Iterative Testing

    

     Iterative, or phased simulation has an impressive history when applied to high-risk projects.  From large-scale military maneuvers to delicate surgical procedures, simulation has been used successfully to plan, prepare and carry out operations where the penalty for failure in a real world test was unacceptably high. The key ingredients to effectively applying simulation in any endeavor, including civil litigation, are three-fold:

 

 

•    Understanding problems and opportunites;

•    Adapting (making changes), and;

•    Re-testing after incorporating lessons learned.

 

 

     In the past, legal teams typically used simulations (aka mock trials) as one-shot affairs–-the jury panel or panels deliberated after one presentation of the case and the attorneys based their trial strategy on the outcome of that one testing event.  

 

     This common approach fails to take advantage of the key feature of properly designed simulations—repetition.  

 

     By conducting research in a series, arguments can be refined and reshaped based on the previous research results, then re-tested in front of a different panel(s).  Additionally, research outcomes that may be unrepresentative are minimized, and are therefore not erroneously applied to trial or settlement strategy.  Finally, the trial team receives more specific and complete feedback than is available from a one-time focus group or mock trial.  

 

     Best Evidence has devised a cost-efficient research protocol that takes advantage of the logic of phased simulation, which we then tailor to the individual needs of each client.