Overview

Future Feature Analysis is a consulting engagement that helps companies decide what new features they should add to a complex or competitive consumer product.

This is a three-phase engagement that can be completed in 5–6 weeks. The first phase is to perform a Consumer Usability Analysis of the product or service that is being analyzed for future features. This enables ConsumerEase to better understand a company’s product or service for the later research. Next, an agreed-upon market is selected for research (usually in a different geographical location). This new market and their products are evaluated against consumer touch-points such as marketing, branding, usability, performance, value, features, etc. The South Korea white paper is a great example of the results of this type of research (see screenshot, right). The final phase of the project is to share the results and recommendations.

The actual engagement is completed through the following tasks:

• Performing a Consumer Usability Analysis on the existing product
• Traveling to a different geography and perform a consumer market analysis
• Preparing recommendations on future features
• Presenting the resulting analyses, white papers, and recommendations

Results

Most corporations have a full schedule of projects, agendas, and action items that can’t be ignored for the 5–6 weeks required to do a thorough research of another market for new ideas on future direction. Furthermore, many companies benefit from having a third-party expert perform this research using strict analysis methods.

The results are always eye-opening. At a minimum, new product features or implementations will inspire new ways to improve the features and results for the company’s products. ConsumerEase provides these recommendations so that the company can make good decisions on future improvements or changes.

Beneficiaries

The key beneficiaries of Future Feature Analysis are all corporate teams involved in a product’s design, implementation, and support. This usually includes the management team, marketing team, engineering team, and support staff. The engagement provides the new ideas and recommendations that prevent a company from guessing at what features will work with consumers—before they spend millions of dollars developing and marketing those features.

Some very prominent successes began in one market and then were translated into other markets. For example, using SMS to send text messages first succeeded in Europe and then was translated to America (but couldn’t be translated to Japan). Instant messaging had its first success in America, and then went to Asia and Europe.

Any company trying to translate a successful product or feature from one geographical location to another needs to perform a deep study of why the product succeeded in the original market. Copying the features usually fails. The key to success is often rooted in culture, technological development, infrastructure, financial, or other issues unique to the source country. It is these unspecified influences that shape features. The root problem being solved must be well understood so it can be spotted in other countries. If similar factors are not analyzed and accounted for, a transplant of raw features will fail. If a clear understanding of the problem is translated to a solution in the new country, then success is surely going to follow.

Due to the nature of the work, this engagement is also beneficial to companies transplanting their product to other countries. Marketing teams already know their own product well, but they often are unaware of the many assumptions they make day-to-day due to their own country’s unique culture and living conditions. A clear understanding of how to transplant features is required for consumer success.

Timeline

Future Feature Analysis typically takes only 5–6 weeks, and only about 2 days of corporate employee time. ConsumerEase consultants perform the up-front Consumer Usability Analysis and then work off-site to figure out what features could be translated into the corporation’s market. Finally, they return to present the resulting analysis and recommendations. Below is a typical timeline:

Pricing

The pricing of the service is variable, depending on the complexity of the research, the number of countries or markets researched, and the detail desired in the results. Pricing typically ranges from US$75,000 to $150,000. All results are completed in English.

Example results

Future Feature Analysis produces very private recommendations for corporations, and therefore the results cannot be shared. However, ConsumerEase does share its annual white papers on South Korea and Japan’s mobile data services, which represent the bulk of a Future Feature Analysis engagement. You can view these white papers at South Korea white paper and Japan white paper.

Scheduling

Future Feature Analysis usually requires 60 days’ advance notice to arrange. Scheduling is done on a first-come, first-served basis timed at the signing of the proposal for the work (the appointment and travel will not be reserved for unsigned proposals).

Interested?

If you are interested in scheduling a project, please contact ConsumerEase with information about your product or service. We will work with you to define a project suited to your budget and needs.