How to make a plan for getting the insights you need. A step-by-step workbook.
A downloadable version can be obtained here:
http://www.customercrossroads.com/PainlessInsight/PainlessInsight22F09.pdf
Our CEO, Oliver Kempkens, joined the Design Thinking Summit in Graz as a keynote speaker. Discover his insights and get to know what Design Thinking is about.
Our CEO, Oliver Kempkens, joined the Design Thinking Summit in Graz as a keynote speaker. Discover his insights and get to know what Design Thinking is about.
Tales from the Wonder Emporium: Visual and Creative Thinking in BusinessKelsey Ruger
Explore the power of Passion, Imagination, Creativity, Exploration, and Experimentation in your Organization. Visual thinking is the hallmark of creativity, and visual learners usually gravitate towards creative professions like art, design, architecture, computer programming, graphics, animation, and physics. But understanding the power of Visual and Creative Thinking can have huge impacts on your company's ability to innovate, effectively communicate with customers and remain competitive in a swiftly changing world.
An end to end design thinking exercise. An inclusive activity for the whole team to participate. From designers, to researchers, to engineers and product managers.
Understanding design thinking in practice: a qualitative study of design led ...Zaana Jaclyn
PhD dissertation.
Abstract
Design thinking is a collaborative and human centred approach to solving problems. Over the past decade design thinking has evolved considerably, particularly with regard to innovation within the sectors of design and business. Despite this sharp rise to popularity there remains limited understanding of how design thinking is applied in practice and little empirical investigation into this subject. Without this understanding further informed application and development of the approach will be hampered.
The ‘design led professional’ is an individual who uses design approaches in their work practices whose education and experience however may not necessarily be in design. The central aim of this thesis is to understand how the ‘design led professional’ applies design thinking in practice with large organisations where the focus is on designing intangible products such as systems, services and experiences. The thesis addresses the research problem through the exploration of the question: How does the design led professional understand and enact design thinking in practice? This question is explored within the context of the design led professional working with large organisations.
A qualitative research approach was adopted, which involved ethnographic methods of semi structured interviews, artefact analysis and participant observation. Data was collected across three studies: an expert interview study, a retrospective case study and a participatory case study. The constant comparative grounded theory method was used to analyse and synthesise data.
Research findings, contextualised within relevant literature, reveal the composition of design thinking in practice: as constrained by the approach taken in applying design thinking; the maturity of the design led professional and the environment in which design thinking is conducted.
On this basis two models are proposed in the conclusion as a foundation for further application and development. The first presents a scale of design thinking maturity based upon two perspectives of design thinking as a way of work and a way of life. The second model maps the interdependent relationship between the three components of design thinking in practice of the approach, the design led professional and the environment in which it is conducted.
The evidence generated through this research provides a framework to assist the public and those who practice design thinking to better understand and articulate design thinking. In addition it provides a foundation for further empirical research that explores the realistic application of design thinking in practice and the critical role of the design led professional.
Centre for Entrepreneurship (C4E) of the University of Cyprus and Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (ICE) present the:
Why are some designs better than others, and what can you do about it? (The workshop)
If you've ever described a poster as heavy, a website as dense, an app as clumsy or an object as whimsical, you probably already know the answer. Recent psychology research is showing that experiential metaphors are key emotional drivers that impact our perception of the world. Applying these findings to design confirms what designers have learned throughout their careers—good design is subconscious first and rational second. Michael will share stories from this research and the IDEO portfolio then share tools to help you be more consciously subconscious.
Psychotherapy Networker Symposium 2015 Create Your Private PracticeKate McNulty
Slideshow I presented at the 2015 Psychotherapy Networker Symposium in Washington DC. Describes how private practitioners can use visual imagery to clarify their goals. Develop a business mindset while helping more clients.
Building Character: Creating Consistent Experiences With Design Principles- ...Mad*Pow
Inconsistency is one of the most common points of breakdown and frustration in the interactions and experiences we have. Whether we’re interacting with other people, applications, our bank, our doctor, our government, anyone, we form expectations and understandings of what someone or something will do based on our previous experiences and their past behaviors. When something happens that doesn’t fit with those expectations–that seems out of character–we’re caught off guard. What do we do next? What should we expect now?
Principles act as rules that guide how we think and act. Formed by our motivations, values, and beliefs, we use them as “lenses” through which we examine information in order to make decisions on what to do. And because of their persistent influence on our behavior, they influence other’s views and expectations of us. Using these same kinds of constructs throughout the design process we can design interactions and consistent behaviors that set and live up to expectations for our audiences.
Design Thinking for Startups - Are You Design Driven?Amir Khella
This presentation provides some best practices and tools to help small business entrepreneurs and startup founders in creating a culture of innovation.
Whether you're working on a web 2.0, iPhone or a physical gadget, these simple practices are universally applicable.
***Note****
I will be running a webinar in October 2009 to expand on the points mentioned in this presentation, study design thinking use cases and stories and answer questions. Please leave a comment and follow the discussion, or follow @amirkhella on twitter to get notified about the webinar.
