product or service. Relevant factors might include concentration, growth, net value, and operational characteristics relevant to a product or service.
Decision-making processes or influences are also important factors, as is the competitive environment.
Understanding market segment dynamics is a critical initial step before introducing products or services into new markets, and for charting changes in existing markets.
Market Validation Research
Provides information about how a market might respond to a technological product or service by assessing the receptivity of decision-makers to it. There are three components to validation research: consideration and purchase, features prioritization, and benefits and competitive positioning.

Information about market receptivity to a product or service is important to company strategists developing or validating a business plan. Information about the realities of the marketplace can give them an early heads-up about what might or might not work with the technology or its marketing and sales. It provides opportunities for redesign to enhance success in the marketplace.

Consideration and Purchase: Identifies how decision-makers go about considering similar products and services, what’s important and not important to them, and why they have purchased both at the product or service category and brand levels. Can involve both unprompted and tested attributes.
Features Prioritization: For new or extended product or service concepts, tests and identifies major features that are relevant and not relevant to decision-makers, and why.
Benefits and Positioning: Identifies chief benefits of a product or service, those benefits that are not important, and the product or service’s relationship to competitive products or brands. Positioning can include packaging and delivery channel input.

Domain Expertise

Analytical Instruments
Work with major worldwide manufacturers in clinical and industrial analytical instruments who are expanding their instrument product and services lines, evaluating new markets, and evaluating new enterprise software products that manage instruments.
Enterprise Software
Enterprise software companies, including major global ERP and CRM providers, as well as early stage category creators providing specialized software, such as instrument device management products.
IT Hardware
IT technologies, including server products and computers.
Networking Services
New networking technologies, such as gigabit Ethernet and optical wave services.

North American and International Research

Reaching decision-makers in continental Europe and in Asia is particularly challenging and can be extremely expensive using traditional approaches. With the help of research recruiting and interpretation partners located in the U.S., we have pioneered ways of getting input from decision- makers globally without the necessity of costly in-country face-to-face interviewing. Our clients appreciate the fast turnaround, high success rate, and costs that are a fraction of those charged by generalist international research firms.

Michael Hulfactor, Ph.D. - Managing Director

Michael has focused on customer demand, targeting, and opportunity analysis in high-technology business markets in the U.S. and worldwide for nearly 15 years. He has managed over 60 major proprietary studies for global technology companies including IBM, Oracle, Sun, Apple, and Netscape, as well as early stage category creators. He specializes in quantitative research management and analysis, and has worked on developing and refining Qsq Methodology over the past four years. Michael was formerly a senior partner with Customer Insights, and chief analyst for the Division of Academic Computing at the University of California, San Diego. His Ph.D. is from Stanford University.