The answer lies behind the definition of UX design – it is a problem solving process based on deep understanding of business environment and company market position. Yes, at the end there is user experience with our product/service, but at the end. In other words, before we jump into “customer’ approach”, before we start defining the target group, before we use psychology to understand the final user’s character we need to clearly state our company background, business environment, strenghts and weaknesses. The most common mistake and assumption, copied by many companies, is skipping to prototypes and even more UI without fundamental research of who the user is, what are his needs and expectations, who are our competitors, what can we improve and so on.

Therefore, I am about to show you the importance of business research and analysis main elements and their unquestionable influence on every professional UX designing process. Moreover, performing well adjusted business research and analysis is a huge database for marketing, sales and customer success management.

Market research is the first and obligatory step to conduct a professional business research, UX designing process and Customer Success Management. It is the foundation for Executive opening balance document.

My market research understanding consists of systematically gathering information about customers (not only the target ones) and companies (not only the direct competitors) also called – the market – and then analysing it to better understand what that group of people needs and what are they offered. The results of market research, summarized in a report, are then used to help business stake holders make more informed decisions about the company’s strategies, operations, and potential target customer base. Understanding industry changes and developments, changing consumer needs and preferences, and legislative trends, among other things, can shape where a business chooses to focus its efforts and resources. That’s the basic value of market research.  

There are many ways to conduct a professional market research, one of my favourite ones is “7 Steps” method. It consists of the following:

1. Defining the problem
2. Developing the research strategy to be used
3. Acquiring the research materials
4. Collecting data
5. Analysing the data
6. Compiling the data
7. Implementing data-driven strategies

In other words market research blends consumer behavior and economic trends to confirm and improve the company business idea. The outcomes and findings are crucial and comply with the following steps which I am representing below.

Does your company exist under a bubble? No, of course not. It is not a question if you have any competitors, but the question is, how many competitors do you have? So, if you want to stay ahead with your business, you need to implement effective ways to learn where in the market are you in relations to your competitors. You need to find and define your direct and indirect competitors, their and yours market share, their and your strengths and weaknesses. The process is called competitive benchmarking.

My role in competitive benchmarking.

Widely known definition says that “competitive benchmarking is the process of using data-driven metrics to determine the company’s position in the market as compared to its competitors. Using these metrics, we can compare the company performance to that of its competitors.” That’s why in my working process I use competitive benchmarking for both business analysis as well as for UX process. Competitive benchmarking is fundamental element of every business analysis, represented as one of the main elements in business plans. On the other hand you cannot have a proper UX designing process or customer success management without it as well.

In other words, well maintained benchmarking can answer many of the following questions.

Which company has the biggest share of the market and why?

Who are competitors targeting and why that particular group of customers?

To define opportunities for improvement and pain points?

What is the competitors price strategy, and are their results better or worse?

What is the competitors POI?

To define the competitors positioning strategy in the market?

To analyse how has the company improved its brand’s position over time?

Gaining answers to these questions supports not only marketing strategy with useful data but also create a greater level of awareness around what the company is  doing and why. Moreover, it is a great source of essential data for stakeholders and company power players. That is why I emphasize importance of competitive benchmarking not only in UX designing process but also in business analysis.

If the competitive benchmarking is well performed, the company can benefit from its findings, such as:

Objective view of the company.

Increase company sales and revenue

Constant track of competitors

Awareness of new and emerging market trends

Just in time reaction to market shifts

Identifying opportunities for improvement

Above answers are too important to leave them unanswered. That’s why I pay a strong attention to professional benchmarking since the answers are fundamental for every business or UX analysis.

A proper made marketing strategy describes how a business will accomplish a particular goal or mission. This includes which campaigns, content, channels, and marketing software the company will use to execute that mission and track its success. It is an important part of every business plan as well as data to be included within any UX designing process. Do not to be confused with marketing plan.

In order to be effective, every marketing strategy must go through a particular set of steps in the process of its creation. The main ones are below.

Mission

To identify and understand the company’s mission. A mission statement explains why a company is in business and how it can benefit consumers. Unlike the other steps in the planning process, senior leaders or the board of directors typically develop the mission statement and corporate objectives. My role is to identify those objectives in the planning process to ensure that my efforts stay aligned with corporate leadership. The mission statement is a core message that guides and influences your marketing strategy. Questions to ask when evaluating the mission:

Why is the company in business?

What is the purpose of the business?

What is the strategic influence for the business?

What is the desired public perception for the business?

How does the mission statement clarify the strategy?

How does the mission statement unify the team?

Situation analysis

The second step of the strategic marketing process is to evaluate internal and external factors that affect the business and market. The analysis will illuminate strengths and the challenges the company faces — either with internal resources or with external competition in the marketplace. Situation analysis provides a clear, objective view of the health of the business, current and prospective customers, industry trends, and the company’s position in the marketplace. There are several methods to conduct this analysis. A typical analysis is called a SWOT analysis but we can also use a 5C analysis (Company, Customers, Competitors, Collaborators, Climate), a PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, Technological) or NOISE analysis.

