Client Impact Archives - L&E Research

CIRQ Announces Certification of L&E Research to ISO 20252 Standard

DWG Admin on July 3, 2025

CIRQ, an accredited International Standards Organization (ISO) audit and certification body and subsidiary of the Insights Association, has announced that L&E Research, headquartered in Raleigh, NC, has been officially certified to the ISO 20252:2019 standard for market, opinion, and social research, including insights and data analytics.

The ISO 20252:2019 standard defines internationally recognized requirements for managing research projects with transparency, consistency, and rigor. It establishes clear definitions, controls, and quality assurance measures for every phase of research, across all methodologies and data sources. By implementing the full scope of ISO 20252 requirements, organizations demonstrate a strong commitment to deliverable, reliable, traceable, auditable research outcomes.
L&E Research’s certification includes all six annexes of the ISO 20252:2019 standard, covering qualitative research, quantitative research, digital observation, self-completion methods, data management and processing, and physical observation.

“Achieving ISO 20252 certification reflects our deep commitment to quality, consistency, and operational transparency across every project we manage,” said Tracy Isacco, President at L&E Research. “This certification goes beyond meeting a global standard; it reinforces the confidence our clients place in us by ensuring their insights are built on validated, well-documented processes. When combined with our ISO 27001 certification, it underscores our promise to protect both the quality of research and the security of information at every stage”

L&E Research is one of only a few organizations worldwide to hold certifications in both ISO 20252:2019 and ISO/IEC 27001:2013, the globally recognized standard for information security management. This dual certification positions L&E among an elite group of insights partners who meet the highest thresholds for data security and research quality.

About L&E Research

Since 1984, L&E has successfully recruited consumers, healthcare professionals, and business professionals for virtually every type of market research project. Fueled by a belief that great conversations are facilitated by a combination of human talent and technology, the company has grown to establish and operate facilities in Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Denver, New York, Orlando, Raleigh, and Tampa.

About CIRQ

A subsidiary of the Insights Association, CIRQ (the Certification Institute for Research Quality) was established to provide assessment and certification services to market research firms seeking certification to ISO 20252 and ISO 27001. A non-profit entity, CIRQ is committed to providing timely, thorough, and impartial assessments of its customers’ research process management or information security management systems regarding certification to corresponding standards. CIRQ was established in compliance with all ISO requirements for certification bodies that provide auditing and certification services and is fully accredited by ANSI’s National Accreditation Board. To conform to its mandate of objective and impartial audits to these ISO standards, CIRQ is independently operated and managed under the oversight of an independent Board of Directors and submits to annual assessments by external authorities on ISO certification bodies.

For further information, please contact:
Kelli Hammock
720.370.3423
L&E Research
www.leresearch.com

How L&E Is Solving Market Research’s Biggest Data Challenge

DWG Admin on May 8, 2025

A Message From the CEO

Dear Partner,

A lot of talk about data quality has risen to a roar of late, and some of you have asked me to comment on it, as well as share what L&E Research is doing to ensure you get quality data, today and tomorrow, in order to make the best decisions. I myself have been pondering, as a 30+ year veteran of the industry, whether the market research industry has reached a crossroads. Please read on with your cup of coffee (or your favorite beverage of choice…no judgment here) on what’s going on, and what L&E is doing to raise the bar of data quality.

A Quick Synopsis on Data Quality

Let’s review what has recently transpired as it relates to panel quality.

An independent counsel (Case4Quality) was created a few years ago to study the issue of fraud in sample. The conclusion was sample is ridden with fraud. Bots (technology created personas that are given credentials to emulate humans) and “fraudsters” (people who are not who they say they are) riddle the sample landscape.
Last year Dynata, a 2018 merger of SSI and Research Now (creating the largest panel company in terms of both revenue and panel size) declared Chapter 11 and reorganized through the courts, eliminating over $500 MM in debt (I assume I do not have to expound on why the largest panel company in the space declaring bankruptcy is problematic/relational to data quality).
In the qualitative space, this person (Kimberly Joyful of Paid For Your Say) promises to teach consumers how to plug into the larger #mrx ecosystem to get into more studies that pay. While their website promotes an altruistic outcome, the reality is the leader of this group is a former researcher teaching her now 11k+ audience how to cheat in order to gain access to paid research studies.
And finally (but lastly??), last week a company in the #mrx space, Opinions 4 Good (also rebranded as Slice), was federally indicted on charges of fraud, making fake data sold as legitimate consumer opinions via the use of “ants” (people creating fake accounts to complete the surveys, with the leadership not only allowing it, but actively enabling and in fact creating it themselves).

