Behaviourlab Product Feature Development – first direct Case Study

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Innovative Approach 

We used Behaviourlab — our online experiment tool — to measure the impact of product features on customer outcomes. Behaviourlab is an immersive, behavioural approach that replicates a real-world customer journey. We design different versions of the journey and randomly allocate participants to one version. 

Given the focus on acquisition, we used our Price Comparison Website environment. Nine first direct incentives were tested against the control of the existing incentive. Each participant saw one first direct product alongside a fixed set of competitor products.  

We collected 1,400 participants, including both switchers and non-switchers, to ensure a reliable sample under each incentive. Participants browsed the Price Comparison Website, picked their preferred product, and rated it on a range of perceptions (e.g., simplicity, comprehension).   

Realistic Decision Making 

By providing context and a realistic environment, participants mimic a task that feels natural, leading to behaviour more reflective of real-world decision making. Participant attention is not skewed towards the feature that varies (in this case the first direct incentive), so strategies are compared covertly without affecting participant behaviour. We use pre-coded templates; however, all content is customisable, so we can create a bespoke customer journey in a matter of hours.  

Customer Profiling 

We included pre-coded profiling questions to capture real-life banking information and demographics. This allows us to identify the groups of consumers most likely to pick first direct’s product, and control for customer differences in our analysis to ensure our forecasts are representative of the real world.