I’ve spent a fair amount of time working on improving the experience of consumer research – for everyone, the researcher, the client, the agency, and perhaps most importantly, the consumer. There is a lot that is wrong with research, and it tends to obscure all that is right with it. But I have certainly developed a few things that fall under the category of ‘pet peeve’. To wit:
Insight mining assumes that insights are nouns. That if we just ask enough people, one of them will spew out an insight. But insight isn’t a noun, it’s a verb. You don’t mine insights, you have insight – you see something, feel something, hear something and think, “Aha! I know what that means!” Having insight requires the rigor of research, but also the sensitivity to listen, and the ability to foster the intimacy of conversation, the truth of storytelling.
Listening is useful – you have to listen to what people are saying, but also to how they say it. You have to listen to the omissions, too – the things they don’t say, the stories they don’t tell, the players missing from action.
Watching is good – see what people do, let them show you. Playing helps – actually physically touch something, use it, see what it does, take it for a spin. I once designed a website for an air charter company – the first step in our process was traveling with them, on a Lear 35 to Las Vegas for the weekend. We were picked up in limousines on the tarmac, taken to the Bellagio, given a suite. We were able to understand the experience, because we’d had it ourselves.
Listening, Watching, Playing – all fun, all good, all useful. We’ve got the verb, we’ve got the subject (your consumer) – what’s missing is the object (your brand, your product, your service). Jane thinks this about ______? Tom likes to use his _______ for relaxation. Sometimes, Hideo just wants to escape from the day with his __________.
Some ways to overcome these problems in research:
- Set the context. Know what decisions you want to inform when commissioning the research. Do the research in the right place – instead of asking people to recall behavior, why not get them to show you? Give people all the information they need to be helpful to you – tell people what you want to accomplish and ask for their help. They’ll try to be helpful and stretch beyond the critical if you enlist their assistance instead of asking for their critique.
- Invite everyone to the party. Yes, the brand manager and the creative director should be there. People who like you should be in the room – but so should people who used to, who don’t, who could. The conversations are more interesting when everyone has a point of view, but it’s not all the same.
- Don’t expect to find all the answers wrapped up neatly. You’ll need to go have a think about what you’ve heard, but it’s better to be actively listening than passively waiting for ‘the answer.’ First, it may never come in the format you’re expecting. You’ll need the prophets (the planners and researchers), and the poets (the creatives), but also your own intuition to help you make meaning from all the data.
- Go Forth. I’m not just saying that because I like the line from the current Levi’s campaign (though I do!), but also because sitting in a clinical setting of the focus group facility, or the stress-inducing confines of your office will not always teach what you need to know. Go out, see where your brand gets used, talk to people actually using it, experience how people really interact with your brand. Observation is about seeing and experiencing and understanding – it’s hard to do that behind the glass.
- Cultivate a point of view. Notice what you like and don’t like about other brands, other campaigns, other designs – both inside your category and out. Taste is about knowing what works for you and what you like. Your taste will only improve as you try new things. You won’t love it all – and you shouldn’t – but you will have a broader base of experience upon which to base your decisions. Learn from others, and be open to solutions that haven’t been used before in your organization or category.
Super revolutionary, no? A gentle reminder, dear reader, to do what you know you ought.