We have all heard about Marketing and the recent Ux and its features, but today we will talk more specifically about the differences between user-centered research and market research. On the Marketing side, market research is king and on Ux’s side, we can talk about Ux Research or user-centered research.

Therefore, today we will talk about the differences between user-centered research and market research and what these philosophies are for.

What is user-centered research? What is it for?

User-centered research is an iterative process in which research focuses on researching for the user, taking into account their needs, motivations, and the context of use. It relies on a wide variety of research techniques with the aim of making products accessible and highly usable. User-centric research is a vital component or tool of design UX.

What is market research? What is it for?

& nbsp; Market research & nbsp; is a business tool that consists of the collection, processing and interpretation of information to help solve problems or make business decisions. It is used to make decisions within the field of strategic and operational marketing .

Differences and key characteristics

Next, we will present several sections in which we will point out significant differences between these two philosophies:

What are they looking for?

The market researcher seeks to evaluate only and the user-centered researcher in addition to evaluating seeks to discover and create iteratively.

What is your professional orientation?

Research of markets is only professionally oriented to Marketing, on the other hand, in i user-centered research it has a Multidisciplinary orientation . This responds to the needs of different academic and emerging professional fields such as: design, entrepreneurship and education.

What is your focus on?

The focus of i market research is very broad , therefore, it applies to various areas such as the company itself, competitors, customers and the market.

Contrary to user-centered research , which focuses only on the people who make or will use products, services or information, both in market contexts as in any other, & nbsp;

From what point of view do you see people?

In market research, people are seen from the point of view of their participation and their concurrence in a market, therefore, the subject is observed from its dimension as a Stakeholder.

In user-centered research, the person is viewed from the perspective of their constant relationship with the product or service, therefore, the subject is observed as a user

What techniques predominate?

In market research it is common to use quantitative techniques, which result in numerical data and are carried out on a large sample of users. Above all, they are used to discover very specific data. The techniques used are highly standardized and the most commonly used are usually: Surveys, panels or benchmarking

On the contrary, user-centered research techniques use qualitative techniques that generate a large amount of “insights”. Most of them are n new or reinterpreted from market research and are often combined in various ways. We can highlight the most used among these: Interviews, usability tests and Card sorting. To learn more about these techniques you can visit the website Nielsen Norman Group , where they have various articles that explain them with detail

As we have seen, there are quite a few differences between these two investigations, but all of them do their correct function.

Which research method is more profitable?

Research, both in marketing and Ux can help you save.

Marketing market research is profitable, since with it we generate valuable information. It can help you understand sales, geographic reach, and demographic trends. It also helps us to know if we have a viable idea before jumping into the pool. This helps save time and money.

Research focused on the user generates much more considerable savings since, in addition to researching good ideas, it focuses on the user and the usability of the product or service. To give you an idea, the ROI or return on investment is often 10 to 1. That means that for every euro invested in usability in the design process, we save 10 in subsequent modifications. This is due to the fact that usability failures are prevented from the beginning, saving on modifications in the final phase.

Arguably, based on these data, the most profitable research is user-centered research and therefore more effective when it comes to money.

What research method do we recommend?

At Possible we will always recommend using Ux research, not only because of the savings or ROI that we can achieve, but also because of the satisfaction that we can obtain by the user by making a fully usable product that responds to the needs of our customers.

Likewise, each investigation has its strengths and we recommend that you try both sides to create your own idea.

You will already know what the differences are between user-centered research and market research

What is your favorite? Would you dare to try any?

Do you know or use another research method?

As always, we await your comment