Developing innovative qualitative research techniques for effective digital marketing strategy

By Stanislav & Preslav Bondjakov, DirectorsConsumerVisions

Developing innovative qualitative researchtechniques for effective digital marketing strategy

ConsumerVisionsDigital Media Research+Strategy

Website Evaluation & Usability Testing

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Who we are...

ConsumerVisions – specialised digital media research agency, owned by Preslav & Stanislav

Focusing on building digital strategies based on consumer insights & helping organisations offer successful digital media

Prior to establishing ConsumerVisions, we have worked at leading global market/social research agencies

Building on many years of research experience, including in digital media research

Have consulted to a wide range of commercial and government organisations in Australia and New Zealand

Regular speakers at conferences and forums

Partner with specialised research recruitment agencies to recruit top quality participants


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The Internet Evolution...


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The internet evolution

[INSERT 2 minute VIDEO HERE] ...[FILE TOO LARGE TO BE EMBEDDED – TO BE PLAYED SEPARATELY]


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Some promising stats...

Some key statistics in Asia show that: Out of a total population of 3,834,792,852, there is 825,094,396

internet users (nearly 22%);

42% of world internet users are in China alone;

Internet user growth in Asia between the year 2000 and 2010 was 622%;

Half of all internet users in Asia are from China.

While Oceania / Australia accounts only for 1% of world internet users, internet penetration is 61% In 2010, internet user growth in Oceania / Australia was 179%

With the proposed new National Broadband Network, internet penetration is forecasted to increase to 98% of all Australian households


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But be wary of savvy consumers...

Digital consumers are becoming very savvy in their website selection and the way they use websites - “Now, when people go online they know what they want and how to do it” says Dr. Jakob Nielsen, global usability guru

Websites are selected on the basis of good design, intuitive navigation, high level of user empowerment, engagement, and relevance

Websites are more likely to succeed if they are designed according to how humans think and behave

Users read web pages in an "F" pattern. They're more inclined to read longer sentences at the top of a page and less and less as they scroll down. That makes the first two words of a sentence very important

Users are extremely good at screening out things and focusing in on a small number of salient page elements


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Users connect well with images of people looking directly at them - professional images are not appealing, people relate easier to more realistic images

According to Dr. Nielsen, only 25% of people travel via a homepage to reach to where they want to go on a website, the rest search and get straight to the destination page

People are spending less time on websites – there is a greater need to present them with highly relevant, well organised information

Hence, the need to develop highly usable, well organised websites and applications which are developed with users.

But be wary of savvy consumers...


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From Web 1.0 to 3.0...

4 minute video - illustrating the social media revolution...[FILE TOO LARGE TO BE EMBEDDED – TO BE PLAYED SEPARATELY]


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From Web 1.0 to 3.0...

Web 1.0 is the internet before 1999, experts call it the ‘Read-Only’ era Users were only able to read static information

No active communication flow from consumer to producer of information, no real interaction, low levels of user engagement and empowerment

Web 2.0: The year 1999 marked the beginning of a Read-Write-Publish era Higher levels of user empowerment & interactivity, incl. blogging, social

media & live video streaming

Publishing of user content is only a few clicks away

Few remarkable developments of Web 2.0 are Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr and MySpace.

Web 3.0: The era of personalisation, semantic web, intelligent search, and behavioural targeting and advertising

Web 4.0: ...under development...leave it for next conference!!!


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Where to from now?

Although the internet usage is booming and users are savvier than ever...

...digital media is still catching up

Organisations need to understand their digital customers & respond to their needs

Perceived value of digital media research is increasing

Just as it took a while for advertising research to take off, following the TV boom (50’s-60’s), digital media is at its peak of development now and consumer research is starting to become an integral part of it...

The sites of the (near) future will be developed with consumers, using innovative research solutions

We are here to enlighten you on cutting edge qualitative research techniques for building effective digital marketing strategies...


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From research to application

Through our innovative qualitative research methods we help clients: Develop a consumer-centric strategy which also recognises the

business requirements and limitations

Develop sustainable digital offering through in-depth understanding of digital consumer’s needs and expectations

Ensure digital offer is relevant, up-to-date, and usable

Improve e-commerce and m-commerce presence and sales, by developing highly impactful and relevant ‘shop fronts’ or homepages, as well as seamless shopping experiences


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Research methodologies...


