Case Studies
We’ve made impact on countless projects – across a wide range of industries.
Learn how we helped these organizations better understand their customers, find new business opportunities, and address their churn problems.
Sonos
Through behavioral research, we provided Sonos with the confidence and insights to strategically invest in Bluetooth. Our recommendations not only shaped product decisions but also drove meaningful cultural and financial impact for the company.
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Impact #1:
Following our recommendation to invest in Bluetooth, in September 2019, Sonos successfully launched their first ever bluetooth portable speaker (Sonos Move).
Impact #2:
In 2019, the Sonos Move was directly attributed to Sonos’ customer expansion and sales growth within their customer base.
Impact #3:
Due to the success of the Sonos Move, the company also found more predictable path for growth well into the next fiscal year.
“Fiscal 2020 revenue is expected to be in the range of $1.365 billion to $1.4 billion, representing growth in the range of 8% to 11% driven by the introduction of Move.”
Impact #4:
The Move has since turned into the Sonos flagship product.
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Sonos makes speakers for your home. At the time, the company had only developed speakers for inside your home, and understood that use case well. However, as they were trying to figure out what was next, they decided they wanted to take things to the next level — and build a product that allows people to listen to music outdoors. Exploring this new opportunity to expand the product offering was no small feat. The team needed help understanding what mattered most to their users in a solution like this. There were many technical and design constraints like wifi, bluetooth, battery, size, weight, sound — the team needed help contextualizing these features from another lens — their customers’ point of view.
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In order to help Sonos explore this new business opportunity, and determine the best way to approach an outdoor speaker for the home, we decided to take a deeply ethnographic approach, and spend time with people in their homes. We spent 2 weeks with families hearing about how they listened to music and introduced an early prototype of the speakers. The 2-week period gave us a chance to ensure the novelty of prototype wore off a bit and that we could get a deeper level of insights than we would get in a short phone call. At the end of the 2 weeks we went for a site visit in people’s homes, where we could get an in-depth look into how the new product would be used in their homes.
Pampered Chef
Through a Jobs-to-be-Done study, we identified the key retention drivers among Pampered Chef’s most successful customers. Our research revealed the need to expand their audience focus and create targeted solutions for two distinct but interdependent customer groups. We provided the team with a strategic path forward, outlining 4 high-impact, feasible solutions—their "best bets"—that could be executed within their timeline to drive retention and increase customer value
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Pampered Chef sought Glow Insights’ expertise to improve the onboarding and support experience for their new consultants. Specifically, they wanted to understand the core tasks new consultants must complete to succeed, which tasks were well-supported or lacking, and how consultants were using (or not using) available tools. Additionally, they wanted to identify friction points in the onboarding journey and explore the role leaders played in shaping the consultant experience.
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We conducted JTBD-style interviews with a segment of successful new consultants to uncover their core goals, motivations, and struggles with specific tasks. This group shared their experiences using tools and processes, highlighting what supported or hindered their success. After learning from the new consultants, we determined that it was also critical to understand the leaders' perspective. As a result, we conducted 12 calls with successful leaders to explore their jobs, challenges, and the tools they used. Finally, we partnered with Pampered Chef Research for a half-day design sprint workshop, where we presented insights, identified key opportunities, and brainstormed solutions with key stakeholders.
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Impact #1
Expanding the Focus to Include Leaders – Our research revealed that supporting new consultants’ success isn’t just about improving tools or processes—it’s also about empowering leaders. By expanding the focus to include leaders, we identified four high-impact solutions, or "best bets," that could be executed within the project timeline to improve new consultant retention and overall success.
Impact #2
Clarifying the Role of Leaders – We pinpointed three critical ways to empower leaders, which directly impact new consultant success: improving visibility into consultant data, providing training for leaders, and enhancing access to leadership resources. These solutions helped the team understand how leaders could effectively support consultants during their early journeys.
Impact #3
Reshaping the Workstream for Greater Impact – Our findings showed that focusing solely on new consultants was limiting. We recommended separating the workstreams for new consultants and leaders, which allowed the team to create more targeted and impactful solutions for each group. This shift provided the team with a clearer, more strategic path forward.
Digital Wallet Service
Through evaluative research, we helped a digital wallet company refine its approach to default payments. While testing design iterations, we uncovered a deeper trust issue that put the platform at a competitive disadvantage. Users resisted automated backup payments, signaling a risk to adoption. Our insights shifted the team’s strategy—redirecting focus from feature rollout to brand building and trust, ensuring long-term user confidence.
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The digital wallet company asked us to run a study to evaluate different design variations for default payment notifications. The goal was to determine the most effective placement for users to opt into default payments and be notified that their settings were active. This involved testing design options both within the checkout flow and via email notifications.
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We conducted both moderated and unmoderated studies using early prototypes to test content, placement, and interaction. By presenting two design variations, we gathered user feedback on what resonated best with them. This comparison revealed a deeper issue: users expressed concerns about trust, particularly around automated backup payments, which led to a shift in strategy.
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Impact #1
Our research uncovered that users were uncomfortable with any form of automation for backup payments, which presented a significant risk to adoption.
Impact #2
This insight shifted the company's focus from feature adoption to building brand trust and ensuring users felt in control.
Impact #3
The team redefined their strategy for the default payment feature, prioritizing user trust and brand perception over purely technical execution.
Political Campaign Tool
Through a series of 3 research studies, we identified key gaps in the product’s ability to support its target audience. We created a short, medium, and long-term roadmap that outlined the essential features the team needed to include in the new product they were planning to build.
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The team was planning to build a new product targeting a less experienced, lower-resourced user base. The existing product was too complex and difficult to use for this group. They needed to start from scratch, creating a new product with a redesigned structure and a set of features tailored to their users' needs. They asked Glow Insights to help them determine which features, as well as the optimal Navigation, content, and interaction design, should be prioritized for this new product.
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We conducted three rounds of research, each consisting of two parts. In the first half of each round, we focused on understanding the challenges and needs of the target audience. In the second half, we evaluated a hypothesized design to assess how well it addressed those needs. We carefully recruited participants who matched the target user profile. Our research methods included IA testing, concept testing, co-design, and contextual interviews. Each round featured lightweight summaries, with the final readout delivered as a slide deck that included a competitive analysis and a clear, actionable roadmap for moving forward.
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Through our research, we identified key gaps in the product’s ability to support its target audience. We created a short, medium, and long-term roadmap, providing the team with a clear, actionable plan for the new product they were planning to build. Our insights helped prioritize the right features, as well as define the Navigation, content, and interaction design, ensuring that the product was both user-friendly and aligned with the team’s objectives.