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User Research: What It Is and Why You Should Do It

User research is an essential part of UX design. Unless we understand who we are designing for and why, how can we even know what to create or where to begin? Depending on your project, requirements and constraints, you can choose different types of research methods, from surveys and tests to interviews and the most common method — usability testing. Here, we’ll look at what user research is, and the three most common reasons for doing user research — namely, to create designs that are truly relevant, to create designs that are easy and pleasurable to use, and to understand the return on investment of your user experience (UX) design .

What is User Research?

User research, or “design research,” as it’s sometimes called, covers a wide range of methods. It can mean anything from doing ethnographic interviews with your target group, to classical usability studies, to quantitative measurements of return on investment (ROI) on your user experience design. What all user research has in common is that it helps place people at the center of your design process and your products . You use user research to inspire your design, to evaluate your solutions, and to measure your impact. User research (and other kinds of research) is often divided into quantitative and qualitative methods.

Surveys and formal experiments such as A/B testing and tree testing are examples of quantitative research tools. Quantitative user research methods seek to measure user behavior in a way that can be quantified and used for statistical analysis.

Interviews and (to some degree) usability tests are examples of qualitative research tools. These are often more exploratory and seek to get an in-depth understanding of the experiences and everyday lives of individual users or user groups.

Each research method has benefits and drawbacks. As such, each can be used for achieving different goals. Which method you choose depends on what you want to achieve as well as a number of practical concerns, such as what type of project you are working on, your budget and your time constraints. With that in mind, let’s look at some different reasons for why you should involve users in your design process.

Three Good Reasons for Doing User Research

“ Empathy is at the heart of design. Without the understanding of what others see, feel, and experience, design is a pointless task.” — Tim Brown, CEO of the innovation and design firm IDEO

The type of user research you should do depends on your work process as well as your reason for doing user research in the first place. Here are three excellent reasons for doing user research:

1. To Create Designs That are Truly Relevant

If you understand your users, you can make designs that are relevant for them. If you don’t have a clear understanding of your users, you have no way of knowing whether your design will be relevant. A design that is not relevant to its target audience will never be a success .

The first step and core of the design thinking process is to empathize with your users. User research is one of the best ways to do that. Conducting different types of interviews and observing people in the contexts where they will use your design is a common method of doing this type of user research. We often place this type of research at the very beginning of a project to ensure that the overall direction for the project is relevant to potential customers and users. In order to ensure that your design continues to be relevant as your project progresses, validating your ideas with prospective users on a continuous basis is a vital habit to stick to. Talk to them about how they perceive your design and how they could imagine using it, or involve them directly in your design process, to ensure that you are still on the right track.

Let’s look at an example: In 2005, Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung did a number of ethnographic user studies that completely changed the way it thought about designing TVs. Together with the innovation and strategy consultancy ReD Associates, Samsung representatives visited people in different countries to observe how they live and to talk to them about their homes and the TV’s role in their homes. What they found surprised them. At the time, Samsung and most other TV manufacturers primarily designed their TVs with technical specs such as high-quality picture and sound in mind. The TVs were designed to show off their technical capabilities, but what Samsung found when visiting people was that they viewed a TV more like a piece of furniture . As a TV is turned off most of the time, people do not want it to dominate their living room. So, rather than show off their expensive TV with all its technological capabilities, they tried to hide it away as much as possible.

Following this insight, Samsung changed its design strategy radically, moving the inbuilt speakers to make the TV slimmer and creating a subtler, minimalistic design that would fit more seamlessly into people’s living rooms. Technical capabilities were still important, but they had to be balanced with design choices that made the TVs fit into people’s homes. “Home” was the watchword here, and Samsung got hard to work on the transformation. The challenge involved getting away from treating a living room like a showroom or sports bar, and going for “harmony” instead. By 2007, Samsung had doubled its share in the global TV market because it had proven to understand how to make its TVs relevant to its customers.

User research made Samsung change its TV design strategy to focus on making more minimalistic designs that fit into the customer’s home. Although TVs have not become smaller, everything extraneous has been removed. As we see here, the TV functions as a gallery-sized moving picture — with all the “bells and whistles” discreetly housed — light-years away from the old notion of “peacocking” its technical prowess as if it were a James Bond gadget.

2. To Create Designs That are Easy and Pleasurable to Use

“If the user is having a problem, it’s our problem.” — Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computers

All products should have a high level of usability (i.e., be easy to use ), and usability tests can be a big help in achieving that. The days when programmed technology was a tool only to be used by experts are long gone. People expect products to be easy to learn and easy to use. They expect to pick them up and do things with them while only thinking about what they hope to achieve, not having to think about the products themselves. If your user experience is not good, chances are that people will move on to another product . Unless you work in a field with no competitors, a high level of usability (and a matching high-quality user experience) is essential in making any product a commercial success. Not to mention that your users will love you for creating a great user experience. Even if you are designing products for — e.g. — a highly specialized work environment where the users have no alternatives, products with a high level of usability will make work processes faster, safer and more efficient.

Wikiwand is a good example of a company that operates solely on providing a great user experience. Their product is a browser plugin which changes the design of Wikipedia articles to make them more appealing and user-friendly. Wikiwand does not provide different content from the classic Wikipedia webpage, but the company has thousands of users who praise it for the awesome user experience it delivers.

To the left is the classic Wikipedia interface; to the right is the Wikiwand version of the same article. The content is the same, but the experience is different.

When you are designing or developing a product, you become the primary expert on how to use it and what functionalities it has. Because you know your own product so well, however, you can become blind to functionality in your product that is difficult to use. As designers, we need that level of understanding of our products, but it also means that we can all too easily shift far away from the same perspective as our users. The author has personally participated in many projects where the designers know the ideas behind the interface and functionality of a product so well that separating the understandable from the not-so understandable is really difficult for them. This tendency of seeing things from the point of view of one’s profession — what we call “déformation professionnelle” — and not stepping back to catch the reality of what’s going on from a fresh, generalist angle is a natural one, incidentally.

Happily, though, you can avoid a lot of usability issues by following various guidelines and rules of thumb, but there will always be situations that the guidelines don’t cover, or where different guidelines tell you different things. You might also be designing for a target group such as seniors or children where the regular guidelines do not apply. That means testing the user experience of your product is always a good idea. Usability tests work best when they are an integrated part of your work process so that you test your product iteratively and from an early stage of development onward. Early tests are what we can do on primitive prototypes — e.g., using paper; from there, we progress to more refined prototypes until we have something that resembles the final product. If you only start testing when you have an almost-finished product, you run a very serious risk in that your findings might come too late for you to make larger changes to the product. For instance, if all the software is done or if you can’t push your release date, you’ll have your back against the wall. So, stay fluid with your design until the very end of the process — it’s amazing what insights can come from an eleventh-hour test of the ‘last’ version you have planned for rollout.

