Home Use Tests (HUT)
Products tested in respondents' real homes — their kitchen, bathroom, living room. Natural conditions, honest feedback.
Quantitative Research
Product Testing in Poland
Real consumers testing your product before it hits the market
What Is Product Testing?
Product testing is a category of consumer research in which real users interact with a physical product — tasting, handling, wearing, or operating it — and provide structured feedback on attributes such as preference, usability, quality perception, and purchase intent. The two core formats are Home Use Tests (HUT), where respondents evaluate the product in their natural environment over days or weeks, and Central Location Tests (CLT), where evaluation happens under standardised laboratory conditions. Fieldstat delivers both formats across Poland, placing your product into the hands of 80–300 profiled consumers and returning preference scores, attribute ratings, and competitive gap analysis — the data you need to launch, reformulate, or kill a concept before it reaches the shelf.
HUT vs. CLT — Which Format Fits Your Question?
Two formats, one goal: the truth about your product. Home Use Tests (HUT) show how your product performs in real life — the respondent’s kitchen, bathroom, or living room. They follow their own habits, not a lab protocol. This reveals issues you cannot spot in controlled conditions: Does the shampoo bottle slip in wet hands? Does the snack go stale after two days? Does the app confuse users on day three? CLT gives you the opposite: pure, comparable data under identical conditions. We recommend HUT for usage experience and satisfaction — CLT for head-to-head product comparisons.
From Food to Electronics — Industries We Cover
Every industry, every product stage. FMCG: new flavours, packaging variants, reformulations. Cosmetics: textures, fragrances, skin feel after 14 days. Electronics: unboxing experience, interface usability, setup difficulty. Automotive: car clinics with 200+ evaluators. Pharma: dosing ease, leaflet readability, child-proof packaging. Whether you are optimising an existing recipe or validating a prototype before investor sign-off, we design the test around your specific decision.
What You Get in the Report
What you receive. A cleaned dataset with preference scores, attribute ratings, open-ended feedback, and statistical significance tests. For HUT: diary-based usage logs and before/after satisfaction curves. For competitive tests: gap analysis showing exactly where your product wins and where it falls short. We also deliver verbatim consumer quotes — ready to use in marketing claims, packaging copy, and investor decks.
The HUT–CLT Trade-Off
The trade-off between HUT and CLT. HUT captures reality but loses control — you cannot verify whether the respondent followed instructions, stored the product correctly, or let someone else try it. CLT controls everything but creates an artificial moment. The best product launches use both: CLT to pick the winner, HUT to validate it in the real world.
Why Fieldstat?
Extended Use (Up to 8 Weeks)
Long-term tests capture what a one-day lab cannot: durability, habit formation, satisfaction decay, repurchase intent.
Cross-Category Experience
Food, cosmetics, electronics, pharma, household chemicals — we know the protocols and pitfalls specific to each category.
Claims-Ready Output
Preference scores, satisfaction data, and consumer quotes formatted for packaging claims, ads, and regulatory submissions.
Benefits
- Real consumers evaluate your product in natural conditions
- Pre-launch problem detection saves production costs
- Head-to-head competitive comparison on identical criteria
- Extended use tests reveal durability and satisfaction over time
- Diary-based usage logs capture daily experience
- Claims-ready preference data for marketing and packaging
- Monadic, sequential monadic, and paired comparison designs
- Prototype testing at any development stage
Applications
New product development & pre-launch validation
Recipe and formulation optimisation (FMCG, cosmetics)
Competitive benchmarking (your product vs. market leaders)
Packaging usability: opening, dosing, storage, disposal
Electronics UX: unboxing, setup, daily interaction
Extended wear & durability tests (cosmetics, textiles)
Instruction manual and leaflet comprehension testing
Car clinics — vehicle design and ergonomics evaluation
Implementation Process
1
Product Brief
You tell us what to test, what decision it supports, and who your target consumer is. We recommend HUT, CLT, or both.
2
Test Design
We build the evaluation protocol: monadic, sequential, or paired comparison. Diary structure for HUT. Rotation plan for CLT.
3
Recruitment & Screening
We recruit category users from our database — screened for product usage, demographics, and (for sensory tests) taste sensitivity.
4
Product Distribution
For HUT: products shipped to homes with usage instructions. For CLT: products prepared in our lab. Cold chain managed where needed.
5
Data Collection
Surveys, diaries, and follow-up interviews capture first impressions, daily usage, and final evaluation.
6
Report & Recommendations
Preference scores, attribute ratings, gap analysis vs. competitors, consumer quotes, and R&D recommendations — delivered within 1 week of fieldwork.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does product testing in Poland cost?
A HUT with 100 respondents costs approximately PLN 20,000–40,000 (recruitment, product shipping, data collection, report). CLT adds venue and logistics costs. Competitive tests with 2–3 products scale proportionally. We provide a detailed quote within 48 hours of receiving your brief.
How long does a product test take?
Short HUT tests run 3–7 days. Standard tests: 1–2 weeks. Extended use tests: 4–8 weeks. CLT fieldwork takes 1–3 days. Total project timeline including preparation and reporting: 4–8 weeks depending on format.
What is the difference between HUT and CLT?
HUT tests your product in the respondent's real environment (home, office) over days or weeks. CLT tests it under controlled lab conditions in a single session. HUT captures natural usage; CLT ensures perfect comparability. The best product launches use both.
Can you test prototypes?
Yes — at any stage from early concepts and 3D-printed mockups to pre-production units. We adapt the test protocol to the prototype's maturity level and your specific research questions.
How many respondents do I need?
For quantitative preference data: 80–100 per product variant (minimum for statistical significance). For qualitative feedback: 20–30 users. For extended use tests: 50–80 respondents with diary logging.
Which industries use product testing most?
FMCG (food, beverages, household chemicals), cosmetics and personal care, consumer electronics, automotive (car clinics), and pharmaceuticals (packaging, dosing, leaflets). Any industry launching physical products benefits from pre-market consumer feedback.
Can you compare my product against competitors?
Yes. We run blind competitive tests where respondents evaluate your product and 1–3 competitor products without knowing the brands. You receive a gap analysis showing exactly where you win and where you need to improve.
What data do I get from a HUT?
Daily usage diaries, first-impression ratings, mid-test and final evaluations, open-ended feedback, satisfaction scores, repurchase intent, and Net Promoter Score. For extended tests: satisfaction curves showing how perception changes over time.
Industry Sources & Standards
External sources and industry organizations related to this research method:
Related Solutions
This method is frequently used in the following research solutions: