5 Questions We Ask at the Start of Every Project

When you work with researchers who ask questions for a living, you better believe that they are going to have a few for you at the start of a project! Here are five that you can expect us to ask :

1.    “What problem are we trying to solve?”

When we ask this question, we are listening to understand the broader business context for the project. Responding to an unexpected business setback that’s on leadership’s radar requires a different pace and tone than beginning an initial exploration into an audience to be developed over the next five years.  (Also, a lot of times it turns out that what our clients really need is to better understand the problem before they can figure out how to solve it.) 

2.    “What do you want to learn?”

Here we want to understand what success looks like in terms of the information you want to have in hand at the end of the project. Are you looking for new ideas or to understand what people think of the ideas you already have? Do you want to understand more about your current customers or explore how to better reach underserved audiences? This question is critical to designing the right research. 

3.    “What do you already know?”

We know how busy you are, so we want to make our findings meaningful and useful. We always start with discovery to understand what information is already available, as it helps us structure our research. It’s not just about avoiding duplicate work; often there are existing brand archetypes or internal frameworks we can use to ensure that our findings integrate with other data sources.

4.    “Who will it be important to hear from?”

This question helps us understand how you think about your audience and enables us to design an approach that makes sense for the groups involved. Executives dispersed across the country… shift-workers at a production facility… customers who use your app…community members who are not yet using services. The answer to this question could lead us to very different tactics. 

5.    “What will you do with the findings?”

This one comes from our years of experience and passion for making sure our findings don’t just gather virtual dust on your hard drive. If you need to present rationale for A vs. B, we will make sure there is a simple summary for you to use. Sharing results with different regional leaders individually? We can give you data slices for each. Data is only as useful as far as it gets shared, so we will make sure your findings come to you ready to support your business needs.