While the latest federal fraud case is alarming, in that company leadership knowingly falsified data (if the formal accusation is true), as I have outlined above, the bells have been ringing for quite some time that the #mrx ecosystem has a quality control problem. Everyone says their sample is “high quality.” But how do you know? I wanted to take a moment to demonstrate how some companies collect data, how L&E collects data today, and the engineering we’re undertaking for an even better solution tomorrow.

The Sample Ecosystem

Tia Maurer, Group Scientist at Procter and Gamble and member of the Case4Quality team advocating changes for a better data ecosystem, recently presented at an Insights Association (IA) event on fraud in research, and where sample is obtained by suppliers. I have copied a page from her presentation showing the five typical sample sources

*sample sources provided by The Market Research Society

I regularly use a cooking analogy when I speak with clients about sample and where they obtain it: “Do you care how the sausage is made?” Those clients that care about data quality always say “yes”: knowing how the sausage is made means understanding the origins of your sample, thus in turn knowing where your data is coming from. As everyone knows, the ingredients make the dish. Loyalty/rewards, affiliates/publishers and river/intercept are all tapping into outside communities in hopes they can be converted into a completed survey (these sources are also terrible for qual, as we proved in our research). However, there’s no way of identifying who that person is: the hope is they are who they say they are, and provide authentic feedback. And these sources have very poor response rates (read on for more on that). Databases/targeted lists typically have marginal accuracy (i.e. They usually have 60-80% accuracy of contact information). And like the other sample sources, response rates are low (especially now in the mobile phone era). This is why L&E builds organic panel

How L&E Does It

When speaking with clients, I always start by outlining the fundamentals of the research ecosystem and why we complete our research via our independently owned and operated research panel. Years ago, collecting data was typically conducted via phone call. You may remember the days when we all had a home phone/phone number (some still do, but analysis shows that number is now 27-29%). Now most people use mobile phones, and call screening has intensified, with mobile devices using apps to help identify (and block) callers. As a result of better screening technology (and some would argue over-saturation of surveys/poor surveys), response rates have plummeted. I outline this below to demonstrate the following math equation, which is actual study incidence:

-Accurate number (A; generally, list services would sell 80% accuracy) x someone answering the phone (B; I’ll be generous and estimate 80%) x cooperative HH (C; Pew Research reported 7% response rate in 2017, and getting worse) x qualified for the research and completes the questions (D; let’s say 20%, again a generous figure in many research study cases) x agrees to engage in phase 2 qual (E; let’s say 90%) x is available at the time of phase 2 (F; let’s be generous and say 95%) and then actually completes the research (G; our show rates are 93%, which is high for the industry) = study participation rate.

So, to calculate this: 80% x 80% x 7% x 20% x 90% x 95% x 93% = less than 1 in a hundred (.7% specifically) complete the study.

Less than 1% success is cost prohibitive for most clients; thus, we build organic panel by finding people interested in sharing their information and welcoming our engagements in exchange for participation in research studies. Turning data accuracy (A), response (B) and cooperation (C) into nearly 100% makes our overall completion rate considerably higher. 1.6 million people later and growing…that’s how we solve the sample problem.

The downside of a panel is it attracts bad actors. The industry calls them cheaters and repeaters (people that lie to attempt to get into studies, like the training classes taught by Paid For Your Say). L&E does a lot to weed out these bad actors:

We check ID’s. Over 90% of our panel has been ID validated. Online or in-person, we require a driver’s license or passport to participate.
We constantly scrub our panel. Duplicate phone numbers, addresses, email addresses…we’re always ferreting out people that are attempting to game the system, utilizing both technology and full-time staff to “clean” our panel.
Geofencing: as a company exclusively providing US panel, we firewall out all traffic not within the US (people outside of the US, their device has an IP address that shows their geo-location, unless they use a VPN. As a result, we also block most VPNs, and validate the few VPN accessed accounts that we allow).
We use a series of steps that require human engagement, resulting in humans verifying the human on the other end (example would be a tech check for online).

