Lacking Insight

I participated in a focus group this evening.

A retailer is replacing their in-house charge card with a new co-branded credit card in partnership with a leading global card provider.

The details of the card offering have apparently been decided and now we are down to the very pointy end - the design of the actual card.

In fact there have been numerous prior designs and focus groups and our group was looking at the refined designs as a result of that activity.

It quickly became apparent that the issue was finding a card design which encouraged people to use the card outside the retail store in question (since that is obviously how both partners stand to make the most money).

It seems to me that there are some significant issues with both the question and process.

We were asked to look at about 15 different card designs. Whilst there were subtle difference between each, when the were all laid out on a table, from a distance of about 60 cm away, they all looked much the same. I began to think there was an element of 'emperor's new clothes' about it. They kept wanting us to comment on the differences and how we felt about each. I was indifferent towards all of them - they were after all just credit cards - but their repeated insistence on comment on each eventually forced me (and I suspect others) to create opinions.

I couldn't help but think that I was witnessing gross corporate waste and inefficiency. A bunch of designer had created a bunch of card designs that were really pretty indistinguishable from each other; then a whole host of focus groups (we weren't the only one) were held (with paid moderators and clients looking on) with participants (for a fee) being forced to invent comments on each of the cards so it appeared we were doing something. This will inevitably lead to a raft of expensive analysis of results before an 'informed' decision about a card design will eventually be made.

They have lost the plot! An entrepreneur would ask his/her family and friends to pick between a couple of designs and then go with the one they liked in the first place. Thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, being saved in the process. I am not sure the snap decision of an entrepreneur would be any less effective.

But that still wouldn't create the right outcome.

I am not sure that the design of a credit card influences usage. But if it does, rather than testing dozens of different designs created by their designers, they should be allowing each individual to design their own card. This is after all 2008 and the age of consumer created content and Web 2.0. If they really believe that the look of a card will cause people to use it more they should be allowing the user to create their own look. This will ensure they pull it out of their wallet at every possible occasion. It isn't a new idea. In Australia, ANZ has been doing it for a while with http://www.designmycard.com.au/

Businesses and brands will always win when they give customers real choice rather than imposing an outcome on them.