Storytelling

All good stories are filled with emotion, and we all love to hear stories. One way to gain insight into consumer's emotions is to have them tell you stories using pictures about an experience or situation where your product is used. This exercise is more effective than direct questioning, as the act of finding pictures and creating a story with a title, beginning, middle and an end taps into the portion of the brain where beliefs, attitudes and emotions are stored. This qualitative exercise is followed by an analysis of the layout of the story, the pictures used and the words the panelists used to tell their story.

This process will identify the following:

• Consumers' emotions
• Changes in emotions while using the product
• Consumers' motivations and aspirations
• And other insights!

Expert Panels

Expert panels, sometimes called repeat use panels, are excellent tools in the prototyping phase of development. Expert panels are generally comprised of a target group of people that agree to meet on several occasions to discuss prototypes and other stimuli. Usually panelists are given a new prototype to use each time they meet. Expert panels can help you determine which product features or changes are noticed and valued by your target audience. This process allows for the rapid development of products through receiving regular feedback from the consumer. Contact with the panelists can also occur between groups with the use of phone or Internet.