Written by DROPS.ST.
Start with the business question you need to answer and choose the smallest appropriate evidence set. Do not create a customer or prospect profile merely because someone commented on an idea or visited a page. First decide whether the proposed shop service addresses a real task.
DROPS gives a cannabis-shop team coherent product, unit, package and order context for a demonstration. Use fictional selections to test whether the journey explains the task before planning another collection of personal information.
Write a question that could change the decision
Identify what you are uncertain about: the package explanation, the ordering task or the support a prospective audience needs. State what evidence would help you retain, revise or stop the idea.
A preference for the concept is not evidence of a qualified order. A few comments do not establish demand, search volume or permission to serve a new market.
GOV.UK’s user-needs guidance distinguishes assumptions from evidence and focuses on what people are trying to accomplish. Use that research principle without adopting government-service rules or promising commercial results. User-needs guidance.
Keep an audience-learning record
This original record is a planning aid, not a native DROPS audience-testing tool.
| Entry | What to establish | Review decision |
|---|---|---|
| Hypothesis | Specific need the idea is intended to meet | Avoid an undefined “new audience” claim |
| Evidence needed | Observation that could change the idea | Separate task evidence from enthusiasm |
| Method and scope | Approved way to investigate the question | Do not collect profiles by default |
| Necessary information | Minimum data serving the research purpose | Exclude unrelated personal background |
| Limits | Sample, context and unresolved qualifications | Do not label the result proven demand |
| Outcome and owner | Retain, revise, stop or run a justified next test | Name the next decision-maker |
Set the outcome options before interpreting the evidence. Otherwise, every answer can become a reason to keep the campaign idea.
Review available evidence before collecting more
Look at appropriate existing business evidence and its permitted purpose. A useful question may be answerable by checking the current product explanation or a fictional journey without asking anyone for extra personal details.
If real research is needed, define its approved method, participant/contact handling and retention before collecting. OPC guidance recommends information needed for an identified purpose. OPC limiting-collection guidance.
Aggregate-looking notes can still identify people through context. Do not assume anonymity or reuse contact information for promotion because it was supplied for research.
Hypothetical example: interest hides a task gap
An owner proposes a different package presentation for a prospective audience. A fictional case asks a reviewer to identify the quantity and next ordering step.
The reviewer likes the concept but cannot explain what one package contains. The recorded finding concerns the unit explanation. It does not prove the audience will buy, and creating a profile for the reviewer would not fix the missing information.
The owner revises the presentation and plans the next appropriate check. This hypothetical case illustrates a decision, not participant research or a measured market response.
Keep research and operating accounts distinct
A research note, an enquiry and an actual customer order serve different purposes. Check the actual collection paths before assuming a visitor remains anonymous or that a tool never creates an identified record.
Do not intentionally turn every research contact into a promotional audience. If the business later needs an account or contact process, justify it separately under the applicable requirements.
The information-flow guide helps identify confirmed collection points. The profile-field retirement guide helps review extra collection after a pilot.
Finish with a bounded next step
Record what the evidence establishes and what it leaves open. A revision, a narrower question or a decision not to proceed can all be useful results.
Any actual market expansion, regulated product/channel use or promotional contact needs its own approval and current review. A demonstration of software does not establish that permission.
DROPS gives the team a concrete shop journey to inspect. Pair that context with a clear hypothesis and purposeful evidence so audience learning supports a decision without automatically expanding the customer database.
Explore DROPS.ST and the shop demos. Bring one fictional audience task, identify the evidence it needs and decide what must be learned before planning real collection or contact.