Blog - VIILUP UURINGUD OÜ

Internet, more and more products and services are purchased and information is also searched there more often than before. Therefore, for both business and national organizations, the website is one of the most important or even main ways of communicating with people, and thus also the business card of the organization. When testing web pages, we do not recommend taking standard testing solutions, but (as with other studies) to proceed from what is precisely the need and purpose of your organization. Of course, the testing of websites also has general principles to be included in each study, with which information about the user experience of the page can be more targeted as well as about the logic of the structure of the page, but the most important thing is not to forget your (potential) target groups and what purpose a specific website must fulfill. Typically, we test web pages in one-to-one in-depth interviews or focus groups. In addition, it is possible to test web pages with a so-called glimpse test, but it adds significantly to the price and, for the most part, does not provide any additional information to what a person is saying with the help of a moderator. The deep interview vs. focus group selection is specifically due to the purpose of the study and can be discussed with the person conducting the study. One of the usual options is to test the purchase process that is still being completed or modified on sale of the service through various options. In this case, the entire page does not have to work in real terms, but different variants are shown. Testing of websites to improve the existing page is also increasingly requested, and in a number of cases it is also good to take more testing of the pages of the main/bigger competitors. The latter provides a good opportunity to take over the best practice and to understand what the clients of the competitors are used to. On all the tests on the website, we recommend that both the designer, the marketer, the compiler of the processes and the representative of the sales team come to listen to the tests. 

The purpose of the brand study was to study the awareness and preferences of accountants, CFOs and CEOs regarding business software. The study became conducted as internet and telephone interviews, which is also quite common in the case of a survey of corporate clients.  The most important thing to mention is that the range of business software is very wide for the use of both accounting, sales management, human resources management and other functions. You might even say that due to the possibility of deploying software from other parts of the world, this area is more competitive than many other areas. At the same time, some of the most used and best-known software stand out clearly. These, in turn, are different due to the size of the company and also the area of operation. The study also focused separately on Standard Books, which ranks very high among respondents in terms of both familiarity and usage rates.  The vast majority of participants in the study are so satisfied with their current business software that they would not be willing to exchange it and, compared to 2017, there has even been a reduced willingness to replace other business software with the current one. The exchange of software is influenced by price, ease of use, appropriate functionality as well as helpful customer service. 

Customer satisfaction can be studied from both private customers and corporate clients.  Such feedback surveys have become very popular with private customers, where feedback is requested for the last visit or generally asked for satisfaction with the products purchased, the son, etc. They are often carried out by the companies themselves and also analyse the results themselves. Also asking business customers for feedback is often a (web-) survey carried out by the company's own (marketing) employees. Do you do or order yourself? Both variants are actually appropriate, just some aspects should be thought through: whether there is a skill in form-making and data analysis, how much time your employees have to deal with it alongside other activities, how much is more affordable compared to the cost of their working hours, and to the extent that a sense of greater anonymity would need to be ensured. In addition, one should take into account that if a presentation of the results is made, the critical feedback given from the mouth of one's employee may have a more personal effect than the feedback from outside the house. What method to use? Very much is used to find out satisfaction online research, but of course also in one-on-one conversations by the sales team, chatting at events, etc. It can also be said immediately that the study conducted by the research firm should not, at least for corporate clients, replace conversations with customers directly and asking for feedback. In the case of corporate customers, mostly the best calling is and the sending of an e-mail before that. At the same time, sometimes a much better option is to pick out focus clients and conduct in-depth interviews altogether. It is still possible to use paper forms in sales offices as well. The online survey is of course the most favorable and with less time spent, but may not get enough of the different desired subgroups. What else to keep in mind? The length of the form must be optimal, i.e. as short as possible, but must not exclude any questions that actually need to be answered. In the form survey and in the case of larger samples, the results should be measurable and comparable to previous results. The goal should be clear, and in terms of the bottlenecks that came out of the survey, something should also be done and customers should also be informed about the planned activities - otherwise customers will not bother to respond next time their feedback is not considered.

