Over the course of a decade – and continuing today – Research Essentials has been an integral partner in the development and success of the adorne line of switches, dimmers and outlets, introduced to market in 2012 and with current annual sales approaching $20 million USD.
We began with in-home ethnographic research, engaging homeowners who were in the midst-of or had recently completed some type of home remodel. We wanted to understand the process and experience to gauge where the white spaces and opportunities were in the home remodel space. From that opportunity exploration came the idea for adorne – a line of modern switches, dimmers and outlets that could fit one-to-one in current electrical boxes.
We moved on to more traditional focus groups to arbitrate between a series of potential designs and, once a promising design was identified, validated that design against current in-market options. After final refinement and product introduction in 2012, we have continued to help Legrand understand the overall sales, installation and on-line purchasing experience. Our work has engaged lighting showroom employees at their workplace, homeowners who installed adorne products around their homes while we recorded and completed interviews and potential customers in focus groups to discuss line extensions.