There was a famous automotive engineer and designer named Carroll Smith, whose fastidious attention to detail has won his teams major victories at virtually every level. I do not use the term "fastidious attention to detail" lightly: he has written a 224-page book devoted solely to nut and bolt selection [4].
There is one phrase he is most famous for: "There is no such thing as material failure. All failures are human in origin." He argues that the role of the engineer is to account for everything from metal porosity to poor machining to the tendencies of the driver, and if a component fails in a crucial moment, the responsibility lies on a human–not an inert material.
While this is certainly a compelling platform for engineering, his statement may be adapted and applied to consumer research, as well. Research methodologies do not fail, research design is typically where the failure lies... and humans are responsible for this. As we will see, each methodology has strengths and weaknesses, and it is our responsibility to not only account for those, but to be smart about research design.
How do we tend to fail in consumer research design?
Note that none of the above are methodological failures, but failures on the part of the researcher. While professionals and professors alike devote their lives to the art and science of research design, in our case, we will be looking to perform quick–but "clean"–research which can be built upon. In essence, we will seek to perform research which will not be thrown away after a month, but which may be built upon to create a research narrative which accompanies our revisions to the offering over time.
What is freeing about research design is that if it is sound and done well, the results are the results. No explanation is needed for negative outcomes, no congratulations accepted for positive outcomes.
Our role is to think, structure, execute, and learn as much as possible. Only after, may we interpret results.
In the following pages, we will examine a few methodologies and techniques especially well-suited to testing early-phase ideas, messages, and offerings.
When discussing the realities and underpinnings of these research techniques, we will consider how each fits into a few different spectrums:
I will also share some experiences with the methodologies and applications of technologies you may find interesting. Some methodologies may be timeless, but there are ways you can deploy the methodologies which can also produce dividends for the research and generally make things more efficient.
Links
[1] https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarabbit/5624898315/in/photolist-9z45ir-8SRmkj-5JTgw1-dpwWkE-kyGQks-kEDT2D-7YcHCq-7Y9swM-55N6Jy-itk6X-4wiv5r-5HEU9q-9a1T9M-dohr6M-n7Kq2-aPidv6-bxKM1R-ekcLk4-8QVsKk-oWhP6v-6H6MWB-gyHxXC-dMkuQd-dt1bNV-5f3NfP-7K63i2-9vvJHu-762DaY-q6WDMQ-bvAcqg-7xpmxA-pSYacS-bGxtug-edokZY-7Yfgpa-5JD2F3-d1MwTC-5PACyw-sk8WjC-dcLPs1-aaEgef-9stvCV-9te3Ux-rgTWmU-4dkJDN-4d7N5j-3gyHiS-225wnb-bfo1wn-4d3Nup
[2] https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarabbit/
[3] https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
[4] http://www.amazon.com/Fasteners-Plumbing-Handbook-Motorbooks-Workshop/dp/0879384069