How Human8 Boosted Research Efficiency and Client Satisfaction with Discuss’ All-In-One Platform

Overcoming technical barriers, manual inefficiencies, and fragmented processes for enhanced client engagement and satisfaction.

Human8 is a human-driven consultancy that connects brands with people and culture to drive positive change. The organization unites a creative, smart and ambitious group of +900 people across 23 locations under one vision: making brands more human by better understanding people and culture, empowering brands to take action, and enhancing the lives of the people they serve.

Challenge:

1. Technical difficulties and lack of tech support created accessibility barriers for clients and respondents: The absence of live technical support on platforms like web conferencing tools caused disruptions in the user experience for researchers, clients, and respondents. Additionally, the inability to conduct tech checks prior to live interviews exacerbated technical issues during live sessions. Human8 sought a platform capable of providing live tech support and accommodating users of all ages and abilities to eliminate accessibility and technical barriers for both clients and respondents.

2. Manual processes hindered timely video deliverables and real time insights for clients: The Human8 team needed a way to share high-quality clips and highlights from interviews with their clients. The traditional method of manually re-watching interviews, tagging crucial sections, and editing videos proved highly inefficient. Additionally, having to comb through recordings to locate key moments from conversations was extremely time-consuming. 

3. Limitations of web conferencing tools resulting in subpar respondent experience: Current web conferencing platforms often lack features essential for effective respondent, client, and project team interaction. For instance, the absence of a private backroom for stakeholders may lead to respondents feeling uneasy about being observed, potentially compromising the authenticity of the insights gathered.

4. Fragmented and time consuming project setup and respondent management: The fragmented nature of the setup process hindered swift project setup. Challenges with disjointed procedures due to navigating multiple platforms and procedures for tasks such as collecting consent forms, managing respondent data, and organizing interview setups led to inefficiencies, resulting in wasted time and resources.

Solution:

Human8 adopted Discuss’ all-in-one qualitative platform, which features both asynchronous and live research elements plus essential services and support for Human8’s research projects including live technical support.

Asynchronous Research
With Discuss’ asynchronous research capabilities, Human8 can conduct video feedback for their clients through in-store shop-alongs, in-home usage testing, unboxing, unmoderated usability testing, video open-ends, and more.  

Live Research
Human8 leverages Discuss’ platform for live virtual qual (IDIs, focus groups, etc,) as a tool for an all in one approach including usage of the platforms’:

• Dedicated observer backroom
• Interactive Stimuli Sharing
• Screen sharing (respondent screen sharing and moderator screen sharing)
• Auto-clipping with ‘Save Moment’ button 
• Live polling and analysis 

Research Repository
Discuss serves as a comprehensive research repository for Human8, consolidating all research and insights into one centralized platform. Whether interviews are conducted live, asynchronously, or off-platform, Discuss provides a unified hub for organizing and accessing valuable research data.

Live Tech Support
For agencies like Human8, ensuring seamless interview sessions for both their clients and respondents is crucial. With Discuss’ live tech support, they have assistance not only to conduct tech checks for respondents before interviews but also tech support is available to help at any time throughout live sessions, ensuring smooth participation.

“What I really appreciate about Discuss’ tech support is that they are always friendly and patient with respondents. This is super helpful especially with those who are less tech savvy. It just makes them feel that much more comfortable!”
– Sandra Ferris, Qualitative Director at Human8

Results:

1. Completing Client Projects Faster and Conducting More Qual with Ease and Efficiency 

With Discuss, Human8 can expand their qualitative efforts and delve deeper into research more easily. The platform’s user-friendly setup makes it a breeze to set up, schedule, and launch new projects, helping Human8 kickstart client projects with efficiency. Everything they need from launching asynchronous activities to conducting live interviews, is conveniently housed in one central location. Managing participants is a smooth process too – adding individuals to projects as they’re recruited ensures seamless coordination from start to finish. With Discuss, Human8 can get client projects off the ground quicker than ever.

2. Noticeable Enhancement in User Experience for both Clients and Respondents

There has been a notable positive enhancement in sessions, marked by improved experiences for both clients and respondents. The platform’s intuitive design makes it especially user-friendly for all ages and abilities, resulting in successful usage for all users. Additionally, the ability to phone bridge in respondents when needed, whether due to their tech comfort levels or a preference for not being on camera, further enhances accessibility and comfort. This ensures that participants can join in a manner that suits them best, contributing to a smoother and more inclusive experience for everyone involved.

Sending tech check links to respondents beforehand ensures technical issues are ironed out in advance, enhancing the overall research experience for respondents, clients, and Human8 staff. Additionally, Discuss’ proactive approach of contacting respondents ahead of sessions alleviates stress for the Human8 team and moderators by ensuring everyone is well-prepared. This means they don’t have to worry about tech issues or respondents struggling to join sessions, as Discuss’ live technical support takes care of all those concerns, ensuring smooth sailing even when issues arise.

3. Increased Client Satisfaction: Quality Deliverables & Real Time Insights All-in-One Platform

Human8’s enhanced client satisfaction stems from quality deliverables and real-time insights provided on Discuss’ all-in-one platform. This includes easily shareable video insights, allowing for quick clipping and editing of video content.

This streamlined process enables the creation of engaging reports with video clips, meeting the needs of both Human8 and their clients by delivering high-quality, timely, and shareable highlight reels of sessions. Real-time key moment tagging further enhances the experience by facilitating easy retrieval of crucial insights during sessions, eliminating the need to sift through interview videos or transcripts retroactively.

“We love video clips in our reports and so do our clients. The platform allows us to mark, clip and edit them quickly and easily. Plus, we love that we and our clients can tag something in real time to grab it later – either as a clip or just to know what our clients are finding interesting.”
– Sandra Ferris, Qualitative Director at Human8

4. Increased Client Interaction and Engagement on Projects with Purpose-Built Platform

Discuss’ dedicated research environment, particularly its virtual backroom feature, has significantly increased client interaction and engagement with research projects for Human8. Unlike generic web conferencing platforms like Zoom or Teams, Discuss provides a specialized environment custom-built for research.

The virtual backroom feature allows observers to interact with each other and the moderator seamlessly, fostering real-time discussions and feedback exchange while safeguarding confidentiality. This environment promotes open and honest dialogue, encouraging clients to actively participate and contribute insights, ultimately enhancing the overall research experience.

“I know some companies like to go the “cheap” route and use Zoom or Teams because they already have it, but those platforms are not for research and don’t have the added features that Discuss has. I hate that when using Zoom a respondent would see all the “squares” that are watching them, even with their video off, it’s a horrible experience for respondents.”
– Sandra Ferris, Qualitative Director at Human8

Conclusion

The adoption of Discuss effectively addressed Human8’s challenges. With features like live tech support, easy video clipping, dedicated observer backrooms, and centralized project management, Discuss enabled Human8 to conduct research more efficiently and at scale, enhancing client satisfaction and respondent experiences.

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