What Top Software Firms Have to Teach

Market Researchers

Matt Warta

CEO & Co-Founder,

GutCheck

@mwarta

Jeffrey Henning

President

ResearchScape

@jhenning

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• This session will be recorded and sent out to all attendees

• Presentation time will be kept to ~30 minutes

• We’ll have time for Q&A at the end

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House Keeping Items

@gutcheckit

#AgileMarketResearch

Please Tweet and Join!

Join the ‘Agile Market Research’ group on LinkedIn

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1. Is Agile Market Research at a tipping point?

2. What is Agile Market Research and how does it

create value?

3. What research areas can Agile Market Research be

applied?

4. How have customers applied Agile Market Research?

5. How can I get started?

Key Questions to Answer Today

5

In 2011, we witnessed innovative customers using

us in an “agile way”

Interviews:

48 in-depth interviews up to 45

minutes each; testing 10 different

concepts with multiple aspects

Iterations: 5x

Completion Time:

2 days to complete all interviews

Audience Interviewed:

Females ages 25-54, income over

$40k, employed, homemaker or

student, and use liquid dish soap 5+

times per week

In 2012, leading companies start

heading this direction

In late 2012 at TMRE, GutCheck partners with P&G to

discuss Agile Market Research and its implications on

market research

More people are talking about Agile Market

Research…this is a good thing

2013 2014

Still lack of understanding

What the heck is

Agile Market

Research?

Bob Lederer

Business Research Report

http://www.rflonline.com

GutCheck writes the eBook on Agile MR

What is this process?

Software Development Process Pre-Agile (2001)

Waterfall Approach

Objectives

Deliverable

Design

Implement

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Traditional Software Development Process

Challenges in Software: • Months long, expensive process

• Steps occur in sequence

• After objectives (requirements)

determined, little customer feedback

• Oftentimes, the most important insights

come post Deliverable

"The waterfall method amounts

to a pledge by all parties not to

learn anything while doing the

actual work.”

- Clay Shirkey, Author and NYU

Distinguished Writer in Residence

Objectives

Deliverable

Design

Implement

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What’s the Process Top Software Firms Use?

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Solution: Agile Software Development

Agile Tenets: • Satisfy Customer through early and

continuous delivery

• Recognition of missing knowledge

• Each sprint / iteration 2 – 3 weeks

• Customer-provided feedback shapes

the next iteration

• Results in market optimal products

Deliverable

Design

Implement Feedback Design

Implement Feedback Design

Implement

Objectives

2 – 3 weeks

Iteration 1 …

2 – 3 weeks

Iteration n

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“Today, 88% of organizations use Agile techniques.”1

And they are reporting great benefits2:

Sources: 1 2013 VersionOne study (3,500 software developers) 2 2013 Standish Group study (database of nearly 50,000 IT projects)

Adapted to Changing Priorities

92% Increased

Productivity

87%

Faster Time-to-Market

83% Enhanced

Quality

82%

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Traditional Product or

Creative Development Process

Challenges: • Weeks- or months-long, expensive process

• Steps occur in sequence

• After objectives (requirements) determined,

little customer feedback

• Oftentimes, the most important insights come

after validation testing or post-launch Objectives

Deliverable

Design

Implement

Validation or norms-based testing

becomes the “one shot on goal” to get

the product or creative right. If it’s off,

then more time / budget is lost going

through the process again.

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Agile Market Research

USES

• Segmentation

• Brand Tracking

• Competitive Intel

• Exploration

• Co-creation

• Product Innovation

• Copy / Creative

• Shopper Insights

• PR / Social Media

Deliverable

Weeks (if norms-based testing)

$ or $$$

Days

$

Days

$

Research Time

Research Cost

Design &

Implement Feedback Design &

Implement Feedback Design &

Implement

Objectives

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1. Speed: Ability to complete studies – Recruit to Report – in a few

days or less

2. Specific: On demand segmentation….no pre built panels

3. Iteration = Accuracy: Ability, mindset and tools required to take

an iterative approach that drives quality

• Tools: on demand, and hybrid toolset (e.g., quant and qual)

4. Budget friendly: Extends your research dollar v. other

techniques

5. Focused: Answering the critical few within specific research

areas

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Criteria for Picking an Agile Research Vendor

Agile Tools

• Real-time In-depth

Interviews

• On-demand

Communities

• On-demand Surveys

• Micro-surveys

• Mobile Studies

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Agile Researcher’s Toolkit

Commonalities

1. Extremely time

& cost efficient

2. Integrated

recruitment

3. Comparable

quality to other

digital tools

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PR Crisis and Communications Refinement

Results

Research Time = 3 weeks

Feedback Design &

Implement Feedback Design &

Implement

Ran GCS Survey

to understand

awareness

High awareness

but not spreading

IRCs to track

sentiment and

develop/refine

communications

(5 Iterations)

Unchanging

sentiment, and

feedback to refine

communications

Consumer-led mash-

up of

communications and

validation in market

Objectives Understand general awareness of credible challenge to key marketing

claim; and develop communications to address the challenge

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Business Opportunity Identification

Profile of current

usage of broad

category of web

sites by state

Design &

Implement

Objectives

Deliverable

Feedback

Objectives

Profile of usage

of narrow set of

web sites by

leading MSAs of

interest

Design &

Implement

Deliverable

Feedback

Deliverable

Feedback

Gap analysis of

where current

services fail to

meet expectations

Design &

Implement

Objectives

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Creative Screening and Refinement

Results

Research Time = 24 Hours

Feedback Design &

Implement Feedback Design &

Implement

Ran Survey to

assess key copy

measures

Strong but opportunities to

improve believability

20 In-Depth 1:1s to

understand how to

bolster believability

Prescriptive feedback on

areas to refine copy to

improve believability

Passed Action

Standard

Objectives Assess copy for new product launch by CoverGirl,

and provide feedback for refinement

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1. Stack hands on using Agile Market

Research upfront

Get a proof point

Get brand team and other

constituents (e.g., ad agency) on

board

Everyone wins

2. Gain insights from Agile Market Research

to enable collaboration

Quant as the diagnostic and Qual as

the prescription

Set up retrospectives to iterate on

learnings

3. Improve ideas, concepts, animatics, and

executions based on feedback (repeat 2 &

3 as needed)

Ready, Set, Go!

23 @gutcheckit #agilemarketresearch

Thank You! Any Questions?

Join the ‘Agile Market Research’ group on LinkedIn

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Matt Warta

CEO & Co-Founder

GutCheck

@mwarta

Jeffrey Henning

President

ResearchScape

@jhenning