In this presentation we explore the link between business need and customer need and how to innovate (and remove business problems or discover business opportunities) through persona creation and Design Thinking
Diving Deep: Uncovering Hidden Insights Through User InterviewsSusan Mercer
User interviews are a great technique for getting to know your target audience. However, sometimes people don’t feel comfortable answering questions from a researcher completely honestly. Other times they don’t know how to articulate exactly what they need, want, or feel.
We will examine research from psychology and market research to understand techniques for interviews to help you uncover insights beyond people’s superficial answers. We’ll explore conversation theory, projective techniques such as image associations, collaging, and others to encourage participants to share their stories. You'll learn to uncover hidden, actionable insights to fuel your designs.
Tales from the Wonder Emporium: Visual and Creative Thinking in BusinessKelsey Ruger
Explore the power of Passion, Imagination, Creativity, Exploration, and Experimentation in your Organization. Visual thinking is the hallmark of creativity, and visual learners usually gravitate towards creative professions like art, design, architecture, computer programming, graphics, animation, and physics. But understanding the power of Visual and Creative Thinking can have huge impacts on your company's ability to innovate, effectively communicate with customers and remain competitive in a swiftly changing world.
An end to end design thinking exercise. An inclusive activity for the whole team to participate. From designers, to researchers, to engineers and product managers.
Understanding design thinking in practice: a qualitative study of design led ...Zaana Jaclyn
PhD dissertation.
Abstract
Design thinking is a collaborative and human centred approach to solving problems. Over the past decade design thinking has evolved considerably, particularly with regard to innovation within the sectors of design and business. Despite this sharp rise to popularity there remains limited understanding of how design thinking is applied in practice and little empirical investigation into this subject. Without this understanding further informed application and development of the approach will be hampered.
The ‘design led professional’ is an individual who uses design approaches in their work practices whose education and experience however may not necessarily be in design. The central aim of this thesis is to understand how the ‘design led professional’ applies design thinking in practice with large organisations where the focus is on designing intangible products such as systems, services and experiences. The thesis addresses the research problem through the exploration of the question: How does the design led professional understand and enact design thinking in practice? This question is explored within the context of the design led professional working with large organisations.
A qualitative research approach was adopted, which involved ethnographic methods of semi structured interviews, artefact analysis and participant observation. Data was collected across three studies: an expert interview study, a retrospective case study and a participatory case study. The constant comparative grounded theory method was used to analyse and synthesise data.
Research findings, contextualised within relevant literature, reveal the composition of design thinking in practice: as constrained by the approach taken in applying design thinking; the maturity of the design led professional and the environment in which design thinking is conducted.
On this basis two models are proposed in the conclusion as a foundation for further application and development. The first presents a scale of design thinking maturity based upon two perspectives of design thinking as a way of work and a way of life. The second model maps the interdependent relationship between the three components of design thinking in practice of the approach, the design led professional and the environment in which it is conducted.
The evidence generated through this research provides a framework to assist the public and those who practice design thinking to better understand and articulate design thinking. In addition it provides a foundation for further empirical research that explores the realistic application of design thinking in practice and the critical role of the design led professional.
Centre for Entrepreneurship (C4E) of the University of Cyprus and Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (ICE) present the:
Why are some designs better than others, and what can you do about it? (The workshop)
If you've ever described a poster as heavy, a website as dense, an app as clumsy or an object as whimsical, you probably already know the answer. Recent psychology research is showing that experiential metaphors are key emotional drivers that impact our perception of the world. Applying these findings to design confirms what designers have learned throughout their careers—good design is subconscious first and rational second. Michael will share stories from this research and the IDEO portfolio then share tools to help you be more consciously subconscious.
Psychotherapy Networker Symposium 2015 Create Your Private PracticeKate McNulty
Slideshow I presented at the 2015 Psychotherapy Networker Symposium in Washington DC. Describes how private practitioners can use visual imagery to clarify their goals. Develop a business mindset while helping more clients.
Building Character: Creating Consistent Experiences With Design Principles- ...Mad*Pow
Inconsistency is one of the most common points of breakdown and frustration in the interactions and experiences we have. Whether we’re interacting with other people, applications, our bank, our doctor, our government, anyone, we form expectations and understandings of what someone or something will do based on our previous experiences and their past behaviors. When something happens that doesn’t fit with those expectations–that seems out of character–we’re caught off guard. What do we do next? What should we expect now?
Principles act as rules that guide how we think and act. Formed by our motivations, values, and beliefs, we use them as “lenses” through which we examine information in order to make decisions on what to do. And because of their persistent influence on our behavior, they influence other’s views and expectations of us. Using these same kinds of constructs throughout the design process we can design interactions and consistent behaviors that set and live up to expectations for our audiences.
Design Thinking for Startups - Are You Design Driven?Amir Khella
This presentation provides some best practices and tools to help small business entrepreneurs and startup founders in creating a culture of innovation.
