Michele Ronsen, Founder and CEO of Curiosity Tank, led a recent Remesh webinar on the role of bias in introducing incentives to research respondents. You can watch the full recording here. According to Ronsen, there are at least 180 documented types of biases. Some are captured below, followed by additional insights on bias in research design in our conversation with her described below.

According to Ronsen, in research studies, the more perspective and experience you have, the more positioned you are to shape and identify bias. Self-awareness is the first step in the identification of bias. Then a conversation with one’s colleagues and team around biases assumptions, whether it’s about the topic you are learning about, the stimuli you are testing, the moderator, participants, or even the researchers. Bias is best analyzed in “360 degrees”. Among the top ways to reduce bias, suggest Ronsen, is to involve more colleagues. It is always good to have multiple perspectives involved in the study including a designer, product manager, a more senior member of either the research or product team, sometimes a content strategist and someone from engineering --typically around 4 to 5 people. A pilot for every study is critical and providing feedback on the pilot and the context are important to reducing bias in any research study.

While income levels might have an impact on respondents’ motivation to participate in an incentivized research study, it really is not the central reason why people participate. Moreover, it is respectful and a good gesture to understand the time commitment a study involves, and incentives demonstrate that researchers care about the respondent’s time— especially critical to time-scarce professionals like doctors and attorneys. An incentive could be monetary or non-monetary. Her own clients tend to orbit in the big tech space, where access to food and shelter is not an issue.

With team biases, says Ronsen, teams are much closer to the problem space and frequently think they know the best solutions prior to conducting research however they are often very surprised by participant’s feedback! Being cognizant of such (self-confirmation) biases mixing up the sequence you show concepts to participants, and making sure the moderator is prepared is one of the best ways to mitigate “bias”.With team biases, says Ronsen, teams are much closer to the problem space and frequently think they know the best solutions prior to conducting research however they are often very surprised by participant’s feedback! Being cognizant of such (self-confirmation) biases mixing up the sequence you show concepts to participants, and making sure the moderator is prepared is one of the best ways to mitigate “bias”.

While Ronsen talks about improv being an important skill or tactic to exercise in conducting research, she emphasizes the importance of preparation and structure in every study. A great moderator and user researcher leverage the fundamentals of improv when getting into character. Thinking on your feet and pivoting happens on the job, and that’s where the improv comes into play especially when respondents don’t respond the way you expect. There are opportunities to pivot throughout the study, and getting into character and into the mindset with the confidence to pivot is learned with time and experience, she suggests.

Is there a place for AI in reducing bias in research studies? When talking about AI powered bias detection tools in the marketplace (example BiasCorrect, a Slack plugin app that flags problematic phrases or language before use in the workplace used by the bank of Nova Scotia), she says she hasn’t encountered many. The prevalence of co-parenting apps that mediate language between divorced co-parents, to make sure their communication is respectful, sounds like an interesting application that could or might extend to research design. Co-parenting apps for people who share custody of a child can help you monitor the language and tone you use when communicating. The detector feeds off some key words, tone or even emojis if the communication is via text. Its goal is to help partners communicate in a respectful manner before they regret their interactions. So much has to do with tone, even in any research study, points out Ronsen.

When developing a set of best practices or guidelines that control for bias, Ronsen reminds that it is critical to first identify biases with yourself and your teams. Then lay out those assumptions in order to know how to check them at the door while in session. While there will never be such a thing as bias-free research, we can reduce it. Self-care is another important element for researchers that calls for taking the time before a study to make sure we are recruiting the right people and screening them properly and reviewing the discussion guide to make sure it is fair and balanced so that we are fully present.

The goal with research is about soliciting multiple perspectives to reduce inclinations or biases when you’re in character and when conducting studies. How does one learn to reduce moderation bias? Record all your sessions, go back through your sessions with a checklist,  and answer questions very candidly, are this leader's last words of advice: “Record everything. Rehearse everything. Bias comes from so many different sources.” 

Further reading: Portigal, NN Group, Curiosity Tank. Sign up for Curiosity Tank's newsletter here.

