A national research organization that boasts one of the largest opinion panels in the country, wanted to both increase the response rate to their outreach material and attract a more representative sample for their annual recruitment cycle.
Assess customer outreach material usability
Challenge
Goals for this study were to understand how to make the mailer stand out, make it more appealing, and connect with people.The study was to evaluate each touchpoint in the process: call interaction, mailers, online registration, and web interface.
Approach
We conducted an expert evaluation of all materials. We then conducted usability testing with target user groups, including existing panel members to understand what about the panel recruitment process worked well or not.During the test, we asked participants go through the entire process from mail sorting tasks to receiving a call with the call center (which was done from the call center directly into the test room).
Outcome
We identified aspects of the mailer design that suggested it was ‘junk mail’ and provided design recommendations (including layout and content) to deliver a more impactful piece and create a better first impression. We also uncovered motivations for joining a research panel. Additionally, since we evaluated the full recruitment process, we provided insight and recommendations for call interactions and overall approach.