3. To Understand the Return on Investment of Your UX Design

Although the importance of good design has become widely recognized, UX designers and researchers still experience having to fight for resources to enable them to do their work. Executives and shareholders sometimes fail to see the value in investing in user research and UX design. UX design and user research is not as tangible as new features or fixing software bugs; so, overlooking their value can happen all the more easily. If resources become scarce, UX is also often one of the first areas to experience cuts; the reason is that consequences are not as immediately felt as when you save on development or similar areas. If you make cuts in say, software development, you can immediately see that the consequences involve cutting back on features or having buggy software; however, if you make cuts in UX, you don’t experience the consequences until your product reaches your users, and when your competitors attract your users towards them.

We can easily argue for the value of great UX; it is much more effective if we can show it. This is where studies to show the return on investment (ROI) on UX efforts are worth their weight in gold (or the weight, at least, of the printouts). If you can show that the changes you made in the design generated more sales, resulted in a larger number of customers, or made work processes more efficient, you have a much stronger case for investing in UX. User studies to measure the effect of your design are mostly quantitative and can take different forms. You can do A/B tests during development that compare different versions of your design, or you can do studies after your product is released to measure differences in use patterns. With apps and webpages, you often build in different types of analytics to inform you of different user patterns.

The global online marketplace Etsy is a good example of a company that has built its success on a focus on customer experience throughout the entire customer journey and that continuously measures the user experience. 

For example , Etsy routinely tests different versions of user interfaces to constantly improve the platform’s usability as well as business metrics. Etsy's continued position as one of the largest online marketplaces is a result of its rigorous focus on usability, research and testing.

The world’s most successful companies continually test and iterate their products, as is evident in their A/B tests. Here is one of several that GoodUI has been tracking. You can see more such “leaked” tests from AirBnb, Amazon, Booking, Netflix and others on their website.

The Take Away

Here, we have shown three good reasons for doing user research and we have touched on when in your design process you can integrate user research. Here are the three reasons again:

Do user research to ensure that you create products that are truly relevant to your target group.

Do user research to ensure that your products deliver a great user experience.

Do user research to show the ROI of your design efforts.

You can — and should — do user studies at all stages of the design process. You do studies before you start designing so as to get an understanding of what your target group needs ; you carry out iterative tests during development to ensure that the user experience is on track, and you can measure the effect of your design after your product is released. This “holy trinity” approach can keep you three steps ahead as every dimension of your release will have been considered, analyzed, and tested before you sit down to see the results of the ultimate test (the ROI), more confident that you’ve got a winning design.

References and Where to Learn More

For an in-depth coverage of different user research methods, take the following courses:

User Research – Methods and Best Practices

Data-Driven Design: Quantitative Research for UX

In this interview, founder of Wikiwand, Lior Grossman explains the company’s approach to designing a more usable encyclopedia.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 3.0

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What is UX research?

table of contents

Introduction to ux research.

Designing user experiences is kind of like feng shui for your app or website: it’s all about creating an optimal experience that’s delightful, logical, and tailored to a user’s goals and needs. UX research is one of the most crucial ingredients to doing this well. More and more companies are realizing that research can’t be skipped, because answering critical questions about your users – and adopting a user-first approach to design – leads to more satisfied customers and fewer inefficiencies.

That’s why, after my years of experience at Turtle , I've created this guide as a foundation for understanding the impact UX research can have, and the steps you should take to start to incorporate UX research into your research and design process.

User experience research is a systematic approach to helping companies understand a user’s perspective. It’s about diving deep into how people interact with a product and observing how easily they can complete their tasks and meet their goals. Through UX research, you can discover behaviors, needs, and motivations via observation, task analysis, and other types of user feedback.

There are a number of different methods that fall under the umbrella of UX research, from usability studies to interviews and focus groups. The main element that ties everything together is a focus on understanding the user.

UX researchers act as a bridge between customers or users and the product, engineering, and company leadership teams. They distill learnings from their research into easily digestible stories and visual artifacts to inform how product development teams solve user problems and design the best user experience, validate assumptions, evaluate solutions, assess the impact of a product. UX research insights can even help guide a company’s strategic direction. Take it from Summer Kim, Head of User Research at WhatsApp:

“As a user researcher, my mission is to humanize data and spread impactful and memorable user stories, so we make products and services that matter to people, companies, and their missions.”

Qualitative vs. quantitative data.

At the beginning of your research process, you’ll be thinking about your goals and what you’re trying to discover. Are you trying to measure something? Or gain more high-level insights? That’s when you’ll be deciding on your qualitative and quantitative research methods. What’s the difference? As UX researcher Laura Klein puts it:

“Quantitative research tells you what your problem is. Qualitative research tells you why you have that problem.”

As an example, imagine you run a test that determines that over 99% of users who sign up for your service do not complete the purchase process. When you analyze the data, you find that the majority of users drop off at the Payment & Billing page. You’ve just done quantitative research to pinpoint a problem.

Now you need to understand why it is happening. You can use more quantitative data, like an A/B test to try changing up the experience of the page until you get more conversions. You can also dig deeper into understanding why users are not converting by leveraging qualitative data.

You might consider conducting user interviews, focus groups, or usability studies to find out what people are feeling or thinking when they arrive at that page. It is this analysis that, combined with the quantitative data you’ve gathered, can help you address the user’s problem.

Why UX research is important

User-centered design – in which you include users in every stage of the design process – is becoming widely adopted across companies of all sizes and industries. With user-centered design, empathy is the key to understanding someone else’s point of view and avoid the common trap of assuming that you are your user. What are the people who use your product actually thinking, feeling, and observing? UX research is the process to discover the answers to these questions and beyond.

UX research gives you:

Insight into what users want and need and why, an understanding of how users use your product, a foundation for how to design your product to fulfill those needs, data to inform your design decisions, insight into your return on investment for designs.

From a business standpoint, the benefits of UX research are clear: it positively affects user satisfaction, retention, and growth through informing product and design decisions. This ends up cutting down support costs, stirring product innovation, and influencing business strategy.

