Qualtrics Product Strategy: Entering the Public Election Technology Market

You are a product manager at Qualtrics. The company is considering whether its survey and experience-management products could expand to also serve as software for public elections. Explain how you would approach this expansion: which part of running an election Qualtrics should serve, whether and how it should enter the market, and how you would judge whether the move worked. ```hint Separate the jobs inside an election "Election software" covers very different work, from informing voters and staffing polling places to casting and counting official ballots. List those jobs, then ask where Qualtrics' strengths actually fit and how the bar for trust differs between them. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "public elections" mean casting and counting official government ballots, or the wider work of running an election, such as voter outreach, poll worker management and measuring the voter experience? - Which countries are in scope, given that election law and the buyers (national election commissions versus local election offices) differ widely between them? - Is the aim new revenue, a stronger position with public-sector customers, or both? - Is Qualtrics open to partnering with or acquiring an existing election-technology vendor rather than building everything itself? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A clear reason for Qualtrics to enter, tied to its strengths in survey design, distribution and analytics and to its public-sector business. - A breakdown of the jobs involved in running an election and of the buyers, with a reasoned choice of where to play. - An honest account of how an election differs from a survey, including ballot secrecy, voter verification, auditability, certification and public trust. - A phased entry plan with build, partner or acquire trade-offs and a go-to-market suited to government buying and election calendars. - Success metrics, guardrails and the main risks, such as security, political neutrality and the reputational cost of a failure. ### Follow-up Questions - An election office asks Qualtrics to let voters cast official ballots online through its survey platform. How do you respond? - Election offices spend heavily before major elections and little in between. How would you keep the business healthy across that cycle? - After the first election cycle, what would you need to see to keep investing?