Ongoing User Research Programs
If your organization values human-centered design yet struggles to meet the research needs of various product teams or business units, Marketade may be the right partner for you. Over the past 14 years, a wide range of enterprise and mid-size organizations have teamed up with us to build, scale, and run continuous research programs and remote UX testing labs that deliver insights, design thinking, and action.
Extend Your User Research. Empower Your Product Teams.
Need a bigger in-house research team but can’t hire the researchers you need? Need a UX testing lab but don’t have the resources to build and manage it?
Through an ongoing partnership model, our small team acts as an extension of your product, UX, or digital organization. We’ll help teams across your company build better products through an in-depth understanding of their users.
From early-stage discovery studies to UX testing of existing digital products, we have a large toolbox to support your unique research needs. We are experts at building scalable research programs, recruiting hard-to-find users, and facilitating research-based workshops.
Case Study:
Scaling User Research at GEICO
10 Years of Research
For 10 years, Marketade partnered with GEICO’s digital experience team on 300+ user research projects spanning many products, teams, and methods.
5 Recurring Programs
We designed, launched, and managed 5 continuous research “labs” — for call center applications, content strategy, and in-person testing with consumers.
100+ Workshops
We facilitated over 100 research-based analysis and ideation workshops, bringing in-depth user exposure and design thinking to hundreds of employees.
A Custom Approach for Complex Products
Large user research platforms and big agencies can be a good fit if you have a broad consumer audience and want to conduct many straightforward studies.
If you have complex, unique products and niche audiences — such as enterprise software for specialized professionals — you need a custom research program. Because Marketade works with just a few clients at a time, we gain a deep understanding of your needs and customize the program for you.
“Marketade has been our partner for years and it truly is a partnership. They take our feedback to heart and we collaborate to implement the best solutions.”
Case Study:
More User Insights for More Product Teams: Building a Continuous UX Research Cycle for an Enterprise Software Company
Challenge
Complex software products with specialized audiences required UX testing beyond internal research capacity.
Action
Marketade established and grew a recurring UX research program that fits the product division’s goals and schedule.
Result
Completed research studies grew by 54% in the program’s first 2 years. The program delivers observation-backed insights more frequently and dependably to inform strategic directions.
“Great team of professionals who really understand this space and how to make real progress.”
How Our Programs & Labs Work
Here are some common pieces of our recurring research programs for mid-size and enterprise companies.
Program strategy
- Identify teams and products for research.
- Define pilot and rollout strategy.
- Establish program team roles and operations.
- Build buy-in from management.
Research cycle design
- Determine study frequency and steps, method mix, and initial study topics.
- Design a repeatable process for studies.
- Assess and iterate to continually improve the program.
Panel building
- Build or update personas.
- Create a recruiting strategy for consumers or B2B audiences.
- Implement a screening process.
- Select a panel management tool.
Internal marketing
- Create an internal marketing site for the research program.
- Implement an email communication strategy.
- Identify champions and write success stories.
KPI reporting
- Define long-term business goals for the program.
- Identify KPIs and quarterly targets.
- Launch monthly and quarterly dashboards.
Training
- Train and coach your teams on user research and design thinking
- Teach method selection, moderating techniques, problem analysis, solution ideation, and workshop facilitation.
Case Study:
How Banner Health Reached Consensus on Design Decisions with Recurring Research
Challenge
A division of this 50,000-employee organization was struggling to align on design directions and digital priorities.
Approach
We built a virtual lab for recurring user research that created a shared understanding of users and their pain points.
Result
Our collaborative approach helped the organization reach alignment on digital initiatives and design directions.
A Diverse Toolkit to Grow with Your Program
Many of our UX research programs start with a focus on usability testing. As your research questions and needs grow, we draw from a larger set of methods to support your teams and products.
Case Study:
Helping Thales Understand Enterprise Software Users & Buyers
Enterprise Software Leader
With 80,000 employees in over 50 countries, Thales sells products to governments and companies around the world. Its annual revenue is over $20 billion USD.
Hard-to-Recruit Professionals
Product, UX, and innovation teams at Thales struggled to conduct research with actual users and potential buyers of its enterprise security software.
2 Years of Consistent Research
Over 2 years, Marketade led recurring studies to guide critical product and design decisions — from journey mapping to concept/MVP testing to UX testing.
"A fantastic little agency that does amazing work."