Research Packages

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Validate assumptions and get to the truth of what your customers and stakeholders really think.

Problem: Bias

When internal bias or avoiding inconvenient facts slow down innovation.

Companies can face less obvious obstacles when trying to innovate, like issues with rigid prevailing mindsets, internal biases, the avoidance of “inconvenient facts”, and an overall reluctance to embrace new ideas. Research provides objective data and insights that can challenge established beliefs and expose the cognitive biases which hinder a company's ability to do anything new at all.

Our research packages help organizations uncover the “why” behind their customers' motivations, grasp market dynamics, competitors, and consumer behaviour, and provide early detection and assessment of emerging threats, technologies, and shifts—all to ultimately develop more successful products, services and businesses. At the end of the day, there’s nothing quite as effective to counteract internal biases that stifle innovation than objective human-centred research. 

When you need to know the deeper motivation behind _____ behaviour.

Understanding customers' deeper motivations is essential for creating impactful solutions, driving innovation, and uncovering valuable insights that may challenge their existing assumptions or biases. Exploring human behaviour and motivations helps companies develop breakthrough user-centric products and services, which is a basic requirement for business success.

When you need to

  • Create a culture data-based decision making

  • Make informed decisions (using data)

  • Align offerings with customer needs

  • Enhance user engagement, and address adoption barriers

  • Navigate rapid system market shifts

When you need to know what’s going on with the market, my competitors, consumers, etc.

Grasping market dynamics, competitors, and consumer behaviour is vital for strategic decision-making and driving innovation. When organizations are considering entering a new market, expanding their product portfolio, developing new strategies, or otherwise adapting to changes in the competitive landscape, externally focussed research enables businesses to identify gaps in their offerings or processes, learn from the best practices of others, and stay ahead of potential disruptions. It also helps challenge internal biases and encourages organizations to consider alternative approaches that might have otherwise been dismissed.

When you need to

  • Understand the external market/competitive landscape

  • Identify gaps in your own offerings or processes

  • Learn from the best practices of others, or find outside inspiration

  • Stay ahead of potential disruptions coming down the road

When you need to plan for future risks or find bold, new opportunities.

Early detection and assessment of emerging threats, technologies, and cultural shifts are crucial to prepare businesses for future possibilities. When the situation involves serious strategic planning, advanced technologies, industry disruptions, emergent environmental and social factors, supply chain disruptions, or crisis management, organizations need to evaluate imminent risks and opportunities and adapt their offerings and operations. By looking forward, companies can not only anticipate the winds of change but also harness them to build competitive advantage in an ever-evolving world.

When you need to

  • Identify opportunities and threats before they become critical

  • Respond to an emerging or ongoing crisis 

  • Overcome resistance to change and short-term focus hindering innovation

  • Build a portfolio of high-value long-term strategic bets

  • Develop a solid defensible strategic roadmap

Here are a few research packages designed to give you a dose of reality.

1

Look
Inward

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A dive into the minds of your customers and stakeholders to uncover constructive, productive, and advantageous insight.

What you get
  • Verbatim Participant Transcription Data (anonymized, tagged, coded)
  • Synthesized Insights Report
  • In-depth Tactical & Strategic Recommendations Report
Optional
  • In-depth Online Culture Scan
  • Product or Service Usability
2

Look
Outward

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Comprehensive inquiry into the competitive and cultural forces shaping markets to guide more informed business decisions.

What you get
  • Horizon Scan Data
  • Competitive Landscape Map
  • Synthesized Trends/Insights Report
  • In-depth Tactical & Strategic Recommendations Report
Optional
  • In-depth Online Culture Scan
  • Business Framework Analysis (SWOT, VRIO, Blue Ocean, Etc)
3

Look
Forward

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Early detection and assessment of emerging threats, technologies and culture shifts to prepare your business for future change.

What you get
  • Horizon Scan Data
  • Competitive Landscape Map
  • Ethnography & Expert Insights Report
  • Synthesized Trends/Insights Report
  • Future Scenarios, Risks, & Opportunities Report
Optional
  • More Scenarios & IP Disclosures
  • Future-state Backwards Roadmap
  • In-depth Online Culture Scan
  • Academic Literature Analysis
  • Patent Analysis
Testimonial

"Humanistic somehow downloaded their minds into 16 of our staff from across the organization. They taught us how to think through problems like they do, and ensured those learnings spread contagiously throughout the company. The big team project they took on turned out better than expected: an entirely new revenue model and way of operating that leverages data at its core. Humanistic enabled us to see beyond the problem to the underlying issues causing it."

a headshot of kelvin kang smiling in front of a white backdrop
Kelvin Kang
Chief Technology officer
Confidential Global Charity Org.
Past Research Solutions
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Questions we get

What if I already work with a big management consultancy or design firm?

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  • Larger firms prioritize billable hours over client impact.
  • We are faster, scrappier, and deliver more value per investment dollar than the competition.
  • Our team is focused and lean. You are getting results, not overhead.

Can you understand my specific domain or business deeply enough?

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  • We’re a fresh set of eyes that combat unconscious bias and groupthink.
  • You’re the expert. We work collaboratively with you and your team to employ that subject matter expertise.
  • We specialize in challenging industry-held assumptions and norms. Disruption is our default.

How are you different from my researchers or designers?

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  • We are not constrained by entrenched organizational thinking or reporting structures.
  • We will provide you unvarnished results, with an aim to amaze.
  • We’re rare, expert generalists with a unique Humanistic mindset.

Why shouldn’t I just hire you to my team?

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  • Part of why our approach is successful is because we bring an outside perspective and way of doing things.
  • Independence helps us explore and gather experiences and perspectives from the wider world in order to build a deeper diversity of thought.

Are my business problems “innovation” problems?

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  • Any business problem you solve is an innovation.
  • It can be difficult to see the inherent value of a business problem without an external lens, and we help you determine the road to that value
  • Our work often produces unintended extra value and unexpected new opportunities.

How do I justify the price of working with your firm?

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  • Our offerings provide asymmetric upside and value relative to cost.
  • The output of our engagements is so fruitful, that the cost to file the mountains of patentable IP we produce often exceed the initial engagement cost.

Check out our other solutions packages

Speed & Stealth

Tactical
Packages

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Rapid, targeted interventions that
fly under the radar and get you moving, without risking your reputation or breaking the bank.

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Elite Execution

Design
Packages

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A radical array of service packages that enable exceptional new ideas, imbue novel methods, and discover fresh perspectives.

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