Gentrepreneur DAY: Market Research

Before we dive in… let’s hear from
you!

What can you expect to learn today?
• Why is it better to validate your idea first before building on it?
• What exactly does the innovation process entail and how do you validate your own idea?
• How do you conduct the most efficient and effective market research possible?

DELIVERY -
EXPECTATIO
N MISMATCH
INNOVATIO
N PROJECT
START
PRODUC
T
MARKET
FIT
MARKET
RESEARC
H
MARKET
RESEARC
H
= PROJECT
DECISION
= ALTERNATIVE
PATH
Current validation process
5
Looks like this

What are the consequences?
Insights at the end of your innovation cycle vs continuous insights
Risks
/
€
Number of
unvalidated decisions
100
1.000.000
0
Risks
/
€
Number of
unvalidated decisions
100
0
1.000.000
* Graphs are context dependent and not based on exact calculations
Financial risk Psychological resistance to pivot
Validation moment
6

8
Bad products entering the market.

Let’s play a game:
Guess who?
9

10 minutes
Volunteer A:
Think of 3 questions you'll have to ask all at
once to expose the chosen person. Get the 3
answers to the questions and choose from the
remaining candidates who is your final target.
Volunteer B:
Think of a first question you want to ask. You get
the answer immediately. Depending on the
answer, think of a second question. Depending
on the second, you may ask a final question and
choose who your final target is.
Guess
who?

Conclusions of this exercise:
To make instant data driven decisions
2 Direct feedback drastically reduces the chance of
error
3 Keep an open mind and draw the right conclusions from the data
1 Ask the right questions at the right moment in time
14

DELIVERY -
EXPECTATIO
N MISMATCH
INNOVATIO
N PROJECT
START
PRODUC
T
MARKET
FIT
MARKET
RESEARC
H
MARKET
RESEARC
H
= PROJECT
DECISION
= ALTERNATIVE
PATH
15
Looks like this

Ideal validation process
“ The best way to reduce the risk of innovation is to reduce the risk of trying.
”
INNOVATION
PROJECT START
PRODUCT
MARKET FIT
DECISION DECISION DECISION DECISION
EXPERIMENT
16
EXPERIMENT EXPERIMENT
EXPERIMENT

Why are companies not
following the perfect validation
process?
17

Reasons for not validating
Not actionable
Measures all parameters at once
Quantitative market research is…
Expensive
A lot of manual data analysis
Easily biased
Asking friends,colleagues and family
Not convincing the board
Low sample size lowers credibility
A challenge to organize
A lot of planning and recruitment
Qualitative interviews are…
Result: Too many gut feeling decisions.
Slow
Duration of 1-3 months on average
18

How are we going to speed up
the current validation process?
19

Our dashboard
User-friendly platform with automated
market research knowledge to create
surveys, filter & get instant results.
Our community
A instant reachable 20K community that
gives you answers in less than 60
minutes through the app or website.
1 2
get results in
a few hours
BUFFL provides you with instant data
Real-time dashboard and community
20

PRODUCT
MARKET
FIT
PROBLEM
STATEMEN
T
PROBLEM /
SOLUTION
FIT
INNOVATIO
N PROJECT
START
PROBLE
M
SOLUTIO
N
GO2MARKE
T
CHECKPOINT CHECKPOINT
PUPILL
VOPLU
TG
75% FAILS
VALIDATE
D
VALIDATE
D
VALIDATED
A new validation methodology
BUFFL translates speed into value
21

3. Feasibility 1. Desirability
2. Viability

SET SCOPE MAP
KNOWLEDGE
ANALYZE
RESULTS
DESIGN
RESEARCH
The typical steps in a validation cycle

PROBLE
M
SOLUTION GO 2 MARKET
Create and validate the feat
Validate your
ark
value proposition
ures and ballp
pricing
IDEATION VALUE SOLUTION &
PRICING PROPOSITION
Prepare your go-to-market in a labo environment
ASSOCIATIONS & VISUALIZATION
CONVERSION BRAND IMAGE
PAIN
DETECTIO
N
PERSON
A
PROBLE
M
CONTEX
T
ALTERNATIVE
S
GOA
L
Discover pains & gains /
segment
Select relevant
problem(s) / stakeholder
SET SCOPE MAP KNOWLEDGE ANALYZE RESULTS
DESIGN RESEARCH

FAKE DOOR
TEST
EXPLORATIV
E
PROBLEM
STATEMENT
PRICING/FEATURE
COMBO
EXPLORATIV
E
PROBLEM
STATEMENT
NO NO
CONJOIN
T
MESSAGIN
G
FEATURE
SELECTION
MAX
DIFF
6 or more features?
Clients
asks
PROBLEM
PHASE
GO2MARKE
T
VALUE
PROPOSITION
SOLUTION PHASE
FEATURE SELECTION
PRICIN
G
MESSAGIN
G
PRICIN
G
VALUE
PROPOSITION
YE
S
NO
YE
S
NO
YE
S
YE
S
YE
S
Write down problem statement
(who-what-when-where how)
Complete offering /
segment
+business plan
assumptions Know pricing &
features to test?
NO
Who is your closest
competitor and what are
your/their emotional
USPs/weaknesses?
You
should
be
able
to
…
Chosen
experiment
NO
YE
S
NO
YES
YE
S
More than 6 items?
Write down value
proposition
Identify your closest
competitor(s) and your/ their
usp’’s? / weaknesses
Determine your scope
Define your existing knowledge
Choose your experiment
Project scope +boundaries?
FAKE DOOR
TEST
25

DESIGN RESEARCH
CANVASSES PER INNOVATION
PHASE TO MAP YOUR EXISTING

ANALYSE
EXPLORATIVE
EVALUATIV
E
DESIGN RESEARCH
Explore people’s experiences, behaviour,
emotions,...
Validate assumptions, problems, concepts, differences
between different segments,...
Do you still have gaps in
your knowledge?
Or are you ready to validate your
assumption?