Whether you're working on a web 2.0, iPhone or a physical gadget, these simple practices are universally applicable.
***Note****
I will be running a webinar in October 2009 to expand on the points mentioned in this presentation, study design thinking use cases and stories and answer questions. Please leave a comment and follow the discussion, or follow @amirkhella on twitter to get notified about the webinar.
In this presentation we explore the link between business need and customer need and how to innovate (and remove business problems or discover business opportunities) through persona creation and Design Thinking
Diving Deep: Uncovering Hidden Insights Through User InterviewsSusan Mercer
User interviews are a great technique for getting to know your target audience. However, sometimes people don’t feel comfortable answering questions from a researcher completely honestly. Other times they don’t know how to articulate exactly what they need, want, or feel.
We will examine research from psychology and market research to understand techniques for interviews to help you uncover insights beyond people’s superficial answers. We’ll explore conversation theory, projective techniques such as image associations, collaging, and others to encourage participants to share their stories. You'll learn to uncover hidden, actionable insights to fuel your designs.
6 steps to creating a Social Media StrategyJulian Cole
Pay with a tweet to download the presentation - goo.gl/5Jw21
This presentation is part of the Skillshare class I taught on 'Creating a great Social Media Strategy'. I am teaching 'A crash course in Digital Strategy' on February 11th. You can sign up to the online course for $20 - http://skl.sh/VOj2ol
50 planners to watch in 2014 - The Planning SalonJulian Cole
Twitter list of the 50 Planners - https://twitter.com/emma_hines/top-50-planners/members
thanks @emma_hines and @E_for_M
50 planners to watch in 2014 was picked by The Planning Salon.The list is a mix of the top planning talent from across the globe as well as the next generation of planners. The list has diverse mix of planners from big markets like London and New York to emerging markets like Athens and Cape Town.
The Planning Salon is a platform for all planners around the world to meet and learn from our industry's greatest minds. It was started in 2013 to showcase some of the biggest stars of the industry, guests such as Gareth Kay, Rob Campbell and Heather LeFevre. Check out the interviews here; http://theplanningsalon.com/
To truly practice what we preach, we have decided to begin measuring how we score on our own rubric. We're looking for other orgs to help us validate this as a product and help us define some benchmarks. More details at Responsive.org.
Rick James Model for selling innovative ideasJulian Cole
This is a model that should be helpful in selling in innovative/non-traditional ideas that are usually quite hard to sell to clients/bosses.
@juliancole
You can now download the presentation directly from Slideshare.
Here are 17 of the best free online tools for Digital Strategists to help cultivate killer insights on consumers, competitors and the industry. In this toolbox we you will find how to use each tool with an example insight drawn for the client, as well as each of their benefits and limitations.
The tools helps to conduct Consumer Research, Category Research, Discourse Analysis and Environmental analysis.
You can now download the presentation directly from Slideshare.
*Disclaimer this is just my imaginary example of a Comms Plan for the Puma work and not the actual strategy that was created by Droga5 for Puma. I had nothing to do with that plan and am just a fan of their work.
What is Comms Planning? is a presentation that provides a clear answer of the role of the Comms Planner within an Advertising Agency. I use the example of the Puma Social campaign to prove the point.
Digital Strategy 101 is an overview of the current state of digital strategy and an exploration of core concepts, deliverables, and thought-leaders relevant to young practitioners.
How I Use Mind Mapping to Help De-Clutter My Brain
What is Mind Mapping?
I define it as a tool for decluttering your brain. Some people would describe its function as more of a brainstorming or organizing tool. Really though, it’s both. It’s a highly effective method for getting thoughts onto paper in a way that makes sense for you.
Because the fine details of your mind mapping process and results are always unique, it’s pretty much universally helpful, whatever your personality type.
The amazing thing about mind mapping is that it uses both the creative and the logical sides of your brain, and brings them into harmony!
Source: https://redandhoney.com/use-mind-mapping-help-declutter-brain/
These slides summarize the Designing Your Life book by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. Dr. Kristin Palmer led a workshop walking through big ideas in the book sharing templates and tools for helping people to design a live they can love. You can reach Dr. Palmer through http://www.CentralOregonLifeCoach.com.
How To Start Kindle Publishing - How to instantly write at least 2,000 words ...Kindle Publishing Tips
How To Start Kindle Publishing - I will take you by the hand and show you step-by-step how you can finally make a killing just by selling Kindle e-books that will generate passive income, month after month.
My website: http://bit.ly/2NdEAyb
How To Publish A Book On Amazon - How to instantly write at least 2,000 words...Kindle Publishing Tips
How To Publish A Book On Amazon - I will take you by the hand and show you step-by-step how you can finally make a killing just by selling Kindle e-books that will generate passive income, month after month.
