How does Product Challenge work?

  1. CPAPtalk.com or a CPAP manufacturer selects a product and proposes to challenge a product within the same category. "The "challenger" product referred to in this document will refer to the product that is sent out to participants to sample. The "challenged" product is the product the participants are currently using.
  2. The company requesting the Product Challenge agrees to the following basic terms and conditions:
    • The rules, regulations, and Product Challenge User Agreement are created and maintained by CPAPtalk.com.
    • Reserve candidates will be chosen for each Product Challenge to be used in cases where participants are either unable to complete the trial or violate the rules of the trial.
    • Participants that violate the Product Challenge User Agreement will have their vote and review excluded from the results.
    • CPAPtalk.com will not share individual Product Challenge participant information with any third party.
    • Product Challenge results and reviews are inviolable.
    • CPAPtalk.com will administer and promote the Product Challenge.
    • CPAPtalk.com will make the results of the Product Challenge publicly known regardless of the outcome.
    • Manufacturers are encouraged to promote their product's success in Product Challenge. Guidelines for using CPAPtalk.com's Product Challenge information in external advertisement will be made available to a winnning manufacturer.
  3. A company requesting a Product Challenge will provide CPAPtalk.com with a set number of complimentary products, usually 55, to be issued to the Product Challenge participants for testing purposes.
  4. CPAPtalk.com will recruit individual participants that are using the challenged product, manage the selection of qualified individual participants and administer all facets of the Product Challenge.
  5. CPAPtalk.com will ship the challenger's product to the chosen participants.
  6. After a predetermined product trial period, CPAPtalk.com will email a survey to each of the chosen participants. The survey will ask for opinions and ratings about each of the products in the Product Challenge.
  7. Once all of the chosen participants have completed the survey, CPAPtalk.com will announce the results of the Product Challenge.

What happens when I enroll in a Product Challenge?
Enrollment does not guarantee an individual will be chosen to participate in the Product Challenge. Once you enroll, your information will be stored in a database of potential candidates. Once the automated vetting and scoring system weighs the data, a set number of participants, usually 55, will be selected to participate in the Product Challenge. The candidates selected to participate in the Product Challenge will be invited through email. CPAPtalk.com judges the automated selection criteria at their sole discretion. The participants that are not selected will also be notified by email.

May I enroll in more than one Product Challenge?
Yes, you may enroll in more than one Product Challenge as long as enrollment is still open and you meet the qualifications of each particular Product Challenge.

How are Product Challenge participants chosen?
Participants are chosen via a proprietary automated vetting and scoring system. This system ensures that all Product Challenge candidates are scored on objective, pre-defined criteria which are not able to be edited or tampered with.

What happens if I enroll in the Product Challenge and am NOT selected to participate?
Not being selected for one Challenge, does not mean you will not be selected for another. You are encouraged to enroll in all future Product Challenges.

What happens if I enroll in the Product Challenge and am selected to participate?
If you are selected to participate in the Product Challenge you will receive an invitation via email. Within two days of that contact you must confirm that you are able to participate in the Product Challenge. Should you fail to confirm within two days, another candidate will be selected in your place. Once you have confirmed your participation in the Product Challenge, CPAPtalk.com will ship the challenger's product to the address you provide. The Product Challenge trial period is typically two weeks to one month, following this period CPAPtalk.com will email you with a link to a survey which you must complete within three days. The last five to submit their reviews will act as reserve candidates. As soon as the surveys are complete, data will be compiled and the results will be announced.

I received an email stating I am a "Product Challenge reserve candidate", what does this mean?
Reserve candidates are needed in the event a participant is unable to complete the trial or is found to have violated Product Challenge policy. Normally 55 candidates are selected to participate in masks and accessory Product Challenges, where machine Product Challenges usually consist of 35 candidates. All participants receive the challenger product and will complete a survey on both products. The last five participants to submit their surveys will be categorized as "reserve candidates" and their feedback will not be included in published results. A reserve candidate's survey will only be incorporated with the published results if it is needed to replace a participant who has violated a Product Challenge policy.

