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29 Jul

Posted at 16:31h in Business, Insights
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Dashboards are a great way to present information, especially when the data needs to be shown at a high level. Digital dashboards are collections of key reports, metrics, KPIs, and other data that provide relevant context and highlight the essential elements of a research study. They are a great tool for presenting information to executives who may only have a few minutes to review and make decisions about a project. Here are five key points to consider when developing dashboards for executives. #1. Dashboards are not scorecards. Scorecards are report cards for your projects. Scorecards measure performance against goals, show the success/failure of specific metrics, and are utilized once a project is complete. Dashboards, on the other hand, are used throughout a project and offer a snapshot of a study’s progress. Dashboards are a collection of reports, KPIs, and comments from consumers, all of which provide context for the status of a project. #2. Looks matter. A dashboard needs to convey information quickly and clearly, so appearance is very important. All elements of a dashboard, including gauges, colour, highlights, and fonts, are critical to ensuring that messages are communicated efficiently. #3. Dashboards should be actionable. Every dashboard should be created with the goal of making the data actionable. Since organizations collect large amounts of data, dashboards need to provide an overview of the most relevant information in a concise, clear manner. Remember that dashboards are not reports: their function is to assist with the decision-making process. #4. A one-size-fits-all approach does not work. While dashboards keep track of the relevant information for a project, the same information and style of presentation will not meet the needs of all hierarchical levels. According to dashboardinsight.com, performance dashboards can be loosely categorized into four levels, and each should include a different number of metrics: CEO/board level – about six high-level metrics Corporate vice president/director level – between 12 and 20 metrics IT strategic level – range of 12 to 50 metrics IT operational level – around 20 metrics Always begin dashboard design with a clear understanding of the end user and his or her executive level. While different levels of users will require various dashboard views, remember that you can create filters to extract the information required for each type of user. #5. Focus on simplicity. Poorly designed dashboards gather huge amounts of data on one screen, preventing clear understanding and slowing down decision making. With more and more web applications using a minimalist design (a change for the better), dashboards need to be clear and simple. Use clear fonts, appropriate whitespace ratios, and iconography to guide the user through the dashboard....
 

25 Jul

Posted at 16:44h in Business, Research
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By Briana Brownell Does a Yellow Checkbox Give You Better Brand Equity? The meaning of colours in branding and marketing is a popular topic: blue means you’re trustworthy and yellow means fun, but do yellow checkboxes mean that respondents will give you better scores in brand aspects like approachability or likeability? Maybe…as researchers love to say, more research may be required. Even though research on the impact of colour in surveys is pretty slim, many survey design guides warn that colour can potentially influence survey responses. Most of the research surrounding the effect of colour in surveys has been in regards to response rates in mail surveys, and unfortunately, there are not many conclusive results about whether colour has a significant effect online. One study found that added elements like pictures don’t seem to cause detrimental results in online surveys. It’s not all good news though. Other experiments showed that question types might affect responses to perceptual questions, and in some of these instances, colour has played a role. How Can Colours Affect Your Research? Colour can make a survey less clear. A difficult-to-read or difficult-to-complete survey will have lower response rates and potentially misleading results if respondents misunderstand the survey questions or if the answer options are difficult to read. A coloured mail survey could be conspicuous – or look like junk. Both positive and negative effects have been found for coloured mail surveys. If colour makes a survey more noticeable, it can serve as a reminder to complete and increase response rates. However, if a survey is confused for junk mail, response rates can decrease. A coloured scale can affect rating questions. Colour can influence the perception of a scale’s spread and influence results on perception-based rating questions such as agree-disagree scales or numerical rating scales. When the gradient of the colours from one end to the other is amplified, respondents perceive the scale as more severe and give more moderate ratings. Inventory Questions Are Pretty Safe Inventory questions such as “Who is your current telecommunications provider?” or “In what year were you born?” do not appear to be affected by the question design or colours used because they have an objectively true answer. As long as the question design and layout are clear and the design doesn’t cause confusion, there is no evidence that the survey’s design affects the responses. Perceptual Questions May be Affected Perceptual questions, on the other hand, may be affected by various factors concerning the question style. I know what you’re thinking: we already know that. Very true. Perceptual questions should always be taken with a grain of salt and considered a comparator rather than an absolute measure, whether they’re rainbow coloured or black on white. Sliders seem to have some interesting effects on survey responses. Both the initial placement of the slider and the size of the slider matter: a wide slider discourages respondents from answering at the extremes, and a slider with an initial placement in the middle discourages a neutral response (respondents prefer to move it rather than leave it where it is). Colouring may also matter in the interpretation of the scale, if the colours used affect the respondent’s perception of the measurement. Overall, using colour and changing design seem to be okay as long as they are consistent. Think of using the different question styles as using different anchor points and treat them this way in the analysis. Entering the Era of Grayscale Research Surveys? Colour and visual elements might be a fun addition to your survey as long as you don’t go overboard: clarity is key to collecting quality data. Remember that researchers see far more surveys than respondents will: make sure it’s not you who is bored with the formatting. It’s a safer bet to keep the wilder stuff for the inventory questions. Consistency should be a key priority in tracking work (I’m sure I’m the first one to ever recommend that!). Questions that are going to be compared should be in the same format. There, I said it: researchers, here’s your excuse to feed your addiction and give respondents a few pages of item-bank radio button grids.  ...
 