My website: http://bit.ly/2NdEAyb
[Faitau] (PDF) How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better ChoicesEphraimYates
Through a blend of compelling exercises, illustrations, and stories, the bestselling author of Thinking in Bets will train you to combat your own biases, address your weaknesses, and help you become a better and more confident decision-maker.
What do you do when you're faced with a big decision? If you're like most people, you probably make a pro and con list, spend a lot of time obsessing about decisions that didn't work out, get caught in analysis paralysis, endlessly seek other people's opinions to find just that little bit of extra information that might make you sure, and finally go with your gut.What if there was a better way to make quality decisions so you can think clearly, feel more confident, second-guess yourself less, and ultimately be more decisive and be more productive?Making good decisions doesn't have to be a series of endless guesswork. Rather, it's a teachable skill that anyone can sharpen. In How to Decide, bestselling author Annie Duke and former professional poker player lays out a series of tools anyone can use to make better decisions. You'll learn:- To identify and dismantle hidden biases. - To extract the highest quality feedback from those whose advice you seek. - To more accurately identify the influence of luck in the outcome of your decisions. - When to decide fast, when to decide slow, and when to decide in advance. - To make decisions that more effectively help you to realize your goals and live your values.Through interactive exercises and engaging thought experiments, this book helps you analyze key decisions you've made in the past and troubleshoot those you're making in the future. Whether you're picking investments, evaluating a job offer, or trying to figure out your romantic life, How to Decide is the key to happier outcomes and fewer regrets. .
A Planner's Playbook - Everything I learned about planning at Miami Ad School...Sytse Kooistra
After being in advertising for 4 years, I needed some new guidance and inspiration as a strategist. And that is exactly what I found: I spent the summer of 2013 with 17 other (soon to be) planners from all over the world attending the Account Planning Bootcamp at Miami Ad School New York.
Thanks to the 38 industry heroes and instructors that shared their knowledge and coached us in those 3 months, I learned more than I ever could imagine about planning.
'A Planner's Playbook' is my attempt to summarize all that wisdom in 30 short nuggets (or plays, to stick with the metaphor of a playbook) and share it with you. I left out all the difficult frameworks and models and kept in simple by just stating, in my opinion (and in that of my instructors), what a planner should be and do.
Enjoy reading.
7 useful tools to achieve your writing goalsghostwriters
Here is a list of most useful tools that can come in handy for the writers who wish to achieve their writing goals in the desired time limits. The best tools that can be used for various sort of writing from academic writing, research paper writing, term paper and even essay writing etc. to help the writers may that be a professional write, or a normal scholar seeking help in writing research paper.. this can be useful in working this out on time and achieve your writing goals. Read to find out how...
Ringling College of Art & Design: Content and Social MediaAutumn Sullivan
Had a wonderful conversation with students from Ringling College of Art & Design. What is, and what isn't, content, tips on strategy and creation, and how social media marketing works (and how it doesn't).
You will never get to your place of purpose by living in chaos.
There is no such thing as an organized mess! According to
experts, a cluttered home equals a cluttered life. Studies prove
that once you get your home in order, everything else will start
to fall into place. Let me give you some alarming statistics. The
average person spends 60 hours per year looking for lost items.
That equals 150 days throughout a lifetime! Just think of what
you could do with 150 additional days!
A global qualitative study was held with people in 11 countries to find out what they thought about the January 2017 women's march.
The study was conducted by Think Global Qualitative, a global network of senior qualitative specialists.
A 90 minute workshop on how to build a stronger professional profile that will help you get more business. This presentation was customized for a group of independent qualitative research professionals, but can be customized for your group.
There is an accompanying worksheet that goes with the presentation, which attendees use to create an individual ONE PAGE plan of action. This has been our most requested material, and audiences find it entertaining and inspiring!
Presentation slides for AQR-QRCA Worldwide Conference on Qualitative REsearch, Prague, 2010.
Based on expert interviews.
A detailed paper is also available for download here (scan the other presentations)
I interviewed the experts in MROCs -- here's what I learned from them, and presented to a professional conference in Prague in 2010.
This is the detailed paper that accompanied the presentation.
An idea I'm working on to modify and expand TRIZ inventive principles to suit innovation in management, customer experience and marketing challenges (the areas where I help clients with insight and innovation).
| First presented at MindCamp 2009 as a Pecha Kucha.
| Images were purchased from iStockphoto.
To segment effectively, you need to understand what drives the segments, not just how to measure them. That's where qualitative insight comes in.
Please credit the author if you use the material. Some images are subject to copyright.
If it's going to work, you need to involve people outside the marketing function. Actually, you have a change management project on your hands. See why.
Please credit the author if you use the material. Some images are subject to copyright.
Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit and TemplatesAurelien Domont, MBA
This Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit was created by ex-McKinsey, Deloitte and BCG Management Consultants, after more than 5,000 hours of work. It is considered the world's best & most comprehensive Digital Transformation and IT Strategy Toolkit. It includes all the Frameworks, Best Practices & Templates required to successfully undertake the Digital Transformation of your organization and define a robust IT Strategy.
