Using Customer Feedback to Reinvigorate Old Product Lines

Challenge:

A major producer of tools and implements wanted to tap into their customer base to facilitate brainstorming for ideas on how to update and improve their product design. In order to accomplish this, consultant Alan Bergstrom needed an efficient platform to quickly connect with tradespeople on a national scale. The platform needed to be flexible enough to have the ability to identify product issues and missing design capabilities and also flesh out possible solutions. To get these solutions, Alan turned to Digsite.

Solution:

Alan recruited 60 tradespeople who were frequent users of the client's product. With the comprehensive study he had in mind, Alan opted for a Digsite subscription that would last over four weeks. Participants were given weekly exercises, requiring them to interact with each other and post videos/photos showing how they use the product on the job.

Digsite’s platform allowed Alan to identify a range of product design problems and potential solutions. Keeping those problems and potential solutions in mind, Bergstrom then invited 16 of the 60 participants to participate in an in-person ideation session. A designer was then able to mock up twelve product enhancement concepts based on these insights.

Finally, the 16 participants returned to another Digsite community, where they refined and critiqued the new concepts, ultimately giving the client a clear picture of their consumer’s needs.

Results:

Digsite communities gave Alan a window into real product usage scenarios in an environment that fostered a high level of engagement. By spreading weekly exercises out over a month, participants were able to build off each other’s ideas, which resulted in actionable ideas for improving product design. Notably, Digsite allowed these solutions to be uncovered without exhausting the client’s research budget.

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