Customer Test - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Dec 2011
News

Research With Impact: Changing Global Health Practices

public policy, and social challenges. In health care, for example, the dominant policy model assumes that access and affordability are the keys to improving care for the poor. In Ashraf’s view, “We can’t solve the challenges of global health without deeply... View Details

Keywords: birth control; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Government

19 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Privacy Protection Notices Turn Off Shoppers

phenomenon in a series of six experiments, testing whether it is possible to write one in such a way to make a customer feel more safe rather than less safe. In one experiment, for example, they presented... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail

02 Mar 2016
Blog Post

HBS FIELD - A Sneak Peek Into Retail

extensive customer interviews and prototyping. In addition, professors make themselves available to discuss industry trends. Students can also lean on the distinct skills of the other members of their six person team. Finally, students... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

04 Sep 2019
News

Advancing Diagnostics that Can Save Lives

facilities detect and control outbreaks of health care–associated infections. Lee notes that services like epiXact are not DZD’s primary objective, but they are critical to “developing customer instincts and building commercial muscle”... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

22 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Control Your Inventory in a World of Lean Retailing

with high variance. (See the exhibit "A Better Way to Manage Inventory.") The first test shows a scenario in which a manufacturer is most concerned about keeping its big retail customers happy by... View Details

Keywords: by Frederick H. Abernathy, John T. Dunlop, Janice H. Hammond & David Weil; Consumer Products

01 Dec 2015
News

Launch Codes

“Too often, they’ll design something for what they think their customers’ needs are, and they haven’t developed plans to test these assumptions.” #2 Aiming for perfection: “You want to go to market with a minimally viable product and get... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Confronting the Challenges that Face Bricks-and-Mortar Stores

tried installing video terminals in one of its restaurants to allow patrons to place their own orders. Younger customers loved them, but older people preferred to talk with human attendants. I recently View Details

Keywords: by Raymond Burke; Retail

01 Mar 2012
News

Making Finance Personal

there’s one thing I’ve learned in business, it’s the power of rapid-fire experimentation: enabling your team to test, rapidly change, iterate, and test again. Run experiments with customers and let them... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management; Computer Systems Design and Related Services; Professional Services

07 May 2018
Research & Ideas

Why Online Retailers Should Hide Their Best Discounts

adding a number of different frictions to the website, including eliminating the link to the outlet catalog on the store’s landing page, removing the ability for customers to search by discount, and taking away markers that automatically... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail

01 Jun 1999
News

A Random Sampling of HBS Graduates in the News

who spend a lot of time in their cars. Recently, Chen and Searle began market tests for *CD ("Star CD"), their new cellular-phone service that identifies songs and artists for listeners who call wanting to know more about the music... View Details

Keywords: Nancy O. Perry

09 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

For Better Ideas, Bring the Right People to the Brainstorm

administration in the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School, “whether that means talking to customers about where the pain points are or talking to clients about new opportunities.” Good entrepreneurs use these kinds of conversations... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

13 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

5 Weight Loss Tips From Behavioral Economists

week in advance of delivery. Looking to determine how personal decisions made for tomorrow differ from decisions made for several days from now, researchers from Harvard Business School and the Analyst Institute evaluated a year's worth of View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

01 Sep 2014
News

New Idea: On-Demand Package Delivery

potential customers on Facebook and LinkedIn, and purchase mover’s dollies to help them make deliveries. The cofounders successfully tested Boxxify throughout April and May in Boston’s Back Bay, where their... View Details

Keywords: Francis Storrs

Web

Digital Marketing Workshop - Course Catalog

going deep in areas like generative AI via ChatGPT4 with SEO and paid media, 0 and 1st-party customer data and privacy considerations, and multivariate testing methods for pricing new products online.... View Details

11 Apr 2017
Blog Post

Why I Love My Job: Andrew Grochal on His Path to CarGurus

side of the business, working closely with each department across the entire company including sales, customer success, engineering and marketing. I lead a team of product managers and we all collaborate with engineering to prioritize... View Details

Keywords: Technology

01 Jun 2022
News

Vision: Into the Breach

large, established carriers, which write policies to cover cyberattacks but do little to preempt them, At-Bay takes a preventive approach to cyber insurance. Before signing up a new policyholder, the company performs non-intrusive penetration View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand

Web

Strategy for Entrepreneurs - Course Catalog

ideas—is challenging. Signals are biased and noisy. Designing experiments is non-trivial, and running tests is expensive. Failure is hard to admit and learn from. Getting to and listening to feedback is challenging. The ideas with the... View Details

28 Mar 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, March 28

under its belt, Classtivity is finally generating revenue and enthusiasm among customers. But cofounder and CEO Payal Kadakia has some doubts. There are signs that customers love the offering, but studios are less enthusiastic. Efforts to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Is Your Org Chart Stuck in a Rut? Try a Scientific Experiment

which made it to the “refinement” stage, including Regan’s. “The hypothesis that we are testing is that if a complex legal brief is viewed firstly as a bundle of tasks to be integrated to create a customer... View Details