1. Methodologies Utilized:
 Online bulletin board/focus group
 Social media recruitment
 Usability/UI/UE
 Quantitative
 Unique methods/custom
user-friendly market research™
CASE STUDY
Hard to Reach Demos

2. user-friendly market research
Project Background
Telecommunications Relay Service is an
operator service that allows people who are
deaf, hard-of-hearing, speech-disabled, and
deafblind to place calls to standard telephone
users. A major telephone service provider
requested a research project to determine
general user attitudes and perceptions of
various Relay Service providers and products.

3. user-friendly market research
Client Objectives
This client also wanted to understand what
other influences and factors play into provider
choice, while ultimately uncovering the key
components and desirable features of wireless
relay devices. Ultimately, the client wanted to
walk away from the study knowing what they
needed to do to develop a useful service for
the target market.

4. user-friendly market research
The Challenge
The target market for the proposed study was
quite specific, and it was critical that we were
able to not only recruit participants from the
deaf/hard-of-hearing community, but also
identify “super respondents” who would be
able to provide the client with valuable insight
into Relay Services.
We basically needed to find 24 deaf or hard-of-
hearing people who were passionate about
placing calls to standard telephone users.

5. user-friendly market research
Our Approach
By tapping into the self-identified communities
that exist online, we discovered a blog dedicated
to the discussion of deaf issues as they relate to
technology and communication. We found that
people didn’t just read this blog but actively
participated in discussing a topic they considered
important.

6. user-friendly market research
The Outcome
Our experience in leveraging social networks, and
our own personal relationships within the
blogging community allowed us to pull off this
recruit. We used the blogosphere for what it is; a
hub for topic-based discussion, and a tool for
screening “super respondents”. Thus, we were
able to not only meet but exceed the quota of 24
participants with a vested interest in Relay
Services and devices.

7. user-friendly market research
The Upside
If it hadn’t been for the blogosphere, our client
never would have gained the valuable insight
from customers it needed to develop a useful
service. We didn’t know exactly where to find
deaf or hard-of-hearing Relay users when we
started the project, but we had a great sense of
how to find them.

8. user-friendly market research
Thank You!
Contact us with questions or to request a proposal
212.660.0110
info@goodmind.net
www.goodmind.net
Follow us on Twitter: @goodmindMR