As you can see, we do quite a bit to deliver quality sample for our clients’ research. Despite this, we still have fraud issues. When we discovered Paid For Your Say, we found people in our panel in her audience. As a result, we planted a spy in her network to identify as many of her audience as possible (they’re still there in fact, as P4YS hasn’t found us yet!) in our panel, allowing us to quarantine them. We have thousands of accounts we’ve labeled in our systems as fraudulent or “do not call” from a variety of quality control steps like this. There are other examples I could provide on how fraud occurs, and how we combat it. But just like in the financial sector, when the financial opportunity exists, people will try to figure out how to cheat the system (fraud). And continuing to operate in this ecosystem, we’ll always be reacting to those efforts.

What is L&E Adding To Improve Data Quality Even More

I am heartened by the efforts that some in the industry are making, like Case 4 Quality. However, the problems in the sample industry are multi-fold:

Any ecosystem that promises rewards if you provide the right answers will always encourage dishonesty by people in hopes to earn said rewards.
Our industry has tossed itself overboard with companies promising they can provide all three elements of the “business triangle”: quality, speed and price. Poor sample is cheap, it is fast…and until recently, quality is not really validated, but always assured by the supplier as good (unlike a bad meal that would make you sick, there was no way to validate bad sample until after the fact).
Brands often seek low incidence audiences. Panels can track demographics, but behavior and attitude are always changing. To date, the way clients looked to solve this was with innumerous questions to ensure accuracy of the participant. However, this results in a poor experience for the consumer, answering lengthy questionnaires/screeners that rarely meet the brands’ specifications and thus don’t get to do the rewarding part: participation in the qualitative research that pays.

In short, we’ve created an ecosystem that encourages fraudsters (people that will do anything in hopes they get the reward) and discourages the majority of people that just would like to share their opinions (people that answer honestly, but as a result of low incidence research, rarely qualify, thus suffering through a miserable experience).

I am excited to share that L&E has launched, or is launching this month, several initiatives to create a better marketplace where consumers and brands can be connected, for better research outcomes, creating a better experience for both researcher and participant.

»The launch of our mobile app, with RealEyes Verify™ technology that will link facial recognition with a user’s research account.

»Behavioral data collection via the app, including geofence, website surfing and purchase behavior tracking.

» Making all panelist engagements have rewards. We have been testing this in select markets, and the results were overwhelmingly positive. We will be converting our entire panel ecosystem this year to a reward-based experience.

» Launched our self-serve platform, CondUX, enabling researchers to manage the entire research process, with qualitative and quantitative tools to execute.

Through the usage of our app, we will enable a more rewarding experience for the consumer while providing an easily verified (do you share your phone with anyone???) identity solution that also collects behavioral information passively, reducing question fatigue for the participant. When the consumer wins with a better experience, brands will win with better data.

Will your costs go up? Yes, a little. As stated previously, delivering speed, quality and price is not achievable in any industry. But when one considers the negative impacts of bad data on brand decision making, we’re confident paying a little more for high quality sample that can be delivered rapidly, will be game changing for brands. And for the first time, we will be opening up our panel to quantitative research at scale, at competitive costs with traditional quantitative panel solutions.

Close

I hope this letter has proven helpful to you as it relates to the industry, and the initiatives we are taking to create better research outcomes. Brands have begun engaging us, and the industry at large, bringing forth ideas and innovations to make the ecosystem better from the elements they can control (e.g. shorter surveys/screeners). It’s time for the industry to innovate as well. This is our way of delivering better sample, as well as bringing new data solutions to the forefront, to deliver better research results. I’ll be speaking more about this in the coming months…I believe a revolution in market research is underway.

All the best,

Brett

Injection Naïve: The New Unicorn?

DWG Admin on March 27, 2025

If you are a human factors engineer, medical device UX researcher or a healthcare market research firm, you have surely experienced a growing difficulty fulfilling injection naive quotas for your injection device usability studies. There has been a dramatic shift over the past decade in recruitment incidence within the injection naive vs injection experienced patient and caregiver segments.

