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QRCA VIEWS
SPRING 2016
www.qrca.orgthinking and process. I know…it doesn’t
feel fair. It’s not! But, this is the stigma
that the “market researcher” has in the
UX world today.
At this point you could say, “Well,
leave it be then. I’ll stay over here in my
Market Research world where I don’t
have to fight unfounded perceptions
about my worth and value as a profes-
sional.” While I certainly would not fault
you in that decision, I do know that you
would be turning your back on a growing
opportunity that you—as a market
researcher—have unique and differenti-
ated value to offer within.
The UX discipline is maturing. And
with that maturation comes a desire for
senior executives within Fortune 1000
organizations to utilize their UX-spirited
teams to inform strategic directions
endorsed by the organization.
An adapted version of Bruce Temkin’s
“Five Stages of Experience-Based
Differentiation Maturity Model” is a nice
reference point to explain how UX as a dis-
cipline matures within organizations and
why now is the time for market researchers
to enter into UX. At Stage 1: Unrecognized,
UX (or its derivatives of experience and
design) does not exist as a formal discipline
in the organization. It’s likely the leaders of
the organization have little awareness of the
discipline at all. At Stage 2: Interested, the
organization has awareness of the UX dis-
cipline and is intrigued with its promise of
improving end-user experiences and thus
making companies more competitive.
Hence, the organization funds UX
“toe-dippers.” This may include hiring one
lone UXer, hiring UX consultants to sup-
port specific initiatives, or a combination of
the two. At Stage 3: Invested, companies
become more supportive of UX as a formal
discipline, resulting in internal UX teams
getting more properly staffed and the
department as a whole having objectives it
is accountable for. In Stages 2-3, UX work
is being used to provide directional points
on strategic initiatives (that are being
pushed down to them from other areas of
the company). Therefore, the rigor with
which this UX work is being executed—
and particularly the research behind the
UX design work being done—is often not
questioned. Additionally, much of the work
completed is still very tactical in nature.
The need for rigor and strategic thinking
elevates as organizations cross into Stage 4
of the UX Maturity Model. At Stage 4:
Committed, UX becomes a critical piece of
the organization’s competitive strategy. The
high-level executives of the organization
become actively involved in the UX team
and its work. This exposure results in the
team offering strategic input into the initia-
tives of the organization versus tactically
executing on the strategy handed to them.
As an organization progresses into Stage 5:
Engaged, UX is perceived to be a core tenet
of the organization’s strategy. It is a formal
department, equally valued and respected
as any other functional role in the organi-
zation, such as Sales, Marketing, R&D, etc.
And, finally, once an organization reaches
Stage 6: Embedded, UX is no longer per-
ceived to be a discipline or functional role
on its own. Rather, UX and its user-centric
philosophies are a mindset embodied by
every employee working within the organi-
zation, irrespective of the functional role
they personally perform for the organiza-
tion.
What’s happening in the UX discipline
right now is that Fortune 1000 companies
that have embraced UX as a competitive
strategy are making the leap from Stage 3:
Invested to Stage 4: Committed. As that
jump is occurring, the research practices
of UX teams—currently owned by user
researchers—are coming into question,
particularly related to participant sample,
participant quality, and method breadth.
From a participant sample perspective,
it’s typical for user researchers to advocate
for fewer numbers of research participants,
stating that the in-depth learning gained
via ethnography with eight people, for
instance, mitigates the need for collecting
a breadth of perspectives on that particular
topic. Bottom line, once research starts
informing strategic direction, sample sizes
of eight no longer cut it. Market research-
ers have insight into the qualitative and
quantitative sample sizes that sufficiently
support strategic insight and frankly feel
right to company executives.
From a participant quality perspective,
it’s not uncommon for user researchers,
particularly operating in Stage 2 of UX
maturity, to use other people in the com-
pany or family and friends as their
research sample. Market researchers are
trained to openly acknowledge and work
around sampling biases. This is rarely a
conversation had between user research-
ers operating in Stage 2 and 3 of UX
Why Now – More than Ever – Market Researchers Should Consider UX
CONT INUED
The Evolution of UX:
How UX takes hold
within organizations ...
The User Experience Maturity Model,
Adapted from Bruce Temkin’s
Five-Stages of Experience-Based
Differentiation Maturity Model
1
2
3
4
5
6
EMBEDDED
UX is in the fabric of
the organization, not
discussed seperately
ENGAGED
UX is one of the core tenets of
the organization’s strategy
COMMITTED
UX is critical and executives
are actively involved
INVESTED
UX is very important and
formalized programs emerge
INTERESTED
UX is important, but recieves little funding
UNRECOGNIZED
UX is “not important”
UX used to enable strategic growth
UX used as a directional point