Research Projects

Our network of local moderators, recruiters, facility-providers and research-support services enable us to meet the linguistic and geographic challenges of conducting pan-Indian research. We handpick the people who work with us, to ensure that our work ethics and quality is never compromised. For multi-country research projects or research outside India, we partner with local research agencies and freelance researchers who share Anagram’s worth ethic and focus on quality.

Our consulting approach has evolved over more than a decade:

Collaborative and structured planning; Flexible and iterative implementation
We are structured and collaborative and involve our clients from initial project planning, through the actual process of conducting a study and sharing the findings. We believe that the strength and relevance of research lies in clearly defined objectives, collaborative planning and a flexible research plan that assimilates stakeholder and consumer inputs.

Research insights that are thought provoking and actionable
We understand the correlation and overlaps between design and research. Our research insights are thought provoking and actionable, geared towards inspiring design and providing design direction.

Customized and inspiring research approach and presentation
We strive to move beyond the basic techniques and outputs of usability and design research and staid research documentation. We innovate and tweak traditional research methods, to best meet each client’s individual research objectives and to suit the cultural context. Out-of-the-box visual aids and cultural probes are often used to encourage our research participants to share their thoughts and experiences more easily. By framing our findings in a fresh and unique way, our work aims to be inspirational and engaging.

Multiple engagement models
We have in place different engagement models, to ensure that every customer’s unique requirement is met:

Fixed time projects
This works best for clients who have specific research requirements that they want completely taken care of by an external research partner. Fixed time projects typically range from 1 – 3 months. Anagram Research recommends a research approach, based on your unique business objectives and the stage of product development you are currently at. We keep in mind the context in which your product or service is intended to be used. At times we recommend a combination of different methods to best address your specific goals.
On-going consultation
As a usability and design expert, Anagram Research works with clients who need on-going feedback and recommendations on their product or service ease of use. We can collaborate with your in-house design and development teams or with external partners, to ensure compliance with global usability standards.
Project linked mentoring
We can train your in-house team by mentoring and guiding them on specific projects. These ‘Learning Projects’ assure you a high quality research deliverable as well as leave you with a team trained in the specific research methods employed during the project.

Our user interviews complimented by observation and research activities can range from a couple of hours to a week.

Rigorous research helps gain in-depth understanding of customer lifestyles, attitudes and behaviors.

Research can inspire and help identify opportunity spaces for design.

We visited over 40 homes across Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad for in-context research that inspired a client to design furniture and décor products for Indian customers more thoughtfully.

Rainy Kolkata… On route to Durgapur to talk to final year college students about their career related needs and aspirations.

We also visited students in Nasik, Davangere and Meerut to identify unmet needs and opportunity spaces for a client.

A ‘learning project’ – A client’s design team observed user interviews and participated actively in synthesis.

To enhance learning, Anagram Research also conducted a series of short workshops to help them understand the different research phases.

Conducting research ‘in-context’ enriches the entire interaction.

In one of our research studies, we explored user behaviors and attitudes towards sharing news digitally. We also got user feedback on current and potential features for a news app.

Quick lunch of bread pakodas before the start of a mini-focus group!

To conduct sessions with students in tier 2 cities, we chose ‘neighborhood home venues’ rather than a hotel. This helped reassure our participants parents and encouraged more students to participate.

We sometimes conduct research at a client’s office or at a professional research facility.

In such cases, the research study often doubles up as a ‘design/research awareness-building exercise’ for client teams interested or invested in research.

180 and 90 min home visits helped us gain an in-depth understanding about geriatric patients living in Moscow and Irkutsk.

Talking to caregivers and other stakeholders in addition to patients helped us get a holistic perspective.

The perks of conducting research in cultures like India and Russia!

The hospitality shown by research participants never fails to energize lengthy interactions.

Home visits in India can be unexpected.

In this interview with a young man living in the outskirts of Noida, his family joined us for most of the interview.