Editable Toolkit to help you reuse our content: 700 Powerpoint slides | 35 Excel sheets | 84 minutes of Video training
This PowerPoint presentation is only a small preview of our Toolkits. For more details, visit www.domontconsulting.com
An introduction to the cryptocurrency investment platform Binance Savings.Any kyc Account
Learn how to use Binance Savings to expand your bitcoin holdings. Discover how to maximize your earnings on one of the most reliable cryptocurrency exchange platforms, as well as how to earn interest on your cryptocurrency holdings and the various savings choices available.
Enterprise Excellence is Inclusive Excellence.pdfKaiNexus
Enterprise excellence and inclusive excellence are closely linked, and real-world challenges have shown that both are essential to the success of any organization. To achieve enterprise excellence, organizations must focus on improving their operations and processes while creating an inclusive environment that engages everyone. In this interactive session, the facilitator will highlight commonly established business practices and how they limit our ability to engage everyone every day. More importantly, though, participants will likely gain increased awareness of what we can do differently to maximize enterprise excellence through deliberate inclusion.
What is Enterprise Excellence?
Enterprise Excellence is a holistic approach that's aimed at achieving world-class performance across all aspects of the organization.
What might I learn?
A way to engage all in creating Inclusive Excellence. Lessons from the US military and their parallels to the story of Harry Potter. How belt systems and CI teams can destroy inclusive practices. How leadership language invites people to the party. There are three things leaders can do to engage everyone every day: maximizing psychological safety to create environments where folks learn, contribute, and challenge the status quo.
Who might benefit? Anyone and everyone leading folks from the shop floor to top floor.
Dr. William Harvey is a seasoned Operations Leader with extensive experience in chemical processing, manufacturing, and operations management. At Michelman, he currently oversees multiple sites, leading teams in strategic planning and coaching/practicing continuous improvement. William is set to start his eighth year of teaching at the University of Cincinnati where he teaches marketing, finance, and management. William holds various certifications in change management, quality, leadership, operational excellence, team building, and DiSC, among others.
In the Adani-Hindenburg case, what is SEBI investigating.pptxAdani case
Adani SEBI investigation revealed that the latter had sought information from five foreign jurisdictions concerning the holdings of the firm’s foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in relation to the alleged violations of the MPS Regulations. Nevertheless, the economic interest of the twelve FPIs based in tax haven jurisdictions still needs to be determined. The Adani Group firms classed these FPIs as public shareholders. According to Hindenburg, FPIs were used to get around regulatory standards.
Affordable Stationery Printing Services in Jaipur | Navpack n PrintNavpack & Print
Looking for professional printing services in Jaipur? Navpack n Print offers high-quality and affordable stationery printing for all your business needs. Stand out with custom stationery designs and fast turnaround times. Contact us today for a quote!
Personal Brand Statement:
As an Army veteran dedicated to lifelong learning, I bring a disciplined, strategic mindset to my pursuits. I am constantly expanding my knowledge to innovate and lead effectively. My journey is driven by a commitment to excellence, and to make a meaningful impact in the world.
Improving profitability for small businessBen Wann
In this comprehensive presentation, we will explore strategies and practical tips for enhancing profitability in small businesses. Tailored to meet the unique challenges faced by small enterprises, this session covers various aspects that directly impact the bottom line. Attendees will learn how to optimize operational efficiency, manage expenses, and increase revenue through innovative marketing and customer engagement techniques.
Putting the SPARK into Virtual Training.pptxCynthia Clay
This 60-minute webinar, sponsored by Adobe, was delivered for the Training Mag Network. It explored the five elements of SPARK: Storytelling, Purpose, Action, Relationships, and Kudos. Knowing how to tell a well-structured story is key to building long-term memory. Stating a clear purpose that doesn't take away from the discovery learning process is critical. Ensuring that people move from theory to practical application is imperative. Creating strong social learning is the key to commitment and engagement. Validating and affirming participants' comments is the way to create a positive learning environment.
3. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 3
What’s Inside
I’ve been working with clients big and small for a long time.
And I’ve learned a lot about how to get qualitative research that really rocks. Jaw-
dropping insights that help people move ahead, rethink, create, and solve problems. In
short, what we might call actionable insight.
I want all my work to have actionable insights. And the only way you get there is to have
clear objectives at the start.
Some of my clients are very sophisticated marketers and are also pretty sophisticated in
how they buy marketing research. They have multi-page research briefings that they
send out to suppliers like me. Perhaps you are trying to draft a document like that, and
you need a place to start. This book will help you.
Perhaps you just have a problem facing your company that is not well defined. You think
some research might help. This book will help you, too.
If we don’t have clear objectives, there’s no way we’re getting actionable insights, and my
client – or you – is going to spend a bunch of money getting something that won’t help.
They will not feel excited about the work at the end of the project. They might think they
wasted money. This is not my idea of how to build loyal clients.
So I don’t let that happen, and neither should you.
4. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 4
Instead, I developed some tools so I can sit down with people and work through what
they are really trying to do. I’ve made the tools as painless as possible. Fun even. Because
I like it that way, and because it gets better results.
I’d love to be able to sit down with you so we could talk about your objectives. I’d ask
you a bunch of questions to help you get your ideas straight. Then I’d offer a few
thoughts of my own. We might go for coffee. In short order, we’d be done. Then I would
have a basis for developing a research plan.
Since I can’t do that, I’m going to give you the workbook I use. With a few things added,
because I’m not in the room.
You might be able to use this tool to plan quantitative research – the statistics and survey
kind of research – and feel free to use it that way. But it isn’t really designed for that. It’s
designed to help you plan what I call the squishy stuff – qualitative research, insight
research.
Along the way we’ll do a quick check of whether you actually need qualitative insights
(squishy stuff) or in fact would be better off with some kind of a survey.
This planning tool will not give you a research design.
But you will have clear objectives, you will have thought about what you could do with
the insights when you get them, and you will have some ideas about direction and
methodology.
5. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 5
How to Use This Painless Insight Planning Tool
I’m guessing that you’re reading this knowing you need to get a plan together.
May I suggest you print off a few pages to have ready while you read this on your screen.
To reduce paper use, just print off these pages: 6, 8, 9, 10, 14,
17, and 18.
Then you will have the sheets you need to doodle on, write on,
brainstorm on, and finally fill in. This e-book is formatted to easily Why the shapes and
fit your computer screen. When you print the pages, you will have colors?
lots of white space to work with.
Colors and doodles
My advice is to get some colored pens,
help people be
highlighters, sticky notes and anything
creative and non-
else that will make this feel like fun
linear. This is a good
and help you release your creative
thing in the
juices. If using sticky notes helps you
beginning. It’s all in
get past mental barriers, feel free to
support of
do that, too.
painlessness.
And grab a beverage of your choice. Now let’s get started.
6. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 6
WHAT GOT YOU THINKING
That you need insight research?
Jot down everything that comes to mind … or scribble it on a bunch of sticky notes and
stick them on this page.
7. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 7
STUCK?
See if any of this prompts an idea
Sales are down/Market share is down/A new competitor is eating our lunch
We just launched a product and it’s flopping
We want to expand/launch into new markets
Staff are leaving/No one wants to work here/We need to attract the right kind of people
Customers are leaving/Customers aren’t coming to us/We seem to be getting a lot of
complaints
Public opinion is poor and it’s affecting ___________________
We think we’re good but we want to be better so that _____________________
We want to come up with new product ideas so that _______________________
We need to cut product costs, but we don’t want to lose share/customers as a result
Something weird is happening, and we don’t know why/and we think it might be an
opportunity/problem
Go back to Page 6 and add anything that’s missing
8. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 8
WHAT ELSE
Do you know about this problem, challenge or situation?
Do you have some guesses or hypotheses about what is going on? Do other people have
pet theories, even if you think they are wrong-headed thinking? Write that stuff down
here.
Who to ask?
You might need to
ask the business
leader about some
of this.
9. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 9
BRAINSTORM EVERY QUESTION
What is every single thing you would like to know about this situation?
Write it all down. You’ll probably need another page.
10. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 10
HOW MIGHT YOU ACT
On this information if you had the answers?
Realistically, what actions or decisions are possible or available to you if you had
answers to all your questions? Would you change your communications? Reposition the
brand? Close down a division? Drop a product? Redesign packaging? Launch a new
product? Create a training program?
We could…
If you can’t act on
the information,
then it’s a nice-to-
know, not a need-to-
know. Nice-to-know
is best for blue-sky
type projects where
you want to create
something
completely new. Not
so good for solving
problems.
11. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 11
IF YOU HAD PERFECT INFORMATION
What is it worth?
This is a tricky one, so let me explain.
Let’s say you are Kraft or Coca-Cola or Bank of America and you are about to launch a
new product into the market. The cost of launching a failure could be many millions of
dollars. The rewards of a success are also many millions of dollars. So it’s worth some
money to get it right.
Or let’s say you have a product in the market not doing so well. You want research to
turn that situation around. If the revenue line is $1 million, how much bigger could it
conceivably be as a result of this new insight? And what’s the profit on that increase?
You see what I’m getting at here?
You’d be shocked how many people don’t give this a lot of thought. Even really smart
business people. But you need to know how much profit there will be from the new
insight. You need to have some idea of what it is worth to answer your questions.
Are the answers going to help you save money somehow? For example:
employee research is often conducted to reduce employee turnover, or to ensure
employees can be happy and work effectively.
Could you spend the money you are already spending more wisely? Or could you
be getting better results from the money you are spending? This is often a reason
to conduct research on advertising or other communications.
12. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 12
Are the answers going to help you find new customers, or build new sources of
revenue?
Are you trying to decide whether to launch a new product feature that will cost
money, but might make your product more appealing?
