Customer Insights

Here’s a simple equation that leads to new thinking and novel products. But it’s a formula that too few companies have grasped.

Industry leaders have been successfully using qualitative research for decades. But for many years, we didn’t really understand why it worked. Now we know, and understanding these dynamics can supercharge your research.

Across a variety of industries, insights managers are concerned about the impact they’re having. Evidence suggests that effective insights leaders get traction by employing techniques that increase their odds of success.

In marketing and branding, the mantra of the development process is “respond to customer needs.” But as Dev Patnaik makes clear, not all needs are created equal. Here, supported by examples and case studies, he describes a hierarchy of customer needs and suggests how corporations can use this design-based analysis-system logics-to inform their strategic and tactical decision making.

How do you find out what people really need? The answer is a hybrid of social science and design planning methodologies. Focus on critical needfinding principles to figure out what’s really going on.