What UX research accomplishes

The Nielsen Norman Group describes four main product design stages in which UX research can be effective. If you incorporate research at each of these stages, you stand a far greater chance of success. However, keep in mind that research can be incorporated at any point – it doesn’t need to be a linear process to be effective.

1. Discover

Doing UX research during the Discovery phase of your project is critical for understanding the user problems, the current alternatives, and the opportunities for your company to create a winning solution This is when uncovering new insights that may surprise you. Some of the questions you may ask when conducting UX research during this stage include:

Who are we designing for?

What problem are we solving, what pain points do users have with their current solutions, what is preventing customers from using our product why are customers churning, how do we differentiate from other solutions on the market.

During the Discovery phase, you may conduct user interviews and send out surveys, run diary studies with users, gather feedback from Sales and Customer Support teams, interview stakeholders across the company, and do competitive research.

In the Explore phase of the design process, you’re diving a bit deeper into understanding the problem, and scoping out the solution. UX research tasks conducted during this phase may include:

Creating personas

Customer journey mapping, user story mapping, co-creation research.

All of these activities may involve sitting down with stakeholders, either in person or using an online whiteboard, and talking through the ideas and solutions together. During this phase, ideas become a bit more tangible, prototypes and designs are created, and getting a variety of feedback becomes really important.

The Test phase often happens while a product is being developed, and is important for validating designs with users, and for making sure products and features are accessible for all. Some of the UX research activities you could do during this phase are:

In-person usability testing

Remote usability testing, card sorting, a/b testing experiments, accessibility evaluation.

Listening is all about opening your ears to what users are actually saying about your product. You can engage in listening activities at any point, even if a product isn’t actively being developed. Some of the common UX research activities that involve listening are:

Social media monitoring

Help desk query analysis, third-party review analysis, search log analysis, contextual enquiry, q&as at events and demos, the role of a ux researcher.

You don’t need to have a dedicated UX research team to conduct UX research. Despite the fact that many larger tech companies and financial firms are foregoing agencies to bring UX in-house, many smaller companies leverage designers, product managers, or marketers to take on UX researching roles. Eduardo Gomez, UX Research Lead at Miro says:

“Can anyone become a decent UX researcher? The short answer is ‘yes’ – although it took me more than a year of failing to feel confident about the positive answer.”

Regardless of where UX research sits within an organization, there are some key responsibilities that the function has:

1. Inspiring empathy for the user

Taking a step back from the specific tasks that they carry out, UX researchers often serve as the “voice of the user” and aim to inspire empathy among those who are others who are developing the products or experiences.

Not only do UX researchers need to understand the context, thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and motivations of users, they also must align them with the motivations and expectations of internal stakeholders.

2. Collecting and analyzing data

Of course, research is about gathering and making sense of data. One of the key deliverables at the end of a UX research project is a list of recommendations for the product development and design teams. But before you make those suggestions, you need to understand and synthesize the findings.

One common mistake with research is not considering how you will analyze it until after all of the research is done. Savvy UX researchers start thinking about data analysis from the start, so they can design the project to deliver the most useful results, and also revisit their plan periodically as the project progresses.

Many UX researchers employ thematic analysis to start grouping data into meaningful categories. Affinity diagramming is a great way to make sense of qualitative data in a visual way, and identify meaningful patterns.

3. Collaborating with key stakeholders

Since UX research is still a fairly new field for some people, there are bound to be people in a company who don’t understand the purpose or benefits, or who aren’t sure where UX research should sit in the organizational structure to be most effective.

Often you can engage stakeholders across the company in UX research by carrying out educational sessions. This can also show you who will be great supporters, influencers, and advocates for UX research in the future.

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What is UX Research: The Ultimate Guide for UX Researchers

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The UX researcher’s toolkit: 11 UX research methods and when to use them

After defining your objectives and planning your research framework, it’s time to choose the research technique that will best serve your project's goals and yield the right insights. While user research is often treated as an afterthought, it should inform every design decision. In this chapter, we walk you through the most common research methods and help you choose the right one for you.

What are UX research methods?

A UX research method is a way of generating insights about your users, their behavior, motivations, and needs.

These methods help:

• Learn about user behavior and attitudes
• Identify key pain points and challenges in the user interface
• Develop user personas to identify user needs and drive solutions
• Test user interface designs to see what works and what doesn’t

You can use research methodologies like user interviews, surveys, focus groups, card sorting, usability testing to identify user challenges and turn them into opportunities to improve the user experience.

More of a visual learner? Check out this video for a speedy rundown. If you’re ready to get stuck in, jump straight to our full breakdown .

The most common types of user research

First, let’s talk about the types of UX research. Every individual research method falls under these types, which reflect different goals and objectives for conducting research.

Here’s a quick overview:

Qualitative vs. quantitative

All research methods are either quantitative or qualitative . Qualitative research focuses on capturing subjective insights into users' experiences. It aims to understand the underlying reasons, motivations, and behaviors of individuals.

Quantitative research, on the other hand, involves collecting and analyzing numerical data to identify patterns, trends, and significance. It aims to quantify user behaviors, preferences, and attitudes, allowing for generalizations and statistical insights.

Qualitative research also typically involves a smaller sample size than quantitative research. Nielsen Norman Group recommends 40 participants—see our full rundown of how many user testers you need for different research methods .

Attitudinal vs. behavioral

Attitudinal research is about understanding users' attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs. It delves into the 'why' behind user decisions and actions. It often involves surveys or interviews where users are asked about their feelings, preferences, or perceptions towards a product or service. It's subjective in nature, aiming to capture people's emotions and opinions.

Behavioral research is about what users do rather than what they say they do or would do. This kind of research is often based on observation methods like usability testing, eye-tracking, or heat maps to understand user behavior.

Generative vs. evaluative

Generative research is all about generating new ideas, concepts, and insights to fuel the design process. You might run brainstorming sessions with groups of users, card sorting, and co-design sessions to inspire creativity and guide the development of user-centered solutions.

On the other hand, evaluative research focuses on assessing the usability, effectiveness, and overall quality of existing designs or prototypes. Once you’ve developed a prototype of your product, it's time to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. You can compare different versions of a product design or feature through A/B testing—ensuring your UX design meets user needs and expectations.

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11 Best UX research methods and when to use them

There are various UX research techniques—each method serves a specific purpose and can provide unique insights into user behaviors and preferences. In this section, we’ll highlight the most common research techniques you need to know.

