To demonstrate how quantitative and qualitative research can go hand in hand let us consider the problem. Based on quantitative data you realize that email functionality within your product is being seldom used. Such quantiative data could come from usage analysis of the website or online poll that marketing conducted on your website in which “email” ranked as the least useful feature.
A quantiative research in this case only takes you so far as to appreciate that some features of your product is less used than others. From a business perspective, it is in the companies interest that users use the “email” functionality, as it helps spread the word about your excellent content which in turn might attract new users to the product.
The next logical step is to start the process of qualitative research. First step is to identify customers who fit your profile of ones who would are more likely to use the “email” functionality. This could take the form of groups of users who used to use it before but have stopped doing so or it could be ones who use it very infrequently. The users you choose to visit would depend on the the personas that you have identified. By visiting customers and observing them you might learn.
- Customer tend to copy paste the link and send it through their own email systems as that way they can have a conversation with the person they are sending email too.
- Your product forces the receiver to have an account before they can see the emailed link.
- Customers complain that email delivery is not instantaneous and the receiver is unsure who has emailed him/her
- …
Based on your learnings you would then be in a position to form a hypothesis - “if the product has a reliable email delivery system and the receiver doesn’t have to sign up there is a good chance that users might find the ‘email’ functionality more useful”. The next step is to test the hypothesis – through quantitative research. For some products it might mean quickly changing the functionality and through usage statistics identifying if there is an uptick in use. For others where change is difficult or risk too great it might be a case of using a quantiative research technique such as survey to appreciate the potential benefit.
In conclusion, Quantitative research that is not informed by insightful qualitative research may end up being precise but lacking in customer insight. On the other hand, customer insights that are not validated with quantitative research may end up being interesting but not representative of mainstream customers”[1]
“Qualitative research provides the eyes but quantiative research provides the legs of validation”.
[1] : Source: Insights into Customer Insights, Mohan Sawhney
