Optimizing products - when observation is better than asking questions
You learn more by observing than by simply asking questions. The reason is that people do not react in posed situations like in real life. Surveys generate socially desirable or distorted answers from the customer - and also distortions of interpretation on the company side. In addition, market research tasks are often complicated by the institutes commissioned with them - says Anne M. Schüller, author.
In retail, consumers are often "tracked" unnoticed in order to study their shopping behaviour. "Shadowing" is the technical term for this. Consumer researcher Paco Underhill has found that women in particular are quick to run away when they are jostled because the aisles are too narrow or crowded.
Underhill has also discovered that people shop more when shopping baskets are put in their hands or when they are placed at least one meter above the ground at several stations in the store. Most of the times, one only needs a few things quickly, one thinks so. And start without a basket.
Hilti, Starbucks, Bizerba: There are enough examples
Software manufacturers and Internet service providers have long since begun to look over their customers' shoulders when they work with computers. And branded goods giants use permanently installed video cameras to record the cooking, eating and cleaning habits in households. At the Liechtenstein tool manufacturer Hilti, developers can regularly be found on construction sites to watch the craftsmen at work.
At Bizerba, a manufacturer of weighing technology, the engineers go with the customer during the initial installation. In doing so they learn how the operator handles the devices and what difficulties may still be encountered. On site they have recognised, for example, how important pictograms are when temporary staff work with the cash register systems.
Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, is said to have come up with his business idea during a trip through Italy. He observed that very good coffee is part of the daily life of the people there. So he developed his concept of a "third place" where people meet between home and work to take a short break and indulge themselves with some luxury.
Observation particularly important for technical products
A group of marketers, engineers and designers from the healthcare division of General Electric (GE) went into the operating rooms with cameras to better understand the cooperation between anesthetists, surgeons and operating room nurses. This revealed problems and annoyances that no one had noticed before, because people had become accustomed to the circumstances in the operating room and had integrated them into their routines. From these observations, optimized solutions were finally developed.
With such examples, it quickly becomes clear how valuable observations are. Some results may be a confirmation. Others can be frustrating. Others are so disastrous that one does not want to believe them. But if you bury your head in the sand, you will not see your enemies coming.
So look carefully. Observations always revolve around the following questions:
- What role do our products and services play in the lives of our customers - and how do they actually deal with them?
- How can we contribute at all touchpoints to making our customers' lives more pleasant and their business more successful?
Further topics such as "Touchpoints", interaction points between provider and customer, or customer satisfaction can be found in the book "Touch.Point.Sieg." by Anne M. Schüller.