We want to develop a mobile application that allows solar
panel owners to monitor and visualize their home energy
consumption. The goal is to acquire new customers and to
strengthen our green image
Should Luminusbuild thisapplication?
How would you approach thevalidation of thiscase?
Can you giveusmarket insightsby theend of themonth?
Our validation challenge for today

Identifying the right validation phase
for the Luminus case
29

PROBLEM SOLUTION GO 2 MARKET
PAIN
DETECTIO
N
TARGET
AUDIENC
E
PROBLE
M
CONTEX
T
IDEATIO
N VALUE
PROPOSITIO
N
SOLUTION
&
FEATURE
S
PRICIN
G
ALTERNATIVE
S
GOA
L
KEY VALIDATION MOMENTS
segment
Select relevant
Create and validate the
value proposition
Validate your
features and ballpark
pricing
VISUALIZATIO
N
ASSOCIATIONS
& BRAND
IMAGE
CONVERSIO
N TEST

CONVERSION
TEST
EXPLORATIV
E
PROBLEM
STATEMENT
PRICING/FEATURE
COMBO
EXPLORATIV
E
PROBLEM
STATEMENT
NO NO
CONJOIN
T
MESSAGIN
G
CONVERSIO
N TES
T
FEATURE
SELECTION
MAX
DIFF
6 or more features?
Clients
asks
PROBLEM
PHASE
GO2MARKE
T
VALUE
PROPOSITION
SOLUTION PHASE
FEATURE SELECTION
PRICIN
G
MESSAGIN
G
PRICIN
G
VALUE
PROPOSITION
YE
S
NO
YE
S
NO
YE
S
YE
S
YE
S
(who-what-when-where how) Business plan
assumptions
Know pricing &
features to test?
NO
Who is your closest
USPs/weaknesses?
You
should
be
able
to
…
Chosen
experiment
NO
YE
S
NO
YES
YE
S
More than 6 items?
Write down value
proposition
What give us you an edge vs
competition?
Map your existing
knowledge +
project boundaries
31

NO
Is Luminus able to write down a specific value proposition,
addressing the benefits of their solution compared to alternatives?
Does Luminus have an idea of the pains and gains for the target
audience in their journey of monitoring their energy consumption?
Does Luminus know which problem they solve for which target market?
NO
NO

ALTERNATIVES PAIN
DETECTIO
N
TARGET
AUDIENC
E
PROBLE
M
CONTEX
T
IDEATIO
N
VALUE
PROPOSITIO
N
SOLUTION
&
FEATURE
S
PRICIN
G
GOA
L
segment
Select relevant
value proposition
Validate your
pricing
VISUALIZATIO
N
ASSOCIATIONS
& BRAND
IMAGE
CONVERSIO
N TEST

Mapping Luminus’ existing knowledge
34
DESIGN RESEARCH

Time-consuming when making it yourself
• Big batches when making it at home
• Space to store it in the freezer
(! Feel free to add underlying motivations here)
Create an incentive to become / stay Luminus client
Renters
Monitor and optimize domestic energy consumption
•
• …
•
• …
•
• …
•
• …

Time-consuming when making it yourself
• Big batches when making it at home
• Space to store it in the freezer
Renters
• Accurate overview of energy consumption
• Discover energy leaks
• Reduce energy consumption
• …
• Monitor energy meter manually
• Check invoices
• Don’t undertake action
• …
• Automatic
• Advice for optimization
• …
• Forget to monitor
• Trust issues vs energy provider
• Investment needed
• …
?

Early adopters = people knowing they have a problem and actively looking for a solution
Early majority = people knowing they have a problem but not actively looking for a solution
A little side note... The importance of early adopters

Choose the right research experiment
38
DESIGN RESEARCH

Gather explorative input by asking
open, situational questions.
Understand how the customer
thinks and what their behavior,
needs and desires are.
Test your explorative learnings through
quantifiable indicators.
Validate your explorative insights with
a bigger sample of respondents to
prove your projects’ potential.
Evaluative
Explorative
Choose the right approach

Explorative research
First dive deep to understand which problems occur to people in their daily lives.
”When was the last time you’ve changed your energy provider? Why did you change?”
“What was your biggest frustration while changing providers?”

Evaluative research
Then quantify which how important the problem is to different audiences and how satisfied they are
with existing alternatives
“How important is a clear overview of your monthly energy use for you”
Very important - Somewhat important - Rather Unimportant - Not Important - Not applicable
“On a scale of 1 to 5, how well do you feel you understand your consumption today?”
1.Not atall 5. Completely

Sample sizes – Attention points
Explorative research N =150
Evaluative N =300 – 500
Comparing target groups N =75 – 100 / target group Need a particular segment or target group?
Typically, these numbers are enough.
We recommend to boost only If :
• Statistical conclusions are not possible
• You want to compare segments, problem
statements or value propositions.
• You want buy-in for a milestone decision
!