Historically, when designing research outside of diabetes, injection experience was the low incidence cohort. However, over the past decade the pendulum has swung significantly in the other direction making inclusion of true lifetime injection naive patients and caregivers the needles in a haystack. In order to successfully execute injection device usability studies, it is important to understand the current climate as related to injection experience within the US population.

Why The Shift?

There are numerous factors leading to the injection experience incidence shift over the past ten years.

Diabetes continues to increase in diagnosis rate annually and is estimated to now affect 12% of the US population rising to 29% in the elderly. While there is an abundance of treatment modalities available, insulin is the #1 prescribed injectable in the US. 23% of diabetic patients self administer insulin.

The rise in autoimmune conditions accompanied by the emergence of self-administered biologics. 10% of the US population is affected by an autoimmune condition. Of those diagnosed, 6% are prescribed an injectable biologic.

Approximately 10 million patients in the US are diagnosed with osteoporosis. Forteo and Prolia, both injectable treatments and prophylactic approaches to treating osteoporosis are delivered via at-home injection.

Hormone replacement therapy diagnostics, education, accessibility and affordability has led to 20 million Americans being placed on an HRT protocol with 1.2 million inclusive of an injectable therapeutic.

Allergies and anaphylaxis, especially in children, have risen significantly over the past decade. The CDC now estimates 1 in 4 children have a diagnosed allergy. With that, there is an elevated population of children, and subsequently adults, trained to administer an EpiPen.

The growing popularity and now widespread access of injectable GLP-1 agonists will likely be the anchor forever sinking injection naive recruitment feasibility. Millions of Americans have now at least tried an injectable GLP-1 for diabetic management and/or weight loss. These statistics are expected to continue to climb due to the abundance of recently confirmed positive clinical outcomes and widening of regulatory approvals.

Tightened Definition of “Injection Naive”

Despite the growing adoption and prescribing of patient delivered injectable therapies, in recent years we have seen research designers, largely influenced by FDA guidelines, further narrow the definition of the “injection naive” individual. Most impactful is “injection naive” defined as lifetime injection experience with any device for any duration of time.

This is routinely confirmed to include the injection of self, the injection of others, the injection of a pet, being trained to perform an injection including simulation into an injection pad. By default, anyone who participates in an injection device usability study would then be considered “injection experienced”.

Challenges in Recruitment

Given the aforementioned rise in injectable therapies coupled with the tightening of naive definitions, recruitment of injection naive participants is becoming increasingly difficult, if not impossible in the setting of certain conditions.

The US general population is an injection experienced population. While this is great news for the injection experienced quota buckets, seeking patients and caregivers who are truly injection naive is rarely a feasible avenue in the US, especially in the setting of a chronic condition.

The Recommendations

The most important factor is education and intervention at the design level should a device usability project include a naive segment. As, once the device research methodology is approved, it is incredibly difficult to walk it back and request flexibility and exceptions.

Below are recommendations for ensuring your research is well represented by an injection naive cohort while presenting a segment that is recruitable to your recruiting firm. Including even one of these options in the design of your naive quota qualifiers significantly increases the incidence of recruitment.

Be Specific. Tailor your device experience to the device being tested. Autoinjectors, pre-filled syringes, injection pens, infusion and patch pumps, vial/ syringe and wearable injectors all require different techniques of administration. Experience with one does not equate to experience for all.

Consider the Time Lapse. A good rule of thumb is 10 years. It is reasonable to assume, especially with the forever changing injection device design, that if an individual has not administered an injection within the past 10 years, they can be considered naive.

Be Open to Surrogates. If true, lifetime injection naivety must be a requirement, it will be imperative to open the pool. Especially in the context of a chronic condition, whether patient or caregiver, the recruit criteria will need to allow for the inclusion of proxy participants from the general population to represent the naive cohort.

The Screener. It is important that the developed screener clearly distinguishes between injection-naive and injection-experienced individuals. One must take care to ensure the final screener is fully inclusive of all devices, injection methods and time periods as is required to qualify for the research.

We are privileged to conduct medical device usability research in the US. To maintain our progress and prevent recruitment challenges, it is essential for everyone involved in device UX to stay informed about the evolving trends in the adoption and prescription of at-home administered injectables nationwide.

This awareness should be integrated into the development of participant inclusion criteria. By doing so, we can ensure a seamless recruitment process for all parties involved: the client, the recruiting firm, and the participants.

