What 10 Weeks at Bixa Taught Maxwell Dapaah About Thinking Like a Researcher
When your intern logs into a client meeting at 3 a.m. from Thailand, you learn pretty quickly that he’s committed.
That was how Max Dapaah Jr. began his summer with us at Bixa. And over the next 10 weeks, that same level of engagement showed up again and again.
During his internship at Bixa, Max got exposure to nearly every part of the market research process. He dug into a survey of more than 1,000 respondents for a fintech client, analyzed differences across customer groups, learned to tag qualitative interviews for a real estate development client, helped build client presentations, and—most importantly—got to see what happens when a client starts asking questions about what the research actually means for their business.
One of the things I watched Max get better and better at over the summer was moving beyond finding what was interesting in the data to figuring out what was important. With a large dataset, you can find dozens of patterns. A good researcher has to decide which ones matter, why they matter, and what a client should actually do with them.
I also loved how seriously Max took the opportunity to learn. He asked questions, wanted to understand the thinking behind our decisions, and was genuinely interested in becoming better at the work—not just completing the assignment in front of him.
His reflection on the summer captures that evolution beautifully, along with some pretty great advice for whoever joins us next.
Max, we loved having you as part of Bixa this summer. You accomplished an incredible amount in 10 weeks, and I’m excited to see where you take everything you learned.
Here’s Max, in his own words…
Guest post by Maxwell Dapaah Jr., University of Virginia - McIntire School of Commerce, Commerce Major, Minor in Economics
From Data to Decisions: What I Learned During My Summer at Bixa
It’s hard to believe that my Bixa internship is already coming to an end. It seems like just yesterday that I was joining client meetings at 3 a.m. from my desk in Thailand, and now I am having to say goodbye to some of the most intelligent and amazing people I have had the privilege of getting to know over this past summer. Nevertheless, I would like to recap the countless lessons I learned through my time at Bixa, my favorite moments and projects, and my future advice for interns as I sign off.
Throughout the summer, I had the privilege of working on many different projects, ranging from analyzing the customer base for new proposed H.G. Fenton developments, a company managing multiple apartment complexes, to constructing surveys for Vention, an AI-powered software development company.
Ultimately, my favorite project was analyzing the customer base for Acorns Early, a banking and savings app for children, because I was able to work on it from initial data analysis all the way through to the final client presentation. Firstly, we collected data from a survey of over 1,000 participants in Acorns Early’s target customer base, which varied across age, location, income, and gender, and to understand their preferences for a children's savings app, looking at what was important to them and how they perceived the Acorns Early brand. After reviewing the data, we analyzed trends in preferences across demographic subgroups, including age, region, and income level. For the client presentation, we summarized the key findings from each dataset and created charts to illustrate how preferences varied among these groups.
I learned a couple of things from this process. The first is that, when conducting analysis, prioritization and critical thinking are of utmost importance for determining which trends have the greatest impact on the company's brand, strategy, and customer acquisition model. With such a big data set, there are so many different trends and patterns, so analyzing all of them would be unrealistic. I learned that it is important to use judgement and ask yourself: Which of these trends have the biggest impact on customer acquisition? Or which of these trends contribute the most to customer churn? These are the trends that should be further analyzed in the presentation and presented as the main headlines to the client. Secondly, I learned how important it is to tailor your analysis to a specific recommendation and not analyze data without direction. How important this skill is was made clear to me at the end of our presentation to Acorns Early, when the client told us, “Looking at this analysis, if you had 10 minutes to present to the VP of marketing, what specifically would you recommend?” Through this experience, I learned that analyzing data involves more than identifying the main takeaway. Each data point and chart should explain its business implications and lead to a clear recommendation that informs a company’s marketing, strategy, or branding decisions.
Moreover, I also had the privilege of honing my qualitative analysis skills by analyzing interviews for current and prospective renters for a specific property developed by our client H.G. Fenton. This project allowed us to go beyond data points and hear firsthand about customers' likes and dislikes so the client would know what to fix in the current property and what to build for future properties. This experience added a new layer to the research perspective, as hearing a person’s voice carried much more weight than seeing a number in a cell and provided a deeper understanding of customer preferences. After analyzing the interviews, we were able to code the interviews using a platform called dscout and assign the statements about a variety of different topics ranging from the apartment amenities and pricing considerations, allowing us to see the customer preference trends across each of these topics and create interview clips and summaries to present to the client. Through this process, I learned two things. Firstly, asking the right questions is the first step to getting the insights needed to make recommendations that make an actual impact. The questions asked were not broad or surface-level; rather, they were targeted to each aspect of the property, detailing the location, pricing, and overall amenities. Each aspect had a specific set of open-ended questions, allowing the customer to easily deliver their opinions and recommendations concerning the apartment. From this experience, I learned how to strike a balance between asking open-ended questions that allow the respondent to delve deeper into their opinion, while making the question specific and targeted enough to generate an actionable insight. Overall, I learned that to deliver the best recommendations and strategies to your client, you must ask the right questions to get the data and insights needed to create targeted and substantial change.
Lastly, if I could leave any future interns with advice, I would tell them to be intellectually curious and always ask questions. You will only get as much out of the experience as you put into it, so fully engage in every interview, meeting, and client presentation. Remaining attentive and eager to learn is the only way you can make the most of the countless lessons Bixa has to offer. Furthermore, don’t ever hesitate to ask a question. The people at Bixa are some of the nicest and most understanding people I have ever worked with, and they are always there to help you on any assignment or project. So when you are stuck on how to format a slide, how to code an interview, or even just general advice on how to go about an assignment, don’t hesitate to ask a member of the Bixa team. It will make your experience so much easier, and you will learn so much more.
In all, I would just like to thank the Bixa team for having me this summer. I have learned so much about how to conduct professional-grade research and analysis, deliver strategies and insights to clients, and what it means to work in a team. You guys have truly made this experience unforgettable and have taught me more than you will ever know. Thank you for everything.
Considering working with Bixa for your next market research project?
At Bixa, we believe the value of research isn’t in how much data you collect — it’s in the clarity you get from it. We combine human-moderated qualitative research with rigorous quantitative methods to uncover not just what people think and do, but why. Then we do the part Helena describes so well: we translate all of that complexity into clear insights and recommendations your team can actually use. We’ve partnered with companies ranging from startups to global brands, from Google to GOLFZON and U.S. Army to Cvent, to help them make high-impact decisions with greater confidence.
If you’re navigating an important decision and want to pressure-test it with real humans, book a call with one of our senior researchers:
