PRIMARY MARKET RESEARCH SKILLS CLINICElaine Chen, Founder, ConceptSpring; Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management; Entrepreneur in Residence, Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship

WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO TODAY• 5 minute exercise• Crash course on PMR• Exercise 1: Detailed interview• Exercise 2: Card sorting• Exercise 3: Landing page• Discussion

5 MINUTE EXERCISE

• Name • What they do• What does “PMR” mean to them• What PMR have they done in the past,

and for what types of projects

SHARING!

WHY DO PRIMARY MARKET RESEARCH?

“THERE ARE NO FACTS INSIDETHE BUILDING, SO GET THE HECK OUTSIDE.”

Steve Blank

Entrepreneur, Author, Stanford Professor

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A QUICK PRIMER ON PRIMARY MARKET RESEARCH

QUALITATIVE VS QUANTITATIVEIm

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COMMON QUALITATIVE TECHNIQUES• Interviews• Observation / Shadowing• Immersion• Card sorting• …

Image credit: unbouncecom, facebook.com, istockphoto.com

COMMON QUALITATIVE TECHNIQUES• Interviews• Observation / Shadowing• Immersion• Card sorting• Focus groups• …

Image credit: unbouncecom, facebook.com, istockphoto.com

COMMON QUALITATIVE TECHNIQUES• Contextural Interviews• Observation / Shadowing• Immersion• Card sorting• Focus groups• …

Image credit: unbouncecom, facebook.com, istockphoto.com

COMMON QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES• On line surveys

• General interest• Purchase intent• Pricing studies• Customer satisfaction• …

• Digital experimentation• Landing pages• FB Ads / Google Adwords• …

Image credit: sachinrekhi.com, istockphoto.com

COMMON QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES• On line surveys

• General interest• Purchase intent• Pricing studies• Customer satisfaction• …

• Digital experimentation• Landing pages• FB Ads / Google Adwords• …

Image credit: sachinrekhi.com, istockphoto.com

A FEW TENETS

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NOT A SALES PITCH

LISTEN AND OBSERVE

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BE OPEN MINDED

IT’S OK TO #FAIL

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WHEN DO WE DO RESEARCH?

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STAGES OF A NEW VENTURE

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“Is there a there there?”

Understanding the customer

Developing the solution

Testing the go-to-market strategy

Testing the biz model & pricing

Measuring customer satisfaction

BEFORE AND AFTER

1 52 3 4 6

“Is there a there there?”

Understanding the customer

Developing the solution

Testing the go-to-market strategy

Testing the biz model & pricing

Measuring customer satisfaction

PROBLEM RESEARCH VERSUS SOLUTION RESEARCH

1 52 3 4 6

Understanding the customer

Developing the solution

Testing the go-to-market strategy

Testing the biz model & pricing

Measuring customer satisfaction

Problem research

Solution research

“Is there a there there?”

DIFFERENT TOOLS ARE BETTER AT ANSWERING DIFFERENT QUESTIONS

1 52 3 4 6

Understanding the customer

Developing the solution

Testing the go-to-market strategy

Testing the biz model

Measuring customer satisfaction

“Is there a there there?”

CASE STUDY: RETHINK ROBOTICS

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Defining the problem

Understanding the customer

Developing the solution

Testing the go-to-market strategy

Testing the biz model & pricing

Measuring customer satisfaction

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CLASSIC PROCESS FOR USER-CENTERED DESIGN

1 52 3 4 6

Understanding the customer

Developing the solution

Testing the go-to-market strategy

Testing the biz model

Measuring customer satisfaction

“Is there a there there?”

CASE STUDY: ZEO

1 52 3 4 6

Understanding the customer

Developing the solution

Testing the go-to-market strategy

Testing the biz model & pricing

Measuring customer satisfaction

“Is there a there there?”

QUALITATIVE BLENDS INTO QUANTITATIVE

1 52 3 4 6

Understanding the customer

Developing the solution

Testing the go-to-market strategy

Testing the biz model

Measuring customer satisfaction

“Is there a there there?”

CASE STUDY: ACCUMARK 3D33

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1 52 3 4 6

Understanding the customer

Developing the solution

Testing the go-to-market strategy

Testing the biz model & pricing

Measuring customer satisfaction

“Is there a there there?”