Originally published on GreenBook.org on August 13, 2024.

Unleashing the Power of MROCs to Achieve Better Business Insights

DWG Admin on May 23, 2024

Join us for a deep dive into the world of community-based research and how it can inform stakeholders and provide solutions to complex business problems.

In this webinar, we will explore various topics including MROCs, multi-phased research, and the advantages of both short- and long-term community panels. We will discuss the benefits of quant/qual hybrid solutions and the turn-key US qual/quant research solutions that can be delivered by platforms like aha and L&E. We will also explore the importance of optimizing various methodologies and how your supplier can enhance your research efforts with great customer/client support.

Representatives from L&E Research and aha will share how combining custom built panels with the right tool kits enables brands to ideate and test new concepts, ad campaigns, and more, utilizing this type of solution. Our panel of experts includes: Ray Fischer, a ResTech pioneer with over 20 years in the research industry; Paula Kramer, with more than a decade of experience as a moderator and strategist; and L&E Research’s Kelli Hammock, who has close to 20 years of qualitative recruitment experience; discussion to be led by L&E Research’s CEO, Brett Watkins, who has grown L&E Research from a single-market focus group facility to a seven-market, nationwide recruiting powerhouse.

This webinar is ideal for researchers, marketers, and anyone interested in learning more about community-based research and how it can enhance business insights. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights and explore new research solutions!

During this webinar, we will discuss:

Exploring hybrid research methods and the future of business insights
Building successful communities for a collaborative approach to research
The art of community management and how your supplier can support your research needs
Utilizing the right tool kits to ideate and test new concepts, ad campaigns and more

The 5 Advantages of Working with an ISO Certified Partner

DWG Admin on March 4, 2024

The 5 Advantages of Working with an ISO Certified Partner

In an era where worries about data security breaches and privacy violations are widespread, especially in sectors such as healthcare and finance, safeguarding sensitive information is one of our utmost priorities at L&E. The ISO 27001 certification that we obtained last year is a reaffirmation of our commitment to data protection and security. As we continue to expand our work with global clients in healthcare and finance, we want to reflect further on the importance of adopting robust measures to safeguard sensitive information.

So, here’s why organizations should choose to work with ISO 27001 certified partners:

1. Peace of Mind:

An ISO certification serves as a key indicator of a company’s dedication to excellence in information security. It provides clients with peace of mind, knowing that their data is handled with care and in compliance with globally recognized standards.

2. Regulation Compliance:

In industries where data protection is paramount, ISO 27001 certification is a big deal. It ensures that companies are safeguarding sensitive information, such as customer data and intellectual property, ensuring compliance with regulations like GDPR and HIPAA.

3. Reduced Risk:

By proactively identifying and managing information security risks, ISO certified companies minimize the likelihood of disruptions to your operations. The ISO-certified processes and procedures enable us to anticipate and address potential threats, ensuring the continuity of your business activities.

4. Solid Trust and Reputation:

An ISO certification isn’t just about meeting regulatory requirements—it’s about building mutual trust. Working with trusted partners is key to the success of a project and a fruitful relationship.

5. Increased Engagement in the Healthcare Community:

Patients and providers are becoming more vigilant and selective in choosing partners who prioritize data protection. By partnering with an ISO-certified company, you protect respondents’ data and ensure that it’s utilized in the right way, fostering trust and confidence in your research initiatives.

For L&E, achieving ISO certification wasn’t just about meeting client requirements—it was about embodying a culture of security and trust. It’s about proving that ‘what we say is what we do’ and ensuring that every aspect of our operations is held to the highest standards.

Humanetics Digital Case Study

DWG Admin on March 4, 2024

Shaping the Future with Humanetics Digital North America

What does the average US customer’s body look like? How tall are they, how long are their arms and legs, how wide are chest and hip circumferences? Can anyone confidently answer without subconsciously accessing their own biases? Humanetics Digital North America (formerly Human Solutions of North America) helps companies in several industries – such as automotive, and clothing – to answer these questions with up-to-date and precise data. For example, they build digital and physical mannequins based on real human data from 3D body scanning surveys; helping brands to create products and solutions that are truly fit for consumers. L&E has been partnering with Humanetics Digital in the US since 2017, when Humanetics Digital North America was aiming to recruit 18,000 people aged 6-75 years, for the biggest Sizing Survey to-date.

