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Column: Insights from Research

UXmatters has published 28 editions of the column Insights from Research.

Top 3 Trending Insights from Research Columns

  1. Strengths and Weaknesses of Quantitative and Qualitative Research

    Insights from Research

    Walking in your customers’ shoes

    September 3, 2012

    Both qualitative and quantitative methods of user research play important roles in product development. Data from quantitative research—such as market size, demographics, and user preferences—provides important information for business decisions. Qualitative research provides valuable data for use in the design of a product—including data about user needs, behavior patterns, and use cases. Each of these approaches has strengths and weaknesses, and each can benefit from our combining them with one another. This month, we’ll take a look at these two approaches to user research and discuss how and when to apply them. Read More

  2. Do’s and Don’ts for Focus Groups

    Insights from Research

    Walking in your customers’ shoes

    July 4, 2011

    Focus groups have gotten a bad rap over the years as UX research has shifted away from this very traditional method of market research. But focus groups can be quite useful for UX research if we approach them properly. This month, we’ll talk about ways you can get the most out of focus groups and apply the method properly to avoid the pitfalls that many people commonly encounter. Read More

  3. How to Know When Your Product Is Going to Fail

    Insights from Research

    Walking in your customers’ shoes

    June 4, 2012

    A primary purpose of UX research is risk mitigation. When we perform research we often look for indicators that let us know whether we are on the right or the wrong track with product development—and, if we’re on the wrong track, how we can get back on the right track. Continuing on the wrong track can be extraordinarily costly, both in your financial investment in research, design, and marketing, as well as the potential cost of losing customers. Because of this, we advocate for companies to make research a priority, because it can be the leading indicator of product success.

    Take, for example, the case of Netflix. Late last year, Netflix management announced that they would split DVD lending and video streaming into two separate services—coupled with a 60% price increase. The company quickly realized that they had made a mistake when customers cancelled their subscriptions in droves and Netflix stock lost 60% of its value. Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings, admitted that they had moved too quickly in announcing the service split and had fumbled the announcement badly because they had misunderstood their customers. Ironically, Hastings talked about performing research, but they had conducted only focus groups to help identify names for their spin-off service. If they had done more concept testing to ascertain customers’ readiness for the splitting of these services, they might have discovered that both content availability and the quality of streaming video are not yet sufficient to fully supplant DVD lending—or at the very least, that there would be massive customer backlash on the split they were planning.

    Therefore, this month, we’re going to examine ways in which your UX research efforts could help your organization recognize whether you’re going down the wrong path. Read More

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