Read on for an at-a-glance table, and full breakdown of each method.

1. User interviews

Tl;dr: user interviews.

Directly ask users about their experiences with a product to understand their thoughts, feelings, and problems

✅ Provides detailed insights that survey may miss ❌ May not represent the wider user base; depends on user’s memory and honesty

User interviews are a qualitative research method that involves having open-ended and guided discussions with users to gather in-depth insights about their experiences, needs, motivations, and behaviors.

Typically, you would ask a few questions on a specific topic during a user interview and analyze participants' answers. The results you get will depend on how well you form and ask questions, as well as follow up on participants’ answers.

“As a researcher, it's our responsibility to drive the user to their actual problems,” says Yuliya Martinavichene , User Experience Researcher at Zinio. She adds, “The narration of incidents can help you analyze a lot of hidden details with regard to user behavior.”

That’s why you should:

• Start with a wide context : Make sure that your questions don’t start with your product
• Ask questions: Always ask questions that focus on the tasks that users are trying to complete
• Invest in analysis : Get transcripts done and share the findings with your team

Tanya Nativ , Design Researcher at Sketch recommends defining the goals and assumptions internally. “Our beliefs about our users’ behavior really help to structure good questions and get to the root of the problem and its solution,” she explains.

It's easy to be misunderstood if you don't have experience writing interview questions. You can get someone to review them for you or use our Question Bank of 350+ research questions .

When to conduct user interviews

This method is typically used at the start and end of your project. At the start of a project, you can establish a strong understanding of your target users, their perspectives, and the context in which they’ll interact with your product. By the end of your project, new user interviews—often with a different set of individuals—offer a litmus test for your product's usability and appeal, providing firsthand accounts of experiences, perceived strengths, and potential areas for refinement.

2. Field studies

Tl;dr: field studies.

Observe users in their natural environment to inform design decisions with real-world context

✅ Provides contextual insights into user behavior in real-world situations ✅ Helps identify external factors and conditions that influence user experience ❌ Can be time-consuming and resource-intensive to conduct ❌ Participants may behave differently when they know they are being observed (Hawthorne effect)

Field studies—also known as ethnographic research—are research activities that take place in the user’s environment rather than in your lab or office. They’re a great method for uncovering context, unknown motivations, or constraints that affect the user experience.

An advantage of field studies is observing people in their natural environment, giving you a glimpse at the context in which your product is used. It’s useful to understand the context in which users complete tasks, learn about their needs, and collect in-depth user stories.

When to conduct field studies

This method can be used at all stages of your project—two key times you may want to conduct field studies are:

• As part of the discovery and exploration stage to define direction and understand the context around when and how users interact with the product
• During usability testing, once you have a prototype, to evaluate the effectiveness of the solution or validate design assumptions in real-world contexts

3. Focus groups

Tl;dr: focus groups.

Gather qualitative data from a group of users discussing their experiences and opinions about a product

✅ Allows for diverse perspectives to be shared and discussed ❌ Group dynamics may influence individual opinions

A focus group is a qualitative research method that includes the study of a group of people, their beliefs, and opinions. It’s typically used for market research or gathering feedback on products and messaging.

Focus groups can help you better grasp:

• How users perceive your product
• What users believe are a product’s most important features
• What problems do users experience with the product

As with any qualitative research method, the quality of the data collected through focus groups is only as robust as the preparation. So, it’s important to prepare a UX research plan you can refer to during the discussion.

Here’s some things to consider:

• Write a script to guide the conversation
• Ask clear, open-ended questions focused on the topics you’re trying to learn about
• Include around five to ten participants to keep the sessions focused and organized

When to conduct focus groups

It’s easier to use this research technique when you're still formulating your concept, product, or service—to explore user preferences, gather initial reactions, and generate ideas. This is because, in the early stages, you have flexibility and can make significant changes without incurring high costs.

Another way some researchers employ focus groups is post-launch to gather feedback and identify potential improvements. However, you can also use other methods here which may be more effective for identifying usability issues. For example, a platform like Maze can provide detailed, actionable data about how users interact with your product. These quantitative results are a great accompaniment to the qualitative data gathered from your focus group.

4. Diary studies

Tl;dr: diary studies.

Get deep insights into user thoughts and feelings by having them keep a product-related diary over a set period of time, typically a couple of weeks

✅ Gives you a peak into how users interact with your product in their day-to-day ❌ Depends on how motivated and dedicated the users are

Diary studies involve asking users to track their usage and thoughts on your product by keeping logs or diaries, taking photos, explaining their activities, and highlighting things that stood out to them.

“Diary studies are one of the few ways you can get a peek into how users interact with our product in a real-world scenario,” says Tanya.

A diary study helps you tell the story of how products and services fit into people’s daily lives, and the touch-points and channels they choose to complete their tasks.

There’s several key questions to consider before conducting diary research, from what kind of diary you want—freeform or structured, and digital or paper—to how often you want participants to log their thoughts.

• Open, ‘freeform’ diary: Users have more freedom to record what and when they like, but can also lead to missed opportunities to capture data users might overlook
• Closed, ‘structured; diary: Users follow a stricter entry-logging process and answer pre-set questions

Remember to determine the trigger: a signal that lets the participants know when they should log their feedback. Tanya breaks these triggers down into the following:

• Interval-contingent trigger : Participants fill out the diary at specific intervals such as one entry per day, or one entry per week
• Signal-contingent trigger : You tell the participant when to make an entry and how you would prefer them to communicate it to you as well as your preferred type of communication
• Event-contingent trigger : The participant makes an entry whenever a defined event occurs

When to conduct diary studies

Diary studies are often valuable when you need to deeply understand users' behaviors, routines, and pain points in real-life contexts. This could be when you're:

• Conceptualizing a new product or feature: Gain insights into user habits, needs, and frustrations to inspire your design
• Trying to enhance an existing product: Identify areas where users are having difficulties or where there are opportunities for better user engagement

TL;DR: Surveys

Collect quantitative data from a large sample of users about their experiences, preferences, and satisfaction with a product

✅ Provides a broad overview of user opinions and trends ❌ May lack in-depth insights and context behind user responses

Although surveys are primarily used for quantitative research, they can also provided qualitative data, depending on whether you use closed or open-ended questions:

• Closed-ended questions come with a predefined set of answers to choose from using formats like rating scales, rankings, or multiple choice. This results in quantitative data.
• Open-ended question s are typically open-text questions where test participants give their responses in a free-form style. This results in qualitative data.