In September, an online survey of 515 respondents took place among the 16-74-year-old Estonian population. The wish was to find out which digital map applications and for what purposes the satisfaction with the map applications of the Land Office was also investigated.  It turned out that the most well-known and most used digital card application is Google Maps (96% know and 94% use). Waze ranks second most known and used (63% know and 50% use) and third is the Land Board's map applications (44% know and 32% use). Google Maps and Waze are mainly used to find the journey to the destination, and the two are also the most frequently and mainly map applications used from the mobile device. In the case of the Land Office map application, finding out the cadastral boundaries and viewing the appearance of the object seems the main reason. Typically, the Earth Board's map application is used once to several times a year and is predominantly used on a computer.  The respondents who used the Land Office map app were asked about their satisfaction with the map app, where 1 meant not to be satisfied at all and 5 that they were very satisfied.  Overall satisfaction with the Land Office's map services is quite high - an estimate of 4 or 5 (i.e., satisfied) has been given by 69% or the vast majority of users (average rating of 4.0).  In particular, the following aspects are satisfied (4 or 5 rated): data quality (76%), adequate selection of data layers (71%), user-friendliness of the map application (64%), loading speed (63%), ease of finding data (62%) and adequacy of additional functions (58%). The least was able to give estimates of card support and guidebooks (24% could not estimate). 

In the study, both elderly and younger people could be interviewed to choose a senior relative's senior home. Of course, it turned out that the elderly want to age with dignity.  For example, unlike the opinion of younger relatives, there are few elderly people who would like to be in a diverse room. Medical continuous supervision is also more important for younger people than for the elderly themselves. The elderly themselves consider the various activities in and near the house more important, and it is expected that the visit of loved ones and other communication with them would be made easy. In addition to what is named before, the price paid for it is also an important topic for a senior home.  While younger (including especially women) are willing to support their elderly relatives in terms of attitude, either out of ignorance about the prices of senior homes or in the absence of opportunities, these amounts supported are generally not very high. The survey was conducted in the month of May, or before the prices of elderly care homes began to be discussed politically.

Viilup Studies conducted a study among employers on behalf of the Employers' Association to map the problems in working relationships arising from digitalization and to provide the necessary solutions for policy proposals Video prepared as part of the international cooperation project Norway Grants "Facilitated access to work through flexible work". Video: Anre Goldja [video width="1200" height="680" mp4="https://viilup-uuringud.ee/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Tooandjad_Norway_Grants_Liis_Soome2.mp4"][/video]

Viilup Studies conducted an opinion study commissioned by Elron aimed at identifying, in particular, the expectations and experience of road users by train in the combination of train and wheel. The opinion study was conducted during the period 19.12.2021 to 14.01 2022. 1,450 people responded to the survey via the web, and representatives of nearly 30 municipalities were represented in the sample, who have travelled by train and/or bike in the past 5 years. The train and wheel are naturally less combined by those who use the wheel rather for hiking or sports, and for whom the train stations are located far from home or the desired destinations, or that's what they use the wheel only for near-home purposes. At the same time, a third of respondents pointed out as a non-combination reason that taking the wheel train with them is uncomfortable, and a quarter noted that not sure if it could fit the wheel on the train. As a reason for combining the main wheel and train a appropriate traffic network was pointed out, which was answered by a 50% specification that trains run to places or near places where it is necessary to go. 41% combine wheel and train because they consider this mode of movement environmentally friendly. For passengers, when it comes to combining wheel and train, the advantages are also the speed, the convenience of taking your bike with you and the existing bike path to the train station. The train and wheel are significantly more combined by those who use the wheel for daily business operations or to go to work and school. The study revealed that road users look forward to the possibility of buying a bike ticket in advance (slaus 61% expressed it as a wish), and frequent passengers also realize that additional developments in the online environment are necessary to prevent the lack of space on the trains. The study also asked about the introduction of a bike ticket, but the majority of respondents could not say whether the introduction of a bike ticket had affected train traffic. However, it was pointed out that passengers now have more space. Trafficers with wheel wait from the municipality for a network of more suitable and secure bike paths to the railway station and a bike parking lot with closed space and/or video surveillance. In different municipalities, however, expectations are also slightly different - in Tallinn, for example, a secure bike and cycle path is more important than average, and in Narva a bike parking lot with closed video surveillance. On 19 April 2022, the virtual seminar "Trains and Wheels" was held, where the results of the opinion survey were presented to local government representatives and Elron's plans for the future regarding the combination of wheel and train were discussed. The mobility expert from the mobility planning department of the Transport Agency gave a presentation entitled "The train as the backbone of multimodal mobility". Read more from Elron page →

