Stories
How Outset Interviewed 25 Remote NZ Shepherds in Days
Mar 19, 2025
By
Erik Kaier & Robert Hess
How Outset Interviewed 25 Remote NZ Shepherds in Days
The Challenge:
In May, Chock LLC, an innovation consulting agency, was hired to validate an ambitious value proposition: an operating system that equips farmers to create sustainable farming practices one field and flock at a time.
A progressive group of industry leaders from New Zealand's meat and fiber sector wanted to accelerate sustainable farming practices and create a link to global markets that captured premium pricing for doing so.
Chock faced an aggressive timeline: four months to connect with farmers and industry leaders across New Zealand's Sheep and Beef sector to develop, test, iterate, and validate the value proposition. Their focus group included 25 progressive farmers from across the North and South Islands. Given farmers' hectic and unpredictable schedules, visiting all these farms for in-depth research was impossible within their timeframe.
The Process:
Enter Outset, the trailblazing AI-powered research tool. Within the four month window they tested and refined the offering to develop Atamai—a farmer-controlled repository for farm data with detailed personas, user flows, and feature sets. Atamai gives farmers full control over their data, simplifies compliance, improves sustainability performance, and increases farm value.
Outset proved invaluable throughout this process. Farmers could complete interviews at times that suited them. Many were impressed by the capabilities, with some participants engaging for hours and providing deep insights we could build upon.
The Result:
Through this project, Outset validated a unique functionality of AI moderated research: conducting research studies on hard to reach populations with varying schedules. Large studies of demographic populations which are rural or remote, nomadic, and/or have non-traditional schedules are now not only possible, but easy. This opens up doors to new markets and segments that traditional interviews still can’t open.
But don’t just take it from us. Take it from Erik, principle at Chock, himself:
“As someone who pioneered video ethnography at Doblin in the 1990s, conducted the first inflight observational video studies in 1996, and spent countless hours in businesses and homes understanding unmet needs in context, I recognize something special in Outset. It doesn't cut corners in identifying deep insights—it provides a platform that delivers both depth and scale. I'm excited to continue developing Atamai over the coming years and look forward to our ongoing partnership with Outset.”