Within one experiment it is also possible to combine
the two research methods:
Explorative research
Evaluative research
Evaluative research

How much time do you have?
What’s the budget?
How familiar are you with the target
audience and the problem context?
Q:So which explorative research do we choose?
🡪🡪 For solar panels owners?
🡪
🡪 For Renters?
Face to face interviews or online research?
Decision parameters Online
Fast results Plenty of time
Small purse Big purse
Quite familiar Not much
Face-to-face

Explorative Research:
The Mom Test
48

The Mom Test
Mom! I’ve invented a digital
cookbook for the iPad!

Son: “Mom, mom, Ihave an idea for a business — can Irun it by you?”
Iam about to expose my ego — please don’t hurt my feelings.

Mom: “Of course, dear.”
You are my only son and Iam ready to lie to protect
you.

Son: “You like your iPad, right? You use it a lot?”

Mom: “Yes.”
You led me to this answer, so here you go.

Son: “Okay, so would you ever buy an app which was like
a cookbook for your iPad?”
Iam optimistically asking a hypothetical question and you
know what Iwant you to say.

Mom: “Hmmmm”
As if Ineed another cookbook at my age.

Son: “And it only costs $40 — that’s cheaper than those
hardcovers on your shelf.”
(I’m going to skip that lukewarm signal and tell you more
about my great idea.)

Mom: “Well…”
Aren’t apps supposed to cost a dollar?

Son: “And you can share recipes with your friends, and
there’s an iPhone app which is your shopping list. And
videos of that celebrity chef you love.”
Please just say “yes.” Iwill not leave you alone until you do.

Mom: “Oh, well yes honey, that sounds amazing. And you’re
right, $40 is a good deal. Will it have pictures of the recipes?”
Ihave rationalised the price outside of a real purchase
decision, made a non-committal compliment, and offered a
feature request to appear engaged.

Son: “Yes, definitely. Thanks mom — love you!”
Ihave completely mis-interpreted this conversation
and taken it as validation.

Explorative Research :
Formulating the right questions
61

Would you buy a subscription
which guarantees that you have
a seat on the train?

64
Why is this a bad question?
Asking anything involving the future is an over-optimistic lie.
You should focus on current user behaviour to understand the value of your offer
E.g. How many times did you take the train last month? How many times did you experience that
there were no seats left? What did you do when thera were no free seats? Why?
Later you can ask in evaluative research whether there is interest in the concept
and eventually A/B test which people want to pay a surplus for a guaranteed seat.

What would your dream experience
on the train look like?

67
Why is this a good question?
People are telling you about their goals. Ask follow up questions.
E.g. Why is this is your dream solution?

“Are you frustrated that the trains are always late
and nobody compensates you for being late?”

70
The question is clearly leading the audience towards agreeing with the statement.
This way, you may prove that people will go along with you, but never whether it is really a
problem for them, or they just want to make you happy.

What are the implications
of being late?

73
Why is this a good question?
This gives you an idea how big and costly a problem is.
Solve problems that matter!
This also gives you a good pricing signal.

Would you pay €5/ride for stable WIFI
connection that allows you to work on
the train?

76
You’re talking about your idea instead of their life. And the fact that you add a number doesn’t help.
Ask for behaviour:
What do you currently do on the train when there is no stable WIFI connection?

Interview script
Always Empathize!
Prepare your interview framework and follow up with
how / why questions as explained in the interview
tips above.
Ask their opinion about things you heard in other
interviews (only at the end of the interview).
Combine the interview with follow up sales.

Explorative research:
Practice on the Luminus case
79

You don’t always need
qualitative interviews…
80

How much time do you have?
What’s the budget?
How familiar are you with the target
audience and the problem context?
Remember this slide:
Face to face interviews or online research?
Decision parameters Online
Fast results Plenty of time
Small purse Big purse
Quite familiar Not much
Face-to-face

Where are we now… What’s
next?
DESIGN RESEARCH

1. Goal in context
2.Current behaviour: how does your target user
solve the problem/tries to achieve the goal today?
3a. Problem in context: break the experience
3b. Problem in context: improve the experience
4. Target audience
DESIGN RESEARCH
Building a Problem Exploration Survey

Time for action!
Let’s build one yourself

1. Goal in context
2. Current behavior
3. Pains
4. Gains
5. Target audience

1. Goal in context
Goal of respondents
With these questions we are trying to understand the goal of our respondents better.
Our objective is to learn, not sell, so the questions should refer entirely to understanding their motivations and experiences.
Example: ”In a perfect world, how would you optimize your energy consumption”?
Problem phase > problem exploration
86

2. Current behaviour
87
You can invite respondents (with a particular behaviour) for a face to face interview to dig for the underlying motivations!
It is interesting to use this is a segmenting question. You can analyse whether the open answers you collect on other questions vary depending on the
current behaviour your target audience has. This is often a very good question to recruit “different types of respondents” for face to face interviews
What respondents are doing
With these questions we are trying to sample what people are currently doing in the situation that we are researching.
For further understanding it can be relevant to ask the user why he / she chooses for a particular solution.
Example: “How do you currently optimize your energy consumption?”
• I don’
toptimize
• I check my energy meter now and then and try to adapt my consumption based on what I measure
• I have a smartmeter
• I change energy provider in case ofpromotions
• Other

3a. Pains
Break the experience
Open questions around the problem in context help you understand what the issue people are facing is in more detail.
Your goal here is to explore the different steps people go through and understand them in detail. What do people think, feel
and do when facing this issue? What are the words your target customer is using the highlight his / her frustrations?
Example (open): ”Break the current experience: Monitoring and optimizing your domestic energy consumption.
What can be improved?”
The answers (per segment) for this question are ideal food for thought for your brainstorm later on.
88

