AMA: Lattice VP Product Marketing, Emi Hofmeister on Market Research

Love this question. There's no single research formula that works across every product launch or big idea. And the type of research I choose depends on what I need to learn, and also the realities of time, resources, and budget. With that in mind, here are a few ways I approach research to help spark innovation: Start by deeply understanding the customer's problem: This is usually a mix of quantitative (surveys) and qualitative (interviews). I'm trying to get a clear picture of customer needs, m ...Read More

While there's no single blueprint for market research, here are the steps I come back to most often: Start with a strong hypotheses: This is one of the most important, and often overlooked, steps in research. Make a list of statements that you're trying to prove or disprove through your research. Strong hypotheses will sharpen your research focus, guide what kind of data to collect, and even help you structure your findings later. Get grounded in the data: Before you do any qualitative research, ...Read More

Oooh, I would like to see other answers to this question. The resources I gravitate toward include: AI: Chat GPT, especially Deep Research, can take you pretty far with respect to ensuring that you're identifying al the stones that need to be turned. I love how you can instantly get insights from public forums like Reddit or G2 about your market, your audience, and even your product. Analyst Research: Resources from Gartner, Forrester, and others are treasure troves of data and insight about key ...Read More

I've never thought about market research as being a perpetrator of buzz words, more so an aid to help you identify and get rid of buzz words. That said, there are certainly watch-outs when engaging in market research. Here are the top three watch outs I look for: Beware of an irrelevant audience: Always look at the comments for any survey (and require a few comments). The comments help me understand if the survey participants actually understand my space and whether they engaged with the content ...Read More