Focus group-interviews are a study conducted using a qualitative method. Focus groups can be conducted both as an eye-to-eye study and as an online study and among both private and corporate clients. The need for a focus group survey selection is based on the desire to understand more thoroughly the behavior, perceptions, and attitudes of clients or potential audiences. The focus group relies on an open-answer conversation plan that goes through a certain number of topics, and respondents are also encouraged to answer "why?" questions for sure, to find out just the different behinds in the answers to the topics. Different visual materials can also be shown in the focus group, and different ways of retrieving deep information from the respondents are also used, incl. for example, many groups, profiling as well as confrontation and others are immersed. techniques. It is also important to form a very good sample when finding participants in the focus group - it is important to get respondents with the most different profile and socio-demographic background possible in view of the purpose of the study. Research companies often use many different recruits and other methodologies to ensure specifics. A good sample also ensures a sufficiently broad scale of different responses and does not receive biased results as can only be obtained in the investigation of similar participants or also of people well versed in the products of the company under investigation. The focus group is more typical for private consumers, but also in use with the business clientele than it is necessary to get the information that comes out just during the discussion and so-called arises as well. brainstorming effect from groups. The advantages of online focus groups are the possibility of finding certain target groups faster and also more appropriate for more complex and delicate topics, for example. It is mostly reasonable to conduct focus groups related to the same products as an eye-to-eye conversation at a common table.

The purpose of the study was to find out the satisfaction and wishes of the partners who supported the Estonian Pavilion who participated in the Dubai EXPO 2020 regarding the arrangement and the pavilion. Slice Studies conducted 6 in-depth interviews and 32 telephone and online interviews with partners. The three-quarters or more of the respondents to the survey were expected to EXPO support the participation of the Estonian state and mainet (84%), find buyers for their products or services (81%), find cooperation partners or dealers (75%). Over half still wanted to be involved (66%) and gain new experience (56%). Less important was finding investments (9%). Part of the partners were rather in a supporting role (9%). The main expectation of the interviewees was to gain attention, renown in the region and useful contacts in the form of customers and dealers. Overall, satisfaction with EXPO was very high, as many as 91% of survey respondents were satisfied with EXPO. Most satisfied with the activities of the management team (satisfied or very satisfied with 97%), preference information and training (97%), The activities of the Estonian Pavilion in general (94%) and the events (91%). Graph 1. Satisfaction of those surveyed with different aspects, responders 32. EXPO participation give those surveyed mainly the opportunity to help support the introduction of Estonia (88%), potential collaborators (69%), useful contacts (66%) and lessons on how to better participate in such trade fairs (66%). In particular, clear and simple communication (75%), pavilion exposition (59%) and an abundance of communication events (53%) were praised. EXPO exceeded the expectations of the interviewees, especially the work and support of the management team for companies. They were very active themselves and therefore the amount of business contacts received was even higher than expected. Much praised the professionalism and communication of the management team and the overall impression of the pavilion. Graph 2. In the opinion of those asked, EXPO was well done in the order, responders 32. The parties surveyed found that hereafter, more communication events could be organized with potential partners (50%) and state participation decision could be made earlier (50%). It is also important to add more attractions (44%) to the exposition and build your own pavilion (38%). Similar proposals were made by those interviewed. Graph 3. EXPO kthe order could do otherwise, responders 32. Most of those surveyed plans to attend the next EXPO, rather 59% participate and certainly 22% of respondents would participate. Rather, 13% would not participate and 6% of respondents would not participate. Among the latter were many who expected to be sought partners on site and contributed to exposure rather than communication. Parts of the interviewed pointed out that entry to the Japanese market is difficult and participation in the EXPO there is more expensive, which is why they would rather not participate or have not yet made a decision about participation. There were few critical opinions. The main recommendation for the future in both interviews and surveys was that an inspirational guiding principle] is found for the pavilion, which well introduces Estonia and makes an attraction there that visitors want to come to see or experience. The interviews further highlighted that the EXPO visitor's attention is easily distracted. Thus the exposition should be inspiring and captivating in five minutes.

