Decision Analyst


Product Testing
iHUTs (In-Home Usage Testing)

Companies committed to rigorous iHUTs and continuous product improvement can, in most instances, achieve product superiority over their competitors.
This superiority, in turn, helps build brand share, magnifies the positive effects of all marketing activities (advertising, promotion, publicity, etc.), and often allows the superior product to command a premium price.

Seven iHUT Best Practices

  1. A Systems Approach. iHUT methods and procedures should be part of a standardized system with standard operating procedures, so that every like product is tested exactly the same way.

  2. Normative Data. As products are tested over time, the goal is to build normative databases, so that successive iHUTs become more meaningful and more valuable. The normative data, or norms, continually improve a company’s ability to correctly interpret its iHUT scores.

  3. Same Research Company. Use one research company for all of your iHUTs. This is the only way you can make sure all tests are conducted in exactly the same way.

  4. Real Environment Test. If a product is typically used at home, it should be tested at home. If the product is consumed in restaurants, it should be tested in restaurants. In general, the “real environment” test will produce the most accurate results.

  5. Relevant Universe. Sampling is critical. If a company’s brand share is very low, it’s important to assign more weight (or importance) to the opinions of nonusers of the brand. If brand share is very high, then knowing what brand users think is most important.

  6. Critical Measures. Product performance and quality must be defined from the consumer’s viewpoint, not the manufacturer’s perspective. What aspects of the product are truly important to consumers? These critical variables must be identified for each product category (typically, with focus groups or depth interviews) and incorporated into the standardized iHUT testing system.

  7. Careful and Cautious. The formulation of an established product should never be changed without careful testing and evaluation of the new formulation. Once you are sure you have a better product based on iHUT testing, introduce the improved product into a limited geographic area for a reasonable time period (10 or more repeat purchase cycles). After that, you will be in a position to roll the new product out to all markets. The smaller the market share, the greater the risks that can be taken with a new formulation. The larger the market share, the more conservative one should be in introducing a new formulation.

For more guidelines and best practices, please read iHUTs (In-Home Usage Testing) by Jerry W. Thomas.

Product Strategy Video

Product Strategy Video
By Bonnie Janzen

In this video, Bonnie Janzen discusses product strategy and how to create a product roadmap for your organization—for either the product or product line that you’re working on. You will learn how to use consumer insights to help you in that process.

Watch The Video
Product Testing Terms

Product testing is perhaps the most important type of research that any company ever conducts. A variety of methods and techniques can be used, depending on your needs. Below are some methods or terms used in product testing:

Ingredient Optimization: Product testing techniques that seek to optimize a particular food or beverage formulation by measuring the relative importance and role of the different ingredients in the formulation, as perceived by the users of that product.

Monadic Testing: A research design in which each respondent evaluates only one thing at a time (e.g., one product, one advertisement, or one package). This is typically the best testing method. By focusing the respondent’s attention on one product, the monadic test provides the most accurate and actionable diagnostic information. Optima® is Decision analyst's advanced monadic Product Testing System.

Paired-Comparison Designs: A product test (or other comparative test) in which respondents are asked which one of two products (or two packages, two messages, etc.) they prefer. The term can be applied to any research choice between two alternatives.

Product Optimization: Product optimization refers to the process of improving a product until it reaches a maximum level of consumer satisfaction, preference, or purchase intent.

Protomonadic: The definition of this term varies greatly from researcher to researcher. Typically, the protomonadic design begins as a monadic test, followed by a paired-comparison test.

Sensory Research (or Sensory Testing): These terms are most commonly associated with food and beverage taste testing by small groups of people who can discriminate between different product formulations. The term is also used in fragrance testing and the evaluation of cosmetics. Evaluating smells, tastes, mouthfeel, appearance, and sounds are techniques that all fall within the scope of sensory research.

Sequential Monadic Designs: A testing procedure in which a respondent uses one product and fills out a questionnaire, then uses a second product and fills out a second questionnaire. The order of testing the two products is alternated or randomized.


For more information about our iHuts and Product Testing Services, please contact:
Bonnie Janzen at bjanzen@decisionanalyst.com or (817) 640-6166 or
Felicia Rogers at frogers@decisionanalyst.com or (817) 640-6166.
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