Matthieu Dixte , Product Researcher at Maze, explains the benefit of surveys: “With open-ended questions, researchers get insight into respondents' opinions, experiences, and explanations in their own words. This helps explore nuances that quantitative data alone may not capture.”

So, how do you make sure you’re asking the right survey questions? Gregg Bernstein , UX Researcher at Signal, says that when planning online surveys, it’s best to avoid questions that begin with “How likely are you to…?” Instead, Gregg says asking questions that start with “Have you ever… ?” will prompt users to give more specific and measurable answers.

Make sure your questions:

• Are easy to understand
• Don't guide participants towards a particular answer
• Include both closed-ended and open-ended questions
• Respect users and their privacy
• Are consistent in terms of format

To learn more about survey design, check out this guide .

When to conduct surveys

While surveys can be used at all stages of project development, and are ideal for continuous product discovery , the specific timing and purpose may vary depending on the research goals. For example, you can run surveys at:

• Conceptualization phase to gather preliminary data, and identify patterns, trends, or potential user segments
• Post-launch or during iterative design cycles to gather feedback on user satisfaction, feature usage, or suggestions for improvements

6. Card sorting

Tl;dr: card sorting.

Understand how users categorize and prioritize information within a product or service to structure your information in line with user expectations

✅ Helps create intuitive information architecture and navigation ❌ May not accurately reflect real-world user behavior and decision-making

Card sorting is an important step in creating an intuitive information architecture (IA) and user experience. It’s also a great technique to generate ideas, naming conventions, or simply see how users understand topics.

In this UX research method, participants are presented with cards featuring different topics or information, and tasked with grouping the cards into categories that make sense to them.

There are three types of card sorting:

• Open card sorting: Participants organize topics into categories that make sense to them and name those categories, thus generating new ideas and names
• Hybrid card sorting: Participants can sort cards into predefined categories, but also have the option to create their own categories
• Closed card sorting: Participants are given predefined categories and asked to sort the items into the available groups

Card sorting type comparison table

You can run a card sorting session using physical index cards or digitally with a UX research tool like Maze to simulate the drag-and-drop activity of dividing cards into groups. Running digital card sorting is ideal for any type of card sort, and moderated or unmoderated sessions .

Read more about card sorting and learn how to run a card sorting session here .

When to conduct card sorting

Card sorting isn’t limited to a single stage of design or development—it can be employed anytime you need to explore how users categorize or perceive information. For example, you may want to use card sorting if you need to:

• Understand how users perceive ideas
• Evaluate and prioritize potential solutions
• Generate name ideas and understand naming conventions
• Learn how users expect navigation to work
• Decide how to group content on a new or existing site
• Restructure information architecture

7. Tree testing

Tl;dr: tree testing.

Evaluate the findability of existing information within a product's hierarchical structure or navigation

✅ Identifies potential issues in the information architecture ❌ Focuses on navigation structure, not visual design or content

During tree testing a text-only version of the site is given to your participants, who are asked to complete a series of tasks requiring them to locate items on the app or website.

The data collected from a tree test helps you understand where users intuitively navigate first, and is an effective way to assess the findability, labeling, and information architecture of a product.

We recommend keeping these sessions short, ranging from 15 to 20 minutes, and asking participants to complete no more than ten tasks. This helps ensure participants remain focused and engaged, leading to more reliable and accurate data, and avoiding fatigue.

If you’re using a platform like Maze to run remote testing, you can easily recruit participants based on various demographic filters, including industry and country. This way, you can uncover a broader range of user preferences, ensuring a more comprehensive understanding of your target audience.

To learn more about tree testing, check out this chapter .

When to conduct tree testing

Tree testing is often done at an early stage in the design or redesign process. That’s because it’s more cost-effective to address errors at the start of a project—rather than making changes later in the development process or after launch.

However, it can be helpful to employ tree testing as a method when adding new features, particularly alongside card sorting.

While tree testing and card sorting can both help you with categorizing the content on a website, it’s important to note that they each approach this from a different angle and are used at different stages during the research process. Ideally, you should use the two in tandem: card sorting is recommended when defining and testing a new website architecture, while tree testing is meant to help you test how the navigation performs with users.

8. Usability testing

Tl;dr: usability testing.

Observe users completing specific tasks with a product to identify usability issues and potential improvements

✅ Provides direct insights into user behavior and reveals pain points ❌ Conducted in a controlled environment, may not fully represent real-world usage

Usability testing evaluates your product with people by getting them to complete tasks while you observe and note their interactions (either during or after the test). The goal of conducting usability testing is to understand if your design is intuitive and easy to use. A sign of success is if users can easily accomplish their goals and complete tasks with your product.

There are various usability testing methods that you can use, such as moderated vs. unmoderated or qualitative vs. quantitative —and selecting the right one depends on your research goals, resources, and timeline.

Usability testing is usually performed with functional mid or hi-fi prototypes . If you have a Figma, InVision, Sketch, or prototype ready, you can import it into a platform like Maze and start testing your design with users immediately.

The tasks you create for usability tests should be:

• Realistic, and describe a scenario
• Actionable, and use action verbs (create, sign up, buy, etc)

Be mindful of using leading words such as ‘click here’ or ‘go to that page’ in your tasks. These instructions bias the results by helping users complete their tasks—something that doesn’t happen in real life.

✨ Product tip

With Maze, you can test your prototype and live website with real users to filter out cognitive biases, and gather actionable insights that fuel product decisions.

When to conduct usability testing

To inform your design decisions, you should do usability testing early and often in the process . Here are some guidelines to help you decide when to do usability testing:

• Before you start designing
• Once you have a wireframe or prototype
• Prior to the launch of the product
• At regular intervals after launch

To learn more about usability testing, check out our complete guide to usability testing .

9. Five-second testing

Tl;dr: five-second testing.

Gauge users' first impressions and understanding of a design or layout

✅ Provides insights into the instant clarity and effectiveness of visual communication ❌ Limited to first impressions, does not assess full user experience or interaction

In five-second testing , participants are (unsurprisingly) given five seconds to view an image like a design or web page, and then they’re asked questions about the design to gauge their first impressions.

Why five seconds? According to data , 55% of visitors spend less than 15 seconds on a website, so it;s essential to grab someone’s attention in the first few seconds of their visit. With a five-second test, you can quickly determine what information users perceive and their impressions during the first five seconds of viewing a design.

