WATTx streamlines user research by bringing multiple steps into one tool

Research to find product-market-fit

The team at WATTx started using Condens for research on an existing venture. Thomas was the responsible user researcher on that project. “We realized the venture had no product-market fit and we needed to figure out why and how to get there” Thomas explains. They decided to conduct interviews to identify the source of problems they want to solve. Next to Thomas, there were three colleagues from different disciplines involved.

Before using Condens, data from user research was passed through different tools. It started with note taking in Google Docs, where a new file for each participant was created. To analyze data across participants, responses were moved to a spreadsheet.

The spreadsheet showed quotes or observations by participants and topics in order to identify themes. Lastly, relevant themes and quotes were transferred to a presentation tool to share findings with stakeholders.

Using three different tools adversely affected user research in multiple ways. Hopping back and forth between tools costed time and was perceived as a barrier. Richness of information was lost as for example media files can’t easily be used in spreadsheets. “Also, there was no way to trace evidence back to the original source, as there is no link across the tools.” Thomas remembers.

From three tools to one

When Thomas and the team started using Condens, they realized they could perform all three steps in here. The collaborative text editor allowed them to see and complement each other’s notes from the interviews. They used the participant template to replicate questions for each participant and the automatically added date helped to organize the sessions.

Based on their notes they added tags that reflect themes and topic areas. “Using multiple tags on the same piece of information really helped as participant statements can fit to several topics” Thomas explains. They analyzed tags across participants to see all data on a topic in an overview while keeping the link to the source. Clustering related statements from multiple participants allowed them to investigate their hypothesis and draw insights.

In a last step, Thomas summarized the study’s results for the team. He used the clusters from the analysis to support the findings and built the conclusion upon them by adding headlines and further descriptions. This summary was used for a presentation to colleagues and could easily be shared with a link.

Using Condens, the WATTx team links the outcomes of each phase and thereby builds upon them instead of creating duplicates in other tools. This saves time and allows to move between raw data and conclusion quickly. And Thomas assures that introducing Condens was easy: “There is no need to explain how the tool works as it is super easy to use.”

After the research project, the team at WattX pivoted the venture. A change in direction followed based on the research findings. Even weeks after the research project they continue to use the findings for their quest for product-market-fit.