Finding the right frequency

Editor's note: Kelly Hancock handles communications for the Qualitative Research Consultants Association. This case study was presented at the 2011 QRCA Symposium on Excellence in Qualitative Research.

When you hear about AARP, you probably think of information and resources for the 50-and-over crowd. But recently, AARP has added a younger demographic – 25-to-34-year-olds – to its target audience.

Studies were showing that a majority of retirement-age workers felt they waited too long to begin saving for retirement, says Jean Koppen, senior research advisor for AARP. “People always wish they started earlier. They wished they knew at 20 what they know at 50 or 60. We realized we needed to reach people earlier to help them.”

Preliminary market research identified that AARP could make the greatest impact with an online initiative that would offer financial guidance to young people – before they made common financial mistakes. That’s where AARP’s LifeTuner enters the conversation.

LifeTuner is a Web site specifically designed to help young people set financial goals, budget their money, manage debt and save for a better future. But targeting a brand new audience raised a lot of questions in the design and look and feel of the site. AARP turned to qualitative researcher Kristin Schwitzer, president of Annapolis, Md.-based Beacon Research and a member of the Qualitative Research Consultants Association, to navigate the design of the LifeTuner site. Schwitzer guided the organization through three phases of qualitative research to test various design options, logo placements and new tools.

Phase one: feedback on the alpha site

In the first phase of research, AARP wanted validation of what the early research suggested: that the concept had merit and the name LifeTuner would resonate with the younger audience. It also wanted to test preliminary versions of the site layout and design. “The initial request was to conduct research near Washington, D.C., where AARP is located, to avoid travel costs and make it easy for the team to observe the interviews,” says Schwitzer. “However, in order to reach young people across the country, AARP agreed with my recommendation to include some Webcam interviews. AARP hadn’t done online qualitative research via Webcams before but it was clear that we needed the broader audience.”

Koppen agreed, adding that online research also allowed interaction with respondents in their natural environment. “Webcam interviews were particularly effective because respondents viewed the site where they normally would engage with it – at the kitchen table, on their laptop, on their bed, at various times of day when they would typically be online, etc.,” she says. “This methodology brought a greater sense of realism and authenticity to the site testing, as opposed to placing respondents in a sterile testing environment.”

Schwitzer conducted 29 one-on-one interviews, about three-quarters of them via Webcam and the remainder in-person. The methodology allowed for in-depth feedback on ways to improve the alpha site before it went into beta.

The early research suggested that users needed to understand within the first few seconds that LifeTuner was relevant to someone their age; when they saw the AARP name, they assumed it wasn’t for them. “We wanted to make sure that a fresh set of eyes, who did not know that LifeTuner was connected to AARP, and who had no other previous experience with the concept, thought it made sense for AARP to be in this space,” Schwitzer says. “We tested their blink reactions to the name LifeTuner and reactions to various branding options. Should the AARP logo appear on the site? How much emphasis should be placed on it? We also did more traditional usability testing that was task-oriented.”

The usability testing portion of phase one explored things like whether or not respondents could easily navigate the site, likes and dislikes among the features, how useful the information was to a 25-to-34-year-old and ideas for improving the design and content within the site.

Phase one research revealed that the LifeTuner name and concept would work, but respondents suggested several revisions to the design. Most users understood why AARP would be doing this site and the well-known and trusted name gave it immediate credibility. However, when the logo was the first thing to catch their eye, respondents assumed the site was not relevant to them. They wanted more information, perhaps a brief YouTube-style video, to explain the purpose. Despite the age stereotype, most still wanted AARP branding on the homepage, as they only trust sites that come from a verified source.

Phase two: displaying AARP sponsorship

While phase two taught AARP that its logo needed to appear on the site, where was the best place to put it? What’s the best way to show AARP’s affiliation with LifeTuner, while ensuring the intended audience knows it’s for them?