Product tip 💡

And if you’re using Maze, you can simply upload an image of the screen you want to test, or browse your prototype and select a screen. Plus, you can star individual comments and automatically add them to your report to share with stakeholders.

When to conduct five-second testing

Five-second testing is typically conducted in the early stages of the design process, specifically during initial concept testing or prototype development. This way, you can evaluate your design's initial impact and make early refinements or adjustments to ensure its effectiveness, before putting design to development.

To learn more, check out our chapter on five-second testing .

10. A/B testing

Tl;dr: a/b testing.

Compare two versions of a design or feature to determine which performs better based on user engagement

✅ Provides data-driven insights to guide design decisions and optimize user experience ❌ Requires a large sample size and may not account for long-term effects or complex interactions

A/B testing , also known as split testing, compares two or more versions of a webpage, interface, or feature to determine which performs better regarding engagement, conversions, or other predefined metrics.

It involves randomly dividing users into different groups and giving each group a different version of the design element being tested. For example, let's say the primary call-to-action on the page is a button that says ‘buy now’.

You're considering making changes to its design to see if it can lead to higher conversions, so you create two versions:

• Version A : The original design with the ‘buy now’ button positioned below the product description—shown to group A
• Version B : A variation with the ‘buy now’ button now prominently displayed above the product description—shown to group B

Over a planned period, you measure metrics like click-through rates, add-to-cart rates, and actual purchases to assess the performance of each variation. You find that Group B had significantly higher click-through and conversion rates than Group A. This indicates that showing the button above the product description drove higher user engagement and conversions.

Check out our A/B testing guide for more in-depth examples and guidance on how to run these tests.

When to conduct A/B testing

A/B testing can be used at all stages of the design and development process—whenever you want to collect direct, quantitative data and confirm a suspicion, or settle a design debate. This iterative testing approach allows you to continually improve your website's performance and user experience based on data-driven insights.

11. Concept testing

Tl;dr: concept testing.

Evaluate users' reception and understanding of a new product, feature, or design idea before moving on to development

✅ Helps validate and refine concepts based on user feedback ❌ Relies on users' perception and imagination, may not reflect actual use

Concept testing is a type of research that evaluates the feasibility, appeal, and potential success of a new product before you build it. It centers the user in the ideation process, using UX research methods like A/B testing, surveys, and customer interviews.

There’s no one way to run a concept test—you can opt for concept testing surveys, interviews, focus groups, or any other method that gets qualitative data on your concept.

*Dive into our complete guide to concept testing for more tips and tricks on getting started. *

When to conduct concept testing

Concept testing helps gauge your audience’s interest, understanding, and likelihood-to-purchase, before committing time and resources to a concept. However, it can also be useful further down the product development line—such as when defining marketing messaging or just before launching.

Which is the best UX research type?

The best research type varies depending on your project; what your objectives are, and what stage you’re in. Ultimately, the ideal type of research is one which provides the insights required, using the available resources.

For example, if you're at the early ideation or product discovery stage, generative research methods can help you generate new ideas, understand user needs, and explore possibilities. As you move to the design and development phase, evaluative research methods and quantitative data become crucial.

Discover the UX research trends shaping the future of the industry and why the best results come from a combination of different research methods.

How to choose the right user experience research method

In an ideal world, a combination of all the insights you gain from multiple types of user research methods would guide every design decision. In practice, this can be hard to execute due to resources.

Sometimes the right methodology is the one you can get buy-in, budget, and time for.

Gregg Bernstein , UX Researcher at Signal

UX research tools can help streamline the research process, making regular testing and application of diverse methods more accessible—so you always keep the user at the center of your design process. Some other key tips to remember when choosing your method are:

Define the goals and problems

A good way to inform your choice of user experience research method is to start by considering your goals. You might want to browse UX research templates or read about examples of research.

Michael Margolis , UX Research Partner at Google Ventures, recommends answering questions like:

• “What do your users need?”
• “What are your users struggling with?”
• “How can you help your users?”

Understand the design process stage

If your team is very early in product development, generative research —like field studies—make sense. If you need to test design mockups or a prototype, evaluative research methods—such as usability testing—will work best.

This is something they’re big on at Sketch, as we heard from Design Researcher, Tanya Nativ. She says, “In the discovery phase, we focus on user interviews and contextual inquiries. The testing phase is more about dogfooding, concept testing, and usability testing. Once a feature has been launched, it’s about ongoing listening.”

Consider the type of insights required

If you're looking for rich, qualitative data that delves into user behaviors, motivations, and emotions, then methods like user interviews or field studies are ideal. They’ll help you uncover the ‘why’ behind user actions.

On the other hand, if you need to gather quantitative data to measure user satisfaction or compare different design variations, methods like surveys or A/B testing are more suitable. These methods will help you get hard numbers and concrete data on preferences and behavior.

*Discover the UX research trends shaping the future of the industry and why the best results come from a combination of different research methods. *

Build a deeper understanding of your users with UX research

Think of UX research methods as building blocks that work together to create a well-rounded understanding of your users. Each method brings its own unique strengths, whether it's human empathy from user interviews or the vast data from surveys.

But it's not just about choosing the right UX research methods; the research platform you use is equally important. You need a platform that empowers your team to collect data, analyze, and collaborate seamlessly.

Simplifying product research is simple with Maze. From tree testing to card sorting, prototype testing to user interview analysis—Maze makes getting actionable insights easy, whatever method you opt for.

Meanwhile, if you want to know more about testing methods, head on to the next chapter all about tree testing .

Get valuable insights from real users

Conduct impactful UX research with Maze and improve your product experience and customer satisfaction.

Frequently asked questions

How do you choose the right UX research method?

Choosing the right research method depends on your goals. Some key things to consider are:

• The feature/product you’re testing
• The type of data you’re looking for
• The design stage
• The time and resources you have available

What is the best UX research method?

The best research method is the one you have the time, resources, and budget for that meets your specific needs and goals. Most research tools, like Maze, will accommodate a variety of UX research and testing techniques.

When to use which user experience research method?

Selecting which user research method to use—if budget and resources aren’t a factor—depends on your goals. UX research methods provide different types of data:

• Qualitative vs quantitative
• Attitudinal vs behavioral
• Generative vs evaluative

Identify your goals, then choose a research method that gathers the user data you need.

What results can I expect from UX research?