10 Jul

Posted at 16:57h in Innovation, Insights
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#1. Understanding online community research methodologies: Community research can be quite different from ad hoc research. Research goals may range from answering only one question over a few days to pursuing many questions and topics. The key here is to understand the goals of the research in order to moderate properly for the study objectives. Understanding the methodology allows those moderating the community to know how much detail to provide, how to phrase questions, and when to probe and follow-up. #2. Engage early and consistently: Prior to the launch of any online community, a plan should be in place to determine how to engage members as soon as they join. This plan should be ready to be executed as soon as the community is launched and drive initial participation. Throughout the life of the panel, constant feedback and follow-up engagement should also be implemented. Examples involve sharing articles or incorporating news feeds relevant to the community members and providing quick follow-up feedback regarding member participation in community research. #3. Pinning the main questions: To make discussions easier to follow and participate in, key questions the moderator asks should be pinned somewhere (preferably at the top) of the discussion group. The names of each discussion group can be the research question, which will help community members readily understand the topic being discussed. #4. Pop-up announcements are your friend: Utilizing pop-up features in a community software platform will help with engagement, moderation, and management. Rather than having the moderator post details over and over again, create a pop-up announcement to inform community members of details that do not fit directly into a discussion group. #5. Keep it simple: Depending on the audience, it is generally best practice to stay away from language that is too technical, trendy, or ambiguous. Community members want to provide straightforward insights, which will come from being asked clear questions. #6. Be creative: There are ways to “spice up” a relatively boring topic. Think of all the long and un-engaging surveys you may have completed and turn questions into punchy, insight-focused statements. This may include developing a research game for members to participate in. Prizes help too! Check out this article on 6 Creative Ways to Present Your Market Research Data for more ideas. #7. Last but not least, have fun: This is definitely a huge benefit of moderating an online community. If you interact with community members and show that you enjoy conducting research with them, odds are members will feel more comfortable opening up and sharing their insights....
 

07 Jul

Posted at 18:38h in Corporate, News
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To celebrate the beginning of summer, Insightrix held its annual staff and family summer barbeque last weekend at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo. There was a bouncy castle, an inflatable slide, cotton candy, and, of course, more than enough food. Happy summer from everyone at Insightrix! ...
 

20 Jun

Posted at 21:57h in Business, Insights
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by Briana Brownell I always find conferences inspiring, and the recent MRIA conference in Saskatoon was especially motivating. It was packed with great concurrent sessions, provocative panel discussions, motivating keynote presentations, beautiful views of Saskatoon, and great times talking with the many industry leaders in attendance. Now that I’m back in the office, I’ve got my desk cleared off, and I’ve written up my lengthy conference follow-up to-do list. These are the top three changes I’m going to make: #1. Be okay with frayed edges I’ll always remember one designer’s interview comment about the Canadian fashion market: “You can’t sell frayed edges to Canadians. They just don’t get it. They need everything to be done.” This is true as well for marketing research in this country - we’ve got big firms with a fairly wide array of off-the-rack products that see minimal modification. And I see why: structure is cozy. It’s so nice when a research project has clear boundaries. When you’ve collected the data, done the analysis as per the plan, and written that last word in the PowerPoint “conclusions” slide, you can be satisfied that it’s done. But, unfortunately for a quant person like me, not everything can be so nicely captured in an SPSS file. Instead, the edges of the research often become important, as we have seen in the many new and often surprising findings in customer satisfaction research. To this end, I was happy to see several exploratory presentations that examined a customer’s holistic interaction with the brand. Lesley Haibach and Anne Kossatz’s presentation on their successful implementation of a change in RBC’s inbound call centre explored times where a company has the greatest chance to impact customer satisfaction. They found that an important insight came from understanding the customer’s state of mind when he or she contacts customer support and allowed RBC to make a small change in the organization that had big results. What was so impressive about this research program was the alignment of the organization with the research results. They achieved considerable buy-in from all levels within RBC, so much so that human resources even altered their hiring practices! Amy Charles and Joel Weinberger explored the edge of conscious and unconscious responses using a very interesting method based on psychology experiments to derive implicit associations. I’ve seen this technique used before (actually, I personally feel that this is an example of such successful gamification that it becomes a methodology in its own right. But that’s a discussion for another time...
 