The AARP board requested metrics to prove the logo shouldn’t be the first thing site visitors see, so Schwitzer proposed a quali-quant method. AARP conducted interviews with 208 respondents, offering a large enough sample size to provide metrics to the board and also give the development team insightful feedback on the design of the site. Each interview lasted two days and consisted of both closed- and open-ended questions.

AARP had previously determined that young adults typically fell into one of four ways of thinking about financial matters. Roughly 50 people from each segment comprised the total of 208 respondents. The four segments include:

  • Achievers, who feel successful and satisfied with their current financial situation. They have few worries about money and can offer advice to others.
  • Strivers, who are proud of what they’ve accomplished but still feel anxious about making decisions. They feel like they’ve beaten the odds and that financial success is within their reach.
  • Laid-back, who have few financial assets but aren’t worried about it; they don’t feel like they need to worry about the future.
  • Overwhelmed, who feel that they should be further ahead. They know they should be saving but worry about the future because they’re financially strapped and can’t save.

“We knew we couldn’t be all things to all people but we wanted to be sure whatever we did on our Web site, there would be something for all four segments,” Koppen says.

AARP tested four variations of the brand logo placement: logo alone in the top left corner of the home page; logo at the bottom center of the homepage with a tagline; no branding on the home page and explanatory text in the “About Us” tab; videos on the home page of young adults explaining to their peers how LifeTuner helped them.

They also created and tested three new potential Web site designs, based on feedback from the usability testing in phase one.

In phase two, it became clear that AARP’s sponsorship shouldn’t be displayed too prominently or too early. “You have one chance to tell a young person that it’s designed specifically for them. If they see AARP, they won’t think it’s appropriate for someone their age,” Schwitzer says. “If you place the logo in the top left, you may alienate the person on their first visit and may never get them back.”

Understanding that point was critical for AARP’s internal team, Koppen says. “The young adults liked that it was AARP and had positive impressions; they thought it was the right organization,” she says. “It was just the immediate blink reaction that, if the AARP logo was prominently displayed, our target demographic would assume it wasn’t for them. That was a difficult message to communicate internally but we had the research to back it up.”

Ultimately, AARP decided to combine several of the branding options, placing the logo at the bottom of the home page with the tagline, including a written explanation of why AARP was involved in the “About Us” tab, and creating a brief video that explained the Web site’s purpose.

Phase three: offering tools

As the design continued to evolve and content was enhanced on the site, AARP wanted to create several widgets that would apply financial principles to a visitor’s personal situation. Before devoting resources to the development of the tools, AARP wanted feedback on whether or not it was a worthwhile investment.

Turning again to one-on-one Webcam interviews, Schwitzer tested early versions of two different tools: a credit card tool and a retirement tool. “We tested both tools for overall usefulness and we wanted to know what was working and what wasn’t working so we could further improve the problem spots. But primarily we were focused on the overall usefulness and if the tools would be valuable to the user,” she says.

The research showed that respondents were very intrigued by the tools and the target audience would find them very valuable. As a result, a suite of custom, interactive tools is now available on the LifeTuner site. AARP was so pleased with the tools that the LifeTuner team was commissioned to build a new version of the retirement tool for its 50+ audience as well.

Secondarily, during this phase of research AARP also wanted to test the latest version of the homepage design, which had changed significantly following the phase three research. “All the research was very iterative,” Koppen says. “Tweaking kept happening. Optimization kept happening. Even after phase three, the Web site continued to evolve. We’ve made some significant changes to the site, all based on the knowledge that the research provided us.”

All three phases

The success of the Web site can be tied to all three phases of the research. It was featured in BusinessWeek and received a Gold International Design Excellence Award from the Industrial Designers Society of America in the design strategy category. It’s also been listed on Guy Kawasaki’s roundup of personal finance sites.

LifeTuner averages approximately 80,000 unique visitors each month, with about 140,000 page views. In addition, LifeTuner has nearly 5,000 “Likes” on Facebook and almost 3,000 followers on Twitter.

The numbers speak for themselves: thousands of young adults – and future AARP members – are getting closer to financial freedom with the help of AARP and LifeTuner.