3b. Gains
Improve the experience
Similar to breaking down the experience, asking open questions about potential improvement areas or
‘ideal world-scenarios’ might give you good inspiration of what are the most important gains or opportunities.
Example (open): "In a perfect world, how would you optimize your domestic energy consumption?“
89

4a. Target audience
Different parts of the population might experience the situation in a completely different way. By asking segmentation
questions we can try to identify different or common characteristics. This will help you identify user groups, perhaps those
that have the biggest issue in your target situation, or rather the biggest group of people you can help.
90
Example: “Which of the following do you own?”
• Smart thermostat
• Solar panels
• An electric car
• …….
• None of the above
You can also use frequency profiling questions to select respondents for who a certain event happened recently and thus is still top of mind
You are in discovery phase. We strongly recommend to include different target audiences in your first research and compare their behaviour.
Later in your process, you can then zoom in on particular target audiences once you’ve discovered significant differences through this
explorative test. If you select target audiences before your explorative research, you risk (limiting your potential market (as target audience is a
key decision, difficult to reverse) !

So… how do we fill up our gaps with our survey
data?
DESIGN RESEARCH
We launched a problem
exploration survey,let’s
dive into this!

Let’s have a look
(Insert view link here)
91

Analysing explorative research
• Avoid confirmation bias in favor of your idea
• Don’t focus on the numbers (yet), focus on learning
• Focus on filling gaps in your knowledge and mapping opportunities
• Cluster the responses you get to identify common pains and gains per target audience
• Explorative research will allow you to write specific assumptions, problem statements, value propositions
Pro tips:
- Use the words of the respondents literally, don’t paraphrase
- Look at the most extreme or outspoken answers to identify your early adopters

Early adopters = people knowing they have a problem and actively looking for a solution
Early majority = people knowing they have a problem but not actively looking for a solution
A gentle reminder... The importance of early adopters

Analysis of open questions
You will use these insights to understand pains & gains of your target audience, not to take quantitative decisions.
1. Before starting, screen all answers to have a general idea.
2. Make labels based on open answers you see popping up regularly (you don’t have to stick a label to every answer).
3. Analyze whether labels are more/less outspoken for different target audiences and alternative behaviours.
4. Map this on an empathy canvas or extreme user map (see next slides)
It’s recommended to add a label for ‘interesting answers’. Rare answers can still have a big impact and some
might be interesting to use in your upcoming marketing campaigns.
!
DESIGN RESEARCH

Ask open questions to hundreds of respondents at once
Updatewithnewsurvey

Cluster the most relevant answers to determine trends
Updatewithnewsurvey

Sensitivity: Internal Use Only
EXTREME USER MAP
• Define profiles to interview
• Look at extremes from different perspectives
• Looking at extremes will give you the richest insights

What did Luminus learn from explorative research?
• People want an automated solution, forget to undertake action
• People want a clear, easy understandable overview of energy consumption
• Renters invest less in solar panels / equipment to monitor
• With the pains / gains per customer segment we can start a brainstorm to come
up with problem statements

Explorative research: rules of thumb
1.Always start with an open scope; only focus on specific persona’s after you’ve discovered distinctive
behaviors, otherwise you’re just narrowing down your market for no reason
2. Talk about respondents’ lives and experiences rather than your product or service
3. Ask about real behavior, don’t ask them to speculate on future scenario’s
4. Always dig for the why and the how both for online as for real-life interviews
5. Don’t forget to combine online research with offline deepdives

Evaluative Research:
Working with assumptions
103

Why do we use assumptions?
1. Assumptions provide strategic direction to prioritize your research
2. Assumptions help you to define and compare specific contexts
3. Assumptions help you to quantify your expectations and set fail and success criteria

How to work based on assumptions
1. Identify your assumptions & success and fail criteria
2. Formulate your assumptions correctly
3. Translate your assumptions into research questions
4. Analyze the results to prove or disprove your assumptions

Identify your assumptions &
success and fail criteria
106

The three most critical checkpoint assumptions
1) Target audience
2) Problem statement
3) Value proposition
PRODUCT
MARKET
FIT
PROBLEM
STATEMEN
T
PROBLE
M
SOLUTIO
N FIT
PROBLE
M
fase 1
SOLUTIO
N
fase 2
GO2MARKE
T
fase 3
TARGET
AUDIENC
E

The importance of success and fail criteria (discuss with stakeholders)
Problem statement Interestin valueproposition
Totally
disagree
Rather
disagree
Rather
agree
Totally
agree
Totall
y
disagree
Rathe
r
disagree
Rathe
r
agre
e
Totall
y
agre
e
30% 70%
20% 40%

Keep in mind
that…
• …if you(r internal client) has trouble writing down problem statements or value propositions that’s a sign they
might need to take a step back (more explorative research).
• … if your client remains stuborn, you can use your fail & success criteria to make a point afterwards. This is a
clear example of how objective data can help you pivot.
• … if you have trouble getting your stakeholders aligned, you can set up a “fail & sucess criteria” exercise to make
them reflect and hold them accountable when results are not as expected.

A) Hidden assumption: Personal bias
“Today, middle-aged, laid-back men are the largest beer-consuming segment, so weshould
only focusour innovation and marketing effortson this segment.”
• By focusing solely on “men”
, you cut your market in half
• Think about segmentation and the value of different products per segment

B) Hidden assumption: Pragmatic assumptions
“Young peopleconsider it moreimportant that their energy isgreener than averageresidentof Belgium.”
If you are building a green solution targeting young adults, it might be very convenient if this is
true. But have you verified it?