One of the ways that ABM can be of value to stakeholders in the payments ecosystem would be to provide key insights into what the optimal balance might be between building out the acceptance infrastructure and promoting consumer adoption of mobile payments. Running the model a few thousand times under different innovation uptake scenarios (by varying each of the parameters in the model) could provide important metrics on how consumer uptake and merchant acceptance interact with each other. In the analysis of the model output, it would be fairly simple to add cost functions to each output scenario, allowing payments system stakeholders to assess the business case on either side.

While it is possible to model each agent’s decisions in an extremely complex manner, a cornerstone of ABM is to adopt Albert Einstein’s maxim, namely that “everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” The goal with ABM is not to recreate reality, but to create a useful model, one that can demonstrate interesting emergent behaviours that may arise from interactions between agents.

Agent-based modeling or ABM is an excellent exploratory tool for gaining insights into complex phenomena. Emergent behaviour that arises out of complex multi-agent systems can reveal critical interactional dynamics that are not readily apparent from a purely analytical simulation. And as shown here, it can be a very useful tool for understanding the diffusion of innovations in payments.

If you believe that agent-based modeling could be useful for your business, please do give us a call.

Author: Christie Christelis is the President of Technology Strategies International and an established Fintech expert, entrepreneur, data scientist and organizational culture revolutionary.

By Olga Dubanevych, CMRP

Marketing in an Era of Search, Experiences and Referrals

Technology impacts lifestyles, communications, and viewpoints across the generations: millennials, generation Z, boomers, seniors, etc. Videos, visually striking images, and social media platforms inspire people to seek new experiences, emotions, and excitement. According to a Boston Consulting Group study, 72% of millennials say they’d like to increase their spending on experiences than physical things in the next year, pointing to a growing consumer appetite for experiences over products.

In fact, consumer behaviour is complex and often driven by emotions consumers don’t always understand. Augmented reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) could help channel some powerful marketing and consumer insights tools that delve into the desires and fantasies of consumers. A 2016 Deloitte study reveals that by 2025 annual revenues for the AR/VR industry would reach $692 billion. The study also revealed that 88% of mid-market companies are already implementing some forms of virtual / augmented reality in their marketing campaigns.

Think about the growing popularity of e-commerce and the share of products and services purchased online today. Virtually any customer journey begins with an internet search that compares various products and services available in market. Using AR/VR, online shoppers can now simulate real-life experiences with products or services, growing their product awareness, interest and purchase decisions. Simulated experiences help build trust, loyalty, and retention as well as encourage consumers to share their experiences with peers.

A study by Vibrant Media evaluates the influence of its Vibrant 360° software which enables consumers to put themselves at the center of a brand, product, or place. With new formats consumers can virtually visit a tourist destination, explore a computer game or watch a movie through the eyes of the protagonist, attend a fashion show, performance or special event. The same study revealed that their VR software demonstrated 600 percent higher interaction rates, 700 percent better content recall, 2,700 percent improved brand recall, and 200 percent increase in purchase intent compared to standard 2D video ads.

It is evident how VR/AR experiences enable not just powerfully personal and interactive experiences, but also help unite brands with people and networks in ways that can offset more brand chatter than conventional marketing methods. A Touchstone Research study revealed that 79% of customers will search for additional AR/VR experiences and 81% would tell their family and friends about it. Word of mouth marketing plays a strong role in building better brands, and AR/VR only amplifies this effect.

Building Consumer Trust with AR/VR

When shopping at a physical store, it might be challenging to imagine how some products or services work in real life without proper demonstration. Have you ever looked at a closed jar of paint on the store shelf and wondered how it would look like on the actual wall, in your apartment? Would it not be more gratifying to know in advance how a new haircut and colouring would work particularly on your hair, or how it would fit with your face or appearance? Wouldn’t it also be exciting to have a 360-degree view of the hotel room you are planning to book for your vacation? Wouldn’t it increase your customer experience and satisfaction?