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Consumer driven strategy

Motivations

Brand attitudes

Digital lives

Competitive environment

Brand challenges

Insights & foresights

Needs & preferences

Digital strategy

Market-driven web offer

Platforms

Interaction

Technology/ trends

Business requirements

Multi-channel

DigitalConsumers Qualitative research

User experience optimisation


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Methodology model

1. Situation analysis

2. User needs research

3. User experience research

4. Web development

Digital strategy

development

Prototypedevelopment

Overall goal: Assisting organisations in formulating market-driven digital strategies, leading to optimal digital offers, e.g. websites, apps, etc.

User experience

optimisation


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Purpose: Understanding market environment, business context & goals, current digital offer, and existing research & data

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Overview of methodologies

Step 1: Situation analysis

Methods: Expert site review & web assets audit

Market/Competitor analysis

Site analytics review

Business requirements & KPIs – interviews with key internal stakeholders

Workshops with web design & development team

Key outcome: Input into digital strategy & user needs research design


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Purpose: Deep understanding of digital consumers’ lives. Exploring user needs, preferences, motivations, brand attitudes & behaviours, with a view to developing a consumer-centric digital strategy.

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Step 2: User needs research

Methods: Exploratory focus groups – incl. persona development, card sorts

In-depth interviews

User workshops – incl. usability testing, task completion, observations

Key outcomes: Digital strategy

Prototypes

Specs brief to designers


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Purpose: Discovering issues with usability, design and branding, with a view to recommending optimised user experience.

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Step 3: User experience research

Methods: Expert review - to identify key problem areas prior to user testing

User workshops/interviews – incl. usability testing, task completion, observations To identify usability problems with navigation, labelling, content, page layout. Involves task

completion and provides suggestions to improve user experience

Key outcomes: Recommendations for optimised user experience


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Focus on research methods

Focus groups Exploratory discussions:

Number of groups depends on audience groups/segment types

6-8 participants per group, recruited & screened professionally

Exploratory funnel approach – group members participate in a spontaneous discussion. General topics are explored first, followed by more specific topics.

Used for: Understanding digital consumers’ needs, attitudes, motivations & behaviours

Brainstorming ideas; uncovering marketing insights; developing hypothesis

Outcomes: Data is qualitative & directional, not conclusive. Views are analysed & then

summarised. No attempt is made to quantify the findings.

Findings feed directly into digital strategy development.


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In-depth interviews Interviews follow the same general principles as focus group, in the context of

informal and unstructured discussions.

User workshops 3 phased session:

Involves ‘real’ users or potential users of the website

4-5 participants per session, recruited & screened professionally

– Phase 1: Unpolluted initial group discussion of people’s needs and expectations of the site, marketing mix elements – begin to form an idea of consumer motivations and behaviours

– Phase 2: Each participant completes a set of tasks on the site on a PC – ‘think aloud’ method or recording in a workbook is used. Each participant is observed by a senior researcher. Key site usability issues are uncovered.

– Phase 3: Follow-up group discussion - focus website projected on data projector. Discussion of experiences with the site, stumbling blocks, opportunities for enhancements and optimisation of user experience. This discussion provides specific suggestions for improvement of site’s navigation, design, and content.


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User workshops cont’d... Used for:

Usability testing, marketing mix evaluation

Understanding a site’s next level from users’ perspective

Outcomes: Actionable recommendations for optimised user experience & web

performance. Aided by visual outputs such as interactive prototypes, marked-up pages, and implementation workshops.


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Case study...


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Case study

Redevelopment of a key Australian Government website Australian Department of Broadband, Communications & the Digital

Economy is one of Australian Government’s key departments

It has a public website with over 5,000 web pages and over 3,000 downloadable documents

The website’s main audience is the general public, as well as businesses

Website was designed around business areas, rather than being user-centric

It was difficult for users to achieve their tasks on the site, and there were low levels of satisfaction


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Case study

A continuous website improvement program implemented:

1. Overall strategy for the Department’s digital offering;

2. Two consecutive qualitative research studies on the Department’s site;

3. Expert and usability reviews of a Web 2.0 mapping application;

4. An annual web performance monitoring project, tracking website KPIs on a quarterly basis.


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Case study

Qualitative studies: First study comprised of 8 workshops with website users – total of 53

participants. Second study involved 9 workshops, with a total of 67 participants

Studies focussed on exploring the needs and preferences of users for the site

Iterative development of the site with prototypes tested at each stage

Each workshop lasted 2 hours, and it was divided in 3 parts The first part explored users’ needs and expectations of the site, its navigation,

design, and content. Also, key perceptions of the Department and its online communication tools.

