Rosenverse
Bringing together market and user research

Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.

Log in Create free account

100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.

Bringing together market and user research

Thursday, October 17, 2019 • Advancing Research Community
Share the love for this talk
Bringing together market and user research
Speakers: Jemma Ahmed
Link:

Summary

Market researchers and user researchers face similar pressures: their work is becoming increasingly democratized and gaining attention (and scrutiny) from their organizations' stakeholders. They're also converging upon each other, sharing methods and space in the funnel. Where should they draw the line between their practices, and where should they join forces? Jemma Ahmed, Head of Insights at Badoo, explores the growing intersection between user and market researchers.

Key Insights

  • •

    User research is expanding upstream to answer strategic questions once solely owned by market research.

  • •

    Market research is becoming more agile and embracing qualitative methods traditionally used in user research.

  • •

    The lines between market and user research are blurring due to shared focus on customer experience and data-driven segmentation.

  • •

    Brand is now viewed as what a company does, not just what it says, requiring research teams to connect brand into product and design.

  • •

    Collaborative customer journey mapping combining focus groups and design sprints enables faster and richer insights.

  • •

    Voice of the Customer frameworks that integrate analytics, market research, and user research insights help prioritize business decisions.

  • •

    Researcher identity and cultural tribalism within organizations can create barriers to effective collaboration.

  • •

    Cross-training in qualitative and quantitative methods varies by individual comfort and should be balanced with team diversity.

  • •

    Understanding and respecting different research methods reduce skepticism and improve interdisciplinary teamwork.

  • •

    New hybrid techniques, such as implicit association testing, blend behavioral science with traditional brand and user research.

Notable Quotes

"User researchers still feel like they’re in a precarious position and want to be part of the pack but they’re just not there yet."

"Market researchers have an air of arrogance like an old cat, confident and unbothered by disruption."

"User research is answering bigger questions now — not just if it works, but what we should build and who we should target."

"Market research can no longer afford to take six months with multiple waves; it has to be speedier and more agile now."

"Brand is not just what you say, it’s what you do — your product and design live and breathe the brand."

"Segmentation isn’t owned by market or user research anymore; it’s becoming data-driven and integrated across disciplines."

"The gap between market research and user research is narrowing; their methods and questions are converging."

"It really matters to researchers’ identities whether they see themselves as user or market researchers."

"We can’t expect all researchers to switch seamlessly across methods without training and time."

"Ultimately, we’re all here to help our companies care about the customer faster, no matter the tribe or method."

Ask the Rosenbot
Gabriela Barneva
Operationalizing Inclusive Design in Service Design
2025 • Advancing Service Design 2025
Gold
Sam Proulx
Designing For Screen Readers: Understanding the Mental Models and Techniques of Real Users
2021 • Civic Design 2021
Gold
Amy Gawronski Zuccaro
Advice for DesignOps Employee #1
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Jemma Ahmed
Convergent Research Techniques in Customer Journey Mapping
2020 • Advancing Research 2020
Gold
Heidi Trost
To Protect People, You Have to Protect Information: A Human-Centered Design Approach to Cybersecurity
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Clara Kliman-Silver
UX Futures: The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Design
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Heidi Trost
When AI Becomes the User’s Point Person—and Point of Failure
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Renee Reid
Becoming a ResearchH.E.R (Highly Enterprise Ready)
2019 • Enterprise Experience 2019
Gold
Nicole Aleong
What UX research can learn from other research practices [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
2023 • Advancing Research Community
Renee Bouwens
Landing Product Impact: Aligning Research as a Foundational Driver for Delivering the World’s Best Products
2023 • QuantQual Interest Group
Tim Parmee
Changing Our Design Pressure Points
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold
Kyle Godbey
Non-linear service design for complex adaptive systems
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Prayag Narula
Dialing for Research: How to Reach the Unreachable
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Janelle Estes
UX Research Trends
2021 • Advancing Research Community
Jon Fukuda
Design Planning and Management Support
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold
Sam Proulx
SUS: A System Unusable for Twenty Percent of the Population
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold

More Videos

Shipra Kayan

"Going from 100 to 200 people, suddenly product managers started hearing from a dozen people a week with conflicting requests."

Shipra Kayan

How we Built a VoC (Voice of the Customer) Practice at Upwork from the Ground Up

September 30, 2021

Peter Morville

"Most categories are fuzzy; there’s no clear boundary between what’s in or out."

Peter Morville

The Architecture of Understanding

May 13, 2015

Renee Reid

"I was going to use everything that I had experienced, all the skills, all the successes, and become my own superpower."

Renee Reid

Becoming a ResearchH.E.R (Highly Enterprise Ready)

June 3, 2019

Dane DeSutter

"For some users, AI products are not just tools, they are relationships."

Dane DeSutter

Keeping the Body in Mind: What Gestures and Embodied Actions Tell You That Users May Not

March 26, 2024

Sam Proulx

"Confidence is critical in online shopping because nobody wants to spend money they’re unsure about losing due to unclear controls."

Sam Proulx

Online Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience

October 3, 2023

Andrew Custage

"Sometimes vocal feedback reveals problems that digital behavior can’t see—like offline factors affecting perception."

Andrew Custage Michael Mallett

The Digital Journey: Research on Consumer Frustration and Loyalty

March 29, 2023

Shelby Switzer

"Facilitation is part setting the stage and part performing on it."

Shelby Switzer

Making Space for Community Knowledge-sharing in a Distributed World

December 10, 2021

Llewyn Paine

"If we want our value to be defined as anything other than studies run, we must learn how to trace and articulate the actual business impact."

Llewyn Paine

Coexisting with AI: A practical guide for researchers to navigate tools, ethics, and integration

March 11, 2025

Robin Beers

"A living systems lens urges us to see wholes, holes, and interdependent relationships in organizations."

Robin Beers

Navigating organizational systems: Rethinking researcher’s role in driving change

March 13, 2025