"Forty-five per cent of customers say they would like to try AR/VR while shopping, while 30% of consumers report that they would not visit other stores again if AR enabled them to buy the right size of clothing with confidence online."

NIKKI BAIRD, VP OF RETAIL INNOVATION AT APTOS , NIKKI BAIRD, THE VP OF RETAIL INNOVATION AT APTOS. MAR 18, 2019.

AR/VR could also help in educating customers about products and processes. It could be really challenging to gain consumer trust when your potential clients don’t know what actions to expect during complex or detailed vehicle maintenance, medical or dental procedures. However, AR/VR technology could help consumers visualize even complex processing and help people overcome their fears. Another interesting application of consumer education via VR/AR is the vacuuming robot that cleans their surface or the video journey of how a tea leaf becomes a flavoured beverage. The adventure would start with the montage of a real-life tea plantation and customers watching a pre-filmed documentary of nurturing, collecting and sorting tea leaves without having to travel to India or Sri Lanka. Then they would follow the tea leaves from the plantation to the factories as they made their way into stores across the globe. Finally, viewers would discover how tea leaves lend to the taste and water to become a flavoured beverage. Finally, you can watch the simulation of a real-life tea ceremony which traces its roots to ancient Chinese culture.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Sports or music fans who did not have a chance to attend a concert often wish they could experience the event remotely. AR/ VR fills this gap between fantasy and experience, offering the perfect opportunity to grow a sporting event’s viewership exponentially. According to Greenlight Insights’ 2017 survey, most popular consumer applications for VR were in the categories of concerts, sports and exercise. Their report reveals that 65% of consumers would be interested in live-streamed events using VR, with the same number being interested in using virtual reality capabilities to watch sports-games, and 58% preferring to use AR/VR to watch concerts.

Gamification Improves Participation

Wouldn’t it be fascinating to gamify your brand study to enable your research respondents to have real-life experiences with a product prototype or to test interactive advertising instead of with static routine videos? VR/AR can contribute to better participation rates among survey respondents, enabling the collection of context-rich data, a powerful tool in breaking through the endless sea of products and services for any brand.

Author: Olga Dubanevych is an Agent at Bill Gosling Outsourcing and is passionate about new technologies and experiences. 

Article source: Generation1.ca

Image credits: (1) David Grandmougin and (2)Stephan Sorkin on Unsplash 

By David Phillips

In this age of big data it's easy to believe that we inevitably understand more and more of the world around us.  In fact, the opposite can be true.  We can become blinded by the data we have to the realities not covered numerically.  So how do you uncover your blind-spots, how do you use data smartly, and why should you never, ever have a data strategy?  Here are my thoughts.

Having worked with data for a long time, both with our clients and also within our company, I know data’s limitations and I’ve noticed how we have come to have a weird relationship with numbers: they cause us to have blind spots.  

• We think they are always right
• We think they are more right than words
• We think they explain more than they do
• We ask too much or we don't ask enough
• We don't challenge stuff if it's a number

"MARKETING IS NOT A SCIENCE LIKE PHYSICS WHERE THERE IS A RIGHT AND A WRONG ANSWER.  IT'S MORE LIKE WEATHER FORECASTING - THERE ARE PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOUR FROM WHICH WE CAN LEARN"  (SAM GAUNT, HEAD OF MEDIA, LIDL)

Three reasons why you shouldn’t have a data strategy:

1. Data strategy is not a thing

It doesn't make any sense as a concept.  It's like saying you have a 'sockets and wrenches strategy' when faced with a broken-down car.

Data is a means to an end, not the other way around.

2. Blind-spots are the downsides of a data-first mindset

We’ve moved to an era of ‘data or it didn't happen’. We need to recognize that all data is limited, in that there are things it cannot tell you.  Or, more frequently, it creates the impression of being a holistic picture whereas in actual fact it isn't. Take the 2016 US elections where Trump surprised the entire world by being elected the 45th president of the United States. All the data pointed to Hillary Clinton but the data wasn’t showing us the complete picture. (You can read about my thoughts on this here.)