Are the answers going to help you reverse a decline in revenue?
Are you seeking insight at the fuzzy front end of innovation – insights that will
help your organization think up some new ideas for the future?
After you do the research, you are not likely done spending money. You might need your
advertising agency to do some work for you. You might need to buy media. You might
need to create a training program. At some level, you will have more work to do, and this
work will likely involve spending some money.
This is why I created the 10 times value rule.
Let me explain.
13. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 13
THE 10 TIMES VALUE RULE
Let’s say you have a $1 million revenue line. And you think there’s potential for another
$300,000 of sales if you have better messaging.
Divide that number by 10.
You would not want to spend more than about $30,000 solving that problem, would you?
Maybe a little more, maybe a little less, depending on how much additional expense you
have after the research is done. You would also want to consider how long the changes
are likely to have an impact. In slow-moving markets, perhaps you are good to go for a
few years. In fast-moving markets, you might need to reassess annually.
Let’s try another one.
Let’s say you are a major pharmaceutical manufacturer. Maybe you make a proprietary
drug with sales of $500 million annually in the United States alone. And you think you
can move your share of market from 50 per cent to 52 per cent with the right messaging.
Well, that would be worth $20 million in revenue. So you can afford to do pretty amazing
research to get to that solution.
Perhaps you have a different kind of challenge.
Maybe you have an employee turnover problem. What is it costing you today? How much
could you reduce that cost?
The 10 times value rule is just to get some kind of sense of scale.
14. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 14
WHAT’S IT WORTH
To find the answers?
So, let’s take a stab at the question again.
If you had really great information, and you could act on it effectively, what’s it worth to
you? Would you save money? Avoid making an expensive mistake?
Try to put a number or a range on this amount.
What’s the upside worth?
Divide by 10. Tweak a little.
Put a range of values here
How big is the total
picture?
What’s the downside savings
or risk of mistake?
15. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 15
WHO KNOWS
Who has the answers, if we ask the right questions?
OK. No more numbers! Now we want to brainstorm about who can give us insight into
our questions.
Maybe it is high-value customers or loyal customers. They know what they love
about us.
Maybe it is former users. They know why they left and what they are doing now.
Maybe it is people who use the competitor product.
Maybe it is the tax advisors that make recommendations to our customers, or the
IT specialists who decide purchasing specifications, but don’t make the final
purchase decision.
Consider users who don’t make buying decisions. For example: ticket agents at
the airport use the ticketing terminal, but they are unlikely to be the buyer of the
terminal.
Consider buyers who don’t use. For example: mothers buy products for their
families that they may not use themselves, such as sweet cereals and shaving
cream.
It could be people at different points of a process. For example: thinking about
buying a house, actively looking for a house, or just moved into a new house.
Perhaps you already have market segments based on attitudes or behavior. Such
as, people who use electronic stock trading systems; people who go into bank
branches to make deposits; people who value status brands; people who never
pay full retail.
16. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 16
Think hard about who knows about this challenge, either because they are an expert,
(field sales, technical support team), or because they are in a consumer segment.
Are they mostly in one place? Are they all over the country or all over the world?
Do we know them by name, because they are on a customer/former customer/prospect
list?
This information is usually really critical in getting good
research. The research target also has a big impact on the
cost of the research. So it is important to think a bit about
this before you even talk to the researcher. And then to get
them to think about it as well, and help you refine it. I once ran a demonstration project
where the research participants
You can get started on the next worksheet, on page 17. were not a good sample, when the
topic was cell-phones. The findings
came out weird. Since it was a pro-
bono project and I owned the data,
I wrote it up on the Customer
Crossroads Blog: Listening Right
and Listening Wrong. Click here.
19. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 19
Pulling It All Together
This is where all your good brainstorming work is going to pay off.
Now that you have thought things through and made lots of good notes, you will find it a
lot easier to see what is missing, and what your real priorities are. Here’s where your
highlighters are going to come in handy.
You have what you need to create a research brief.
As you develop the brief – starting
on the next page – use your
highlighters and marking pens to
identify priorities, add anything
missing, cross out things that
seem less important, and help you
organize your thoughts.
20. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 20
THE RESEARCH BRIEF
Background
Look at your notes from Page 6. This is the background
situation. Add in the hypotheses about what is going on
from Page 8. Depending on your situation, you might
need only a paragraph, or you might need several, to
give another person the relevant information. You’ve done some hard thinking. So
as a BONUS, I have created a nice
little template for you in Word that
Business objectives you can use to create the
RESEARCH BRIEF, using the
Business objectives are often the reverse of the
problem. If sales are down, you want to increase sales. headings that are here.
If turnover is high, you want turnover to go down. Click to download a ZIP file or get
Business objectives are not what you are going to learn, Word document unzipped.
they are the result of successful learning and
implementation. Alternative download sites: ZIP file
format here and here for unzipped
These should be one or two bullet points. If it is more
Word 97-2003 file.
than this, you probably have marketing objectives up
here.
21. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 21
Marketing objectives
Your notes from Page 10 will help you figure out the marketing objectives.
The marketing objectives (or perhaps operational objectives, for an internal project) are
the goals for the project, but not the business outcomes. It might be a package design,
new advertising, a successful product launch. It is going to be something actionable. So
use action words.
These are the things that are going to happen after you get the research. And they are
going to lead to the business objectives.
Research objectives
Your notes from Page 9 are a starting point here. And your notes from Page 18 will help
you refine this list. You might want to start by highlighting the most important stuff from
Page 9.
It’s OK to have a huge list of things you would like to know. But you have to set priorities.
What is going to get you to those marketing objectives? Those are your priorities.
Everything else is a nice-to-have.
Remember that this is a starting point. Your researcher will help you refine what is
possible, and may think of some things you haven’t thought of. This is OK. The brief is a
starting point.
22. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 22
Research target
Create a bullet list of the target groups. There are usually a few, so you can compare and
contrast views. Use your notes from Page 17 to do this.
These are the people who can get you to the research objectives. If they can’t, you need
to rethink the target.
You don’t need to specify how many people you want to study, although you can. It’s a
good idea to note as much information about demographics as you have. For example, if
the primary users of your product are men over the age of 55 living in rural areas, you
want to say this.
Budget
Page 14 has the budget range for the project.
Sometimes clients don’t give the supplier a range for the budget. This usually means your
researcher spends time creating multiple options for the budget he or she imagines you
might have. And they might miss the mark completely, because they don’t know how big
or small this problem is.
It is very frustrating to be asked to build a sophisticated research plan and then learn
that only a very small budget is available.
23. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 23
You might think that supplier frustration is not your problem. But reputation does
matter. And it ultimately affects the willingness of good people to work for you and your
organization. Great clients get great work.
A better approach is to ask them what options they can suggest within a range you
provide.
Timing
You may be planning this project for some months in the future. For example, if you want
to research ice cream you might want to wait for warm weather when more people are
thinking about ice cream.
On the other hand, if you are doing creative testing of your Super Bowl advertising, there
is not a lot of flexibility in your schedule.
It’s also helpful to note what date you would like a response, and when you will make a
decision.
Congratulations! You are done!
24. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 24
DO YOU NEED
A method section?
Some people think you should put in a section identifying the research method you want
to use. You can add this if you wish, but I recommend asking for recommendations and
options based on your objectives.
There are many options available to you in qualitative research projects. I have
summarized the main ones on my web site, here:
http://www.abbottresearch.com/qualitativeResearch.htm
If you have thoughts about what you want and why, by all means say so.
For example: you may know that a purchase is influenced by the opinions of others. This
might lead you to want a format that allows for group discussion and influence. Your
target group might be scattered across a wide geography. This might lead you to
consider an online approach.
But leave the door open for suggestions for improvements or alternatives, or you are
unlikely to hear about potentially better ideas.
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DO YOU NEED
Qualitative (squishy) or Quantitative (statistical)?
Once you have put together your objectives, you can review whether you really do need
qualitative research – what I am calling insight research. Or whether you actually need a
survey or some similar type of quantitative research.
Where Qualitative Excels Where Quantitative Excels
Generate new hypotheses and insights How many people share a given view or
attitude
Gather insights into behavior
What attitudes are most likely to be
Rich details and context
expressed by a given group i.e. correlations
What the belief systems are related to
Cluster groups based on their responses to
behavior
questions i.e. segmentation
How people use your product/service
Find out the size of a market
The language and metaphors that relate to
Numbers, percentages, statistics
your product or brand
Projectable to a larger market
The why behind the what
26. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 26
Note that both the approaches shown are scientific. Observation is the oldest scientific
method known, and has served humanity and science very well.
But a scientific survey using good statistical sampling methods is projectable to a larger
population. Qualitative is not projectable in that sense – the 19 times out of 20 kind of
sense.
A third approach, not discussed here, is causative research. For that you need an
experimental approach. It’s not impossible to do in marketing research, but it is less
common. Neither of the methods above will actually prove causation. They may point to
it, but that’s not the same thing.
27. Painless Insight Planning Susan Abbott 27
Now What?
Now you are in a position to have a really great conversation with a handful of selected
suppliers. Two or three is all you need. Or just one that is your trusted research partner.
You give them your brief and you ask them to give you some good ideas about how best
to address the challenges. Seek options and alternatives. Then ask why these methods
are being recommended as the best approach for your needs.
You might be pleasantly surprised by the ideas that come back to you.
You can find good marketing researchers all over the place, but I do recommend
checking out the directories for marketing research professionals in your country. In
particular, I am a fan of the Qualitative Research Consultants Association, the worldwide
association of qualitative professionals that specialize in squishy insights. www.qrca.org
And if you want to find me, that’s also easy.
Susan Abbott
susan@abbottresearch.com
Thanks for reading. I hope this was helpful to you. Please send me your suggestions for
improvement.