The Project: To conduct in-person qualitative interviews with viewers in multiple markets, to gain insight into viewer behavior with digital cable television and satellite TV.

Our client - a broadcast organization - needed insight into how digital cable and satellite TV viewers used the Interactive Program Guide to navigate and find program information including title and description information. They wanted representation from different MSO markets (multiple system operators) to ensure the credibility of the data.

We agreed a medium-scale study (5-8 users in each market) could be done, but the problem was keeping the cost under control, as formal lab testing can run $2,000/user or more. We wanted to cover the top 4 MSOs in order to ensure credibility.

Enervision decided to mix formal usability testing done at market research facilities with cost-effective "mini-labs" in rural areas. Market research labs were used for testing of digital cable service of the both(Time Warner and Comcast for a total of 15 customers

A retailer/installer of satellite service was then located in a rural area who could provide both types of satellite service (DISH and DirecTV). The goal was to cover a total of 10 satellite customers in the lower-cost "mini-lab" settings, thus bringing the total to a goal of 25 qualitative interviews (a robust sample for qualitative interviews).

In spite of the difference in setup, the following characteristics were shared between the formal labs and the "mini-labs":

The difference? "There simply were no frills in the mini-labs," says Meryl Enerson, President and principal consultant on the study. "For example, in Boston, we all stayed in a comfortable 3-Star hotel with terrific accommodations and food. In East Chatham, we had bottled water and no reception. But the output was equivalent."

By keeping the costs low for the lab work, we were able to collect data from a sufficiently large sample to make management confident in the study results.

The client attended the formal usability labs, and gained insight into their requirements going forward. "There was a lot we knew about our viewer needs, but there were some missing pieces," commented the Project Manager. "This study helped us fill in some gaping holes in our knowledge, within a smaller budget." The research study provided valuable insight into: