Jeff Bezos recently proclaimed that market research isn’t really helpful. In his letter to Amazon shareholders, he denounced the merits of market research—which surprised many given the company’s reliance on data-informed decision making. From my perspective, he is spectacularly wrong; even if there are nuggets of truth in his commentary. While Bezos’ sentiment may have a little bit of truth in it—the bulk of your customers can’t imagine products that haven’t yet been invented—market research still plays a critically important role at successful organizations, including Amazon.

Thanks to new research approaches, all companies—even those with storied histories—can innovate as quickly as startups, leveraging consumer insights to inform the best way forward.

For some time, organizations have used experience design (XD) research to help sculpt processes, services, events, and products that customers would interact with. This kind of research focuses on the quality of each experience and the context surrounding how people experience it. 

Empathy plays an integral role in the way companies interact with consumers. It helps us understand where someone else is coming from, what they think and how they feel. As a result, it helps organizations get a better understanding of the exact kinds of products customers want. It can also help companies improve processes, services, product packaging, marketing campaigns, and more.

Do you constantly get asked about what your consumers or end-users want? Whether you’re part of a marketing, customer experience or innovation team, there are hundreds of critical decisions that can make or break your initiatives.

Is your company innovating fast enough? The rapid pace of innovation today is making it harder and harder to stay relevant to consumers. Even the largest companies can't take past success for granted.