AnswerLab built an end-to-end user research program for a leading ecommerce client to help them meet growing demands for research at the speed of their demanding development cycles, and make meaningful product decisions at every step. Without the internal capacity to tackle research at the necessary speed, they looked to us as a strategic partner to bring in a scalable, dedicated team, conducting research across product workstreams, audiences, and markets.
AnswerLab began partnering with a prominent ecommerce client in 2010, helping them uncover user insights and lead complex research projects on an ad hoc basis. But, as we’re seeing with many global brands, their demand for user insights began growing rapidly, and they needed to re-evaluate. The client’s design and product management teams within a major business area needed substantial research support, but they didn’t have the internal capacity to meet their needs. They needed an expert partner who could manage all of their global user research from end to end.
AnswerLab developed a research program with consistent, repeatable research processes that ensured all teams had access to user research. We built a dedicated core project team of a mix of qualitative and quantitative researchers, research ops, and support from AnswerLab’s strategy and research management functions.
Starting out with a robust roadmap, AnswerLab met with product teams to scope, plan, and begin to execute research. But, we soon realized the volume of work they needed wouldn’t be met with just three researchers. As a result, we pivoted, adding three additional qualitative researchers to finish out the year. Our ability to scale up quickly and seamlessly kept their research on track, without missing a beat in their development cycle.
Our research program expanded access to research for a number of product teams, enabling them to make human-centered product decisions on a global scale. In two years, we’ve run nearly 40 studies for this client team, across dozens of topics, both within the United States and internationally. We spoke with 500+ qualitative participants and 13,000+ quantitative participants across 20 segments in 10 different countries. Our insights and findings ranged from cultural nuances across regions to mental models and common behaviors to usability findings and accessibility concerns. To help synthesize findings, our team compiled horizontal insights across product workstreams and studies to provide insight into common themes and help influence future product and study design.
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