About Company

Amplified Intelligence is a South Australian start-up founded by Professor Karen Nelson-Field in 2017. Initially formed as a consulting research company in media effectiveness, our strong technology focus and unwavering desire to collect and analyse data for our research saw us turn research methodology on its head.

Requirement

As the sole designer within the organisation, I am exclusively tasked with shaping all of our products and creating the experience for panelists. Our company conducts research to predict audience attention towards TV channels. We achieve this by engaging a pool of panelists who opt to participate in our studies. Through these studies, we gather data which is then processed using our proprietary technology to generate predictions about viewers' engagement with various channels.

Problem Statement

Despite initially agreeing to participate in the study during the preliminary survey, 80-90% of the panel members were not installing the device on their TVs nor initiating the study. This lack of participation led to several consequential issues:

• The study was not completed on schedule, jeopardising our commitments to clients and potentially threatening

• the business deal.

• Our market reputation faced risk due to these delays and unfulfilled commitments.

• Significant resources were wasted in shipping the devices to the panel members, given that no valuable data was received in return.

• Further cost wastage occurred as participants failed to return the unused devices.

Design Goals

The primary objective of our design initiative was to unearth the underlying reasons why participants were not concluding the study. Our aim was to substantially decrease the drop-off rate from the existing 80-90% to a more manageable figure of 20-30%, a reduction rate deemed acceptable by the team.

Assumptions

Our initial hypothesis suggested that:

• Participants were not completing the study due to forgetfulness; specifically, they may not have remembered subscribing to such a study and thus failed to recognise the purpose of the device upon receiving it.

• Participants were not happy with the rewards.

• By the time they were receiving the device, some of them went on holidays.

Research Methods

• Surveys

• User interviews

• Personal experience

Pushing Boundaries

I requested the team to send me the device in the same manner they would send it to a customer. This enabled me to gain firsthand experience and identify any potential issues throughout the entire process. This experience provided me very useful insights.

Research Outcome

The research findings significantly diverged from our initial hypothesis.

Positives

• Participants were able to remember that they had registered for the study.

• Participants found the rewards offered to be satisfactory.

Negatives

• Setting up the device was too hard.

• The instruction guide we gave wasn't clear enough.

• People were worried about their privacy.

• They got the wrong things in the device box.

• The devices were delivered to participants much later than expected, causing them to lose interest in the study.

• The study's duration was overly long, leading to a lack of motivation among participants.

• Participants were not interested in watching the programs suggested by Amplified.

Solutions

Informed by our research findings, we implemented the following modifications to enhance the experience of the panelists.

I worked with the cross-functional teams and:

• Improved the TV study participation survey for clearer understanding.

• Made the device setup simpler and provided nearly ready-to-use devices.

• Redesigned the instruction manual for better clarity.

• Reassured participants about our company's credibility and their data privacy.

• Working with the operations team, I ensured correct items were in each device box.

• We couldn't speed up delivery, but we provided tracking updates to keep participants informed.

Analysing existing onboarding survey form

Improving the flow and removing unnecessary stuff

Designing the survey form

Improving panelists actual study flow

I redesigned an instruction manual by removing unnecessary steps and simplifying the content. I added images for clarity and to break up the text, making the guide more intuitive and easier to follow.

Redesign chrome extension for clarity

Challenges and Outcome

• Our hands were tied regarding program customisation as the content was provided by clients.

• While we couldn't reduce the duration of the study, we implemented a notification system to prevent participants from accidentally terminating the study and having to restart from the beginning.

Results

“All of this resulted in significant reduction in drop-off rate from 90% to 40%.”

• Ensured timely delivery of client projects as promised, safeguarding Amplified Intelligence's reputation.

• Increased panelist participation rate.

• Achieved more precise and accurate data from the studies.

• Significantly reduced operational costs.

• Minimised device loss and successfully repurposed devices for reuse.