8 Morphing Methods as Market Research Shifts to UX Research
Market research isn’t dead. It just keeps moving around and re-inventing itself as organizational needs for primary research change. Some of it has moved to operations groups, and now focuses exclusively on Customer Experience (CX). Some of it has moved to User Experience (UX) groups, as we have noted in a few recent articles (6 How-To Books for UX Research and Fix Your Jargon-Filled Survey with Ordinary Words Real People Use).
How do researchers in UX groups conceptualize research? This table is instructive because it lays out eight specific kinds of research we usually categorize into two broad areas: qualitative and quantitative. Several of the methods can be either qual or quant, or even both.
The authors of this graphic make an important point: Nearly all research benefits from using multiple methods. Each has unique strengths will that yield unique insights. Bringing those insights together gives you a much stronger picture of what you are trying to understand.
Of course there is so much more to be said about each of these methods, including their strengths, weaknesses, misconceptions, when to use, and so on. But for sure, this is a useful reference guide and excellent reminder of the many techniques you can use as you lay out a research plan.
And thank you to the team (user researchers who use ordinary words real people use!) that designed and published this table (John Hu, Donna Tedesco, Kathleen Stanko, Alex McEvoy, and Kevin Smith) for not using the word “methodologies”! Why use that ugly word when the much simpler word “methods” will work?
—Joe Hopper, Ph.D.