Editor’s note: John Whittle is senior research strategist at research firm Further, London.
Internal stakeholders love videos. Videos allow you to bring customers into the boardroom, putting a face to a persona. They're simple to capture on modern mobile research platforms. In many reports, video is king. However, this doesn’t mean that researchers always use them to best effect. Indeed, many studies go video mad asking every question to be captured selfie style.
There are drawbacks to using videos too liberally. They can be a nightmare to analyze without third-party tools. Unlike text, you cannot easily scan a video for a phrase or idea and it can take a number of viewings to really understand the content and subtext of the video. To complicate it further, you will likely have to watch multiple videos during a single analysis section, jot down a plethora of notes and attempt to keep a comparative train of thought running throughout. This might be fine when you are fresh-faced and ready to research but problematic when you’re burning the midnight oil ahead of an impending deadline.
Making video work for you
If you don’t have the luxury of costly video transcription software or services that allow for phrase or tag searching, save video questions for when they really matter. Make video work for you rather than the other way around.
Here are some appropriate ways to request videos.
Break the ice and subtly authenticate your participants. We all know the value of the introductory task, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some perennial participants have grown bored of constantly introducing themselves at the start of every study. However, framing this activity as a video task can help you do more than provide personal context, especially if your study requires frequent video contributions. Ensuring that participants get used to sharing video from the start allows them to get comfortable with the process, practice recording to your requirements and increase the overall effectiveness of this media format during your project. Another added benefit is that it allows you to check that the people who have signed up are who they claim to be: consider it a friendly form of authentication for your participants.- See a behavior or location. Sometimes you don’t want to rely exclusively on what people tell you. Video allows you to capture the context in which respondent emotions, thoughts and behaviors take place.
- Compare what people say vs. what they do. Sometimes people are not aware of their own behaviors or they are motivated to present themselves in a certain light, which might not tell the full story. For instance, people might say that they have relatively healthy food behaviors but when you ask them to take a video of their fridge and food cupboards, or to capture their meals over the course of a few days, the results might give a very different impression.
- Video summaries. After concept testing, journey tracking or near the end of your study, tasking participants with summarizing their thoughts can help your analysis and produce excellent report content. Provide participants with a list of prompts or talking points and set them loose. These videos can quickly capture the entire research experience and allow your client to feel like they are face-to-face with their audience. Because participants will select what they choose to comment on at the end of the study, their videos will provide you with some additional insights into their priorities.
- Insight support. Participants can often cite behaviors or personal nuances during their text responses that might provide incredible value when supported with video. Targeting these moments and knowing when visual support might aid your overall objectives can enhance the quality of your research. Use research tools that allow you to iterate activities on the go, focus on specific individuals or simply allow participants to provide media on their own terms.
Unless you can afford to incorporate third-party analytical tools, minimizing the use of video and maximizing its effectiveness allows you to keep things interesting for participants while ensuring that you aren’t stuck watching your own research home video. While these tips cover the implementation of videos within your studies, there are also a few other tips that can help you effectively collect and utilize rich media insights.
Quality control
I have already mentioned using activities that prime participants to share videos comfortably, however sometimes you need to go a step further to ensure the quality of the footage you want. For example, you may end up working with respondents who are not social media savvy. In such instances, create a priming activity that instructs them to film in a certain way (landscape or portrait), to set their camera up so it is stable, to think about the sound quality around them and to even go through a few practice attempts before they choose to upload. As they say, practice makes perfect and perfect instructions and practice prevent poor footage.
Delivering insights
Typically researchers are confined by budget, time and experience, so it may not always be possible to pay someone to turn your footage into research movie magic. Here are four tips to help you avoid the blooper reel.
- In the same way that you should only use video for specific questions, you should only use it to showcase specific answers. Great presentations use all media formats and don’t subject stakeholders to 90 minutes of poorly edited footage. Short, snappy and to the point. Weave your video in with text and photos.
- To help you achieve the point above, it can be useful to think about how you can cut elements of videos that deal with a specific research objective, emergent theme or experience. If you have conducted journey research, are there set stages within each participant’s video that you can cut together (i.e., one for pre-purchase, another for during)? If you have identified a new behavior, can you demonstrate this against the contextual backdrop of a previously known behavior? Above all, consider how your videos can deliver the same impact as your findings.
- Pay attention to sound quality and sound levels. No one wants to scramble for the volume button every time a video changes. Ensure consistent sound quality. If you decide to use background music, choose carefully. Hans Zimmer might be powerful in films but it can detract from your point in a shopping journal. Allow participant’s words and actions to shine.
- Finally, sometimes the only video you will need is the summary. This can be a surefire way to deliver value at speed. Sometimes decision makers will want to see further proof, so when you are analyzing leave a trail that someone else could follow. Attach video notes whenever possible. Noting important time frames and key phrases will save you trouble when you need to return to an idea or point.
Remember, collecting great video is worthless unless you can deliver it and the insights it contains.