Here are some of the key results you can expect from actioning the insights uncovered during UX research:

• Improved user satisfaction
• Increased usability
• Better product fit
• Informed design decisions
• Reduced development costs
• Higher conversion rates
• Increased customer loyalty and retention

Tree Testing: Your Guide to Improve Navigation and UX

What is UX Research? Methods, Process, Tools, Examples

Appinio Research · 15.02.2024 · 40min read

Ever wondered how successful products and services are meticulously crafted to cater to your needs and preferences? User Experience (UX) research is the key that unlocks the secrets behind creating user-centered designs. In this guide, we will delve deep into UX research, uncovering its methods, strategies, and practical applications. Whether you're a designer, developer, product manager, or simply curious about the science of user satisfaction, this guide will empower you with the knowledge and tools to understand, implement, and benefit from UX research principles.

What is UX Research?

User Experience (UX) Research is a systematic process of understanding and evaluating how users interact with a product, service, or system. It encompasses a wide range of research methods and techniques to gain insights into user behaviors, preferences, needs, and pain points. The ultimate goal of UX research is to inform and improve the design and functionality of products and services to enhance user satisfaction and usability.

Importance of UX Research

Effective UX research plays a pivotal role in shaping user-centered design and development processes. Its significance can be understood through several key points:

• User-Centered Design : UX research places users at the forefront of design decisions, ensuring that products and services are tailored to meet their needs and preferences.
• Enhanced Usability : Research findings lead to improvements that enhance the overall usability of products, reducing user frustration and increasing engagement.
• Cost Reduction : Identifying and addressing usability issues early in the design process can save time and resources by avoiding costly redesigns or post-launch fixes.
• Competitive Advantage : Organizations prioritizing UX research gain a competitive edge by delivering superior user experiences that attract and retain customers.
• Improved Customer Satisfaction : User satisfaction is closely linked to loyalty and positive word-of-mouth, making UX research an investment in long-term customer relationships.
• Data-Driven Decision-Making : Research data provides valuable insights that inform strategic decisions, reducing the guesswork and subjectivity in design choices.

UX Research Goals and Objectives

The primary goals and objectives of UX research revolve around understanding user needs, improving usability, and driving user-centered design. Here are the key objectives that guide UX research efforts:

• User Understanding : Gain a deep understanding of the target audience, including their demographics, behaviors, motivations, and pain points.
• Usability Evaluation : Identify usability issues and challenges users encounter during interactions with a product or service.
• Task Efficiency : Determine how efficiently users can accomplish tasks within a system, with a focus on minimizing friction and errors.
• User Satisfaction : Measure user satisfaction and gather feedback to uncover areas where improvements can enhance overall user experience.
• Feature Prioritization : Assess which features or functionalities are most valuable to users, guiding feature prioritization in development.
• Validation and Iteration : Validate design decisions through testing and iteration, ensuring that changes align with user expectations and preferences.
• Benchmarking : Establish benchmarks to track improvements over time and compare performance to industry standards.
• Evidence-Based Design : Base design decisions on empirical data and user insights, fostering a user-centered and data-driven design culture.
• Accessibility and Inclusivity : Ensure that products and services are accessible to a diverse range of users, including those with disabilities.
• Risk Mitigation : Identify and mitigate potential risks and challenges early in the design process, reducing the likelihood of post-launch issues.
• Continuous Improvement : Embrace a culture of constant improvement, where UX research is an ongoing process that informs product enhancements and updates.

By aligning research efforts with these objectives, organizations can create products and services that resonate with users, leading to increased user satisfaction and business success.

How to Plan UX Research?

Planning is the foundation of any successful UX research project. It sets the direction, defines your objectives, and ensures that your efforts are focused on achieving meaningful outcomes.

Setting Clear Objectives

Setting clear objectives is the first and most crucial step in planning UX research. Your objectives guide the entire research process, helping you stay on track and measure success effectively. When defining objectives, consider the following:

• Specificity : Objectives should be clear and specific. Vague goals can lead to ambiguous research outcomes.
• Relevance : Ensure that your objectives align with the overall goals of your product or project. How will the research contribute to the success of the endeavor?
• Measurability : Define objectives that are measurable. You should be able to determine whether you've achieved them or not.
• Timeframe : Consider the timeline for your research. Are your objectives achievable within the given time frame?

A well-defined objective might look something like this: "To identify pain points in our mobile app's onboarding process by conducting usability testing with 15 participants, with the aim of reducing drop-off rates by 20% within the next quarter."

Identifying Target Audience

Understanding your target audience is fundamental to effective UX research. Your product or service is designed for specific users, and knowing them intimately is essential. When identifying your target audience, keep the following in mind:

• Demographics : Who are your users? What are their age, gender, location, and other relevant demographics?
• Psychographics : Dig deeper into their lifestyles, values, interests, and behaviors. What motivates them, and what are their pain points?
• User Personas : Create user personas to visualize your target audience. Personas help in humanizing and empathizing with your users.
• User Journeys : Map out the typical user journeys to understand the various touchpoints and interactions users have with your product.

Defining Research Questions

Research questions act as the compass that guides your journey through the UX research landscape. They should be well-crafted and directly tied to your objectives. When defining research questions, consider the following:

• Open-Endedness : Craft questions that allow for open-ended responses . Closed-ended questions with yes/no answers can limit the depth of insights.
• Unbiased Language : Ensure that your questions are phrased in a neutral and impartial manner. Biased questions can lead to skewed results.
• Relevance : Are your research questions directly related to your objectives? Avoid asking questions that do not contribute to your research goals.
• User-Centered : Frame questions from the user's perspective. What would users want to know or share about their experience?

For instance, if your objective is to improve the checkout process of an e-commerce website, a research question could be: "What challenges do users encounter during the checkout process, and how can we simplify it to enhance their experience?"

Budgeting and Resource Allocation

Effective UX research requires proper allocation of resources, both in terms of budget and personnel. Before embarking on your research journey:

• Financial Resources : Determine the budget available for your research project. This budget should cover participant incentives, research tools, and any other associated costs.
• Time Allocation : Allocate time appropriately for each phase of the research process, including recruitment, data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• Human Resources : Identify the team members or researchers responsible for conducting the research. Ensure they have the necessary skills and expertise.
• Tools and Software : Assess whether you have access to the required research tools, such as usability testing software, survey platforms, or analytics tools.

Proper budgeting and resource allocation prevent unexpected obstacles and ensure a seamless research process. Remember that investing in UX research is an investment in the overall success of your product or service.

