Catalog
concept#Product#Analytics#Data#Governance

Market Research

Systematic approach to collecting and analyzing market, customer, and competitor data to support decision making.

Market research is the systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting market, customer, and competitor information to inform product and business strategy.
Established
Medium

Classification

  • Medium
  • Business
  • Design
  • Intermediate

Technical context

CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce)Analytics platforms (e.g., Google Analytics)Survey tools (e.g., Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey)

Principles & goals

Test early and iterateMixed-methods approach (quantitative + qualitative)Data-driven decisions with clear context
Discovery
Enterprise, Domain, Team

Use cases & scenarios

Compromises

  • Misinterpretation of data leads to wrong decisions
  • Sampling bias distorts results
  • Overreliance on historical data instead of trend awareness
  • Use triangulation of different data sources
  • Engage stakeholders early for result utilization
  • Regularly update key findings

I/O & resources

  • Customer data (transactions, behavior)
  • Secondary research (industry reports)
  • Stakeholder hypotheses and goals
  • Empirical insights and reports
  • Prioritized product and marketing recommendations
  • Validated assumptions for roadmaps

Description

Market research is the systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting market, customer, and competitor information to inform product and business strategy. It combines quantitative data analysis, qualitative user research, and trend monitoring to reveal opportunities, risks, and priorities. Insights guide product prioritization, positioning, and go-to-market decisions.

✔

  • Reduces uncertainty in product decisions
  • Improves targeting and positioning
  • Enables prioritized investments

✖

  • Findings are time-sensitive and must be updated
  • Qualitative insights are not always generalizable
  • High effort for representative quantitative studies

  • Net Promoter Score (NPS)

    Measures customer loyalty and willingness to recommend.

  • Conversion rate of test groups

    Proportion of test participants who exhibit desired behavior.

  • Estimated market share

    Share of addressable market based on data sources.

Customer segmentation for a SaaS provider

Quantitative analysis of usage and payment data combined with interviews to define target customers and pricing strategies.

Competitive analysis for product launch

Systematic capture of competitor features, prices, and positioning to identify differentiation opportunities.

Trend monitoring in the B2C market

Ongoing analysis of social, search, and sales data to detect behavioral trends and market shifts early.

1

Define objectives and hypotheses, choose relevant metrics and select suitable methods.

2

Identify data sources, design studies and plan samples.

3

Conduct data collection, analyze and translate into actionable recommendations.

⚠️ Technical debt & bottlenecks

  • Outdated data pipelines and poor data quality
  • Lack of documentation of methods and assumptions
  • Monolithic data silos hinder combined analyses
Data accessBudget constraintsMethodological expertise
  • Making product decisions solely based on historical sales figures
  • Interpreting qualitative single cases as universal truths
  • Conducting expensive large studies without clear decision goals
  • Confirmation bias in framing and analysis
  • Overvaluing non-representative samples
  • Presenting findings without an implementation plan
Quantitative methods / statisticsQualitative research and interviewingMarket and competitor analysis
Business goals and growth strategyTarget audience definition and segment requirementsData availability and quality
  • • Data protection and GDPR requirements
  • • Limited sample sizes in niche markets
  • • Time constraints for market entry