From market research to UX research
I found UX research by accident. After spending 5 years working at market research companies, and 2 years freelancing while running a small baking business, I stumbled upon my first UX research job posting while looking for work in Vancouver, Canada. My husband and I had moved there, somewhat impulsively (I blame the allure of mountains, the ocean, and a promise of year-round outdoor running friendly weather).
So, the position sounded like a dream to me. Although I didn’t have direct user research experience, I thought my existing market research skills would transfer over nicely and I’d be fine once I gained a little bit of context working for an e-commerce company.
Truthfully, I was surprised at how difficult this transition was for me in the beginning. Some days, it felt like I had made a career change, rather than a pivot. Prior to this role, I comfortably identified as a quantitative market researcher, which meant I spent the majority of my time planning sample, writing surveys, creating data tabulation plans, and writing data-heavy reports. Research studies I worked on typically focused on customer satisfaction, consumer usage and attitudes, brand loyalty, package claims testing or product concept testing. I had never heard of a usability test, let alone conducted one myself.
As a result, I constantly felt like I was drowning in my first three months. I felt overwhelmed with the lack of context I had for product life cycles, conversion funnels, A/B testing, using behavioural data and running usability tests. There were many days where I’d come home and seriously consider returning to the comfort of market research. I missed feeling comfortable. I missed knowing what I didn’t know, because at least in that situation, I had a starting point to look for answers.
Here are some things that I developed in my market research days that I continue to use today.
Writing screeners and recruiting participants
One of the first things I learned as a market researcher is to screen people appropriately before speaking with them. Whether it’s writing questions at the beginning of a survey to narrow down who the survey is targeted for, or compiling a screener to narrow down a list of potential participants to interview, knowing exactly who I want to talk to and how I am going to find them is something I do for every study I conduct.
Writing interview guides and conducting interviews
Although the majority of market research studies I worked on were quantitative in nature, I often planned and coordinated in-person interviews and focus groups. Beyond writing interview guides and conducting interviews, having experience planning for the event details like booking meeting spaces, planning incentives, organizing transcription / translator services, and dealing with participant no-shows allowed me to focus on the things I was less experienced with. Like running effective usability sessions or planning interviews that are focused on answering user related questions.
Analyzing survey questions (including verbatim responses)
Survey design knowledge will always come in handy. Knowing how to write a good survey (and also knowing when a survey isn’t the appropriate methodology to uncover what you really want to know) is a skill I am grateful for, and one I continually develop. I’ve also found knowing how to analyze and code verbatim responses for open-ended questions is invaluable.
Writing reports / presenting findings that are tailored to your audience
There was almost a formula behind the data reports I used to write. It was a good thing because I always had a guide to analyze my results. It was also bad because these reports were quite dense and sometimes hundreds of pages. Even the shortened presentation decks that I’d share with clients were still pretty big and difficult to digest. The more I communicated with my clients, the better I got at extracting the main points to allow them to make informed decisions. This is a skill that requires constant refinement and development, but it was good to get started on it as early as possible in my career.
On the flipside, there are some things that I found harder to develop while working on the supplier side of market research. Beyond reading UXR blogs, listening to podcasts, and attending conferences, here are some key things that I had to spend a lot of time catching up on.
Formulating good research questions
Most of the time, a potential client would have done the upfront thinking on what they needed to research and had already put this together in the Request for Proposal (RFP). When writing proposals, my focus was typically on selecting an appropriate methodology, gathering quotes and timelines from partners and project managers to cost out the project. If we won the study, I would switch to project execution mode, which could include survey design, fieldwork management, data analysis and report writing. It took me a while to get used to taking a step back and learning to examine the intent of the research study, developing appropriate research questions, and then selecting a methodology.
Conducting effective usability testing
User testing is one of those basic things that a UXR should have in their toolbox. I was missing this basic skill, and it was hard to understand how to set up a good user test without having the context for it. While there are a lot of similarities between user tests and interviews in general, things didn’t really click for me until I gained a stronger understanding of why and when this method can or should be used.
Learning how to use behavioural data
When I worked in market research, I often focused on collecting stated attitudinal or psychographic data. Very rarely were we given the ability to tie it back to actual customer data for a couple of reasons — 1) because we often used general population sample data, so that data couldn’t be tied directly to customers and 2) if we were using customer sample, the comparisons were typically done on the client’s end after we had handed off our work and data files to them. The concept of A/B testing is not new to market research, but the application of it within an e-commerce setting is something that I had never been exposed to until I started working within UX research.
All of these things took a long time to develop. I’m still learning and developing myself as a UX researcher, and I enjoy the challenges it comes with.
If you’re interested in making the switch from market research to UX research, or you’ve already made it and are wondering where to begin, go ahead and immerse yourself in the UXR community. Attend meet-ups, join UXR (online and/or offline) communities, and reach out to other researchers. If you come across a job opportunity that excites you — give it a chance and throw your application in. Know that it won’t be easy at first, but it is totally doable and so worth it.
Questions? Feel free to reach out to me.
