Join the Dots Tools Up to Fight Tech Overload

Manchester, UK-based consumer insight agency Join the Dots has introduced a range of techniques to combat what it calls 'communications saturation' - experienced by consumers since the introduction of smartphones and the increasing use of social media.

Founded in 1998 by former RI Director Pete Comley, the firm provides research for advertising, customer experience, product and service optimisation, and sets up and manages online communities. Join the Dots says it decided to launch the new techniques after seeing a decline in the number of people wanting to take part in research, as well as the diminishing attention spans of those who do. With its new 'People Centred Research' approach, the company is asking respondents questions more closely aligned to the way they live their lives, while trialling the use of techniques such as Tinder swipes, 140-character tweet-length responses, Facebook-based communities, TripAdvisor-style reviews, and emojis.

Andy Buckley (pictured), Head of Innovation, explains: 'We had to stop thinking like researchers and start thinking about the way we live outside work. This led us to whole-heartedly embrace a mobile first approach; from shortening the length of our studies to making it possible to complete all our studies on the smallest mobile devices' screens'.

Web site: www.jointhedotsmr.com .