We have five areas of specialty that are useful for government departments seeking research partners:
We have conduct projects on emotional, sensitive or challenging topics for government agencies including ASIC, the New South Wales Police and the Motor Accidents Authority (now SIRA). We are very experienced interviewing people who are disabled or distressed, or whose circumstances make them vulnerable.
One of the most difficult tasks for anyone in a large organisation is knowing how to communicate complex or technical material to the general public. We see this all the time and empathise. When you are writing about legal processes, you must use precise language. We get that. The problem is that members of the general public may not understand it, so in the end you have not achieved your aim.
We live in a world that relies increasingly on digital information, where users typically access that information on their own. Writers often write the copy isolated form the people most likely to read it. As a result, they often have to rely on their own intuitions about users will understand or already know. In turn, many of our clients over-estimate the ability of their customers to understand.
If you think of the information and resources that you give to you customers as simply 'information' to be delivered like a parcel, you will miss the key idea. People use and explore these resources actively, and in their own way.
Remember: the precise language and terminology that is specific to your department or agency may be ambiguous or confusing to someone else.
Stakeholder research is unique and has some demanding requirements, that we understand.
The challenges peculiar to stakeholder surveys are that:
The must do's
We have found it is essential to:
ASIC has released the report we wrote for them about the experiences of superannuation fund members wanting to make changes to or seeking information about their insurance in their super. The report can be accessed here.
Retail investor research into structured ‘capital protected’ and ‘capital guaranteed’ investments
https://www.asic.gov.au/media/1344242/rep341-published-1-May-2013.pdf
The motivation to buy funeral insurance was often the need for emotional closure.
Here is an extract from our report for ASIC:
How consumers buy direct life insurance
Our report for ASIC describes how consumers decide to buy direct life insurance and how they decide how and what to buy. Our sense-making approach to research revealed how some consumers struggle with their experience. These products are complex so consumer understanding of their features is often poor.
Here is an extract:
Email Sue on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Or phone her on +61 0409657317. We are based in Sydney, Australia and are members of the Research Society with QPR and ISO 20252 accreditation.