Under the order of the Estonian Confederation of Employers, a study on flexible working arrangements was carried out, which also examined the effects of remote work, digitalisation and the health crisis on work organisation. Several respondents pointed out that the current health crisis has had a major impact on the generation or increase of remote jobs and increased the need to accelerate the processes of digitalization of the company. The study consisted of the analysis of secondary sources, a qualitative stage with the participation of human resources managers of larger companies and CEOs of different sizes in the in-depth interviews and focus group. As a final stage, a quantitative study involving 251 HR managers from different fields and involving more companies with a higher number of employees. Since there had been a health crisis for some time at the time of the study, there was quite a bit of talk about its impact on remote work and the needs of flexible working arrangements as well. At the same time, the needs of flexible working arrangements were noticed by many companies in the past and regulatory support is expected to enable more flexible working relationships and to take into account that the basic job of employees is no longer in the office due to the generation of remote jobs. The health crisis itself created both problems and opportunities for employers and contractors. Problems were, for example, in the case of a health crisis, that finding a workforce became more complex, the possibility of working remotely had to be created or increased, the workload in certain areas increased, and in some areas there were problems with deliveries of raw materials or goods, and in others it became difficult to draw up charts. The problems were generally pointed out more by large companies than by companies with a small number of employees. The staff view highlighted in particular the complexity in planning work and rest time and organizing work at home, and the mental health and screen fatigue problems caused by the previously named and general nervous atmosphere, and some lost their jobs or decreased income. . As opportunities created by the health crisis , it was mainly highlighted that the crisis accelerated the process of digitalization of the organization, more attention began to be paid to the mental health of the workers, with remote work the workers gained more personal time, became more independent and more effective. Further mention was made of new ways of educating employees, the possibility of testing telework, and the simplification of communication with customers and collaborators via the web, the increase in the qualification of employees thanks to the development of digital skills.

Phone is interviewed by private individuals as well as representatives of companies. The method most typically used in interviewing companies, due to the low percentage of responses to online interviews among them. Phone-interview selection should be thought through in addition to receiving the desired sample, also that visual materials cannot be shown when interviewing on the phone, and it is necessary to add the correct pronunciation for callers to the words with different pronunciation from the spelling. The latter is customary in pronouncing brand names, and sometimes in the case of product names. In the case of open answers, too, one should take into account that the respondent usually speaks at such a speed of speech that it is not possible to prescribe a long open answer in full. Rather then "other" as an open answer give a chance to respond. The form interview with the company should not be very long - if you want more in-depth information, be sure to prefer in-depth interviews. As a survey of your customer feedback, most of the time you get a very good percentage of reply, but you have to know if contracts/general terms and conditions etc. that is what they allow. With private individuals, telephone interviews are conducted primarily among those who are not found very well on the internet, i.e. above all older people. At the same time, telephone-interviews as a method are certainly more affordable than to conduct eye-to-eye interviews in homes. In the case of opinion studies, there are often samples where a part is obtained online and the other part of the respondents by telephone - they are then mostly representative of the Estonian population or representative of one region/city. In brand research, the telephone survey is less used as pictorial material cannot be shown. It's also good to know that it can be more difficult to get answers from young people who are more likely to be better found online when interviewed on the phone. When considering a telephone-interview, think through whether I can get answers to my questions (e.g. a TV ad clip does not show on the phone) whether it is optimal for the target group of my study to receive it. And you can always seek advice from a research firm in this regard.

In the last couple of years, there have naturally been far fewer eye-to-eye studies. This means that fewer so quantitative surveys have been conducted in malls (e.g. taste tests, exit-studies), on the street and in people's homes, but additionally also qualitative (focus groups, in-depth interviews) studies have moved more online. In the past, it was very typical especially for a business client's in-depth interview that one met face-to-face. Focus groups were carried out sitting at the common table. But now chatting in groups as well as with one person using internet video apps. Phone-interviews also replace some appointments. However, for online self-fulfilling questionnaires, it is difficult to assess, since their popularity was already in advance in the growth trend due to the value for money and the speed of data collection. For cons there is, of course, the complexity of delivering a physical product to people when evaluating products, and also in focus groups the group sense is lower. It can also be observed, unfortunately, that more are, for example, more impersonal in refusing telephone-interviews or eye-to-eye studies, probably caused by a general nervous atmosphere. At the same time, there have unexpectedly been many pros just in the focus group and in-depth interview studies. For example, it is much easier to get younger people to participate and also get them to chat more openly. It seems that the younger ones (i.e. both 15-years-old and up to 30 years-old) feel comfortable in the internet environment. Periods of such studies have also rather been shortened, since groups can mostly get together more simply, a better sense of anonymity and the flexibility of the possibility of entering a conversation from "every location" also provides a better opportunity for in-depth interviews of business clients. For very delicate topics (health, addiction or vmt) have also received a sample with a wider profile in online interviews, i.e. also those who otherwise do not want to talk are willing to participate over the internet. Unlike telephone-interviews, it is possible to show various video materials, images, texts of sales offers, etc. online. Or if there is a point in examining their attitudes, desires or behaviors from their clients or potential clients, then it is not worth being afraid to have focus groups or in-depth interviews conducted online.