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As top brands rush to launch new products often, product development roles are increasingly gaining steam. Possessing product research skills could open the doors to high-profile job roles such as product insights analyst and product researcher. In this article, we will explore the exciting job roles that are offered in the field of product research.
Product Research: An Overview
Product research involves gathering and analysing data to fuel new product development. The main aim of product research is to develop new products and improve the features of existing products. Please note that product research is always conducted with the organisation’s existing business goals in mind. Let’s look at the steps involved.
Step 1: Setting the Scope & Objectives of Product Research
Setting the scope and objectives of the research study gives your research the required direction.
Step2: Understanding Target Users
You must use research methods such as surveys, interviews, and observations to understand customer perspectives, pain points, and unmet needs.
Step 3: Methodology and Revelations
Using the appropriate research methodology, you must identify the existing gaps and emerging trends.
Step 4: Validation of Concepts
You would be required to test the feasibility of introducing a new product in the market based on the analysis of the usage data of the existing prototype.
Product research is a step-by-step process that can improve existing and new product development.
Product Research Job Roles
Let us explore the critical job roles in product research.
Product Researcher
As a product researcher, you would be responsible for conducting thorough research before and after the launch of the assigned product(s). You must conduct market research interviews, surveys, and site visits to identify any existing customer pain points. Based on your research, you would be required to determine the market opportunities for new features in existing products and the introduction of new products.
The main aim of product research is to translate research findings into actionable points. The product researcher performs the most crucial role in product development, laying the groundwork for new product development.
Product Insights Analyst
As a product insights analyst, you would be responsible for mining product usage data. You would use these data to understand business performance metrics and identify the underlying trends and opportunities. Analytics is a vital function of a product insights analyst.
You would be required to conduct a quantitative and qualitative data analysis to guide your team members in making decisions about new product development. The task of a product insights analyst is not easy, but it is not undoable either.
You are only required to track the usage data against the set targets and construct compelling visualisations and narratives to communicate the implications of usage data.
Product Growth Manager
As a product growth manager, you would be responsible for growing key product metrics such as retention, engagement, and revenue. Your daily work would include guiding teams through experiments to change product features, messaging, or pricing.
Essential tools that you would use include the following.
Customer Journey Maps
You would use this tool to track the customer journey for product purchases.
User Lifecycle Analysis
It aims to reduce customer churn (gradually acquiring and losing customers). You should maximise acquisitions and minimise attrition.
Funnel Analytics
This tool would be helpful in the identification of possible bottlenecks.
Most importantly, your key responsibility would be conducting regular tests and optimising based on these tests to increase the user base.
Final Words
With myriad opportunities, product research offers a fulfilling career path. There is an increasing demand in the market for product research roles such as product researchers, analysts, and growth specialists who recommend product strategies based on market data analysis. Solutions based on product research contribute significantly to customer satisfaction and business revenue.
