Read the Lecture on the Lextant Corporation below. You may also wish to visit the following: http://www.lextant.com/what/ 1. At what stage(s) of the new product development process might a company such as Lextant provide value to a marketer? 2. How might Lextant be particularly helpful in working with service providers? 3. How might Lextant help a company develop line extensions? New products? 4. How can research, such as that conducted by Lextant, ultimately be used to facilitate consumers'' adoption of new products? Lextant Corporation Lextant is a Columbus, Ohio, based marketing research firm specializing in the relationship of consumer behavior to design usability. They help companies identify new product ideas, as well as develop product designs and prototypes in both consumer and business markets. One of the things the company does is to observe consumers at the point of actual product usage to gain a better understanding of the product from the consumer’s point of view. Lextant’s employees include behavioral scientists and those with backgrounds in cognitive psychology, anthropology, industrial and systems engineering, and other disciplines. They focus on not only products, but also on understanding people and their emotions. In this manner, they generate insights into how existing products can be improved. The observation method can also be used to generate ideas for new products. Consumers can get so accustomed to dealing with products they become unable to verbalize needed improvements. After observing and interviewing respondents, the researchers go back to the company with massive amounts of notes and ideas. They use Post-its on bulletin boards, personas of the people they have seen, and pictures in an attempt to find meaning in the data. They look for things like consumers’ goals in using the product, attitudes towards existing products, and factors that inhibit product use. Their research techniques are highlighted as they conduct research on surgeons in China who use surgical tools in vascular surgeries.