What is the Best Design for a Construction-grade Ladder?

A manufacturer of construction-grade ladders wanted to explore the impact of visual design on construction professionals’ purchasing decisions

The Challenge

How important is visual design to construction pros?

The manufacturer wanted a clear roadmap for the product development of its construction-grade ladders. They were unsure about what was important to construction professionals, including roofers, electricians and contractors, when it came to purchasing ladders. The manufacturer needed a B2B market research agency experienced in product research and development to test out different color and visual cues with construction industry pros.

Our Approach

Focus groups to test ladders with construction pros

Werk Insight, a B2B market research company experienced in construction market research, designed a B2B qualitative research study to explore the importance of visual differences in construction-grade ladders on decision drivers for construction industry pros.

We conducted a series of focus groups to test the products with groups of 6 – 8 contractors. The groups were recruited based on their shared needs (e.g., applications, use cases). To keep costs low, we hosted the focus groups in the suburbs of Chicago – a single regional market that was widely representative of the primary audience target profiles, and covered a mix of urban, suburban, and rural applications.

Using visual stimuli, the focus group discussions explored contractors’ responses to specific visual cues and colors on contractor-grade ladders. It was important to parse out what was an aesthetic preference, versus a real decision driver for purchasing decisions.

The Insight

Clear direction for new packaging to help increase sales

The findings from the focus groups showed a clear preference for one type of construction-grade ladder design. It provided a clear direction for the visual strategy, as well as additional insights into the importance of certain labels and visual cues in the decision-making process. This led to the manufacturer developing a new packaging initiative to help increase sales revenues.