RESEARCH
Uncovering key pain points of target users for a new, art-backed financial lending product
The Context: I worked on this project during my time as a Senior Design Researcher and Strategist for a venture studio. At the time, this venture was an early-stage, B2C, financial lending platform enabling art collectors to unlock the liquidity of their art collection via art-backed loans.
The Problem: The venture needed a reliable method to validate the proposed MVP, specifically product-market fit and target users, before moving forward with development.
The Objective: As Research Lead, I was tasked with validating product-market fit from a desirability standpoint. I was also tasked with defining target users for the MVP.
Outcomes: Over 8 weeks of research, I was able to provide sufficient evidence of product-market fit at scale and developed target user profiles. These insights facilitated the successful MVP build and played a role in expediting the expected GTM time by 10%.
Additionally, I outlined next steps for the team, including design workshops to refine the MVP based on the findings…most notably the finding addressing the key motivators of the target audience for engaging in financial lending.
Product Type
B2C
Company
NAX
Methods
Survey
Concept Testing
Deliverables
Research Report
User Personas
Role
Lead UX Researcher
Timeline
8 weeks; Jan-Feb 2023
Context
The financial lending venture was an idea that lacked sufficient validation to justify the development of an MVP.
The venture team faced an impasse. Timelines necessitated the need to begin product development but the team lacked insights into the product’s desirability and target audience.
I was tasked with assessing product-market fit and, if confirmed, defining the target user for the MVP.
Timeline
The project was completed over an 8-week period.
Aligning with the Team and Study Design 1 week
Identifying Resources and Setting Budget 1 week
Recruiting for Survey 1 week
Conducting Survey and Concierge Testing 2 weeks
Synthesis and Analysis 2 weeks
Sharing Results with Stakeholders 1 week
Research Team
I was the sole researcher on this project.
My Responsibilities:
Developing the research plan
Establishing the timeline and budget
Designing and executing the study
Analyzing and sharing study insights
Recommending next steps based on business goals and target users
Aligning with the Team
I collaborated closely with the business and product teams to identify the essential characteristics of the venture's target user necessary for the business’s success.
The team had a working persona, but it was full of assumptions. I needed to identify any constraints from the team regarding who could not be a user of the product due to business factors.
I aimed to avoid being too prescriptive in excluding potential users from the outset—an approach often seen in early-stage products—while also ensuring we didn’t cast the net too wide.
Collaborating with the team, I identified the following characteristics that a Watercolor user would need to have in order to engage with the product:
Must have an art collection worth greater than or equal to $200k (due to the minimum loan amount the venture could offer at the time)
All other characteristics of a target user were considered assumptions. This meant that these traits would not be used to screen research participants initially. Instead, they would be validated or refined through the research process.
The only existing persona when I joined. We can improve on this.
Determining Methods
After translating the research goals into research questions, I selected a mixed-methods approach that combined a large-scale survey with concept testing.
For early-stage products with numerous assumptions, combining quantitative and qualitative methods often provides both the scale validation needed and granular insights into the product offering.
For this venture, I chose the following methods:
500-Participant Survey
Concept Testing: High-fidelity, in-person testing designed to collect meaningful qualitative feedback for early-stage products with limited existing artifacts.
Example Research Questions:
"What are the key stages in the typical journey of an art collector?"
"Which demographics are most interested in art-backed loans, and what are their primary motivations?"
"Which segments of the art market are most commonly engaged by individuals seeking art-backed loans?"
"Are art collectors with collections valued over $200k interested in art-backed loans within the range that would support the venture's business model?"
Snapshot of survey design in Miro.
Snapshot of material used for concierge testing.
Snapshot of material used for concierge testing.
Screening and Recruitment
I leveraged both third party and non-assisted recruitment approaches.
Given the venture's early stage, we used a single screener:
"Do you currently own an art collection valued at $200,000 USD or more?"
For the survey, I collaborated with the third-party recruiting platform Centiment to source participants.
