WHAT
Individual depth interviews to assess early stage packaging and graphics concepts (packcepts)
HOW
Respondents are pre recruited to attend short (30-45 minute) interviews, online or face to face, where the moderator presents stimulus for a specified time to simulate the immediacy of the buying situation. A questioning technique is used to capture immediate responses before exploring the root influences and drivers of the perceptions that emerge. In all cases the key questions are not just about what they see, but why they feel the way they do about it.
A series of 10,12 or 20 interviews is typically sufficient to give direction on the routes with greatest potential to achieve the design objectives which inspired the brief. Outputs can take the form of visual and textural image associations, or go as far as traffic light reporting and the Tangible REAL analysis (Retain;Enhance;Add; Lose)
WHY
20 years of experience has proved that early stages of packaging and graphics development are notoriously difficult to research – exposing unfinished ideas to groups can cause confusion and lead to a muted and negative response. Worse still, packaging is presented as boards and viewed at distance so copy and visual detail is missed. Packaging perceptions are based on personal reference points and expressed through often idiosyncratic vocabulary – both of which must be understood at an individual level not on a consensus basis. The most effective way to understand individual consumer response is to interview individuals and give them the right amount of time to evaluate the stimulus.