By Steve August and Sion Agami
When we think of innovation, we usually think of advances in technology, methodology, products and experiences. And while these advances are innovations, they are also actually results of the innovation process. The innovation process works through a sequence of stages: discovery, initial ideas, trial and error, evaluation and execution. At the end of the cycle, a new technology, product or experience is offered to the world.
Research plays an important part in each stage of the innovation process. From understanding the white space of consumer needs and desires, to evaluating initial concepts, to use-testing of prototypes, and evaluating purchase intent, research is there every step of the way. At every stage, drawing insights from consumers is key to understanding how to proceed through the innovation cycle.
However, as much as insights are important, we would argue that one of the more under-appreciated outputs of research for the innovation process is empathy. Building empathy not just within the research team, but within an entire organisation enables an entirely different mind set. As various product and marketing teams within an organisation internalise and draw on empathy with their consumer, the passion for solving the problem that empathy engenders can mean the difference between the success and failure of a new offering.
The power of empathy was made clear through a recent study conducted with Procter and Gamble that covered some extremely sensitive subject matter: female incontinence.
P&G had the numbers on the subject. One in three women between 18-75 experiences some level of incontinence, with nearly 40 percent of women 50 or older experiencing the issue. 40 percent of women who suffer from incontinence experienced product failure with the adult undergarments that they used. But, as you can imagine, many struggled with sharing information on the topic. To the women experiencing incontinence, the subject is so often so sensitive and embarrassing that they didn’t feel like they could talk to their friends about it, and some felt uncomfortable even discussing with their doctors.
P&G feminine care needed to overcome the challenges of having women communicate their experiences and emotions with this topic in order to innovate new solutions. A research approach that enabled private, but open sharing, where participants could be anonymous but engagement was required.
P&G, working with FocusVision’s Revelation division, created a 10-day digital qualitative community. Participants were recruited and spent 10 days engaged in a sequence of activities that captured behaviors, experiences and emotions. Mobile diaries were used to capture in-the- moment experiences, while projective metaphor exercises were used to capture emotions around the topics. The platform enabled both private one-to-one interactions between participants and researchers, as well as social discussions amongst the participants.
The gathered responses painted a poignant picture of women living with incontinence.
P&G found consumers in all five stages of grief at their condition going from denial to regretful acceptance. Respondents were going through the gamut of feelings and emotions such as:
- Frustration: Participants are frustrated by the lack of control they have over their situation.
- Current Routine: Constant planning ahead is crucial for dealing with incontinence.
- Discomfort: Relaxation and comfort are hard to achieve while worrying about incontinence.
As part of the outreach, respondents were able to become part of a community, sharing solutions and coping mechanisms. One individual even said, “The community has given me an uninhibited psychological release, which has been extremely therapeutic.”
Ultimately, the output of the digital qual study was not just insights, but true empathy with the consumer.
Not only did empathy with the respondent help to gather better data, it also boosted a real commitment internally with the team and management to drive the innovation process, create relevant learning plans, design targets and ultimately deliver holistic product experiences.
Steve August is Chief Innovation Officer at FocusVision and Sion Agami is Research Fellow and Proctor & Gamble Fem Care Division
