I think the dichotomy between branding and product might sometimes be false if you look at it from a user perspective. See the studies where preference of wine has more to do with label and price than product, or where the presence of a brand on medication determines effectiveness. From a user perspective, brand is often indistinguishable from product. In that way, research on motivations and problems is both a branding and a product endeavour, and has convergent aims, not conflicting ones. I think it would be beneficial for a company to see generative research as one and the same, for both product and marketing innovation.
Thanks for this! I've been a market researcher for years now and it's just recently that I stumbled upon the field of UX Research, which i find fascinating. Do you think there's merit in specializing in both MR and UXR?
Hi Dave these are so useful! I have a question. What are the main differences between understanding users via persona development and the Jobs to be Done framework and what are the best use cases for each? Many thanks
Hi, thank you for information. I want to ask something. I am a ux/ui designer and I am currently doing my master’s degree on marketing. I am planning to do my thesis about this subject (ux research v marketing research) Is this a good idea?
UX is a subset of marketing. Marketing is much more than tactical marketing. Strategic marketing, amongst other things also deal with innovation/customer need.
Here's an interesting project. Look at companies where UX is a subset of marketing and compare them with companies where it's not. Then look to see which companies are most successful (market cap, brand value, whatever).
The first true instances of market research came about in the 1920s when a man by the name of Daniel Starch developed a theory that advertising had to be seen, read, believed, remembered, and most importantly, acted upon, in order to be considered effective. Over the period Market Research has been institutionalized, thus succumbed into limited Research Methodology, primarily talk aloud surveys, opinionated focus groups assuming sitting behind the desk and quantitative statistical data analysis that was not adequately fulfilling the research need of a corporation to meet the market's need with user accepted salable propositions, that is when Don Norman came up with the term User Experience in 1993 with the intent to revisit research in the new light for propelling & scaling the ongoing Digital Transformation paradigm shift. User Experience put users at the centre of all kind of activities. UX calibrated the compass from objectified market strategies to being empathetic and compassionate towards the alive Users behavior. Unfortunately, in many corporations User Research is treated like Market Research. One of the example is card sorting exercises by Design Thinking Focus Group activity sitting behind the desk that is basically institutionalized Market Research renamed as institutionalized User Research. The interesting discussion about Market Research vs User Research is an important topic for UX Advocacy, UX Budgeting and stretch beyond the shadow of Marketing Department in Companies.
Great thoughts, but if a market researcher is doing their job correctly they are basing their research around user needs. No doubt a large part of the marketing discipline does take a product focussed approach and can tend to gloss over issues raised in research, but good researchers are focusing on user needs. Think the entire insights industry (UX and Market Research both) do both our disciplines a disservice by splitting hairs on market research only does this and UX research only does this. There is substantial overlap between the two disciplines and companies would benefit by aligning the functions.
If you still believe that it's an Us Vs. Them situation you've already lost. All of these things are so intertwined now. If you are a 'UX' designer that works on an e-com site for example, you literally are doing marketing, you're just reluctant to accept that. If you bother to work within marketing to understand what they're doing, it wont take long before you realise the overlap in approach and method is 80%, the only real difference is the intended outcome, and the measurement put in place to determine value Vs. effort
I think the dichotomy between branding and product might sometimes be false if you look at it from a user perspective. See the studies where preference of wine has more to do with label and price than product, or where the presence of a brand on medication determines effectiveness. From a user perspective, brand is often indistinguishable from product. In that way, research on motivations and problems is both a branding and a product endeavour, and has convergent aims, not conflicting ones. I think it would be beneficial for a company to see generative research as one and the same, for both product and marketing innovation.
That's a really insightful comment and certainly gets a thumbs up from me.
Dynamite!!!!! Thanks for providing these insights, David!
Thanks Darren, that means a lot coming from you.
Thank you this was very helpful! I've been a user Researcher for a few years and was just curious
You're welcome.
Thanks for this! I've been a market researcher for years now and it's just recently that I stumbled upon the field of UX Research, which i find fascinating. Do you think there's merit in specializing in both MR and UXR?
One problem is that the two disciplines can have conflicting aims. So personally I would choose one (and that would be user research).
Hi Dave these are so useful! I have a question. What are the main differences between understanding users via persona development and the Jobs to be Done framework and what are the best use cases for each? Many thanks
Thanks Beverly. Added to my list!
Great Video! Thanks
You're welcome.
these are always good Dave.
Thanks!
Hi, thank you for information. I want to ask something. I am a ux/ui designer and I am currently doing my master’s degree on marketing. I am planning to do my thesis about this subject (ux research v marketing research) Is this a good idea?
I think this would be an excellent topic for a masters thesis.
UX is a subset of marketing. Marketing is much more than tactical marketing. Strategic marketing, amongst other things also deal with innovation/customer need.
Here's an interesting project. Look at companies where UX is a subset of marketing and compare them with companies where it's not. Then look to see which companies are most successful (market cap, brand value, whatever).
The first true instances of market research came about in the 1920s when a man by the name of Daniel Starch developed a theory that advertising had to be seen, read, believed, remembered, and most importantly, acted upon, in order to be considered effective. Over the period Market Research has been institutionalized, thus succumbed into limited Research Methodology, primarily talk aloud surveys, opinionated focus groups assuming sitting behind the desk and quantitative statistical data analysis that was not adequately fulfilling the research need of a corporation to meet the market's need with user accepted salable propositions, that is when Don Norman came up with the term User Experience in 1993 with the intent to revisit research in the new light for propelling & scaling the ongoing Digital Transformation paradigm shift. User Experience put users at the centre of all kind of activities. UX calibrated the compass from objectified market strategies to being empathetic and compassionate towards the alive Users behavior. Unfortunately, in many corporations User Research is treated like Market Research. One of the example is card sorting exercises by Design Thinking Focus Group activity sitting behind the desk that is basically institutionalized Market Research renamed as institutionalized User Research. The interesting discussion about Market Research vs User Research is an important topic for UX Advocacy, UX Budgeting and stretch beyond the shadow of Marketing Department in Companies.
Thank you for your contribution.
Great thoughts, but if a market researcher is doing their job correctly they are basing their research around user needs. No doubt a large part of the marketing discipline does take a product focussed approach and can tend to gloss over issues raised in research, but good researchers are focusing on user needs. Think the entire insights industry (UX and Market Research both) do both our disciplines a disservice by splitting hairs on market research only does this and UX research only does this. There is substantial overlap between the two disciplines and companies would benefit by aligning the functions.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment.
If you still believe that it's an Us Vs. Them situation you've already lost. All of these things are so intertwined now. If you are a 'UX' designer that works on an e-com site for example, you literally are doing marketing, you're just reluctant to accept that.
If you bother to work within marketing to understand what they're doing, it wont take long before you realise the overlap in approach and method is 80%, the only real difference is the intended outcome, and the measurement put in place to determine value Vs. effort
Thanks for your contribution Andy.
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