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Aglaé Lev
1,778 PointsUser Research
Is the UXer responsible for this? It looks more like a Marketing Research kind of thing, I'm guessing the UXer only has to step in when it's a low budget project?
5 Answers
Jeff Jacobson-Swartfager
15,419 PointsLeah Buley provides a really good, concise explanation of the difference between market research and user research in her book The User Experience Team of One:
Design research differs from market research in approach and intent. They are complementary but different. Market research is about identifying what people want, whereas design research is about identifying how best to achieve what people want, i.e., what versus how.
The book is awesome. If you haven't read it, do.
Rebecca Vonada
5,274 PointsBasic user functionality definitely falls on the UXer. Marketing handles certain research (like conversion optimization--what hurdles are preventing people from completing a conversion or how to increase those numbers based on demographics), but you'd be amazed at how often marketing departments neglect basic user experience (like having a home button or the ability to create accounts so users can easily review their orders). It's up to the UXer to maximize functionality overall, which still requires research on how users are interacting with their pages with things like heat maps, recordings and actually talking to your end-users.
Aglaé Lev
1,778 PointsI sure will! Thank you, Jeff!
Aglaé Lev
1,778 PointsI just finished the course :), thanks for your answer, Rebecca. From other courses as well is that I now understand that UX is the global process, if I choose, for example, to dive into Interaction Design, chances are that this information might be in charge of another teammate, but it is still important to know our way around it. Am I getting this right?
Jessica Appeldoorn
3,399 PointsAs a Interaction Designer, user research should also be apart of your design process. If you want to learn more about Interaction Design you should check out About Face:Essentials of Interaction Design. It's a great book for deep diving into the field.