"I'm writing the New Years Eve blog for our website. It'll be about change and courage and new beginnings and things like that. I'd like to reference this post, Dustin. We've ALL been challenged and changed by the process, and that's a good thing."

- Melinda

"I concur."

- Desi

"Dustin,

I'm a market researcher, so let me disclose that bias upfront. You're absolutely right in saying that it's not a popularity contest but rather a contest of courage. Change takes courage and most often people don't take well to change.

The failures of the focus groups you cited was in the misuse of the groups...the wrong questions were asked or the wrong type of research was conducted.

Coke didn't listen to people's loyalty to the taste they had lived with all their lives, they listened to the question of taste preference and willingness to buy. There are stories floating around that a vocal and angry number of focus group participants told Coke they would walk away from the brand if the flavor changed. An insightful researcher should have been able to explore and predict the disaster that ensued.

Good research doesn't dumb down design into "bland inoffensive products," instead it enlightens designers on customer needs (both felt and unfelt). Good research helps you learn about your customers and their lives. It is the height of arrogance for a company to assume they know what the customer needs.

People who come up with big risky ideas are amazing...I wish I was one of them...but I wonder how many carcasses of great ideas litter the landscape of innovation because the innovators were too arrogant to listen and connect their big and risky ideas to actual real world needs."

- Matt

"This is great to hear Melinda. Thanks so much!"

- Dustin

"[...] This post was Twitted by matchstic [...]"

- Twitted by matchstic

"Matt,

"Good" research is simply looking into society and culture in order to design something that changes existing conditions into improved ones.

What exactly these conditions may be and why they need to be improved is really up to the designer -- and proves whether he's worth his salt. As a designer, and for the sake of my client, I'd sure as heck hope I have the ability, talent, and insight to do so. Otherwise I'd be doing them a terrible disservice.

As I stated in a previous post, I find it quite sad that we've become so bottom-up as a society. Where "an anonymous Twitter comment might be seen to pack more resonance and useful content than an article that reflects a lifetime of experience, experts are not created from the top down but from the bottom up."

Listening to a bunch of random peoples' "tastes" is not good research.

I do not want my favorite musician to play the the notes that I "need" -- I like them because they play their music. I do not want my chef to go easy on the garlic, cook it well-done, and substitute the potatoes for tomatoes. I went to that restaurant precisely because I admire his talent and philosophy as a chef, and appreciate him to be an expert at his craft. If said chef fails, he was simply offering something nobody (except maybe myself) wanted, and as such, will need to find something else to do. The world goes on.

If all innovators just started listening to people's "real world needs", we'd be left with a world eating McDonald's, drinking soda, watching Transformers and driving around in silver Toyota sedans. Doesn't seem very fun to me. (Or, never put Alvin in a focus group if you want your product to be comfortable, safe, and successful).

I want to work with a company that believes in their product. It inspires me as a designer, makes for a brand that's actually interesting, and if it happens to blow up -- well, that's just the icing on the cake."

- Alvin Diec

"Lots of good points here by both of you guys, Matt & Alvin. I do agree that quantitative research has its worth, that its not all hooey. Still, I do agree with Alvin that it shouldn't water down or drive great ideas. It should merely be a part of the decision-making puzzle. Rather than saying, 'Is our idea worth launching?', the question should be, 'What might we have failed to consider as we developed our big idea?'. Even then, the response should not be to react and do exactly what the research dictates, simply because its in black and white.
One of the hardest challenges with the results of Focus Groups is that it typically seems to be impossible to go against, once its been stated.
Curious Matt - how do you guys handle these types of gut vs formula issues?"

- Dustin