Understand customer needs and decision-relevant segments.
Which customers or use cases deserve priority, what are they trying to accomplish, and why do they choose one offer over another? NOMAS studies needs and choice drivers to inform customer and offer priorities within the audience and geography agreed for your decision.
The question, evidence, inputs, audience access and outputs are agreed for each study.
Start with the decision the findings could change.
Customers and use cases
Identify whom you are considering and the jobs or situations the offer serves. The question may concern existing customers, prospective buyers or a defined use case.
The decision
Clarify what you could prioritize differently: a customer group, an unmet need or a feature of the offer. This gives the study a commercial purpose.
Definitions and coverage
Agree what counts as a customer, the relevant category and the geographic boundary. Similar labels may describe different populations.
Available evidence
Review existing research and authorized data, including their definitions, dates and gaps. They help establish what is known and what still needs investigation.
Constraints and access
Agree who can be reached and how, alongside practical constraints. Audience access and evidence quality shape the feasible scope.
A useful segment is supported by evidence and relevant to the decision.
Needs describe what customers are trying to accomplish; choice drivers help explain the trade-offs that matter when they compare offers. Where the evidence supports meaningful differences, those differences may inform decision-relevant segments rather than labels alone.
Suitable interviews, observation, surveys or behavioral evidence are selected according to the agreed scope and feasibility. No single method is assumed for every question.
| Concept | What it describes | How it informs the decision |
|---|---|---|
| Customer segment | A group with evidence-supported differences in needs or choice drivers. | A basis for priorities when the differences matter to the decision. |
| Buying role | A decision-maker, payer or user within a buying decision. | Different roles may have different criteria; they are not automatically separate segments. |
| Use case | The task or situation in which an offer is needed or used. | It clarifies the need and context; one segment may have several use cases. |
Findings that inform customer and offer priorities.
Depending on the agreed scope and supporting evidence, outputs may include:
Needs and choice-driver map
The jobs, needs and trade-offs found in the research, with the evidence supporting them.
Decision-relevant segments
Evidence-supported distinctions and what makes them relevant to your priority decision.
Unresolved questions
Gaps, uncertainties and assumptions that still need validation.
Priority implications
What the findings mean for whom to prioritize and which needs or offer choices to consider next.
NOMAS presents findings alongside supporting evidence and assumptions needing validation. Your team decides how to act on them.
Read the findings within the study’s coverage.
Audience, sample and access are agreed for each study. Findings apply within the coverage the evidence supports; a narrow audience does not establish conclusions about a wider market.
Stated preference does not establish actual purchasing. Where behavioral evidence is available and authorized, its quality and context are considered alongside what customers say.
Two buying roles, one research question.
Ease of use for the user; contract terms for the purchasing decision-maker
Imagine a user who prioritizes ease of use while the purchasing decision-maker prioritizes contract terms. The research question is how each role’s criteria influence the choice of the same offer.
This illustrates buying roles and a research question. It establishes neither customer segments nor their size in a particular market. Those would require evidence appropriate to the agreed audience and decision.