I was asked to help our product team better understand how we could improve our product for the Asian markets. I had the great fortune of attending an industry event in both cities and conducting in-person qualitative interviews in Mumbai, India, and Tokyo, Japan, to assess product performance and understand local market needs. Led evaluative research to identify challenges and opportunities for improving service, focusing on regional nuances and performance issues.
Led in-person interviews in Mumbai and Tokyo to assess product performance and local market needs. Conducted research to identify challenges and opportunities, focusing on regional nuances.
Insights
36%
Use outside devlopers
68%
Install product
64%
Free Version (non paid)
Insights
36%
Use outside devlopers
68%
Install product
64%
Free Version (non paid)
Overview
The Problem
Despite strong product adoption in global markets, our product faced challenges in aligning with users' unique needs in Mumbai and Tokyo. The goal was to identify and address regional performance issues, marketing gaps, and user experience pain points through in-depth qualitative research. By understanding local nuances and uncovering obstacles in content delivery and service perception, we aimed to tailor solutions that would enhance the product's effectiveness and user satisfaction in these key markets.
Objectives
1. Understand local user needs: Identify users' specific requirements and priorities of users in Tokyo and Mumbai related to website performance, security, and site management.
2. Evaluate market fit: Assess how well Jetpack’s features meet users' expectations in these regions.
3. Identify improvement opportunities: Discover actionable ways to optimize Jetpack for the Asian market.
4. Refine marketing messaging: Gain insights into cultural and communication nuances to craft marketing messages that resonate with local users.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Interviews
Conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with agencies and developers (mini-agencies) in Tokyo via an interpreter. We focused on daily challenges—the role of Jetpack in their workflow and how we could help them grow their business.
Survey
Collected quantitative data from 36 survey respondents at WordCamp Tokyo, focusing on Jetpack usage, valued features, and concerns.
Insights
36%
Use outside devlopers
68%
Install product
64%
Free Version (non paid)
Impact Numbers
~250
User Interviews
~375
Usability Tests
~175
Insights
Impact Numbers
~250
User Interviews
~375
Usability Tests
~175
Insights
Overview
The Problem
Despite strong global adoption, our product faced challenges aligning with user needs in Mumbai and Tokyo. The goal was to identify regional performance issues, marketing gaps, and UX pain points through qualitative research, aiming to improve content delivery, service perception, and overall user satisfaction in these key markets.
Objectives
1. Understand local user needs: Identify users' specific requirements and priorities of users in Tokyo and Mumbai related to website performance, security, and site management.
2. Evaluate market fit: Assess how well Jetpack’s features meet users' expectations in these regions.
3. Identify improvement opportunities: Discover actionable ways to optimize Jetpack for the Asian market.
4. Refine marketing messaging: Gain insights into cultural and communication nuances to craft marketing messages that resonate with local users.
qual interviews via translator
I had a wonderful translator in Tokyo, but unfamiliarity with our product's technical terms, the participants' desire to practice English added formality, (and my jetlag!), made deep insights harder to uncover at first.
We had to pivot quickly, after the first few interviews we encouraged our participants to answer in their native language and created a follow up survey for them to fill out. If I had it to do again, I'd have a local WordPress user run the interviews with me moderating.
Overview
The Problem
Despite strong product adoption in global markets, our product faced challenges in aligning with the unique needs of users in Mumbai and Tokyo. The goal was to identify and address regional performance issues, marketing gaps, and user experience pain points through in-depth qualitative research. By understanding local nuances and uncovering obstacles in content delivery and service perception, we aimed to tailor solutions that would enhance the product's effectiveness and user satisfaction in these key markets.
Objectives
1. Understand local user needs: Identify the specific requirements and priorities of users in Tokyo and Mumbai related to website performance, security, and site management.
2. Evaluate market fit: Assess how well Jetpack’s features meet the expectations of users in these regions.
3. Identify improvement opportunities: Discover actionable ways to optimize Jetpack for the Asian market.
4. Refine marketing messaging: Gain insights into cultural and communication nuances to craft marketing messages that resonate with local users.
Research methodology
SURVEYS
As we headed to Asia for a few trade shows, I included booth surveys in the research strategy. In many Asian markets, where politeness is key, users may hesitate to provide honest interview feedback. Surveys offer a private, anonymous way for users to share their thoughts at their convenience, leading to more candid responses.
This method encourages honest feedback while respecting cultural sensitivities. It is easily accessible through digital channels. We can make informed product adjustments by analyzing the data while ensuring a more comfortable and respectful feedback process.
Qualitative INterviews
Following up on the booth survey, I conducted qualitative interviews with VIPs and long-term clients who were open to sharing more detailed feedback.
The follow-up interviews allowed us to uncover the "why" behind the insights we gathered, providing a deeper context and understanding of user motivations and behaviors.
Findings
Pain points
Ongoing maintenance
Customers seeking more hands-on assistance find that it detracts from their ability to grow their business.
Cost
The product's price frequently exceeds the client's total hosting costs, making it difficult to justify the expense.
Messaging
Western marketing may not resonate with the target audience
Site speed
Adding too many plugins can slow down a site. CDN's speed has diminished in the last several months.
Recomendations
Speed optimization
Address the perception that the plugin slows down sites through marketing and local influencers.
Address speed issues with CDN.
Marketing
Go beyond localization in content and create tailored marketing messages to emphasize the official and trustworthy nature. F
Focus on time-saving and security aspects for the Indian market, which are critical concerns.
Agency-focused solutions
Create an agency-specific or profit-share bulk pricing and better notification customization.