Rachel Abbott and Tom Morgan, Director and Associate Director at TBA London recently presented at the 2016 QRCA Worldwide Conference on Qualitative Research in Vienna in April.
The theme of their talk was 'The debrief is dead' - looking at how combining qualitative research methods with behavioural science can help to develop far more actionable insights for clients.
Rachel and Tom argued that:
"The traditional debrief is on the way out, just as the Word document report did before it.
For qualitative insights to hold their own today, we need to be embedding actionable models and frameworks through more immersive and interactive sessions than the standard 2 hour / 40 slide powerpoint presentation.
Bringing together qualitative research methods with behavioural science can help us to develop the actionable insights this requires. This approach can help to positively disrupt the behaviours of consumers and clients alike - the two go hand in hand.
Their conference presentation was designed to sow a 'SEED':
- SHARE behavioural research techniques that help to inform delivery of behaviourally impactful models
- EXCITE clients with how they can enrich the work we do as qualitative research consultants
- EQUIP clients to develop models of your own - by explaining how qualitative insights underpinned one model we developed recently
- Demonstrate the impact that this kind of approach can DELIVER"
To illustrate this approach Rachel and Tom drew on two projects The Behavioural Architects conducted in 2015 with the Amateur Swimming Association - to get disabled and non-disabled people swimming, in the face of declining participation trends.
Rachel Abbott, Sarah Davies and Tom Morgan
"A key part of our approach was to get detailed feedback on the complete swimming experience, so we set research participants a mission to capture everything they did and what they saw, heard, smelt and felt before, during and after visiting their local pool - 'in the moment"
"The reflexive techniques we used - making participants more self-aware of their own behaviour - meant that even participants who were fearful and disengaged with swimming felt like swimming experts. This empowered them to have an equal voice with operators and swimming industry people when they came to co-creation workshops."
Nick Caplin, ASA Director of Participation commented:
"TBA's behaviour change research has been the lynchpin of our entire new strategy to get more people swimming. It has transformed the way we look at the challenges facing our sport and has provided a clear and deliverable framework for driving improvements across the sport and industry."
