We believe that the path to innovation starts with a deep understanding of people and markets. To achieve this understanding we tailor each research program to gain empathy with your customers within the context of their culture and the market environment.
This tailored approach combines qualitative techniques that probe deeply into human needs and behavior with quantitative methods that define and describe the market.
Our comprehensive research yields insights that inspire innovation in design and guide the strategic direction to take your product to market.
Our Methods
Ethnographic research in homes and businesses, videography, and participatory design sessions.
In-depth interviews, focus groups, user diaries, online and social media exploration, customer and market surveys.
Designer role-playing, user shadowing, mock-up development, user trials.
Research into cultural trends and new technologies, manufacturing materials, and vendor networks.
Identification of new patterns in consumers’ behavior, as well as needs and opportunities that fall outside established patterns.
Delivery of consumer insights and market intelligence in ways that are engaging, meaningful, and actionable for designers and clients.
Our Methods in Action
We recruit panels of experts to help transform the products in their categories—from gardening enthusiasts to medical professionals. Together we consider the total experience of a product and brand, explore various product configurations in real world settings, and visualize innovations and improvements with mock-ups and sketch ideation.
To design tools and equipment for true professionals (and for consumers who aspire to work like a pro), we study people where they work. We observe their techniques and tools, look for unmet needs, then make mock-ups of innovations to improve efficiency, safety, and comfort. We test the mock-ups in professional user forums and right on the job site. For Hunter Fan and Lowe’s, we have shadowed and videotaped home builders on construction sites throughout the country. For Herman Miller / Milcare and Chek Med Systems, we’ve followed hospital employees and clinicians as they perform a range of routine and critical care tasks.
We combine in-home observation, videography, home center customer shadowing, and homeowner forums to penetrate consumer emotions about their lifestyles at home, and drive out unmet needs in the home products category. For Dirt Devil, we gained valuable insights into the ways that consumers clean in various parts of the country, then created new product ideas to meet those needs. For Applica, we uncovered the “little annoyances” around the use and storage of filtered water, thereby giving us the insight to create the Clear2o water pitcher.
Teams of designers and research specialists are sent into retail environments across the country to assess the category, shadow and observe consumers to understand how they shop, and videotape the experience for detailed analysis. For Rubbermaid, Lowe’s and Ames True Temper, we have gained valuable insights into the shopping experience that have led to innovative products and merchandising.
We use telephone and online surveys to measure awareness, attitudes and perceptions, demographics, and lifestyle characteristics. For Ready Tools, we combined a quantitative survey with a skilled user forum. This combination delivered a market segmentation analysis, and identified the best product opportunities to meet our client’s strategic plans.
