Janani Venkataraman - My Journey from Marketing Research to Design Research

The disciples of Marketing Research and the relatively younger cousin User Research, whilst similar, also have their differences. How might we, as design professionals, better bridge the gap between the two disciples and celebrate the best that both have to offer?

Transcript

1. My Journey from
   Marketing Research
   to
   User Research
   Janani Venkataraman
   Senior Design Researcher, Invoice2go
   

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2. Acknowledgement of country
   I would like to acknowledge the Dharug People, traditional
   custodians of the land where I am joining from today and
   pay my respect to Elders both past, present and future.
   

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3. My Research Journey
   12 yrs ago
   Training &
   foundation in
   Marketing Research
   11 yrs ago
   Quantitative
   researcher (agency &
   client side)
   6 yrs ago
   joined a digital
   product team
   Present day
   Continue to
   specialise in user
   research
   Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
   

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4. My observation as a marketing/user researcher
   As design professions,
   We talk a lot about User Value
   But what about Business Value?
   Business Value goes beyond $ & £ and it matters!
   Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
   

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5. Setting the scene
   Marketing
   Research
   ● Focus:
   Attitudes &
   preferences
   ● Frame of
   reference:
   Big picture
   User
   Research
   ● Focus:
   Behaviour &
   interaction
   ● Frame of
   reference:
   individual
   user
   User
   Value
   ● Benefit /
   outcome for
   the user
   Business
   Value
   ● Benefit /
   outcome for
   the
   organisation
   (e.g. Market
   Share,
   Price)
   Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
   

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6. Typical Product Development lifecycle with User Research
   Discover Define Design Develop Deploy Feedback
   User Research
   ● Deep focus on the individual user & their behaviour
   ● What do users do?
   ● How will they interact with the product?
   ● How can we make the product or service more desirable?
   User
   Value
   Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
   

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7. Despite championing User Value throughout the typical
   product development lifecycle, there isn’t any
   measuring/tracking/reporting of business value.
   User research despite being the
   torchbearer of all things user value,
   tends to leave business value to others
   Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
   Observation - 2
   

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8. Today I want to talk about how marketing research when
   used alongside user research in product lifecycle
   research has helped drive business value conversations
   Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
   My approach
   

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9. How is MR typically used in product development lifecycle?
   Discover Define Design Develop Deploy Feedback
   User Research User
   Value
   Marketing Research
   ● Adhoc use of marketing research depending on the context
   ○ Usage & Attitudes study
   ○ Pricing study
   Business
   Value
   

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10. Marketing Research can be used selectively during
    the entire Product Development lifecycle to bridge
    the gap between user value & business value!
    Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
    My view
    

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11. Product Development lifecycle with Marketing Research
    ● Market sizing
    ● Market trends
    ● Understand
    competition
    ● Define pricing
    ● Test concepts
    ● Product
    satisfaction
    tracking
    ● Brand tracking
    Discover Define Design Develop Deploy Feedback
    User Research
    MR MR
    User
    Value
    Business
    Value
    ● Broad focus on the market
    ● What people say they will do
    ● Whether a product should be brought to market?
    ● Who is the right audience for a product?
    ● How much will people pay?
    Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
    

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12. Organisational context: Technical publisher considering training videos as
    a product value add. Product confident about the user need but needed to
    build a business case to get buy in from senior stakeholders.
    Research approach:
    ● Launched concept testing survey with pricing questions
    ○ Gathered data on proportion of the market struggling with this
    problem i.e. market size and potential
    ○ It also gave size of appeal and price propensity thereby assisting
    in proving business value
    ● This was followed by User Research to deeply understand potential users
    & their use of this product proposition
    My example
    Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
    

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13. Ways to achieve :
    Collaboration, Consultation & Co-learning
    Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
    ● Collaborating with Marketing Researchers in the organisation
    ● Consultation and expert advice from research agencies
    ● Co-learning using pre-designed market research modules
    available on survey platforms
    ● Hiring Marketing Researchers interested in UX into your UXR
    team!
    

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14. My learning
    As design professions,
    We talk a lot about User Value
    Let’s bring Business Value into the discussion
    with the help of Marketing Research!
    Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
    

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15. CREDITS: This presentation template was
    created by Slidesgo, including icons by
    Flaticon, infographics & images by Freepik
    THANK YOU!
    Janani Venkataraman
    Senior Design Researcher, Invoice2go
    linkedin.com/in/jananivenkataraman
    

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16. Marketing Research (MR)
    ● Focus: Understanding attitudes, preferences around
    products/services
    ● Frame of reference: Getting the big picture - market size,
    potential etc.
    ● Address the question of whether there is a need for the product
    in the market, who will buy it, and the best way to reach a
    target audience
    ● MR provides an understanding of viability and market fit
    Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
    

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17. Marketing Research vs User Research
    Marketing Research User Research
    Broad insights Deep insights
    What people say they will do What people do
    Whether a product should be
    brought to market?
    How will users interact with
    the product once it is
    available?
    Who is the right audience
    for a product?
    How can we make the product
    desirable to those
    audiences?
    How much will people pay? Are people open to paying?
    Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
    

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18. How can we use Marketing Research to drive
    Business Value conversations?
    Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
    

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19. Consider MR methods - but watch out for when you
    use it
    ● Use Market research for initial market sizing,
    analysing competition, getting an idea about trends and
    product/service areas that people are interested in,
    and also for identifying approximate price points
    ● From that initial research, user research to dive into
    the focus area we want to understand more deeply
    

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20. Some typical MR methods to consider
    Product Development
    Stage
    Marketing Research Methods
    Discover & Define ● Usage & attitudes study
    Design & Develop ● Pricing study
    ● Concept testing study
    Deploy ● Product satisfaction tracking
    ● Brand tracking
    Janani Venkataraman | Design Research March 2022
    

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