CALL TO ACTION:REGISTER FOR A WEBINAR

“CURRENCY”: PURCHASE INTENT VALIDATION• Pre MVP examples:

• Email address for wait list• Scheduled meeting with stakeholder• Letter of intent (LOI)• Preorder (Credit card – or issued PO)• …

• Post MVP examples• Paid beta• …

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1 52 3 4 6

Understanding the customer

Developing the solution

Testing the go-to-market strategy

Testing the biz model & pricing

Measuring customer satisfaction

“Is there a there there?”

USE EVERY TRICK TO ANSWER THIS BURNING QUESTION

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LET’S DO THIS!

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3 GO-TO TECHNIQUES WE WILL PRACTICE TODAY

Interviews Card sorting Landing pages

WORKSHOP 1: INTERVIEW

PRO-TIPS

• ”Tell me about the last time…”• “Tell me about how you…”• ”Tell me the story of…”• ”You said XXX. Tell me more?”• “Why?” | “Why not?”• …• TALK LESS, LISTEN MORE

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SIMULATION: PRETEND THIS IS YOUR IDEA.

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• ”Tell me about the last time…”• “Tell me about how you…”• ”Tell me the story of…”• ”You said XXX. Tell me more?”• “Why?” | “Why not?”• …• TALK LESS, LISTEN MORE

SHARING!

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WHY INTERVIEWS WORK• Best choice when you don’t know what

you don’t know • Excellent ROI for time invested• Gives your customers a face and a name• Learnings will help you with future

research (qualitative or quantitative)

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WORKSHOP 2: CARD SORTING

PRO-TIPS

• Make the features as small as possible• Run the card sorting in 2 stages:

• Elimination• Prioritization

• Ask the test subject to keep talking while sorting – and take notes along the way

• KEEP IT MOVING!

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SIMULATION: 5 MINUTE PREP• Brainstorm 15 features• Write down 1 feature per card• Make the features as separate as possible• KEEP IT MOVING!

SIMULATION: ACTUAL CARD SORTING• Step 1: Elimination• Step 2: Sorting• Active listening: Ask why / why not• KEEP IT MOVING!

SHARING!

WHY CARD SORTING WORKS• Fast and cheap• Behavioral, not conversational

• Not possible to lead the witness• Data even with shy subjects

• 2 for 1 technique with debrief!

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WORKSHOP 3: LANDING PAGE TO TEST PURCHASE INTENT

A TYPICAL LANDING PAGE EXPERIMENT

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Design landing page(s) with a call to action

State the hypothesis

Design an experiment

Send out landing page to

suspects

Wait for results to come in

Analyze sales funnel metrics

Persevere or pivot?

THE ANATOMY OF A LANDING PAGE EXPERIMENT

• The landing page itself• Test objectives• Currency• Call to action• Threshold• Marketing

Image credit: http://www.disruptiveadvertising.com/

PRO TIPS

• Treat it like an ad• 2 types of Calls to Action (CTA)

• Interest: “Learn more”• Purchase intent: “Buy now”

• 2 kinds of tests• Normal user behavior: Good design• Level of pain: Bad design

• Marketing: Email / Social / …Image credit: http://www.disruptiveadvertising.com/

SIMULATION: LANDING PAGE TEST

• The landing page itself• Test objectives• Currency• Call to action• Threshold• Marketing

SHARING!

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WHY LANDING PAGES WORK (IF APPLICABLE)

• Behavioral, not conversational• Currency is the best proof• Forces conversation on go-to-market• Exercises end to end workflow• Yields funnel metrics• Note: Only works if test subjects are

on line (yes, there are still offline humans)

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STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO STARTUP PMR

PMR, PROCTER AND GAMBLE STYLE• Expensive (hundreds of

thousands of $ and up)• Long (3-9 months)• Often done in conjunction

with an agency

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Image credit: continuuminnovation.com

PMR, STARTUP STYLE

• Cheap • Fast• DIY. NOT rocket science.

You can do this.

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“THERE ARE NO FACTS INSIDETHE BUILDING, SO GET THE HECK OUTSIDE.”

Steve Blank

Entrepreneur, Author, Stanford Professor

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WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT TODAY• Crash course on PMR• Exercise 1: Detailed interview• Exercise 2: Card sorting• Exercise 3: Landing page

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LEARNING MORE

• “Talking to Humans” E-book - GiffConstable

• UX for Lean Startups: Faster, Smarter User Experience Research and Design – Laura Klein

• Resources section of ConceptSpring website - Elaine Chen

• Templates and samples – Elaine Chen

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DISCUSSION +

ASK ME ANYTHING

@chenelaine blog.conceptspring.com

THANK YOU@chenelaine blog.conceptspring.com