Simple research framework that merges qual and quant.
- Start with client’s basic market research geodems - tells you approximately where to look or at least what is selling and to whom. Create research hypotheses. Screen participants with this in mind to get the representative sample you’ll use for your qual work in the next step.
- Qualitative. Go in the field. Hit the key user segments. Spend time with enough users in each segment (10-30, depending on how complicated the problem is) to be confident you aren’t only looking at outliers, and that you stop hearing/seeing new things. Keep it open ended and keep your eyes/ears open for anything interesting.
- After you’ve sorted through the qual from 2, take the interpreted data back to a sample of people (this can include concepts/scenarios/attitudinals/etc) to prioritize and score it, evaluate max/min/diff/delights (maybe in a survey, or by phone, etc), and drill down to the critical detail now that you really understand the topics that are on the table.
- Create a user centered design spec, complete with workflows, personas, trends, etc, that merges everything you’ve seen in 1-3. Something like a QFD can be a good format for capturing data about needs.
- Make concepts, validate, repeat.
Quant drives qual drives quant drives qual drives quant drives…