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