Curio Research Quarterly Vol. 26
It’s autumn, and we all know what that means - don’t rake your leaves! Fallen leaves are winter hibernation environments for all kinds of pollinators. While I won’t be able to convince the other families in my building to leave the leaves alone, I will be able to take the leaves from the lawn and stuff them around the plant beds to provide that crucial bug habitat and insulate our plants against the winter cold.
So what has Curio Research been up to over the summer? Lots! Let’s dig in.
Business
Work
I’m still working with Suzy to run interviews on a multi-round project for an online retailer to learn about how their customers shop for specific occasions and holidays and suggest ways they can help. It’s been really interesting to build our knowledge over time and become trusted resources to the client. Our next round is in December and there is the possibility of extending the project into next year.
Right now I’m working for Kalamuna to conduct a usability test on the account management experience of a regional road toll system and after that I’ll probably be working with SixZero to concept test a set of clickable prototypes for a business and employee management system for tradespeople.
Do you think you might need me for an upcoming project of your own? Reach out and let’s make it work.
Leadership
My time as QRCA president has come to a close and I am absolutely confident that I have left the board in good hands. That was three years on the QRCA board and eleven years on the Better Environmentally Sound Transportation board. Making 14 years of serving on nonprofit boards. I think it’s time to give myself a break. I still have to bring the QRCA’s new website across the line, but that will be far less intense.
Conferences
I went to the Vancouver Climate Day conference in September. A few things stood out to me:
Vancouver and Simon Fraser University are attempting to brand themselves as the “Silicon Valley of Hydrogen.” That’s cool, but then the presenter casually dropped the projection that only 15% of hydrogen energy will be green by 2050. That was disappointing. Maybe I don’t know all the details, but I didn’t see a reason for a room full of environmentalists to get excited about the technology after that.
After having a small group discussion with a construction engineer and a building maintenance engineer, I have some understanding of the systemic issues when it comes to green building construction. The construction engineer was frustrated that environmentally innovative approaches never see the light of day because the people awarding the contracts are only interested in the immediate construction costs and whether the engineers will meet and maintain industry standards. The lifetime savings or impact of a green building is not accounted for. The maintenance engineer was fed up with clients failing to appreciate what sustainable improvements can do. He saved a hospital 80% on their heating and cooling costs by switching them to a heat pump system and no one seemed to care.
While we can’t do much about the first insight, the second insight tells me how much room there is to grow in the B2B space. B2B research could help both of these engineers understand how best to communicate and promote more sustainable infrastructure practices. There is a massive opportunity to bridge the awareness gap and drive demand, and market research can help.
Next up is the QRCA annual conference in Philly in February 2025. I already have my ticket. Don’t miss out on getting yours.
Business and Sustainability
Okay, so I covered this a bit with “Conferences,” but let's keep going. The high end skincare brand, Khiel’s, is getting into the sustainability game by committing to eliminating 100% of the single use plastics from their product lines. They’re taking a good first step by selling refill bags (made of plastic) to refill their popular Ultra Facial Cream containers (made of 61% more plastic). They even made a clever stop motion animated commercial to promote the program. I’m looking forward to people eventually being able to bring their containers into the store for manual refills or a container exchange system. There’s always room for improvement when it comes to sustainability and the bar will continue to be pushed ever higher.
What do you think your customers expect from you on the sustainability front? I can help you find out.
Personal
Travel
I stayed home most of the summer to focus on work, but I knocked the dust off my traveling shoes to go to Seattle for Labor Day weekend and to see a Sturgill Simpson concert at the Gorge Amphitheater in rural Washington state. In Seattle we stayed with friends and took the time to hit a few breweries, check out the new waterfront area, walk around Green Lake, and eat some pretty spectacular Filipino fried chicken.
The trip to the Gorge was a treat. My husband and I took the day off of work to drive the 5-6 hours to Washington desert country to see Sturgill Simpson play a marathon 3 hour show. I’ve been a long time fan and my husband was just being a good partner by being my +1. The Gorge is a stunning venue and I had a great time, but it was hard to get to and hella expensive. I enjoyed myself.I wouldn’t do it again for just any band, but Simpson is special in my book.
Media
It wouldn’t be a Curio Research newsletter if I didn’t recommend a few movie and TV shows:
Lady in the Lake - Natalie Portman plays a put upon Jewish housewife in segregated 1960’s Baltimore who throws it all away to live on her own and pursue a career in journalism. She chases a story about the mysterious killing of a local Black woman and ends up becoming entwined in the narrative. It was a slow burn at first, but I found myself watching the last few episodes in quick succession to find out what happens.
Kaos - A star studded cast, including Jeff Goldblum as Zeus, retells the myth of Orpherus in a modern setting. It was very fun for me because I loved studying Greek mythology as a kid and I recognized many of the storylines. This first season didn’t end cleanly, so I certainly hope Netflix renews it for another season.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga - This flopped at the box office, but I loved it. It’s like listening to a new album by your favorite musician - more of the same, but you love the same. The car chase sequences were insane, per usual. That alone made it worth the cost of a rental.
For something a little different, you may or may not know that I am an interior design enthusiast, so YouTube often puts videos by interior design influencers in my feed. Recently I started watching Noah Daniel’s channel and I am hooked. He’s a young American interior designer living in Copenhagen with very thoughtful design opinions. I love what he has to say about design, I learn so much with every video, and he presents with such a calming tone. It’s like ASMR meets [insert your favorite HGTV show] and I am enthralled. Such a nice way to wind down at the end of the day.
Giving Back
I did more work with the Stanley Park Ecology Society and removed Himalayan blackberry bushes and ivy in the park. I used shears to remove the blackberry shoots but I still got decently scraped up. Looking at the massive pile we made of cuttings, worth it.
I also made a donation to RAVEN Trust as part of my 1% for the Planet obligations. RAVEN financially supports indigenous peoples in their legal battles to assert sovereignty over their ancestral lands, usually in the form of lawsuits to prevent pipelines from being laid and pollution from oil and gas companies.
That’s all for this quarter. Don’t forget to put your rake away and let the bugs keep their winter homes. Do good things and make good choices.
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