JANANI VENKATARAMAN - What’s in a method?

The biggest challenge for me as a marketing researcher transitioning into the world of user research was simply the methods. As a trained quantitative researcher, I faced a lot of skepticism from colleagues/peers who didn't think it would be a straightforward easy transition into the world of user research which is largely qual. Whilst I fully acknowledge the effort and learning required to transition disciplines, I would like to push back at skeptics who feel qual and quant methods are a domain/discipline of its own.

Transcript

1. What’s in a method? Succeeding in Design | UX Australia | April 26, 2022 Janani Venkataraman
2. Today, I want to share my story the story of how I became a product researcher no thanks to methods!
3. Software Engineer In the beginning… University Student Marketing Researcher
4. The story continues… Marketing Researcher (Quantitative) Agency Researcher In-house Marketing Researcher
5. Primary Research Methods Marketing Research • Focus: user attitudes & preferences • Frame of reference: market sizing, market opportunity (big picture!) • Quantitative - numerical or statistical data • Qualitative - semi structured or unstructured data
6. Typical projects • Understanding the usage and attitudes of mobile gamers • Determine ideal price point for a fizzy drink product • Concept testing study to evaluate market appeal for a food & wine event
7. Winds of change… In-house Researcher (Marketing) In-house Researcher (Product) Excited Researcher (Product)
8. Stormy seas… Bored researcher (Product) Sad researcher (Product) Excited researcher (Product)
9. “But you are a marketing researcher and you do quant” - Head of Design / wonderful colleague
10. Transition from Marketing to Product Research • Marketing & Product research silos • Adhoc project based collaboration Product (user) Research • Focus: behaviour & interaction • Frame of reference: individual user Marketing Research • Focus: user attitudes & preferences • Frame of reference: market sizing, market opportunity (big picture!)
11. Product Research The world of Product Research is dominated by qualitative methods. The purpose / use of other methods is either not clear or sparsely considered. Qualitative Methods Quantitative Methods
12. Typical Product Development Process & Product Research Discover Define Design Develop Deploy Feedback Product 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? Qualitative Methods
13. Typical Product Research Methods • Interviews • Moderated / unmoderated usability studies • Card sorting • Usability benchmarking Qualitative Methods
14. Marketing Research in product development process? Discover Define Design Develop Deploy Feedback Product Research Marketing Research • Adhoc use of marketing research depending on the context • Sparsely / rarely used
15. Discover Define Design Develop Deploy Feedback User Research Marketing Research Marketing Research • 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? • How satisfied are people with the product or service? Quantitative Methods Mapping the opportunity using my MR toolkit
16. Typical Product Research Methods + MR Methods • Interviews • Moderated / Unmoderated usability studies • Card sorting • Usability benchmarking Qualitative Methods • Market sizing / trends • Competitive analysis • Pricing study • Concept testing • Product satisfaction tracking Quantitative Methods
17. My approach: • Intercept surveys allowed contextual feedback gathering from relevant users • Quantitative satisfaction tracker launched to gather attitudinal feedback • Follow up in-depth interviews for specific areas of feedback • Triangulation with analytics + data sciences Rising tide… Organisational context: • New website launched - everyone happy! • Analytics showing drop in engagement with key features • Cue frantic music! Qualitative Methods Quantitative Methods
18. Catching the wave… Product researcher (Any / All methods) • Honing my skills in qualitative & quantitative methods • Always remaining open to other approaches and methods
19. Product Research Qualitative Methods Quantitative Methods Any other means necessary • Qual <> Quant • In some instances Qual >=Quant • In other instances Quant >= Qual • Product Research = Qual + Quant + Any other means necessary
20. Afterall, What’s in a method?
21. CREDITS: This presentation template was created by Slidesgo, including icons by Flaticon,and infographics & images by Freepik Thank you! Janani Venkataraman linkedin.com/in/jananivenkataraman