Market Research (Marktforschung)
Overview
Market research describes the process of obtaining data for a certain market, analyzing that data and then proceeding to make a decision based on that research. A common way of market research may be through user surveys which then help to determine if users would like that new feature or if the resources are better spent some elsewhere.
There are two ways of market research:
Primary Research
Research through direct communication with the users. This may include user surveys, customer interviews or experiments and observation. It is primary because the direct user from the product is analyzed and not just some general market section.
Secondary Research
This describes the research from existing data, for example from studies, other companies or third-parties (e.g. data brokers and alike). In this way of market research, no direct communication will happen between a (potential) user and the company that offers to serve the product.