A Unique Partnership Tale

“Humanetics Digital North America had the technology and know-how to execute the survey, based on previous surveys on other continents, but the recruitment and participation level needed a boost” explains Andre Luebke, General Manager Humanetics Digital North America, “and that’s when our Project Manager, my wife Andrea, reached out to L&E to get a quote for recruitment services and additional scanning locations.” Here’s a curious story: “1 year earlier our son was recruited by L&E for a study for one of their clients; so, Andrea thought that they might be able to also help Humanetics Digital, finding recruits for this project. Luckily, she was right, and that’s when our partnership began.”

Humanetics Digital NA collects data of US customers and provides solutions to companies who aim to make their customer-centric products better; a better fit, from jeans, to shoes, to mattresses, to cars, to strollers, car seats, and diapers. L&E’s expertise in connecting businesses and consumers translated perfectly, and they identified and invited participants for the survey…a much-needed game changer. “We had to scan in Tampa, in Columbus, in Cincinnati and other locations. Everywhere we went L&E was able to find people” continues Andre. L&E came to their aid by providing a cost-effective solution for recruiting participants for the study.

While looking for potential partners, Humanetics Digital found a lot of pushback on pricing “L&E was flexible enough to say, that’s a bigger project, we see a bigger potential.” This willingness to work with Humanetics Digital’s specific needs and budget constraints cemented the collaboration: “if they would not have been that flexible,” continued Andre “we wouldn’t have kept working with them and, we wouldn’t be continuing with such a long-term relationship.”

Finding the right people

The collaboration became long-term thanks to the growing trust, but also to the “large pool of panelists that are in L&E’s portfolio, which has provided enough firepower to recruit people for each project” says Andre. When looking at North America, the pool of participants needs to reflect the overall population, for example in the original project, “we had set ourselves hard targets” continues Andre “we needed a percentage of people belonging to different ethnicities – for example, 10% African American, 10% Hispanic, 10% Asian, etc. – and certain age groups.” Projects can be as specific as scanning people with “self-identified sizes. So, we might need someone who identifies as a medium, as a small, and so on. L&E is really helpful in finding those people.”

Growing together for greater market impact

Andre also noticed that “Other companies are now aware of what we do” and are realising that “it’s easier to go to Humanetics Digital and get 2000 people scanned, rather than buying their own scanner.”

Humanetics Digital have continued their collaboration with L&E to offer a truly unique service that brings a new level of precision and dynamism to the industry. L&E and Humanetics Digital have transformed the relationship between two companies, from a standard customer-client interaction to a true symbiotic collaboration.

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DOAR Case Study

DWG Admin on June 5, 2023

Planning successful Jury Research Events with DOAR

The story

DOAR is a leading trial consulting firm with over 30 years of experience providing insight and support to lawyers and major corporations in handling complex legal disputes. L&E’s work with DOAR started a few years ago, using primarily their New York City facility. Since then, the partnership has grown considerably, with L&E continuously increasing its NYC area database and implementing facility improvements to meet DOAR’s research needs.

The importance of a well-planned event

L&E’s support is particularly valuable when conducting Jury Research events, especially when cases are complex and require extensive and thoughtful testing. And when it came to working with DOAR, the industry leader in advising the most prominent attorneys nationwide on high-stakes matters, L&E was up for the task. “L&E often assists us when planning research events to ensure they run smoothly,” says Emma Katz, Analyst at DOAR. “Events are comprised of focus groups, mock trials, shadow juries, and other research initiatives as trials are ongoing.” One of L&E’s primary capabilities in helping the team at DOAR is recruiting people for research events who accurately reflect trial jury pools. Sometimes they require niche participants such as higher-level professionals. “99% of the time, L&E can meet our quotas,” explains Devi Braun, Analyst at DOAR. “When working with L&E, we are confident that their team can recruit participants that accurately represent the potential demographic pool of an actual jury.” Braun adds, “The events we hold at L&E’s facilities are great to test all the small but key details. For example, we help our clients with the voir dire process and decide what sort of demographic pool might be in favor or against our clients. And that is all based on data we’re gathering at these events.” The DOAR team will occasionally need to run research events in areas not covered by L&E facilities. In those instances, they still engage with L&E for recruiting support. Katz states, “L&E goes above and beyond by helping us find the right venue, even if it isn’t their responsibility. Their team supports us along the way to carry out these events successfully, wherever they are. This reliability further strengthens our experience with L&E and is why we keep going back.”

