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Advertorial – Stefan Ruthenberg, mindline Data visualisation: from "can‘t be done!" to "will be done – if you need it!"
Advertorial – Stefan Ruthenberg, mindline
Data visualisation:
from "can‘t be done!" to "will be done – if you need it!"
Technology and skills are often limiting factors when it comes to data visualisation. A frequent response when talking to service providers is “it can't be done”. But there are a lot more possibilities than many people realise. And some small things and clever gadgets applied to displaying data, UX and interactivity can make the decisive difference needed to convince even the very last, usually important naysayers. This is the only way to implement research culture change and complete the leap from reports languishing unread to digitally interactive, agile corporate decision-making!
Well-implemented data visualisation inspires decision-makers and stakeholders.
(Image: ivector - Can Stock Photo Inc. – courtesy of mindline)
As a specialist for bespoke full-service market research, in 2009 mindline was facing the challenge of whether to focus on existing software packages such as Tableau and PowerBI or push ahead with our own app development. Although it was an uncomfortable and quite cost-intensive choice, we made a conscious decision to pick both.
Have your cake.
Having our own solution is a must-have for mindline, as it meets our demands for ‘anything goes’ tailor-made solutions. We have therefore developed a fully-integrated tabulation and report program which uses smoove, our web-based market research platform. This offers a wide range of data management customisation options and enables us to implement special requirements such as exporting native PowerPoint charts, using weighting toolsDIY shelf tools and much more.
And eat it!
However, in-company standards often dictate the choice of clients’ software. We therefore also had to train specialists on the common PowerBI and Tableau platforms in order to meet our needs for a high degree of flexibility. A case in point: PowerBI is not designed to process individual data (as is usual in market research), but to process aggregated business data. Significance and case number alerts are also not provided as standard, to name just a couple of small examples. For us this is no problem at all, since our subsidiary mindline analytics has sufficient capacity with a staff of 10 dashboard script-writing specialists.
And more.
Our “what-for?” market research consulting expertise is at least as important as technical know-how. It is an enormous advantage when the service provider knows which option is the best fit from the sheer multitude of possibilities. Some gimmicks are just too time-consuming, some detailed analyses can be misleading for certain stakeholders. mindline advises clients on an equal footing according to the following data visualisation principles:
- Succinct findings: data analysis according to a list of priorities
- Top-down: key findings first then a look at the details
- Responsiveness: immediate feedback, e.g. push notifications for critical incidences and threshold values
- Interactivity: intuitive user guidance – positive user experience
German Research Landscape underlines mindline’s special positioning
The results of the first German Research Landscape, presented at last year's Week of Market Research (WdM), speak for mindline’s unique positioning. In the area of dashboards & visualisations we are perceived as the only full-service institute that goes beyond the classic fields of brand consulting and qualitative and quantitative research.
Service is the search for better solutions
Consistent focus on customer needs is what drives us. This drives our quest for opportunities to optimise processes in all areas of market research, wherever it makes sense, in qualitative as well as in quantitative research.
Our Competence & Innovation Center (CiC) is constantly on the look-out for the latest ideas and develops new approaches to technology, theory and methodology, launching the most promising of these on the market. Some examples:
- VIPER e-store simulation for concept tests in a direct competitive environment
- Chatbots for greater depth in open-ended questions – in cooperation with NLP start-up und AI specialist Cauliflower
- Accompanied DIY research platform smoove, its current eye-catching development is a quasi-automated shelf set-up
- mindline SemioSphere for image-guided emotional mapping of brands and touchpoints
Image: mindline SemioSphere | Source: mindline
Our qualitative subsidiary mindline Rich Harvest has also been a pioneer in the development of web-based survey techniques and remote testing for authentic user feedback and product tests.
mindline – the hidden champion
As one of Germany’s top 10 market research institutes, mindline keeps a comparatively low profile. However, it has been among the top performers in the German market research image study Marktforschungs-Imagestudie for many years. This is really no surprise as we have been following our “less breadth, more depth” motto since 2002. While our client base may not be as broad as others in the industry – we nevertheless research all possible questions, methods and facets in close partnership with our clients. From qualitative to quantitative research, with a strong focus on the FMCG/retail, energy, media and finance sectors.
Admittedly we do tend to work away quietly in the background, but we feel at ease as a hidden champion... if you are curious, we look forward to you visiting us at our hiding place! ?
mindline at the Week of Market Research (Woche der Marktforschung) – sign up:
• Pitch: Data Viz & Dashboards
From digital transformation to added value (Von der digitalen Transformation zum Mehrwert) – Wednesday, May 11, at 16:00 CET
In-Home Product Tests – gaining insights throughout the usage phase with online diaries (In-Home Produkt Tests – Online Diaries um Einblicke über die gesamte Nutzungsphase zu gewinnen) – Thursday, May 5, at 16:00 CET
Please note: both events will be held in German.
Managing director Stefan Ruthenberg has over 20 years of research experience including working at global institutes Research International and Ipsos prior to setting up mindline.
Advertorial in German: marktforschung.de - here