Good quality, ready to rent research setups are sometimes not available even in large Indian cities.

In those instances, we set up a CCTV across adjoining rooms in a home or co-working space to create ‘interview’ and ‘observation’ rooms.

Research Collaboration

Research collaboration with Anagram Research can work in multiple ways:

Indian Design / Research consultancies, Large organizations
We can partner with you for the duration needed, in instances where your in-house team does not have the band width or expertise to handle a large or complex research project.

Global Design / Research consultancies
Anagram Research can create or provide guidance to create a research framework that is relevant in an India specific cultural context. As a local research partner, we can compliment a larger global team doing research in India or entirely run the research for you in India.

Pre-Fielding / On-Field Cultural Immersion
The aim here is to allow global researchers unfamiliar with India, gain a better understanding of local context and people – Prior to or during field work. Each immersive experience is unique, will be designed based on your specific research objectives, interest areas and can include opportunities to both observe and interact.
Cultural immersion activities could include:

A walk or visit to specific locations of interest
Contextual and informal interactions with target users
Opportunities to participate in local / season specific activities of interest

During cultural immersion, you can ask to be accompanied by a local expert / researcher who will be able to discuss topics of interest and provide insight into any questions you have.

In collaboration with a US based research agency doing a multi country study, Anagram Research was the local research partner for India.

This picture – A ‘Day in the Life’ chart used during home visits to understand device usage and preferences in India.

Anagram Research’s role in this collaboration was that of a cultural expert.

In addition to participating in interviews and debriefs, we also facilitated visits to inspirational spaces, people, and experiences relevant to the project.

We facilitated inspirational visits for a global research team doing research in India.

To find the diverse range of people they wanted to talk to, we worked with our professional recruiting partner and also tapped into our personal networks.

The culmination of a 2-month research collaboration with the in-house innovation team of a leading Indian company.

This picture – Externalizing and grouping research data to find patterns.

As the local research partner, Anagram Research helped a US based research agency with secondary research about alternate healthcare systems in India.

Secondary research was then enriched and validated through quick field work in India.

Collaborations are always great! An opportunity to work with researchers across the globe.

This picture – A thank you gift from an IDEO research team at the end of our research collaboration in Bangalore.

Workshops

Customized workshops
Our workshops are high impact and tailor made to meet diverse client requirements.
We customize our material, keeping in mind our audience’s current level of expertise in research and usability / The skills they need to learn / The time they have available / The service and product context / Their current work processes.

We currently offer workshops in the following areas:

Expert based evaluation methods
User based evaluation methods
Design Research

Participants at a design research workshop for Urban Ladder learn how to download raw data from fieldwork, in preperation for research synthesis.

Free HCD workshop hosted by Wooplr and conducted by Anagram Research.

Teams from 3 startups participated – Nestaway, Zoomcar and Wooplr.

Students practice interview techniques during a 3-day design research workshop at Lecolededesign, India.

A 2-week workshop for NID Bangalore on design research – Ended with an industry visit to Yahoo Bangalore.

A quick 1-day workshop with B-school students – But not too short to understand and practically experience design thinking!

Students explore design research tools during a 2-week workshop on design research.

‘30 Circles’ – An ice breaker to wake up students creativity before a co-creation session.

Workshop on design research – Affinity mapping to finding themes in the research data.

Capability Building

We can empower in-house teams to start running their own usability and research studies.

Usability testing artifacts
To get your internal teams research ready, we can train and equip them with custom made and high grade usability testing artefacts. Usability testing artifacts include all documentation and tools required to plan, conduct and document findings of a qualitative usability study and can include checklists, templates, protocols and guides.

Hiring and Mentoring
For clients wanting to build in-house research capability, Anagram Research can help get on board, train and mentor researchers.

Our mentorship model includes:

Locating, shortlisting and interviewing potential candidates.
Providing training and mentoring over a fixed period of time / On specific projects being worked on.