Overcoming challenges together

In the legal sector, last-minute challenges often arise. So, for DOAR, it’s essential to have a responsive partner ready to address changing circumstances. “We need immediate answers because our clients need immediate answers, so communication is key. In our experience, L&E’s responsiveness has been amazing. As a result, we’ve developed a relationship with L&E’s team where they’ve learned to anticipate our needs,” says Braun. The COVID-19 pandemic threatened the health and safety of people across the globe and caused intense disruption to businesses across industries. As a result, L&E moved swiftly to address new health and safety requirements and other challenges that were presented. “Before the pandemic, we could host a lot of people in the same room,” explained Braun, “With Covid, that wasn’t possible anymore. The way that L&E’s NYC facility is designed allowed us to overcome this obstacle due to its size and the amount of rooms available to use.” L&E was able to pivot during a global crisis quickly and, as a result, could also keep pace with a facility that could handle different types of events. “For some of our clients, we need to create more complex research events,” says Katz. “With the support of L&E’s team and their facility, we can figure out the most seamless and easiest process and run these types of events on a very quick timeline. At L&E, they have the space, they have the manpower, and they’re capable of meeting our unique needs.”

User-View Case Study

DWG Admin on March 30, 2023

Delivering on promises for User-View

The story

Human factors and design experts User-View have been a long-term partner of L&E. Human factors look at how people interact with the world around them, drawing on psychology, computer science, biomechanics, information design, engineering, and many other fields. 80% of User-View’s work is developing medical device and health IT. They work with clients to gather user, business, and technology requirements before spending resources developing and delivering a product to market. “Most of the work that we do is along the whole spectrum of user experience and human factors,” says Dr Janey Barnes, Human Factors Specialist and Principal at User-View. “For example, I help clients identify unmet needs, understand who their users are and where different applications and products are used.” To allow products to go on to full approval and launch, projects often require a niche, “hard-to-find” and “hard-to-reach” group of respondents. As a result, User-View has been relying on L&E to recruit the perfect audience to test their clients’ devices, especially during the difficult times of Covid.

Finding the perfect respondent

The key factor for User-View when hiring a recruitment partner is “can they find people who fit the criteria?”. There are different traits that User-View looks for in a respondent. Working alongside the medical device industry is often about finding a specific niche of people, for example, specialized healthcare providers or patients and caregivers of patients with rare diseases. “Especially during COVID, being able to find US healthcare providers willing to participate in studies was a challenge. Although healthcare providers were overloaded and burdened, medical device companies still needed to continue their research and development activities. Even in such challenging circumstances, L&E was still able to provide the participants that we needed to help our clients continue their work.” With qualitative research, it’s no surprise that you get the best results if you recruit people who actually want to be involved in the research – this is something L&E really helped with. “You might not want somebody who’s combative or somebody who doesn’t want to talk to you. You want people who want to be in the session, and we’re confident that L&E’s respondents will bring value to the project,” Dr Barnes adds. Finally, there are often geographical requirements. “We know that L&E are specialized in certain regions. However, we also tend to ask them for support if they have trusted partners in other regions that we can work with. We trust them, as they’d point us towards someone who is valuable for our work.”

The benefits of being predictable

After an ongoing partnership of over a decade, User-View knows the benefits of working with L&E well. “We know that L&E will be able to deliver the number of participants that they say that they’re going to deliver. There’s nothing better than that. That’s the best praise that you can give to a recruiting agency as they get you the people that they promised – and they get them on time and within budget.” As Dr Barnes says, when working across several projects in a complex industry, being able to rely on your partner is critical; “it comes to that: reliable. Everything with L&E is predictable. The process is predictable. The cost is predictable. And that helps us with all our processes.” This long-lasting trust and L&E’s ability to be predictable allow User-View to be confident with clients when planning their proposal process, giving precise timelines, and managing their expectations. “We are confident when making a commitment to a client because we already know how many days it’s going to take L&E to provide us with what we need. It makes it easy for us to manage client expectations in terms of scheduling and interactions.” Finding the right partner often brings unexpected benefits. User-View and L&E’s collaboration doesn’t only bring tangible benefits to User-View’s clients, but also to its internal team. “Because L&E is so reliable, I can be very confident for my team to gain knowledge and experience on how to deal with other partners”, Dr Barnes says. “The people on our team who are growing can become project leads. If L&E wasn’t predictable, or if we didn’t know the team, I would always have to be the person getting the quotes. But because of our relationship and thanks to their great services, I can let more junior people work with L&E as a learning experience.” There are a lot of benefits in finding the right recruitment partner, and trust is always the best starting point for a fruitful collaboration. Since User-View and L&E’s partnership started over ten years ago, they’ve been delivering high-quality work in synergy, overcoming even the toughest challenges.

