync’s Connect2Grow Workshop allows diverse teams of experts, non-technical experts and users in an equal opportunity workspace participate effectively in the design. This powerful workshop is effective early in the design process, when ideas can be less constrained by existing code or other infrastructure. Agendas will vary depending on the challenge at hand, the attendees, and the amount of time available. Typically, an orchestrated Connect2Grow workshop may last one or two days.

 

Book:

Paper Prototyping: The Fast and Easy Way to Design and Refine User Interfaces by Caroline Snyder, 408 pages, Morgan Kaufmann (2003)

Written by a usability engineer with a long and successful paper prototyping history, this book is a practical, how-to guide for creating and testing paper prototypes of all kinds of user interfaces.

2008 SXSW Interactive Festival

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival is a leading event for emerging technologies. Scheduled March 7-11 in Austin, Texas, the 2008 Festival provides practical know-to information as well as unparalleled career inspiration, bringing together some of emerging technology’s most creative thinkers and digital innovators from all walks of life.

The event features five days of keynote speeches, more than 120 panels, the SXSW Web Awards, the iF! Trade Show & Exhibition, the ScreenBurn Arcade, and dozens of exciting evening events. Panels focus on how technology can facilitate new ideas, new communication, and new creativity, in addition to addressing hard-core technical issues.

In August the SXSW 2008 season was kicked off with the launch of the “Panel Picker”. It’s a simple web-based tool that allows the community to review submitted panel ideas, and then rate which panels they would be most interested in attending. Although the voting mechanism has been disabled on September 21, the interface is still fully functional for browsing the submissions and reading the comments. A preliminary schedule of the 2008 panel program will be announced in late October ‘07.

Browse the Panel Picker
iF! Interactive Trade Show + Exhibition
Review last year’s iF Trade Show Exhibitor pages

Other Upcoming Events:

• EPIC 2007 – Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference , October 3-6, Keystone CO

• Virtual Worlds Forum, October 23-26, London

• Future of Mobile, November 14, London

• Future of Web Design, November 7-8, New York

The New Cadbury Ad

Fallon London defies every traditional rule about advertising.

[Watch the ad ¦ here]

What A Great Way For Everyone Become A Business Angel!

Micro loans are a growing industry in developing countries around the world. They are small loans many less than a few hundred dollars to help someone start or expand a business.

Micro loans are different to charity. With charity, people are often suspicious. They are sceptical – they don’t know where their money goes. A micro loan is a zero-interest loan the business owner has to pay back.

With Kiva.org, a person-to-person micro-lending website, you can choose and connect directly with grassroots projects abroad, push and fund your favorite cause. These loans are almost always paid back.

You don’t have to cover all the loan yourself. With Kiva, you can fund as little ($25) or as much of the loan as possible.

Since the launch end of 2005, more than $11 million has been loaned by 100,000 Kiva Lenders to 16′000 entrepreneurs in 36 countries through Kiva.org. President Clinton names Kiva.org as an ideal way for individuals to make a difference in the world in his new book “Giving”.

Video: Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times visits his loan recipient: a baker in Kabul.