BUYER
Signs the check.
The C-level executive or director making the purchasing decision. Multiple archetypes within this persona.
NeuronsReported across the work
Reorienting the company around buyers and users.
Bringing the overlooked analyst into focus changed our customer model. Credit inflation enabled more flexible offers with minimal platform change.
- My role
- DESIGN MANAGER · FIRST FULL-TIME DESIGNER · BUILT THE DESIGN FUNCTION · 9 MONTHS
- Scope
- Customer strategy, commercial packaging, and the first design function.
- Key decision
- Recognize the buyer and daily analyst as distinct personas; enable flexible offers through focused platform changes.
Context
The buyer shaped the business. The analyst was overlooked.
Neurons focused on the C-level executive or director signing the check. The analyst using the platform day to day had little place in that customer model.
The offer also lacked flexibility. Purchased research sat unused, and drafts accumulated. Those signals prompted a closer look at the offer and the working experience.
Signals that prompted a closer look
46%
of new customers had unspent credits after six months
90%
of customers with unspent credits had more than five projects in draft
Insight
Two personas changed how the company understood its customers.
We expanded the customer model to include both the buyer and the daily analyst, with multiple archetypes within each persona.
The company reorganized how it understood and served customers around both roles. The purchasing decision and the working experience each needed a place in the offer.
ANALYST
Uses the platform day to day.
The working user previously neglected by the company’s focus. Multiple archetypes within this persona.
MODEL IN USE
A shared basis for company decisions.
Both customer relationships informed how we understood needs and shaped the commercial offer.
Decisions
A more flexible offer. A focused platform intervention.
Credit inflation enabled more varied packages without changing the core price structure. It also let us retire the scientifically unreliable 50-person sample.
The platform work stayed focused on making credits and expiry clearer. The scope of the company’s change was much broader than the amount of interface we needed to change.
OFFER
Make packaging more flexible.
Use the credit mechanism to support more varied and attractive offers.
QUALITY
Retire the 50-person sample.
Remove the scientifically unreliable option as the offer changed.
PRODUCT SCOPE
Keep the intervention focused.
Support credit use and expiry with limited changes to the platform.
Impact
Minimal platform change. A broader company impact.
The company reorganized its understanding of customers around the buyer and the analyst, with archetypes within both personas. Design continued to participate in pricing decisions.
Across the work, the share of customers with unspent credits fell by 14 percentage points. Customers proactively reaching out to renew increased by 22%.
−14pp
customers with unspent credits
+22%
customers proactively reaching out to renew
What changed, and where
Impact across the company
A focused platform intervention supported a broader change in customer understanding, commercial flexibility, and how design participated in decisions.
01
Organization
Company change
The customer model changed company decisions.
- The executive buyer and the daily analyst became two distinct personas, with multiple archetypes within each.
- Both roles became part of how the company understood and served customers.
02
Offer & product
Implemented changes
More flexibility in how research was packaged.
- Credit inflation enabled more varied offers without changing the core price structure.
- The scientifically unreliable 50-person sample was retired; focused platform changes clarified credits and expiry.
03
Business
Reported results across the work
Less unused capability. More renewal outreach.
- The share of customers with unspent credits fell by 14 percentage points.
- Customers proactively reaching out to renew increased by 22%.
04
Design leadership
Sustained participation
Design’s role extended into the commercial offer.
- As the first full-time designer, I built the design function.
- Design continued to participate in pricing decisions after this work.
The credit result measures customer share, in percentage points. The renewal result measures outreach. Analyst task success, satisfaction, and revenue impact were not separately measured in this case.