Editor's note: Kirk Hendrickson is CEO of research firm Eye Faster, Walnut Creek, Calif.

The highest-quality research and the most actionable insights start with good test design. This is particularly true when considering the design of eye-tracking studies.

The ability to think about the test as its own design project is directly related to how successful the test will be. Shelf tests are standard practice for new products, new planograms or existing products that are experiencing competition from emerging brands. Shelf tests may benefit from an eye-tracking methodology that allows the client to understand how their product performs in terms of consumer attention in the retail aisle. Corporate researchers looking to partner with vendors in designing shelf tests that include eye-tracking methodologies should keep a few things in mind

Let’s look at six key considerations for fielding research as it relates to shelf tests.

1. Include all partners in the methodology and design.

Many clients remain guarded about their concepts and it’s easy to see why. In an increasingly competitive consumer marketplace, one doesn’t want to give away too much detail or tip the scales to a rival brand or retailer. But experience shows that partners who are involved in the research design can add invaluable guidance to a project’s overall success. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  

Experienced personnel have seen the conditions of field research and can inform retail, brand and product managers of elements of the test they hadn’t thought of. While certainly not specialized in design, a good field technician understands the importance of consistency; how to deal with recruiting and administering tests to respondents; and how to mitigate bias that may be introduced when testing in a store or mock store environment.

2. Design a planogram and stick to it.

Speaking of consistency, one of the biggest mistakes we can make is changing a test on the fly. Making design changes in the field can easily muddle the ultimate findings. Fielding conditions are often hectic and changes create inconsistencies that make consumer responses, particularly in an eye-tracking study, difficult to measure. Despite what is uncovered in the field, no decisions or changes should be made until the analysis has been established.

3. Script your instructions as much as possible.

To ensure that testing conditions remain consistent, the ideal is having a script for interviewers to follow when administering shopping instructions for respondents performing a shelf test. Inconsistent instructions can introduce biases that affect shoppers’ performance in the aisle. While some flexibility within the instructions is key to consumer performance (and by all means, provide additional explanation as needed), remaining consistent allows for greater confidence in the research outcomes.

4. Get more out of your test by leveraging relationships.

When testing a new product or planogram, make sure to reap the full benefits of often costly, in-store or mock store shelf tests. When doing a shelf test with an eye-tracking component, make sure the supplier understands the key areas of interest for testing, including products, brand blocks, attention to price and signage. If testing a single brand block, include competitors or similar categories in the analysis. Anything that does not apply directly to the retailer or brand may be beneficial to the other and can improve relationships between brands and retailers when that knowledge is shared.

5. Don’t try to do to too much.

While it’s certainly important to get all the data you can from each test, don’t overdo it. Testing different planograms on-shelf, while attempting to test new product packages or other variables, may overcomplicate the analysis. By introducing multiple variables in a shelf test, it can be difficult to ascertain causation of any variances noticed in the analysis. Was it the vertical brand-blocking that improved product visibility or the new concept packaging? Was it the location on the top shelf or the newly added on-shelf signage that influenced shoppers to interact with products? While it’s possible to test more than one variable with eye-tracking, in a shelf test it’s important to understand exactly what is being tested and allow interviewers to follow up with questions to the respondent after the fact.

6. Document everything.

Something that has saved me headaches over the years has been an insistence on overdocumenting the entire test process, everything from where the interviews are set up, to taking photos of the shelf throughout the day to ensure consistency after the fact. A quality camera is a field technician’s best friend and should be insisted upon by all clients doing in-store research, especially at the shelf level. Prior to arriving in field for the shelf test, make sure all suppliers have proper documentation of what is being tested, what planograms should look like and other key items to pay attention to. Any information the field and analysis teams can have prior to arriving for the test will greatly benefit the outcome.

Shelf tests, being one of the most common shopper research designs, may seem old hat to experienced retail and brand managers but keeping in mind key considerations around communication, consistency and proper design can ensure that tests are optimized to provide the most actionable results once the analysis is complete.