Learn When to Go Big or Stay Small for Better Insights

When is Small Scale best and when is Larger Scale the more efficient choice?

We’ve all been there. A critical business issue needs to be tackled for the brand and supported with research; you know you need to use your resources wisely, you have time pressures to deal with, and you’re wondering how to best approach it to ensure success.

In these cases, you might be asking yourself, “What is the appropriate size, scope, and investment (in time and money) to properly achieve our goals?” Go too lean and you face risk by not addressing the issue adequately, but if you go bigger and encompass multiple objectives simultaneously you may need to wait longer for insights and it could require more budget.

Ultimately, the answer comes down to determining what approach will be efficient AND effective. Making this decision can be a challenge, especially factoring in timelines and budgets in conjunction with addressing key business goals. At times like these it’s valuable to think long-term as well as near-term. For instance, sometimes choosing a small-scale approach, that can be implemented quickly and for a low cost, may seem compelling but could mean not answering key questions that will have to be addressed later.  The result…long-term inefficiencies.

We find that working through a core set of questions can help navigate these tricky situations and objectively clarify what’s the best research scope to move ahead with.

Finding the optimal scope first begins with laying out the primary goal  you’re after. Is it an easy to tackle objective or a multifaceted one that has many layers? Another aspect is your stakeholders, and their styles. Will they crave more insight once the most critical information is shared, which could require additional rounds of research, or will they have what they need to move ahead with important decisions?

To help in your decision making, we’ve created a short checklist of things to consider when determining whether a smaller vs. larger scale effort is best for your needs.

See our full checklist.