C) Hidden assumption: Logical fallacy
“Peopleare already comparing thesupply of energy providers via the VREGwebsite, if wemake a
digital app for comparison, theywill useit too.”
• What proof do you have here?
• How sure do you know they will use a digital app?
• Are there no barriers you are missing here?
• Why would they choose to change their behavior?

D) Hidden assumption: Generalization
“Consumers don't take the time to check their energy bills, because an in-depth
interview I had with a customer showedthat henevercheckshisenergy bills.”
• If one person said this, does this also apply to all other consumers?
• Think about your quali-quanti sandwich

E) Hidden assumption: Contextual differences
“Peoplelikethefact that you can handlethethermostat just likethey handletheir smartphone”.
The fact that most people enjoy handling their smartphone does not mean that they get the
same pleasure from playing with another device.

Formulate assumptions
116

General rules of thumb
Be as precise as possible on the specific context when it comes to validating assumptions:
• WHO specifically is doing something
• WHAT are they trying to do
• WHERE in which location
• WHEN in which context
• HOW with what tool or in which state of mind
Pro tips:
- Be precise but only assume the context elements that you have a reasonable understanding of
- Make your assumptions quantifiable with an educated guess (70% of users will choose..)

70 %of travelers who take the train more
than once a week when commuting in a
hurry is frustrated by the unclear last
minute communication of the NMBS at
the station screens.

Who
?
70 % of travelers who take the train more than
once a week

What?
Is frustrated by the unclear last minute communication of
the NMBS

Where
?
At the
station
screens

How can Luminus use evaluative research
to validate the problem it will solve?

Use your completed empathy canvas to
fill in the problem statement canvas

PAIN
DETECTIO
N
TARGET
PROBLE
M AUDIENCE
IDEATIO
N
VALUE
PROPOSITIO
N
SOLUTION
&
FEATURE
S
PRICIN
G
ALTERNATIVE
S
GOA
L
segment
Select relevant
value proposition
Validate your
pricing
VISUALIZATIO
N
ASSOCIATIONS
& BRAND
IMAGE
CONVERSIO
N TEST

CONVERSION
TEST
EXPLORATIV
E
PROBLEM
STATEMENT
PRICING/FEATURE
COMBO
EXPLORATIV
E
PROBLEM
STATEMENT
NO NO
CONJOIN
T
MESSAGIN
G
FEATURE
SELECTION
MAX
DIFF
6 or more features?
Clients
asks
PROBLEM
PHASE
GO2MARKE
T
VALUE
PROPOSITION
SOLUTION PHASE
FEATURE SELECTION
PRICIN
G
MESSAGIN
G
PRICIN
G
VALUE
PROPOSITION
YE
S
NO
YE
S
NO
YE
S
YE
S
YE
S
assumptions
Know pricing &
features to test?
NO
Who is your closest
USPs/weaknesses?
You
should
be
able
to
…
Chosen
experiment
NO
YE
S
NO
YES
YE
S
More than 6 items?
Write down value
proposition
competition?
Map your existing
knowledge +
project boundaries
CONVERSION
TEST
128

For target audience (who) it is ..... important to .... (what) in context (where – when -
how), however the target audience is only .... satisfied with the current alternatives in
context (where – when - how)
Defining the problem statement = Your assumption

Time for action!
Let’s complete the problem statement canvas

80 %- 40 %
Type here
Type here
(Map your score on the graph bellow)
Totally
disagree
Rather
disagree
Rather
agree
Totally
agree
Totall
y
disagree
Rathe
r
disagree
Rathe
r
agre
e
Totall
y
agre
e
Renters
.
CURRENT
SATISFACTION
IMPORTANCE

80 %- 40 %
Type here
Type here
(Map your score on the graph bellow)
Totally
disagree
Rather
disagree
Rather
agree
Totally
agree
Totall
y
disagree
Rathe
r
disagree
Rathe
r
agre
e
Totall
y
agre
e
Renters
For renters it is important to spot & reduce
energy leaks without effort, however they
are not satisfied with the current options
like manually following up.
• Lower energy bill
• Spot & Reduce energy
leaks
• Become more
environmenally
conscious
• .....
• Manually monitoring energy
consumption
• Smart thermostat
• Compare invoices
• Ask energy provider for advice
• Don’t undertake action...
• Effort needed to optimize
• Forgetting to monitor
• Difficult to fully understand
how to easily optimize your
energy consumption
• ....
CURRENT
SATISFACTION
For renters it is important to spot & reduce
energy leaks without effort however they
are not satisfied with the current options
like using their smart thermostat.
IMPORTANCE
Manual follow-up
Smart thermostat

Keep in mind
that…
• …if you(r internal client) has trouble writing down the problem statement that’s a sign they need
more explorative research.
• …if your internal client ends up with more than 6 problem statements, you could recommend a
Max diff experiment to select the most important ones to focus on.
• … if your client remains stuborn, you can use your fail & success criteria to make a point afterwards.
This is a clear example of how objective data can help you pivot.
• … if you have trouble getting your stakeholders aligned, you can set up a “fail & sucess criteria”
exercise to make them reflect and hold them accountable when results are not as expected.

Formulating evaluative questions
about your assumptions
134

1. Ask questions people can answer
Most people cannot answer with any accuracy how many times they get up from their
desk in a day, but they can give a vague indication (rarely, sometimes, often, never).
How many liters of water
did you drink last month?
Umm.. In liters? Let me
think for a bit..
How many times do you
check your phone/day?
Dude.. No clue..
50 times?

