The new market research is the old user research

Elyse Sanchez, Thursday, April 12, 2007 @ 9:43 am

The objectives of user and market research (should ideally) differ dramatically, the data combining to create a multifaceted profile of the audience as both customer and end-user of a website or application. User research traditionally begins with a discovery phase, in which existing market research is evaluated in order to determine high-level user groupings. This market research is traditionally quantitative, based on large-scale surveys and supplemented in some cases by focus group data, which is a richer source of information by virtue of providing actual verbatim, which is, in some cases, indirectly relevant to the usability specialist. However, user research is far less concerned with what a person says about a product than what they actually do with it. Thus, behavioral analysis—actual observation of the user, ideally in the authentic environment of use—is the most powerful research tool in designing an optimal user experience. A well-designed study, facilitated by a skilled usability specialist, yields layers of information that would be unavailable from a survey or group conversation.

These techniques of user task analysis and ethnographic studies have been the province of the anthropologist and subsequently adapted within the field of human-computer interaction. However, there have been examples of market researchers who have benefited from adopting the art of observation. An article in Inc.com, “The New Market Research,” offers case studies of marketers who have gained a whole new perspective on their products by engaging in field studies. Peter Shamir, an American expatriate for 25 years, returned to New York to attempt to market a cracker called “Bible Bread.” Long out of touch with his native culture, Shamir needed insight on how Americans actually shop for food. Shamir visited a number of supermarket cracker aisles to observe how consumers actually made their decisions. These insights helped him place his product in appropriate venues and grow his profits substantially.

The article goes on to describe similar success stories of traditional marketers who took to the stores to obtain the behavioral data that would optimize the success of their respective products. The article somewhat ingenuously characterizes behavioral analysis as something of an undisciplined aberration (the article is from 1998):

The shift [away from costly and time-consuming surveys and focus groups] is toward a vastly different breed of innovative—and sometimes outlandish—approaches that seek to unveil the consumer’s hidden thoughts. Today’s methods borrow liberally from anthropology, cognitive psychology, and—through role-playing—even the performing arts. Rather than invite consumers into artificial testing situations, marketers now charge out into the field to observe and examine consumers at work, in stores, and even at home. And then they analyze their observations.

While market and user research will never combine seamlessly into one effort--the goals of each are too dissimilar--it is encouraging to receive validation for a UXD technique that is still perceived by many clients as an unstructured exercise that is not worth the time and effort expended.

Related posts:

1. User Research: Been There, Done That? Maybe Not. . .
2. Ideas for User Research
3. Unanswered Questions of User Research
4. Why User Research Matters
5. User Testing: Shadow Casting Real Use

Comments (0)

User Experience Design

Comments

• Leave a comment
• Comment feed for this post
• TrackBack URL

None so far.

Leave a comment