by Continuing our series of interviews with speakers for the upcoming MRMW Europe 2019 conference, we talked to WeTransfer’s Hélène van den Dries, UX Team Lead and Kaia Crowe, Product Marketing Manager who is asking the provoking question: “Will UX research kill market research?”
Question #1: Without giving too much away – what is the core message of your talk and what would you like delegates to remember?
Kaia: The core message of our talk is to discuss the difference between market and user research. I would like delegates to remember that the consumer is at the centre of both, market and user research, but that each has a separate question they are trying to answer and application of the research. Moreover, I want delegates to remember that good research is always actionable.
Hélène: I want to emphasize how much Marketing research and UX research actually overlap in purpose but have different strengths and nuances. It’s a delicate issue to be able to combine them in the right way and not end up in a marketing vs. UX (or product) stand-off. Join forces and shine.
Question #2: Why did you choose the topic of your talk?
Kaia: The trends in research are moving more towards user research, and I think it’s important to note the significance of well-done market research and the relationship between market and user research.
Hélène: We’ve chosen to do this talk because the overlap between the two crafts is something we bump into every day at work. Growing both the marketing department and the UX department has resulted in a more in-depth understanding of our users and their context. We now want to avoid any duplication of effort, and instead, complement each other. How can both disciplines fuel product development? And how can both disciplines fuel product marketing?
Question #3: What motivates you to join MRMW EUROPE and what are your expectations?
Kaia: Truly understanding the consumer is my passion – why do they do what they do? I’m excited to join MRMW to learn more about the future methodologies of consumer research, and specifically, how qualitative research will evolve in our digital landscape.
Hélène: I’m excited to join MRMW because it will allow me to deep-dive in marketing research and its latest developments and technologies, which is of course closely related to, but not the same as in UX research. I’m excited to learn more from this field of research.
Question #4: There is a lot of talk about the current state of consumer insights – would you sum up the current state of consumer insights in 1-2 sentences?
Kaia: In one word: messy. Great work is being done, but on an industry level, I think we are still figuring out how the right balance of robust quantitative data and meaningful qualitative data.
Hélène: In a good place, but sometimes overdoing it by abstracting too much and missing the mark when it comes to integrating different types and sources of data. We have to keep our sanity and separate the wheat from the chaff, making sure we do actionable research.
Question #5: How must researchers/content creators prepare and innovate for the future?
Kaia: Our lives are getting more and more connected and complicated; it is nearly impossible to escape a device. For a researcher, that is a lot of noise. As we prepare and innovate for an even more connected world, I think it is even more critical to clearly define the research question – to stay focused on what you want to learn. In the end, what we want to know is: why do you do what you do? That doesn’t need to be as complicated as all of our devices and busy lives tell us it is.
Hélène: By using big data (which will get bigger and bigger), propensity modeling and predictive analytics; organizations will be able to move ever closer towards an omnichannel ‘nirvana’. In this scenario, there would be enough information to truly create a ‘segment of one’, meaning that we will get closer to actually understanding why people do what they do on an individual level. Researchers should prepare for that by focusing even more on in-depth data, providing the human and product-agnostic interpretation of these top-level and often product focused datasets.
Join Hélène & Kaia and other speakers from Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal, Formula 1, International Flavors & Fragrances, Signify (Philips Lighting), Intel, Cereal Partners Worldwide (General Mills & Nestlé), Anadolu Efes, Turkcell, Sberbank, Nomad Foods, BBC, Borderless Access and many more at MRMW Europe 2019 to hear about the latest innovations, techniques and tools for market researchers.