The second part consisted of an individual workbook completion, covering a set of tasks on the old and new sites, and a set of website ratings.

This was followed by an in-depth discussion about users’ experience with both sites, encountered issues and suggested improvements to the current site. Suggestions included improvements to the site’s navigation, design and content.


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Case study

Usability reviews & web performance monitoring: Expert and usability reviews of the Web 2.0 application were concurrently

run with the second qualitative study.

Web performance monitoring program focuses on tracking website KPIs to identify areas of poor performance and provide actionable recommendations for improvement in navigation, design and content.

KPIs were developed in close consultation with the Department’s executives who own the content on the site. Included business requirements gathering and confirmation.

As a result of the qualitative research and the web performance monitoring program, the Department has started to implement recommendations such as improving the page design, layout, and Web 2.0 technologies.


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Case study

Original homepage


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Case study

2nd iteration of homepage - based on research


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Case study

Prototype of new homepage - based on research


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Case study

Latest homepage - based on recommended prototype


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Key outcomes for client

Digital strategy with recommendations on key areas to focus, according to user and business requirements – transformation of business-centric to more user-centric

In-depth understanding of key segment needs and behaviours, leading to development of a more usable and relevant website

Actionable recommendations for key website improvements including navigation, design and content

Implementation of Web 2.0 technologies

Implications for the re-design of the Department’s Intranet to being more user-centric


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A multi-channel international retailer with offline retail stores as well as an online store

Client identified declining online sales over a year, but did not know the reasons behind this decline

Research program included:

1. Site analytics review - identified where most drop-outs were coming from;

2. Expert review - identified some major site flaws;

3. User experience workshops – identified reasons behind poor sales, e.g. product selection & bundling, shopping process, poor synchronisation with offline product stock, registration, and payment page


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Following all research, it was recommended that: Homepage design is improved to include a centre page moving-images

panel which show cases the uniqueness of the brand and products, with ability to start shopping straight from this panel;

The shopping experience is improved, including simpler site navigation, easier product selection, better integration with social media tools, and full offline and online product stock synchronisation

Client has implemented key recommendations and has already started to see improvements in sales.


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More of our work...

Background: Kraft Foods embarked on a major global website redevelopment project which involved redeveloping and redesigning their websites in all of their main markets

Key objectives: To identify the optimal content, look and user flow for the Kraft Foods Australia website, and drive up volume via extended usage ideas

Methodology: Qualitative research involving interactive workshops, in-depth interviews, observation, ratings

Outcomes: Kraft Foods have seen marked improvement in visitation rates of the site since its redevelopment, and also indications of increased volume.


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More of our work...

Background: Re-development of Sun Safety website for Queensland Health – market research to develop new IA for, and key design aspects & tools/features

Key objectives: increase site uptake through effective marketing and positive user experience; motivate users to return to the site; and advocate the site to others

Methodology: Conducted consumer workshops, worked with a web designer to develop the new IA, features, design elements

Outcome: Client re-developed the website completely, implementing the new IA and design recommendations


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In conclusion...

Through innovative qualitative research methods clients: Develop a consumer-centric strategy which also recognises the

business requirements and limitations

Develop sustainable digital offering through in-depth understanding of digital consumer’s needs and expectations

Ensure digital offer is relevant, up-to-date, and usable

Improve e-commerce and m-commerce presence and sales, by developing highly impactful and relevant ‘shop fronts’ or homepages, as well as seamless shopping experiences.


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Question time...

Contact: Stanislav Bondjakov, DirectorEmail: [email protected]: www.consumervisions.com.au Phone: +61 425 744 796

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.consumervisions.com.au/


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Presented at the Asia-Pacific conference on Qualitative Research in Web 2.0 22 & 23 Feb 2011, Macau SAR

For more informationPlease visit: http://www.merlien.org

http://www.merlien.org/

Developing innovative qualitative research techniques for effective digital marketing strategy

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