Clients often request lists from Wonder to help them make decisions on products and services. In many cases, they want us to find the “top” or “best” products, services, people, etc., by researching various characteristics and ranking them according to objective criteria.

Minimum Requirements Per 3-Hour Request

1. Provide a list of 5-7 of the top/best for each 3-hour request.
2. Share how you defined and selected the top with the client in the Research Strategy.
3. For each one identified:
   1. Provide a 1-2 sentence explanation of what qualifies the company, person, etc. as top, supported with a source.
   2. Provide a 2-3 sentence description of the company, person, etc.
4. Provide a minimum of one image per 3-hour request. If possible add an image for each concept discussed.

Identifying Best / Top

• Start by searching for pre-compiled lists from credible and reliable resources or databases that offer metrics/sorting/ranking capabilities to prove measurability.

• If you cannot find these through a general search, use more specific search strings, Boolean and X-ray searches, as well as filters to pull relevant results.

  🧠 Note: Search strings and advanced search methods e.g., X-ray and Boolean search are tools, not strategies. Do not mention these in your research reports. Instead, mention the publishers of the resources, reports, and databases consulted (e.g., International Data Group (IDG)).

• Use consistent metrics to select the top/best items that apply to all items on the list so that the client can make apples-to-apples comparisons. Commonly used metrics include revenue, sales, market cap, number of users, and number of app downloads, among others.

• Include a source for each item on the list to justify its inclusion on the list.

• Do not simply provide several pre-compiled lists. If there are several pre-compiled lists available, include them as sources if they helped in identifying items to go on the list.

• Avoid superficial proxy lists for "top" (e.g., most reviewed on Amazon, top hits on Google).

Findings

• Once the top/best items are found, provide a brief description of each item on the list unless the Research Criteria require something else.
• If the Research Criteria ask for “ranked lists,” make sure to rank the top/best items in your findings.
• Organize your findings using bullets and concise headings/subheadings.

Research Strategy