16 Jun

Posted at 23:06h in Business, Research
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Different research challenges require various research solutions and knowing when to use a specific approach can certainly be a daunting task. This overview highlights some instances in which online communities may be preferred in place of custom ad hoc research. Combination of Quant and Qual – Online communities offer researchers a solid opportunity to gather both quantitative and qualitative data at the same time and at a lower cost. Because most online community platforms have both quant and qual tools built in, research can be conducted much more quickly and efficiently than a combined qual-quant ad hoc study. Demographic Segments – If you are looking to segment individuals based on demographics, online communities work well. Short surveys are used to profile individuals and then targeted research questions are presented to the entire group to pinpoint where profile differences emerge. Groups can also be formed based on demographics and targeted research can be conducted with specific sub groups. This approach can be achieved much more easily with an online community than with a long ad hoc questionnaire with skip logic that segments groups during the survey. Regional, National, and International Research – If the research question requires insights from individuals who are geographically dispersed, an online community is an excellent research platform. If a wide scope is required, individuals can be recruited from different regions, provinces/states, and countries. Online communities are borderless and research can easily be conducted in several languages. Engaging Research – In place of long and often boring surveys, try utilizing an online community to spice up your research questions and increase engagement. If your research topic is dull in survey form, consider an online community to allow for a more open forum for discussion. The community also allows for innovative approaches such as co-moderation, where a community member or members take an active role in conducting the research. Rather than gathering a lot of yes/no and scale answers, you can collect rich, organic data from engaged members whom you can return to for future research questions....
 

09 Jun

Posted at 16:58h in News Release, OnTopic, Polls, Saskatchewan
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A new independent poll conducted by Insightrix Research shows that Saskatchewan residents are divided in their opinion on whether or not liquor stores in Saskatchewan should be privatized. Specifically, residents were asked to indicate whether they believe 1) liquor stores should NOT be privatized at all; 2) new liquor stores should be privatized but existing stores should remain publicly owned; or 3) all liquor stores in the province should be privately owned. One quarter (26%) of residents believe liquor stores should not be privatized at all, 34% feel the current approach is best (new stores privatized and existing stores remain public), and 23% support privatizing all liquor stores. One in ten (11%) have no opinion on the matter and 6% are unsure. Opinions closely correlate with support for provincial political parties. Specifically, those who say they would vote for the provincial NDP if an election were held today are more likely to believe that all liquor stores should remain public (52% vs. 15% among SaskParty voters who feel the same way) while those who would vote for the SaskParty are more likely to support privatizing all liquor stores in the province (37% vs. 8% among NDP voters who feel the same way). Roughly equal proportions of SaskParty and NDP voters (34% and 31%, respectively) support the current approach of keeping existing stores public and privatizing new stores. Further, residents were asked about the impact that privatizing Saskatchewan liquor stores could have on government spending and price and selection of products in liquor stores. Opinions are mixed in each of these areas. Specifically, roughly one half of Saskatchewan residents believe that privatizing liquor stores means there will be fewer public dollars available for health, education, highways, etc. (47%); however, 51% believe that the privatization of liquor stores will allow the government to focus on building other facilities. Turning to the customer experience side of things, roughly one half of Saskatchewan residents feel that privatizing liquor stores would mean better selection (52%) and better prices (51%) for consumers. Opposition to each of these four statements ranges from 30% to 38%, with the remaining respondents stating that they are unsure. Finally, when asked how residents’ support for the SaskParty would change if all liquor stores were privatized, opinions remain divided. Specifically, 26% say their impressions of the SaskParty would decrease, 47% say they would remain the same, and 13% say they would improve. Fully 14% are unsure or prefer not to say. It is noted that most of those who say their impressions would decrease are also people who say they would vote for the NDP if an election were held today (59% vs. 13% among SaskParty voters). Research Details A total of 800 randomly selected SaskWatch Research™ panel members participated in the online research study from June 3rd to 6th, 2014. Quotas were set by age, gender, and region to match the general population of the province. Since the research is conducted online, it is considered to be a non-probability proportion sample and therefore, margins of error are not applicable. About SaskWatch Research™ Insightrix began developing its SaskWatch Research™ online market research panel in October 2007, using high-quality techniques including telephone recruitment and referrals from existing panel members. Presently, there are over 15,000 active panel members representing all regions of the province and distributions of the general population. The panel membership closely matches the 2011 Census based on age, gender, household composition, household income, and education. For more information, please visit http://saskwatch.ca. For more information, please contact Lang McGilp, Senior Research Executive Insightrix Research Inc. Tel: 306.657.5640 ext. 229 Cell: 306.290.9599 Email: lang.mcgilp@insightrix.dev1.commandbase.ca Web: insightrix.dev1.commandbase.ca...
 