For the concept testing, recruitment was conducted in real time at the Frieze Art Fair in Los Angeles.
Survey recruitment was done through Centiment.
Concierge testing recruitment was done in real time at the Frieze Art Fair in Los Angeles.
Conducting Research
The research was conducted over 2 weeks, involving a total of 565 participants: 500 for the survey and 65 for the concept testing.
Survey
500 responses gathered over 2 weeks
Each participant was compensated directly via the Centiment platform.
Concept Testing
65 in-person responses gather over 2 days
Each participant was compensated with a Visa giftcard to promote engagement in a public environment
Sample Questions:
"Would you be willing to use your art collection as collateral for a loan?"
"Have you considered taking out a loan within the last year? If so, what was the purpose of that loan?"
Note: As a way to promote more engagement with concept testing, we also distributed business cards across the event so that participants could access the testing via QR code. Their responses were measured as click-through rates…if a participant indicated that they would like more information and provided their email, they were considered an interested potential customer.
Snapshots from Frieze LA
Snapshots from Frieze LA
Business cards were distributed across the event to promote unmoderated research engagement
Synthesis and Analysis
Synthesis and analysis of the survey was done directly on the Centiment platform.
Synthesis and analysis of the concept testing was done using tagging/theming techniques on Dovetail as well as affinity mapping in Miro.
Centiment, in addition to sourcing participants, is also a wonderful data analysis and visualization tool which helped to expedite the analysis portion of the research exponentially.
Each concept testing touchpoint was recorded and the recordings were subsequently uploaded to Dovetail for transcription.
Once transcribed, I was able to tag each interview according to our research objectives and further group according to themes. I also utilized affinity mapping to synthesize the qualitative input from the concept testing.
Outputs and deliverables
The insights generated were encapsulated in a research report shared with the broader team.
These insights were also instrumental in the development of a visual showcasing art collector behavior over time and segmented personas for individuals likely to engage in art-backed lending.
The main deliverable for this project was a research report detailing finding across the survey and concept study. Some of the insights detailed in the report are as follows…
MVP target users currently purchase primarily across the lower art market ($1k-$50k per piece) to the mid art market ($50k-$400k per piece) with a preference for buying from younger, emergent galleries with digital options
Individuals with art collections valued above $200k are generally unaware of art-backed loans as an option and don't view inability to access liquidity in their art as a problem. That being said, these individuals, when made aware of the option for art-backed loans, cited unexpected life events as the main reason the would engage with such loans.
Older millennials strike the ideal balance of willing to engage with and ability to afford a MVP loan
Of collectors with collections worth >$200k exhibiting an interest in art backed loans, 66% were between the ages of 34-45
Visual illustrating persona characteristics of target audience interested in art-backed loans. These insights served as the foundation for segmented personas
Visual illustrating the journey of an art collector over time.
Visual illustrating the desired loan amounts of collectors interested in art-backed loans.
Impact
The team came away with a clear understanding of their target audience and validation of product-market fit where it had not previously existed.
One of the most impactful insights from the research challenged a key assumption about why users would engage with an art-backed loan.
Initially, it was assumed that individuals would primarily seek an art-backed loan to purchase more art. However, the research revealed that this was not a major motivator. Instead, nearly all participants cited significant, unexpected life events as their primary reason for considering such a loan.
This insight had a profound effect on the team’s go-to-market strategy, prompting them to think creatively about reaching potential customers. For instance, they began exploring partnerships with divorce lawyers to market the product more effectively.
The insights from this research also played a role in expediting the expected GTM time by 10%.
Next Steps and Reccomendations
Although I transitioned off the team before this occurred, I encouraged them to conduct a "How Might We…" workshop to brainstorm ways to incorporate these new insights into the product with a solution-oriented focus.
I recommended that the team participate in a design workshop, similar to a "How might we…" session, to digest this new information with a solution-oriented approach.