This maxim arose from the experiences of Atlanta-based Turner Entertainment Group and its research partner, Cincinnati-based Burke Interactive, a division of Burke, Incorporated, as they developed and implemented Burke’s Digital Dashboard™ method for Web site research. Candid interviews with two key participants illuminate the shaping of an ambitious idea, the efforts to get it off the ground, and the regrouping that occurred after some important realizations.

In 1997, Burke Interactive began conducting some individual research projects on the Web sites of some of the many entities in the Turner Entertainment Group, which includes cable networks such as TBS, TNT, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), and the Cartoon Network. The information from that research was valuable in helping the Webmasters in the various business units change their sites.

(Viewers visit the Turner sites for everything from obtaining inside information on their favorite TV shows to participating in interactive simultaneous TV/Web events such as NASCAR races during which fans can watch the race on TV and view the action through in-car cameras on the Web.)

In 1998, Burke Interactive pitched an idea it called the Digital Dashboard, which would, in real time and on an ongoing basis, answer a host of questions about the Web sites for several entities within the Turner Entertainment Group, from Webmasters to researchers to marketing people. Site visitors would be sampled on an nth basis to complete a questionnaire covering everything from satisfaction with the site they were visiting to their media consumption habits.

A main goal was to profile the site visitors, says Fred Spring, director of research for TCM. "Assembling an audience profile is easier in the TV industry because we have Nielsen ratings, but in the Web world it’s a little more difficult. You can get a sense of it from some of the feedback you get but we really w...