How are the results determined?
All participants are sent a survey at the end of the trial period. In the survey participants are asked to answer the question, "which product will you use most in the future?" The answers to this question are tallied and determine the overall winner.

Each participant will also provide an overall quality rating for the products. Unlike the overall vote, which forces the participant to select one product or the other, overall star ratings indicate relative perceived quality. Although a participant may vote for one product over the other, they still may indicate that it was a difficult decision by awarding both products high star ratings.

Each participant's "out of five stars" rating can be found next to their review online. Individual star ratings are aggregated and displayed for each product in the "Overall Ratings" section below the score on the Product Challenge results page.

The participants are provided a set list of categories to rate each product. The category rankings are not weighted by CPAPtalk.com and do not affect the overall score. The category results provide a deeper insight into the overall vote by pointing to specific strengths and weaknesses of each product.

The last five participants to submit their surveys will be categorized as "reserve candidates" and their feedback will not be included in the published results. A reserve candidate's survey will only be incorporated with the published results if it is needed to replace a participant who has violated a Product Challenge policy. The list of Product Challenge policies and the procedure for replacing a participant's survey are explained in the Product Challenge User Agreement.

Once a Product Challenge study is complete CPAPtalk.com will post the results. There is no alteration, or obstruction, of the data. The results shown will be calculated directly from the individual participant responses.

What does the survey look like that the participants are required to complete?
The questions on the survey may vary depending on the products in each particular Product Challenge. Here is a general screenshot as an example of what the questionnaire looks like. Click here for example.

If selected, may I post my reviews or opinions on the CPAPtalk Message Board ahead of the Product Challenge Results being published?
You are not allowed to post your reviews on the CPAPtalk.com Message Board prior to CPAPtalk.com making the results public. You are requested to refrain from discussing the Product Challenge with anyone until the results are released. While CPAPtalk.com understands and appreciates you may be eager to share your experiences and opinions early on in a trial with other CPAPtalk members, please save that kind of feedback and information for when you take the final CPAPtalk Product Challenge survey at the end of the trial period. One reason for this is because you could unwittingly influence someone else's opinion who is also a selected participant in the Product Challenge. Once the Product Challenge is over and the results are made public, participants are encouraged to discuss openly.

Should I contact the manufacturer if there is a problem or question?
Please do not contact the manufacturer during the Product Challenge. Please contact CPAPtalk.com first if there is an issue for resolution. Interaction with manufacturers could potentially interfere with opinions or scores during the Product Challenge process. If you are in the Product Challenge and need help, please Contact CPAPtalk.com and include detailed information about the issue as well as your name and phone number.

I am a manufacturer of CPAP equipment. How do we initiate a Product Challenge?
Simply contact CPAPtalk.com's Product Development Analyst, Katherine Fulmer to discuss the possibilities of a Product Challenge. Please send an email to katherine.fulmer@cpaptalk.com.

I am a manufacturer. How can I reference Product Challenge in my advertising and marketing efforts?
Manufacturers are encouraged to promote their products success in Product Challenge. For guidelines of how to reference Product Challenge, please contact CPAPtalk.com's Product Development Analyst, Katherine Fulmer. Please send an email to katherine.fulmer@cpaptalk.com.

I am a manufacturer of CPAP equipment; can I get Product Challenge results privately?
The data provided by Product Challenge helps manufacturers determine which product modifications are the most important to users and will have the best impact on sales. The public nature of Product Challenge means the same data is also available to other manufacturers, and therefore private Challenges may be more helpful to you

To make product development and modification more cost effective for your company, Product Advantage was created as a way to privately test your product and those of your competitors in a private and iterative setting. Product Advantage will allow you to test the small changes needed to ensure CPAP users will like, use and recommend your product. The CPAPtalk.com team will review and consolidate those results with great depth and detail.

With Product Advantage you:


CPAPtalk.com can offer guidance throughout the process, and administer the trial. After the trial’s end, user preferences and experiences with your product will be noted. To begin designing your custom trial, contact Katherine Fulmer, CPAPtalk.com's Product Development Analyst. Please send an email to katherine.fulmer@cpaptalk.com

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