a single source, nothing corroborates it

Publish the research back to the people you asked

Interview your own customers about what the experience is really like, keep their phrasing, and release the findings rather than filing them internally. Call a meeting at short notice that mixes customers with prospects and outsiders, publish the plan with its open questions still in it, and write up a recap for everyone who could not attend.

The method

1. 01

   Interview your existing customers about what the experience is actually like for them, keep their own phrasing, and publish the findings as a report rather than keeping it internal.

2. 02

   Call a town hall for your customers at very short notice, mix existing customers with prospects and interested outsiders in the same room, then publish a written recap for whoever could not make it.

3. 03

   Publish the plan with the open questions still in it and ask the audience what else could be done, instead of presenting something finished.

4. 04

   Hand the customer research project to a customer to lead instead of running it yourself, so the output is genuinely by and about the people it describes.

What it returned

• 40

  About 40 people turned up to the Indy Hall town hall called 24 hours earlier, a blend of members, prospective members and wider community, and Councilman Bill Green joined for the second half.

• Indy Hall ran this after almost four years of operating and released a draft of the preliminary interview findings as a PDF titled IndyViews.

• Hillman listed possible uses for the new street-level frontage, from seasonal pop-ups to craft retail to a coffee shop, said no decisions had been taken, and made the piece an open call for further ideas.

• Valerie Wilcox, a member rather than staff, proposed the Indy Hall research and ran the whole project.

Sources

• Why do people love Indy Hall? We asked. They told.Alex Hillman · dangerouslyawesome.com · 2011-07-01
• Not a Joke: Indy Hall v3.0 - The Future of Indy HallAlex Hillman · dangerouslyawesome.com · 2012-04-01