The problem is that once you prioritize what you see, you de-prioritize what you don’t see, causing blind-spots.

This has become even more evident with the growth of digital data where reams of data are quickly available.  We focus on things that give us data, rather than on what our customers want, as highlighted in this Marketing Sherpa article.

3. A data-created brand crisis

Not only are we potentially missing the complete picture and prioritizing the wrong things, we are creating our own brand crisis by focusing on (the wrong) data.  With the growth on online activation, the rise of white-label products, with the reduction of purchasing friction through online shopping and voice assistants, branding has become more important than ever.  When almost any product can be delivered to your door within a day or so just by talking into a speaker, getting someone to say your brand vs. someone else’s (or Amazon’s own brand) is vital.  And yet, blinded by data, too many brands are doubling-down on short-term thinking and harming their brands and their businesses as a consequence.

So, what should you do?

1. Choose a business strategy over a data strategy

2. Realize what it is, emotionally or politically, that data is actually providing

We need to be very conscious of the role that data can play when making decisions. The role of data is to help us make decisions, it does not make the decision for us.  We have a tendency to automatically consider data to be facts, making it difficult for us to contradict an argument that uses it.  And yet we know – at least at some level – that not all numbers are factual.  

Not getting too caught up in the data will help you balance its relative importance around any decision and instead provide you with a better perspective.

3. Fix the blind-spots

As mentioned before, the key is not to pretend blind-spots aren’t there, but instead to identify them and find a solution. Once identified, you can get the data, tools or support you need to address them.

We’ve been working with brands, broadcasters and agencies for ages, so if you are having a hard time convincing your team to focus on a business strategy vs. a data strategy, or not sure how to fix the blind-spots, we can help.

Source: Nlogic

David Phillips is the President and COO of NLogic, and is known for creating innovative, profitable company cultures that make clients happy. 

By John Stackhouse

AI may be the new flu: everyone knows it’s coming but no one thinks it will hit them next.

In other words, no need for that AI flu vaccine.

In a new Gallup survey for Northeastern University, 61% of Canadians and 71% of Americans think artificial intelligence will eliminate more jobs than it creates. Roughly half of those respondents think AI will also decrease the number of good jobs out there.

But the vast majority also think they’re immune to automation.

Despite a general concern about the impact of AI, only 37% of Canadians and 17% of Americans think their job will be eliminated because of smart technologies.

The Gallup results were presented at a recent Future of Work discussion at Northeastern’s Toronto campus, put on by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and RBC.

Helena Gottschling, RBC’s global head of human resources, told the forum that in financial services, automation is leading to new and different jobs – and a changing mix of skills – which means an ever-growing need for lifelong learning.

More than half of RBC’s 55,000 Canadian employees are enrolled in a digital learning program, often offered in the form of mobile and modular programs for skills ranging from digital troubleshooting to communications.

In the Gallup survey, 92% of Canadians (and 95% of Americans) said they want some form of ongoing learning through their careers – not surprising given that two thirds of them worry their skills will be outdated within a decade. 

Despite those worries, few know what skills they’ll need to thrive in an AI-powered economy, but there was strong agreement across Canada, the US and Britain that people will need so-called soft skills like teamwork, communication, creativity and critical thinking.

Gottschling agreed with that assessment, saying “the shelf life of tech skills will be shorter, while the shelf life of human skills will be just as long.” 

A greater concern in the study was a lack of confidence in universities -- for Canadians as well as American and Britons – to prepare graduates for the jobs of tomorrow. A rating of high confidence was lowest (3%) in the US.

A plurality of respondents viewed employers as best-equipped to provide career-long education and training.

Gottschling said most employees need solutions that are affordable, time-efficient and relevant to their ambitions. And then there’s mindset. Do people have the will and skill to learn?

Author: John Stackhouse is the Senior Vice President in the Office of the CEO at RBC. 

Article source: LinkedIn Pulse

Image credits: Arundati Dandapani at Distillery District's Christmas Market in 2018