IHUT

Those of you who work in packaged goods and many other consumer household products probably know what an IHUT is. For those of you who do not, it stands for “In Home Use Test”. Basically, respondents are screened for study participation, then given product to use in their home. Afterwards, they complete a product evaluation survey. When I started in this business, it was just called a HUT, but it eventually morphed into an IHUT. I really don’t know why, and would love to hear from any one that knows the history behind the name change.

I mention IHUTs because the latest edition of our quarterly newsletter is all about IHUTs. If you didn’t receive a copy of the newsletter, the link is below:

http://www.cooper-roberts.com/newsletters/Q408_Newsletter.htm

Now I know many of you work in tech fields or primarily B2B products. You may think an IHUT doesn’t apply for you. But that is not completely true. We have used IHUTs to test video games, software, tech toys, computer devices, and small business products. Many of these frequently include an Ethnography component. And come to think about it, when we redirect a respondent to a test version of a web site, would that be considered an IHUT? After all, they are doing a new product evaluation.