2. Avoid social bias
People exhibit what social scientists call social desirability bias: to answer the way
they think you want them to answer. This even happens in online surveys.
Do you regularly stand up from your
desk to stretch your legs?
How many units of alcohol would you
estimate drinking per week?
Absolutely, sitting is
the new cancer!
Oh, not that many! A
few. Maybe 3-4?

3. Survey questions should be unambiguous
Make sure people cannot interpret your questions in different ways. Failing to write
clear and specific questions can hinder your respondents’ ability to answer.
How would you rate your health?
How often have you recently visited
a doctor?
Health like in absence of health
conditions or sporting
frequency??
Like in last month? Year?
Is my nutritionist a doctor?

4. Avoid double-barreled questions
Double-barreled questions are two questions disguised as one. Allow people to
answer separately to each item you want validated.
Do you know this movie, and do you think
it's a good one?
Uuuuuh, yes?

5. Avoid biased questions
Biased language that either triggers emotional responses or imposes your opinion
can influence the results of your survey. Survey questions should be neutral,
simple, and void of emotion.
So do you think my idea is good?
Dude.. Ofcourse! ..

6. Aim for first-hand knowledge
When asking someone their opinion on matters they never experience first-hand,
the data won’t be reliable. Stick to asking questions that cover people’s first-hand
knowledge.
Does your community have a problem with
crime?
My community? Umm you
should ask them instead..

7. Avoid hypothetical questions
People are terrible at predicting future behavior, particularly in situations they’ve
never encountered. Behavior is deeply situational.
If you received a $10,000 bonus at work, would
you invest it?
Right now? Nah, Ineed to
fix my bathroom first!

8. When doing mobile Research..
• See your questions throug the screen of your customer!
• 10 questions max
• Avoid 2 consecutive open questions
• Avoid movies longer than 30 seconds
• Avoid the use of more than 1 movie
• Avoid long descriptions: work with bullet points
• Make your research intuitive and visible

Don’t forget to use your
templates!

1. Goal in context
2. Current alternatives to reach goals
3. Satisfaction with alternatives
4. Target audience
DESIGN RESEARCH
Building a Problem Statement Survey

EXAMPLE:
For renters it is important to optimize their domestic energy consumption continuously without effort.
However renters are only moderately satisfied with the current alternatives.
QUESTION:
Do you agree with the following statement? It is important to monitor my domestic (where) energy
consumption (what) continuously (when) without effort (how).
● Idon’t agree at all
● Irather disagree
● Irather agree
● Istrongly agree
● Idon’t understand the question
1. Goal in context

QUESTION:
How do you monitor your domestic energy consumption today?
● Idon’t monitor it
● Icheck my energy bills on a yearly basis
● Ihave a smart meter to monitor it accurately
● Icheck my meter manually
● None of the above
● Other
2. Current alternatives

QUESTION:
Do you agree with the following statement? “Iam satisfied with the possibilities Ihave to optimize
my domestic (where) energy consumption (what) continuously (when) without effort (how).”
● Idon’t agree at all
● Irather disagree
● Irather agree
● Istrongly agree
● Idon’t understand the question
3. Satisfaction with current alternatives

QUESTION:
What’s most applicable to you?
● I’m a renter
● I’m an owner
● Ilive in a student flat
● Ilive with my parents
● Other
4. Target audience

Analyzing evaluative research
150

Use Evaluative research to take decisions
• E.g. Is this the most interesting segment?
• Is this problem worth to solve?
• Is there interest in my concept?
• Which features should Iinclude?
• What is the perfect pricing point?
DESIGN RESEARCH

• Rubbish in =Rubbish out
• Make your assumptions specific – who – what – where – when – how
• Dare to go back to explorative research if you have trouble formulating a clear assumption
• It’s important to be objective about your data – use the 4-eye principle
• Look back on your assumptions: did you achieve your specific success and fail criteria?
• If you’ve passed them: great! You’re ready to move forward.
• If not: let’s look again at the validation roadmap, it will tell you how to pivot
• Transform your data into insights for actionable decision making (using BUFFL templates)
Pro tips:
- If it’s a key (political) decision: set success criteria & check your structure with your most important stakeholders before launching
- Check your statistical error margin or need for niche profiles and boost (only) if necessary
DESIGN RESEARCH

“Iam satisfied with
current solutions”
Comparing customer behaviors
Totally
disagree
Rather
disagree
Rather
agree
Totally
agree
Totall
y
disagree
Rathe
r
disagree
Rathe
r
agre
e
Totall
y
agre
e
Compare different behaviors based on profiling questions:
- Different target audiences
- Different current behaviors
- Use your learnings from the explorative phase as
inspiration!
Manual follow-up
“This problem is
important to solve”
Smart thermostat

“Iam satisfied with
current solutions”
Totally
disagree
Rather
disagree
Rather
agree
Totally
agree
Totall
y
disagree
Rathe
r
disagree
Rathe
r
agre
e
Totall
y
agre
e
Renters
“This problem is
important to solve”
Solar Panel owners
Compare different segments based on profiling questions:
- Different target audiences
- Different current behaviors
- Use your learnings from the explorative phase as
inspiration!
Comparing customer segments

What did Luminus learn from the
problem statement research?

I
am
satisfied
with
the
overview
I
have
of
the
energy
consumption
in
my
household.
It’s important to me to know what the energy
consumption of my household is.
Insights & Information
Totally
unsatisfied
Rather
unsatisfied
Rather
satisfied
Totally
satisfied
Totall
y
unimportant
Rathe
r
unimportant
Rathe
r
important
Ver
y
important
Opportunity – risk minivation
No go zone – risk undead
Competitive market – risk feature shock
Default sample
People with solar panels
People who rent
Shift focus on target audience with higher opportunities.
?
?
?
Success criteria

Problem Phase Conclusions:
• We have two potential target markets: Not only people with solar panels but larger
target audience.
• Renters have a more outspoken pain to improve their energy efficiency and reduce
their energy bill. Explorative research learned us that this is because they invest
less in equipment to monitor their energy consumption.

