Consumer Insights

Insight driven decision making 

Situation

People want to work the way they live using technology to facilitate relationships and communication. This human desire is at the core of the Consumerization of IT (CoIT), which represents a shift in the way technology is thought about, purchased, and used within businesses based on growing consumer experiences. CoIT has caused a perception gap between IT, consumers, and executives about the difference between what employees expect and what employers deliver when it comes to workplace technology. 

Microsoft wanted to understand how this shift in behavior would impact hardware and software purchase decisions and the balance of power in the enterprise.  They wanted tangible insights to create impact and arm sales teams with messaging for multiple industry verticals and roles.

Solution

A comprehensive methodology was created along with an RFP to find a partner who could provide a panel, moderation, and facilities for the research. 

Over 40 hours of qualitative research was conducted. Three participants in varying roles within different organizations were in the same room to create and pitch the case for tablets in the workplace. Participants were asked to describe why they wanted a tablet for their job, how they’d use it, and which specific brand they’d select. Various projective techniques were used to uncover latent themes about the balance of power between roles and departments.  

Using insights from the qualitative research an extended quantitative survey was launched to reach multiple levels of decision makers.

Operationalization  

I wrote a whitepaper with audience insights based on a fundamental shift in behavior in the Enterprise and developed actionable, innovative recommendations for the launch of Windows tablets.  In collaboration with design teams, infographics were created to capture the core insights from the research and socialize them among various Microsoft audiences from marketing to field sales teams.

This research was presented at the 2011 DMA Conference

My role: research lead: developed qualitative and quantitative methodology,  questionnaire and screener, crafted RFP for a research partner to provide facilities, a panel, moderation, and survey programming/hosting, synthesized and analyzed raw data, created interim and final reports. Collaborated with design teams to create multi-format insights to be distributed internally at Microsoft.