Case Study 1: Bringing a parenting resource to life
No time? Quick skim:
An evaluative study with limited timeline and budget, so I kept methodology simple - a survey via Instagram, 2 usability studies and semi-structured interviews, and competitive analysis. Results were analyzed via descriptive statistics, pivot table, charts, and affinity mapping. Insights directly resulted in reshaping of the current product (ditching their website and newsletter and shifting resources to social media), a new marketing strategy which increased their following, and development of 2 new products (a live webinar series and 1:1 consulting).
ABOUT: The Parenting Cooperative is an online resource for parents about social-emotional learning (SEL), founded by two former teachers who are also moms. The existing product consisted of a website, newsletter subscription with 108 subscribers, and an Instagram account with 1,798 followers. One year after their launch, the founders needed direction.
PROBLEM: Their social media following was stagnant and stakeholders were unclear on their own branding and scope. They wondered if they were covering the right age range, and if their current users were interested in the content and format of their products. They wanted to launch an additional monetized product but had no clarity on what that should be or what their users’ needs were.
PROJECT OBJECTIVE: Gain insights into the needs and preferences of current and potential users, in terms of a) age range covered and b) brand clarity. Increase social media following and define market need for a new product.
MY ROLE: Project Research Lead, limited budget
*A good challenge for me: As a mom and former educator myself, I had background knowledge and expectations that I was careful to constantly check in this project, reminding myself that I AM NOT THE USER, checking my bias, and ensuring my assumptions were not impacting my research.
The Parenting Cooperative Instagram account
Discovery
Internal meeting with stakeholders
Exploration of existing product
Competitive analysis of similar products
The initial meeting yielded such useful information for me and for stakeholders! They hadn’t realized how little clarity they had on their brand and their own business objectives. Through our interview, it became very clear to us all that in addition to their existing goals (increasing followers and developing a monetized product that would fill a user need), they also needed to gather information from users on what content/perspective was most needed by the target audience, in order to narrow the Parenting Cooperative brand focus.
Research questions
How can we retain and attract more followers?
What specific age group should we focus our content on, if any? Is there a need for elementary school age SEL content?
What content are our current users most interested in? What unmet needs do our users have that we could address via new courses or ebooks?
How do people see our brand? What do they like about it and not like about it?
What are our competitors doing? What can we learn from them? What separates us from them?
Methods
The time and budget were limited for this study, and complicated by the fact that BOTH co-founders were due to give birth in the following weeks! As such, I kept methodology simpler than I otherwise might have. E.g. I would have liked to do a thorough competitive analysis to validate market needs, more in-depth interviews, and a broader survey that might yield statistically significant numbers. Alas, life for the stakeholders was just too life-y so I had to prioritize to get the most pertinent information for them in the most time-efficient ways. Here is where I landed:
Usability testing and interviews
2 participants (one in person, one remote)
Moderated usability test of website combined with semi-structured interview
Recruited participants from target audience who met the following criteria:
Parent of child/children aged between infant-elementary school age
Not a current user of product and product is unknown to them
Survey
16 participants, all current users recruited via direct message on Instagram (current followers selected randomly)
Survey administered via Google Forms
*We deliberated about whether to offer an incentive or not and landed on not. This was first round data gathering, stakeholders were new to UX research and had minimal budget for it, so they preferred to see what interest we could garner without incentive, knowing that we could offer one next round. Of 45 followers contacted, we only had 16 responses, and stakeholders later saw the information was incredibly useful and an incentive would probably have paid for itself.
Thematic Analysis using Notably
Thematic Analysis (in progress) in Google Docs
Survey:
*Note small survey sample size: lack of incentive meant that despite 45 contacts, we only got 16 to say yes. For this reason, survey results were not statistically signifiant so I triangulated my data by backing up major insights with findings from usability tests/interviews.
Survey results were automatically collated into Google Sheets. I cleaned data then calculated some descriptive statistics from the quantitative data.
I created a pivot table comparing variables such as age of child/ren and how useful users found current topics.
I created two charts to visualize data for stakeholders that related to sources of current users and subscription usage.
For the remainder of qualitative data captured by the survey, I created affinity maps using hard copy post-it notes to group and sort data.
In addition to pulling out themes, I selected strong quotes to give context and emotion.
I created a word cloud of how users describe the current product, to help stakeholders get a sense of how their brand is currently perceived.
A regret learning in this survey design - the question “how is this product different from competitors” was not a required answer, and only got 6 responses, but this info was really useful! I really should have made it a required response.
Visualization of data
Data Analysis
I am a visual thinker and a highly organized person, so I like to have really clear systems to sort through data. For me this means lots of iteration, because if the coding doesn’t feel clear, or the themes aren’t concrete enough, I can’t sleep :) I sorted data by themes, tags, and sentiments, in various ways, to allow different insights to emerge.