Marketing plan

When we have identified opportunities through the analysis, we should prioritize and map out which ones to pursue. Writing a marketing plan will specify target customers and how to reach them, and should also include a forecast of the anticipated results. It includes the following actions:

Define the target audience

Set measurable goals

Identify and set a marketing budget

Developing marketing mix decisions

At this stage of the strategic marketing process, it’s time to focus on the “how” of planning. The marketing mix is based on the 4Ps of marketing, including Product, Price, Promotion, and Place.  The 4Ps will guide the way the company convey the value of the product to the customers. We are positioning the product and its competitive advantage. We need to be clear about what the company is marketing: convenience or quality? And we need to know who is likely to buy the product or service. By using the market research conducted in first steps, we can develop the ideal marketing mix for the target audience and the type of product or service the company sells.

Implementation and control

The last stage is to put the plan into action. Identify how and when to launch the plan. At this stage of the strategic marketing process, the company will reach out to customers to inform and persuade them about the product or service. The next steps include getting the resources to market the product, organizing the people who will do the work, creating calendars to keep the work on track, and managing all the details for each goal.

We all know what business plan is. We know the definition. Its main role is to present in detailed way the business concept and strategy for growth in order to attract potential investors. On the other hand, knowing how to prepare it, we can easily use it for other purposes, if we know how to modify it and, what’s the most important, if we know what do want to achieve.

Using business plan format in UX designing process delivers all the most important information about the company, about every aspect of its business activity and therefore highlights the problems and areas of improvement not only detected today but also gives us a possibility to predict them in the future, to act in advance.

Among the many reasons why it is worth preparing a good business plan, I have chosen only those that I consider necessary for professional UX analysis. Of course, there are many more of them than below, hence the ability to create business plans allows you to modify and adapt the content of the document to the needs of the company and its business environment.

1. To establish business milestones. The business plan should clearly present the long-term milestones that are most important to the success of the business.
2. To understand the competition. When creating the business plan you need to analyse the competition. All companies have competition in the form of either direct or indirect competitors, and it is critical to understand company’s competitive advantages. SWOT and NOISE analysis.
3. To understand target customer. Why do they buy when they buy? Why don’t they when they don’t? An in-depth customer analysis is essential to an effective business plan and to a successful business. Understanding target customers will not only allow you to create better products and services for them, but will allow you to more cost-effectively reach them via advertising and marketing.
4. To enunciate previously unstated assumptions. The process of actually writing the business plan helps to bring previously “hidden” assumptions to the foreground. By writing them down and assessing them, you can test them and analyse their validity.
5. To assess the feasibility of your venture. How good is this opportunity? The business plan process involves researching target market, as well as the competitive landscape, and serves as a feasibility study for the success of the venture.
6. To document your revenue model. How exactly will your business make money? This is a critical question to answer. Documenting the revenue model helps to address challenges and assumptions associated with the model.
7. To reduce the risk of pursuing the wrong opportunity. The process of creating the business plan helps to minimize opportunity costs. Writing the business plan helps to assess the attractiveness of this particular opportunity, versus other opportunities. In other words to make the best decisions.
8. To force you to research and really know target market. What are the most important trends in your industry? What are the greatest threats to your industry? Is the market growing or shrinking? What is the size of the target market for your product/service? Creating the business plan will help to gain a wider, deeper, and more nuanced understanding of your marketplace.
9. To attract employees and a management team. Business plan is a foundation for every UX process, it serves as opening balance both for the stake holders as well as for the company personnel that will be included within UX process.
10. To plot the course and focus on efforts. The business plan provides a roadmap from which to operate, and to look to for direction in times of doubt. Without a business plan, the company may shift its short-term strategies constantly without a view to long-term milestones.
11. To position your brand. Creating the business plan helps to define the company’s role in the marketplace. This definition allows to succinctly describe the business and position the brand to customers, investors, and partners. With the industry, customer and competitive insight you gain during the business planning process, you can best determine how to position your brand.
12. To judge the success of your business. A formal business plan allows to compare actual operational results versus the business plan itself. In this way, it allows to clearly see whether the company has achieved its strategic, financing, and operational goals.
13. To reposition your business to deal with changing conditions. For example, during difficult economic conditions, if your current sales and operational models aren’t working, business plan can be rewritten to define, try, and validate new ideas and strategies.
14. To document the company marketing plan. How is the company going to reach its customers? How will it retain them? What is its advertising budget? What price will it charge? A well-documented marketing plan is essential to the growth of a business. And the marketing strategies and tactics the company use will evolve each year, so revisiting the marketing plan at least annually is critical.
15. To uncover new opportunities. Through the process of brainstorming, white-boarding and creative interviewing, the company managers will likely see their business in a different light. As a result, we will often come up with new ideas for marketing the product/service and running the business.

Presented reasons fit perfectly into the thematic scope of defining the company’s needs in terms of the UX process. Such a document will also be a solid basis for Opening Balance, a document that you cannot do without, when starting any professional UX design.