07 Jun

Posted at 22:26h in Corporate, News
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Oscar was lucky enough to be able to stay for a week in Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii. His beachfront condo was minutes away from Waikiki beach, where he took in the rays and enjoyed the view. He was able to enjoy snorkelling at Hanauma Bay as well as many other activities that included a trip to Pearl Harbour, the North Shore, and whale watching. And what hot vacation isn’t complete without some bevvies while you’re watching the sunset?...
 

06 Jun

Posted at 19:34h in News Release, OnTopic, Saskatchewan
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More than one half of Saskatchewan residents support the firing of U of S President Ilene Busch-Vishniac. Fifty four percent (54%) of Saskatchewan residents support the recent decision made by the University of Saskatchewan’s Board of Governors to fire U of S President Ilene Busch-Vishniac. Specifically, 32% strongly support the decision and 22% somewhat support it. Fully 17% oppose the decision to let the former U of S President go, and nearly three in ten (28%) are unsure. Regionally, support for the removal of the former President is highest in Saskatoon (67%) and lowest in Regina (47%). Based on the events that have taken place at the university in relation to Dr. Buckingham and the former President, a majority (71%) agree that the reputation of the U of S has been negatively impacted among Saskatchewan residents (27% strongly agree, 44% somewhat agree). A similar proportion (70%) agrees that these events have also tarnished the university’s reputation in the broader academic community in Canada and internationally (28% strongly agree, 42 somewhat agree). Despite the believed negative impact that recent events have had on the U of S, Saskatchewan residents are divided on whether or not it will be difficult for the university to recruit a highly qualified replacement for President. Specifically, 43% feel it will be challenging for the university to find a suitable candidate, while 40% feel it will NOT be difficult. The remaining 17% are unsure or prefer not to say. However, slightly more Saskatchewan residents (54%) suspect it will be challenging for the university to recruit highly qualified professors in the future based on the events that have taken place at the university. Three in ten (29%) disagree, feeling that it will NOT be difficult to recruit highly qualified professors in the future. The remaining 17% are unsure or prefer not to say. Research Details A total of 800 randomly selected SaskWatch Research™ panel members participated in the online research study from June 3rd to 6th, 2014. Quotas were set by age, gender, and region to match the general population of the province. Since the research is conducted online, it is considered to be a non-probability proportion sample and therefore, margins of error are not applicable. About SaskWatch Research™ Insightrix began developing its SaskWatch Research™ online market research panel in October 2007, using high-quality techniques including telephone recruitment and referrals from existing panel members. Presently, there are over 15,000 active panel members representing all regions of the province and distributions of the general population. The panel membership closely matches the 2011 Census based on age, gender, household composition, household income, and education. For more information, please visit http://saskwatch.ca. About Insightrix Founded in 2001, Insightrix Research Inc. is a full-service market research firm that helps clients develop, administer, and manage data collection and information strategies. From its office in Saskatoon, Insightrix offers a comprehensive range of research services. For more information, please contact Lang McGilp, Senior Research Executive Insightrix Research Inc. Tel: 306.657.5640 ext. 229 Cell: 306.290.9599 Email: lang.mcgilp@insightrix.dev1.commandbase.ca Web: insightrix.dev1.commandbase.ca...
 

28 May

Posted at 17:51h in Business, Insights
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Having trouble increasing response rates? Keep reading for some quick tips on how to increase survey engagement. We live in a world cluttered with information, where endless distractions are right at the tips of our fingers. Completing a survey is no match for Candy Crush or checking up on your cute neighbour through Facebook. Let’s face it: as we move up (or down) the evolution chain, our attention span gets shorter. Heck, I even forgot what my point was: anyway, I’ll be lucky if you made it this far in the post. Given the above, the last thing you need is a boring survey. While you cannot control the topic of your survey or sometimes even its length, you can definitely enhance its format. The following are some tips you should always have in mind when designing a survey: Engagement is not just about achieving a high response rate. It’s also about ensuring that everyone gets an equal chance to respond so that you are not only hearing from those with vested interests or those who are just interested in panel points. It’s all about quickly getting well thought-out answers. I’m surprised to see that you made it all the way to the last sentence (or maybe you skimmed to the end). Either way, carry on: Candy Crush awaits. For more information on survey design and increasing response rates for your market research projects, please contact us using the form below: hbspt.forms.create({ portalId: '374811', formId: '05fef899-65c7-408e-9c1d-d9e972faf0c7' }); ...