Creative Medical Research Case Study

DWG Admin on February 1, 2023

Working as partners with CMR

The story

Creative Medical Research (CMR) is a market research company specializing in global medical device research. They help clients discover unmet needs in the marketplace and evaluate and test ideas for device feasibility and usability. We sat down with them to talk about their relationship with L&E and how it works. L&E started working with CMR in 2016 and has collaborated with them on over 30 recruitment projects and facility hires. As CMR says, what started this long-lasting relationship, and made L&E stand out from other competitors from the get-go, was the team. Their knowledge and experience, their tailored proposals, and the attention to feasibility, really showed L&E’s willingness to meet CMR specific needs and not just send cookie-cutter templates.

Working as partners

A competitive, thought-through proposal is just the first step towards a successful collaboration. This must be followed by a strong and reliable delivery. What CMR likes about L&E is that “they are willing to go the extra mile. While some other competitors have processes that are set in stone, L&E is flexible and responsive, capable of adapting to the client’s evolving needs and priorities. The L&E team is always willing to have an open conversation about how to best support CMR to deliver consistent work”. CMR considers L&E very much a partner rather than a supplier. The partnership between the two companies evolved throughout the years, and it’s built on mutual trust. What CMR values is the “small company feel” and outstanding customer service, which is challenging to maintain as your business grows. CMR knows that L&E will do everything they can to deliver outstanding work. And L&E knows that CMR will support them and will be reasonable and realistic in their requirements. What CMR truly values about this partnership is L&E’s transparency, responsiveness, and communication; “Those are the things we look for in a recruitment supplier, but they’re rare to find.”

L&E can save the day

CMR specializes in medical device research, so they often need to recruit rare patient groups, and hard-to-reach participants. They find that a lot of recruiters are hard to trust when it comes to finding these types of respondents. L&E, on the other hand, is always realistic and provides honest feedback. CMR turns to L&E because they are willing to give it a go: they know that the job must be done. The FDA requires that specific groups of people are spoken to and surveyed, and there’s no way around it. Covid-19 presented new challenges to CMR: as people became more anxious about their health, taking part in research wasn’t a priority. For a lot of patients this could put their health at further risk. A good example happened recently. CMR were conducting a study and they were working with multiple recruiters across multiple cities. All of them were failing to find the specific target that CMR needed. So, they decided to asked L&E to jump in at very short notice, hoping that they would be able to find the right respondents. They completely rescued the study: “we went to them at short notice with a rescue mission, they were willing to help, and they succeeded.” Another advantage of L&E is that they operate in multiple cities, CMR appreciates the ease of working over several locations but with just one project manager. Honesty is at the base of trust, and without trust partnerships can’t stand the test of time. L&E is realistic, but willing to do their best, and CMR knows that their best is genuinely going to be their best, and not an empty promise.

Getting the Most Out of Qualitative Research: 35 Tips for Building a Great Partnership with your Moderator

DWG Admin on December 7, 2021

Download eBook

L&E Research is pleased to announce the release of our newest eBook, Getting the Most out of Qualitative Research: 35 Tips for Building a Great Partnership with your Moderator.

If you’re doing qualitative research, then you’re working with a moderator. As much as their skill and experience, the way you work with them – before, during and after your project – will determine your project’s success.

To bring the most useful insights to you, we talked with moderators across the country and gathered their input for this eBook. Their perspectives on how to most effectively work with them will ensure you get the most out of your research dollars.

To get your free copy of the eBook, click the button below.