We now know the principles,
let’s continue our case

PRODUCT
MARKET
FIT
PROBLEM
STATEMEN
T
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
FIT
PROBLE
M
fase 1
SOLUTIO
N
fase 2
GO2MARKE
T
fase 3
“ARE WE SOLVING THE
PROBLEM THE RIGHT
WAY?”

PAIN
DETECTIO
N
TARGET
AUDIENC
E
PROBLE
M
CONTEX
T
IDEATION VALUE
PROPOSITIO
N
SOLUTION
&
FEATURE
S
PRICIN
G
ALTERNATIVE
S
GOA
L
segment
Select relevant
value proposition
Validate your
pricing
VISUALIZATIO
N
ASSOCIATIONS
& BRAND
IMAGE
CONVERSIO
N TEST

CONVERSION
TEST
EXPLORATIV
E
PROBLEM
STATEMENT
PRICING/FEATURE
COMBO
EXPLORATIV
E
PROBLEM
STATEMENT
NO NO
CONJOIN
T
MESSAGIN
G
FEATURE
SELECTION
MAX
DIFF
6 or more features?
Clients
asks
PROBLEM
PHASE
GO2MARKE
T
VALUE
PROPOSITION
SOLUTION PHASE
FEATURE SELECTION
PRICIN
G
MESSAGIN
G
PRICIN
G
VALUE
PROPOSITION
YE
S
NO
YE
S
NO
YE
S
YE
S
YE
S
assumptions
Know pricing &
features to test?
NO
Who is your closest
USPs/weaknesses?
You
should
be
able
to
…
Chosen
experiment
NO
YE
S
NO
YES
YE
S
More than 6 items?
Write down value
proposition
competition?
Map your existing
knowledge +
project boundaries
CONVERSION
TEST
163

Type here
Type here
Type here
Type here
Type here
Renters
It is important to monitor and optimize domestic energy consumption continously without effort. However the current alternatives
(e.g. smart thermostat, monitoring themselves,, info they get from their energy provider,..) are not sufficient.
(map your expected score here)
Interest score:
30% 70%
Competitor score:
•
• …
•
• … Interest score:
¨reference vs competion
20% 40%

Type here
Type here
Type here
Type here
Type here
A smart device that connects your electricity meter
with your smartphone via an app. The app allows
you to automatically track & monitor standby
consumption in real-time and visually.
(map your expected score here)
Interest score:
70%
30%
Renters
It is important to monitor and optimize domestic energy consumption continously without effort. However the current alternatives
(e.g. smart thermostat, monitoring themselves,, info they get from their energy provider,..) are not sufficient.
Competitor score:
A smart device
That connects your electricity meter to your smartphone app to visually present your energy consumption
• Automatically
• No ‘energy waste’ feeling (impotence)
• Tracks and monitors standby consumption
• Visual overview
• Real-time
If you have >6 gains,
consider a Max Diff
experiment
Interest score:
¨reference vs competion
20% 40%

Value proposition template
Before you start, it’s important to have a clearly defined value proposition.
1. Value proposition interest %
2. Comparison of your solution vs current alternatives
a. Advantages and disadvantages of your solution
b. Preferred choice between your solution and current alternatives
c. Advantages and disadvantages your target audience preferes
3. Added value
a. Preferred (high-level) features
b. Associations with value proposition
c. Price expectations
4. Target Audience
70%
30%
Interest Score

70%
Preference for
main alternatives
30%
51
%
84
%
Preference for
value proposition
20% 40%
Benchmark scores
Luminus’ concept
Results survey
What’s the general interest in the concept?
What’s their preference in a choice based test?

PAIN
DETECTIO
N
TARGET
AUDIENC
E
PROBLE
M
CONTEX
T
IDEATIO
N
VALUE
PROPOSITIO
N
SOLUTION &
PRICIN
G FEATURES
ALTERNATIVE
S
GOA
L
segment
Select relevant
value proposition
Validate your
pricing
VISUALIZATIO
N
ASSOCIATIONS
& BRAND
IMAGE
CONVERSIO
N TEST

Feature Selection (N=500)
Average Feature Interest
no solar panels
solar panels
significant difference
3,4
4,2
13,7
11,2
17,5
11,5
9,4
2,4
4,1
7,8
8,3
9,1
11,4
27,1
29
29,8
0 5 10 15 20
Relative Interest
(Logit Rank MaxDiff Score)
25 30 35
verbruik_productie
opvolgen_toestel
historisch
voorschotbedrag
prijs_info
energie_scan
slim
vergelijk_ander
Segmented on having solar panels
170

PRODUCT
MARKET
FIT
PROBLEM
STATEMEN
T
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
FIT
PROBLE
M
fase 1
SOLUTIO
N
fase 2
GO2MARKE
T
fase 3
Market 6x larger
Renters have outspoken pain
VALIDATE
D
Top features selected
2 tailor made solutions
VALIDATE
D
4 experiments in 1 week – 4 times impact on key innovation decisions
Saved opportunity cost: 16x faster =1 week instead of 4 months!
Maximized revenue per segment: tailormade solutions for solar panel owners +disovered new market segment (renters)
CONCLUSION

The van Westendorp test will help you discover essential information about pricing and price elasticity
by asking 4 questions and giving you a chart of four intersecting lines.
Too cheap Cheap Not expensive Not cheap Expensive Too expensive
● The Optimal Price Point (OPP)
● The acceptable price range and elasticity: zone
between the Indifference Price Point (IPP) and the
Point of Marginal Cheapness.
● An idea of psychological pricing tresholds.
Psychological price treshold
Van Westendorp Pricing
173

PRODUCT
MARKET
FIT
PROBLEM
STATEMEN
T
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
FIT
PROBLE
M
fase 1
SOLUTIO
N
fase 2
GO2MARKE
T
fase 3
“HOW SHOULD WE
MARKET OUR
SOLUTION?”

