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Customer Preference Test

Live Interviews - Research Project

To understand our user's main preferences for our and competitors' products, we performed 2-day individual interviews with 12 potential customers in a studio simulating the natural environment. This test is meant to be done each year to give us time to iterate on features and keep up with competitors' development. 

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I worked together with a Research Agency in the Netherlands in charge of performing the test and collecting the participants. Together we created the Script and checked all possible scenarios (or most). I was also the person in charge of giving the right direction and technical information that the participant might need spontaneously on the test. 

Motivation

  • The company wants to enter the early-majority market, so we need to understand how those potential users think and behave with our product (smart thermostats) 

  • We want to understand what are the first reactions and impressions of our product vs other competitors for the device and for the App. And of course, learn from them. 

  • We want to be the preference of our users, and that is the reason why we talk to them and try to understand how they behave, so we can adapt to them. 

Goal

  • Discover specific needs, pain points, and strong characteristics of our product and the competitors

Success Criteria

  • Discover pain points and needs for the participants that didn't choose our product as the first option.

  • Understand what are the characteristics that make the first choice the best product for the user and if that feature is applicable also after sales.

  • Be the first choice of the majority of participants tested, after 2 or 3 iterations with the insights learned in the past tests.

Setup - Criteria

  • Not a real scenario test --> because of budget, time, and complexity we were not able to set up a real scenario test on stores.

  • 12 participants were distributed over 2 days

  • Live test in the agency - Each interview lasted 1 hour

  • Controlled devices, installed on the wall with their app (our and 4 competitors) 

  • Separate device and app test --> To improve specific topics for all our touchpoints (give them the chance to attack specific problems) 

  • Don't reveal that the test is from our company until the very end, after rating and recommendations

Main research questions

  • What do people experience (see, feel, hear, think) when they get into contact with smart thermostats & apps for the first time? (and why?)

    • What experiences seem to have a prominent role in people's judgment of the product? (and why?)

    • What (details/features) do people seem to focus on most? (and why?)

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  • What are the differences in the experiences between the Tado smart thermostats & apps and those of competitors?​

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App Interviews

Detect pain points, needs, and main characteristics of our's and competitors' Apps. 

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Device Interviews

Detect pain points, needs, and main characteristics of our's and competitors' Hardware products. 

Results

Structured in 5 areas:

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  • Expectations and motives:

    • ​A direct trigger is needed to make the decision

    • Comfort over sustainability

    • Paying more for an intuitive design

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  • Design and appearance

    • ​The design of the app is considered intuitive and feels finished.

    • The physical thermostat evokes curiosity and is easy to blend into every interior.

    • The look of the device is considered quite important when choosing a smart thermostat

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  • Features and Functionality

    • ​The most prominent features should be the current temperature and setting a schedule

    • Amount of features can be overwhelming for some

    • The schedule is hidden away behind the temperature feature

    • Geofencing is liked but there are some concerns

    • The day-to-day schedule is highly liked

    • Some features especially contributed to a sustainable image 

    • Some participants want to easily add other devices in order to 'smarten' their home

    • The number of physical features of the thermostat was perceived as too little

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  • Comparison and rating

    • ​Choosing a familiar brand gives people the feeling of comfort in a new situation

    • Intuitive design and layout are highly liked

    • The appearance is rated high compared with other thermostats

    • The physical thermostat isn't very intuitive

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  • Navigation and usability

    • ​The colors and symbols helped people navigate through the app

    • The temperature setting feature is very overwhelming

    • The slider function can be confusing and hard to use

    • The device was mistaken for a touch screen, searching for more features

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And... what to do with this information?

We are still working on different ways to prioritize the topics, we have learned a lot, and we hope we can modify some features to test again. The main topic we are working on is the Display of the device, we want to give clarity on information, ease of use, and a beautiful look in one device. 

© 2022 by Jhinneska Araya Quirós.

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