Usability tests/interviews:
I summarized and prioritized usability issues in a spreadsheet. Pain points were categorized by severity/impact and issues that impacted the user’s experience in a critical way were highlighted for stakeholders.
For the in-person interview, I transcribed notes from the audio recording and incorporated the additional notes I took during the test (e.g. non verbal cues, flow). Then I completed thematic analysis manually in Google Docs.
I always note non-verbal observations in interviews and usability tests; in this case for example, a participant laughed out loud at one post, and I utilized that moment to highlight some content feedback for stakeholders. Including that emotional reaction really resonated with them.
For the remote interview, I uploaded the Zoom recording to Notably and used their affinity mapping tools to conduct a thematic analysis.
I then combined both tests in Notably to get a second layer thematic analysis, comparing major themes and findings from each individual usability test to draw out strongest trends and supporting quotes.
Findings
(When presenting to stakeholders I also included additional positive feedback; being a relatively new product, I knew they were unsure of how things were going and I felt they really needed to hear about their successes as well as the areas for growth)
Only 7% of current followers were obtained via word of mouth, while 29% were obtained via presence on competitors pages
Very few participants subscribe to the newsletter or the website; of those who do not, 56% noted lack of time as the reason while 34% did not know additional products even existed!
A major finding related to age range of content; across both survey and usability tests, participants asked for more elementary-age content. Interestingly, this applied even to parents of younger children who do not have elementary-age children. Further, this was noted as a general market gap, with many participants reporting they have trouble finding any SEL content specific to elementary-age children.
Usability issues critical to the user experience included lack of “return to homepage” button and lack of a “search” feature to search topics on the website.
It was also unclear to users what the product was, what the purpose of the website was, and what specific parenting philosophy or angle the Parenting Cooperative adhered to in their content matter.
“I follow them because these moms seem real with real struggles, and they give great tips!”
— Current user
“That was my first question, is it for all ages, because (if so) I’ll subscribe right now!”
— Potential user
Insights & Recommendations
Deliverables:
Slidedeck presentation was presented live via Zoom to stakeholders.
Stakeholders are busy, expectant moms of toddlers with babies on the way and they specifically requested one deliverable. They have no time for long reports! I kept it personable, engaging, and brief for greatest impact.
Whenever possible, I utilize quotes and video/audio snippets to add color and feeling for a stakeholder presentation. The goal is to ensure they ACT on the insights. They might not remember that statistic I gave them, but they remember the frustration in that participant’s voice…
Content/niche: There is definitely a market for SEL content for elementary aged children, and your audience wants it.
Branding: there is a need for more language around your philosophy/approach, particularly in your headlines, bios, and hashtags, so new users can quickly identify what the product is and if it’s for them.
Community: there’s some expectation or want for a community, and your current name and branding implies that you provide that, but it’s not clear how. There’s opportunity here to build/clarify the community part of your brand. Is it an Instagram community? Instagram Live Q&As? A chat feature for parents to ask each other questions? Workshops with parent interaction and Q&A? Could this be incorporated into the new product? Further research should answer these questions.
Website: The current usability issues on the website make it hard to use, and it’s not marketed to your audience, so has very few subscribers. Consider focusing energy on your Instagram account and monetized products and forgoing the website and newsletter. If you do maintain the website, it needs to be modified to fix the usability issues.
Marketing strategy: To increase your Instagram following, you should increase two streams of followers - word of mouth and followers from competing or similar pages.
Encourage your followers to spread the word! Giveaways for referrals, “tag a friend” posts, reminders to share with a friend who needs to see it.
Increase your presence on similar pages so people in your target audience find you; comment on posts, network with competitors, follow and comment on pages that relate to this content matter such as school pages or therapists pages.
Outcomes
As a direct result of these insights, stakeholders:
Changed the format of their existing product in multiple major ways:
They refocused content to include elementary age children, to meet this gap I identified in user needs.
Ultimately, they scrapped their website and newsletter, which were labor intensive for them and received much less interest than they had expected, and instead put energy and resources into other avenues.
Changed their marketing strategy to increase word of mouth referrals and presence on competitors pages, thus increasing their follower count on Instagram.
Began design of 2 new products, shaped by user feedback, in the form of a live webinar series (with Q&A to build community) and 1:1 consulting sessions.
Saw the value in user experience research and now plan to iterate research for their next phase with more budget delegated to this process.
Possibly the best part for me - stakeholders were thrilled by the clarity they now had for their strategic direction and they reported renewed vigor for developing their product, which they attributed directly to this research study.
For me, the greatest reward is energized stakeholders putting my insights into action and responding to user needs, it’s honestly inspiring. Win win win!