Conversion Test
We measure if your audience is really
interested in your concept by measuring
specific actions (e.g. purchases,
subscriptions,…).
Visualization
We introduce visuals (packaging,
logo’s, messages, prototypes) to
measure the attractiveness, clarity and
user-friendliness of your first concept
Associations & Brand Image
We use explorative tests to identify
common product & brand
associations for different target
audiences and competiors.
1 2
176
3
Where are we on our innovation timeline?

Associations & brand image test
This communication & brand image research will help you:
• Identify the functional & emotional triggers associated with your product or service per target segment.
• Get an idea of your own brand image and how this differentiates you from competitors.
• Gather information on the best brand development strategy (e.g. brand extenstion, new brand,…)
Healthy
Sustainable
Unique
Innovative
Tasty Fun
Sustainable
Instant
Innovative
High quality
Fun
177

Visualization test
This visualisation research will help you:
• Understand how people perceive your visualization (logo, slogan, packaging, landing page,…).
• Measure the attractiveness of your visual and compare different versions per target audience.
• Determine the emotional / functional values associated with your visualization and its relationship with your brand.
• Optional: UX/UI: test the intuitiveness and user-friendliness of your prototype and A/B test pre- and post campaigns.
Health
Tasty Fun
Uniqu
y
Sustainable
e
Innovative
Percentage
178

Conversion rate – leave email*
Conversion test
This conversion research will help you:
• Determine the conversion rate per target audience.
• Compare the conversion success of different visuals and landing pages.
• Understand the burdens for conversion and spot opportunities to boost conversion rates.
• Verify that people behave as they say for specific socially desirable themes.
Conversion rate – download* Conversion rate – buy*
179

Let’s conclude…
We now know the theory to go
from…
180

DELIVERY -
EXPECTATIO
N MISMATCH
INNOVATIO
N PROJECT
START
PRODUC
T
MARKET
FIT
MARKET
RESEARC
H
MARKET
RESEARC
H
= PROJECT
DECISION
= ALTERNATIVE
PATH
181

“ Your new validation process
”
INNOVATION
PROJECT START
PRODUCT
MARKET FIT
DECISION DECISION DECISION DECISION
EXPERIMENT
183
EXPERIMENT EXPERIMENT
EXPERIMENT

How do we make sure we take the right decisions
when developing new products and services?
Let’s solve your innovation challenge for
tomorrow

How to put this in practice
1. In the next 3-6 months, let’s identify a couple of test projects to put the theory into practice. For these projects you will
receive additional support (e.g. survey set up, analysis, joining client calls,…) to further transfer validation knowledge. After
these projects, you will be agile validation experts ;)
2. Make sure to use the ’Key Validation Moments’ slide to position your client case on the timeline.
3. Understand how you would like to integrate this in your proposals (see next slide). Is there a need to co-brand?
4. After a couple of test projects, you are the validation expert and consultant (we are not actively/necessarily involved). Let’s
look at a structural partnership afterwards.
Your BUFFL POC is Babette Gommeren: for any new projects or questions you can reach out to her.
Adaptthis content

GOAL ALTERNATIVES PAIN TARGET PROBLEM IDEATION VALUE SOLUTION & PRICIN
G
DETECTION AUDIENCE CONTEXT PROPOSITION FEATURES
segment
Select relevant
value proposition
Validate your
pricing
VISUALIZATIO
N
ASSOCIATIONS
& BRAND
IMAGE
CONVERSIO
N TEST

Make this part of your business development
With flexible budgets this becomes a real & efficient partnership
How do you charge your client?
Fixed prices for technology and data
How does BUFFL charge you?
Flexible budget for data, tech and consultancy
• € 1000 technology cost/experiment
• € 4 / respondent (watch out, custom pricing for niche profiles)
• Your consultancy rate
• € 95 / quali interview (watch out, custom pricing for niche profiles)
• Pay-per-project or order packages upfront for
additional discounts

The client brief
Go to your breakout groups to meet the client, brainstorm your approach & be ready to present it in the call afterwards
191
PS: make sure to focus on scoping the project!

What would you
recommend?
You have 30min

The survey questions
Unfortunately the client still wants to launch the Value Prop experiment, but you can do suggestions on the format of
value proposition & survey questions.
PS: don’t forget to use the value proposition
template/canvas here!
193

Any suggestions?
You have 30min

The survey results
We’ve launched the survey, time to analyze! Use the insights and convince them (qualitatively) to pivot their approach.
195

Analyze the results.
You have 30min

Gentrepreneur DAY: Market Research

Recomendados

Recomendados

Mais conteúdo relacionado

Semelhante a Gentrepreneur DAY: Market Research

Semelhante a Gentrepreneur DAY: Market Research (20)

Mais de Gentrepreneur

Mais de Gentrepreneur (20)

Último

Último (20)

Gentrepreneur DAY: Market Research