Many of my peers are retooling and retargeting their courses to teach user research skills to PMs and designers, moving away from aspiring or existing researchers. I paused the last live Ask Like A Pro cohort while giving this a lot of thought. Specifically, I've been contemplating the differences in learning to conduct research as a portion of your job responsibilities versus your entire role, and other aspects of my direct experiences working with PMs and designers when conducting my own research projects.

NOTE: The Ask Like A Pro On-Demand series is still available and continues to perform well! Additionally we are still training non-researchers in UXR.

One clarification I wish more non-researchers understood is the difference between customer calls and user research.

Feel free to share this blog post with non-researchers if the need arises. Our bet is that opportunity will come sooner rather than later!

User Research and Customer Calls Differ

User research and customer calls are both essential approaches for gathering input about user needs and preferences, though they serve different purposes and are conducted in distinct ways. Understanding these differences is crucial for founders, product managers, designers, as well as researchers, and teams aiming to optimize product design and increase satisfaction.

User Research: A Comprehensive Approach

1. Purpose: User research aims to understand the behaviors, needs, motivations, and experiences of both potential and existing customers. It informs the design and development of meaningful, useful, and usable products.

2. Methods: User research encompasses both qualitative and quantitative techniques, including usability testing, interviews, field studies, surveys, and ethnographic research. Ideally, it is conducted during all stages of the product lifecycle, from the initial seed of an idea to post-launch, gathering continuous input and informing frequent improvement.

3. Scope: The approach is more structured, with a documented research plan, and carefully selected participants who meet specific behavioral or attitudinal criteria relevant to the research topic. This selection ensures that the learning is applicable and can influence product strategy effectively.

4. Environment: Conducted in diverse settings—from controlled labs to natural environments and digital platforms—user research adapts to the needs of the study, ensuring authentic and relevant findings, and ultimately insights.

5. Guidelines: While often following structured discussion guides, user research remains flexible to adapt to new learnings and emerging participant feedback. This flexibility helps maintain the relevance and effectiveness of the research over time.

6. Outcomes: The documented research takeaways identify pain points and opportunities that guide product design decisions. They may also be leveraged to inform personas, map journeys and new study topics. The comprehensive nature of this research makes it foundational for strategic product development.

Customer Calls: Direct Interaction for Immediate Feedback

1. Purpose: Customer calls focus primarily on gathering feedback from existing customers, aiming to gauge satisfaction, resolve issues, and improve the product based on direct user input.

2. Methods: These calls are less formal than user research and do not follow a strict or more structured methodology. They are conversational, allowing for real-time feedback and adaptation based on the customer's immediate responses.

3. Scope: Often spontaneous, customer calls are reactive, addressing specific issues as they arise during the product lifecycle. The participants are existing customers, providing insights based on their direct experience with the product.

4. Outcomes: The feedback from these calls, usually not documented formally, is used for quick resolution of issues and minor product adjustments. While not typically resulting in deep strategic insights like user research, customer calls are invaluable for immediate operational improvements and maintaining customer satisfaction.

Key Differences in Structure and Outputs

1. Structure: User research is methodologically rigorous and designed to uncover deep insights through a systematic approach. In contrast, customer calls are flexible, focusing on immediate customer interactions without a predefined script or structure.

2. Outputs: User research may produce quantitative data and qualitative learning, leading to detailed analyses that inform longer-term product strategy and design. Customer calls result in direct feedback that usually addresses immediate issues, influencing operational decisions and customer service enhancements.

Integration in Product Strategy

Both user research and customer calls play pivotal roles in product development and management. User research offers broad, strategic learning that helps shape product directions and feature developments. Customer calls provide direct, immediate feedback from users, crucial for quick problem-solving and enhancing customer relationships.

Conclusion

Integrating both user research and customer calls into a product management strategy ensures that teams are informed by comprehensive, strategic insights as well as specific, operational feedback. This dual approach allows product teams to create and refine innovative offerings and closely align with both user needs and market demands. Together, these practices go beyond enhancing product design and customer satisfaction to bolster market competitiveness, ensuring products remain relevant and valued over time.

We’re thinking of illustrating how customer calls and user research compare. What do you think?

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