Types of UX Research

When it comes to User Experience (UX) research, understanding the different types of research methodologies is crucial. Each type has its own strengths and applications, allowing you to gather specific insights into user behavior, preferences, and interactions. These are the three primary types of UX research.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research focuses on collecting numerical data to quantify user behaviors, preferences, or attitudes. It involves systematic data collection and statistical analysis. Here's a deeper look into quantitative research:

• Data Collection : Quantitative research relies on structured data collection methods, such as surveys, questionnaires, or data analytics tools. These methods yield data in numerical form.
• Objective Measurement : It aims to provide objective and measurable data. This is particularly useful for answering questions like "How many users performed a specific action?" or "What percentage of users prefer feature A over feature B?"
• Large Sample Sizes : Quantitative research often involves larger sample sizes to ensure statistical significance. This allows for generalizable findings.
• Statistical Analysis : Statistical analysis plays a central role in quantitative research. It helps identify trends, correlations, and patterns within the data.
• A/B Testing : A common application of quantitative research is A/B testing, where two versions of a design or feature are compared to determine which performs better based on quantifiable metrics.

Quantitative research provides valuable insights when you need to make data-driven decisions and understand the broader user trends and preferences within your target audience.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research dives deep into the subjective aspects of the user experience. It seeks to understand the "why" behind user behaviors and motivations. Here's a closer look at qualitative research:

• Data Collection : Qualitative research relies on methods such as user interviews, usability testing, focus groups , and ethnographic studies. These methods capture rich, non-numerical data.
• Subjective Insights : Qualitative research aims to uncover subjective insights. It helps answer questions like "Why do users find a particular feature frustrating?" or "What emotions do users experience during a specific interaction?"
• Small Sample Sizes : Qualitative research typically involves smaller sample sizes but offers in-depth insights into individual experiences.
• Contextual Understanding : Researchers often engage with users in their natural environment or within the context of product use. This provides a holistic understanding of user behaviors.
• Thematic Analysis : Qualitative data is analyzed through techniques like thematic coding, where common themes and patterns in user feedback are identified.

Qualitative research is particularly valuable when you want to gain a deeper understanding of user needs, pain points, and the emotional aspects of their interactions with your product or service.

Mixed-Methods Research

Mixed-methods research combines elements of both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. It offers a comprehensive view of the user experience by leveraging the strengths of both methodologies. Here's what you need to know about mixed-methods research:

• Data Variety : Mixed-methods research involves collecting both numerical and non-numerical data. This includes quantitative data from surveys and qualitative data from interviews or observations.
• Holistic Insights : By combining quantitative and qualitative data, researchers can gain a more complete and nuanced understanding of user behavior and preferences.
• Sequential or Concurrent : Mixed-methods research can be conducted sequentially (first quantitative, then qualitative) or concurrently (simultaneously collecting both types of data).
• Data Integration : Researchers must carefully integrate and analyze the data from both sources to draw comprehensive conclusions.
• Complementary Insights : The aim is to complement the strengths of one method with the weaknesses of the other, providing a more well-rounded perspective.

Mixed-methods research is valuable when you want to explore complex user experiences, understand the reasons behind quantitative trends, or validate findings from one method with the other. It offers a holistic approach to UX research that can lead to more informed design decisions.

How to Conduct UX Research?

Now that you've laid the groundwork and explored the types of UX research, it's time to delve into the practical aspects of conducting UX research.

Recruitment: Finding the Right Participants

Recruiting participants is a crucial step in UX research. The quality of your research outcomes depends on selecting the right participants who represent your target audience. Here's how to do it effectively:

• Define Participant Criteria : Begin by defining specific criteria for your participants. These criteria should align with your research objectives. For instance, if you're testing a healthcare app, you might require participants who have experience with healthcare services.
• Recruitment Channels : Determine where and how you will find participants. Common recruitment channels include online platforms, user testing services, or in-house databases.
• Incentives : Consider offering incentives to motivate participants. This could be monetary compensation, gift cards, or access to your product or service.
• Screening : Screen potential participants to ensure they meet your criteria. Conducting a screening interview or questionnaire can help filter out inappropriate candidates.

Sampling: Choosing the Right Sample Size

Sampling involves selecting a subset of your target audience for research. The size and representativeness of your sample are critical for obtaining reliable results:

• Sample Size : Determine the appropriate sample size based on your research goals and statistical requirements. Larger samples enhance the reliability of your findings.
• Random Sampling : Whenever possible, aim for random sampling to reduce bias. Randomly selecting participants from your target population increases the likelihood of obtaining a representative sample.
• Stratified Sampling : In cases where certain user segments are essential, consider stratified sampling. This ensures that each segment is adequately represented in your sample.

Recruitment and sampling are foundational elements of UX research, ensuring that the data collected accurately reflects the perspectives of your intended user base.

Choosing the Right Data Collection Methods

Selecting the most suitable data collection methods is vital for gathering relevant and meaningful information. Depending on your research objectives, you can utilize various methods:

• Usability Testing : Usability testing involves observing users as they interact with your product or prototype. It provides direct insights into how users navigate and use your design.
• Surveys and Questionnaires : Surveys are useful for gathering structured, quantitative data. They allow you to collect responses from a large number of participants quickly.
• Interviews : Interviews offer a deeper understanding of user experiences by engaging participants in open-ended conversations. They are particularly effective for uncovering motivations and pain points.
• Observations : Observational studies involve watching users in their natural context, providing insights into real-world behavior.
• Eye-Tracking : Eye-tracking technology can reveal where users focus their attention within your design, helping to optimize layouts and content placement.
• Heatmaps : Heatmaps display aggregated user interactions, highlighting areas of interest and interaction intensity within your design.
• Card Sorting : Card sorting exercises help organize information and navigation structures based on how users group and label items.

Choosing the proper data collection methods depends on your research goals, the type of insights you seek, and the available resources. When it comes to data collection, Appinio offers a streamlined solution that simplifies the process and ensures actionable results.

With Appinio , you can effortlessly design surveys, target specific demographics, and gather insights from a diverse pool of respondents. Whether you're conducting usability testing, administering surveys, or conducting interviews, Appinio provides the tools you need to make informed decisions quickly and efficiently.

Ready to elevate your UX research? Book a demo with Appinio today and experience the power of real-time consumer insights firsthand!

Book a Demo

Making Sense of Collected Data

Once data is collected, the next step is to analyze it effectively. Proper data analysis is critical for drawing meaningful insights and conclusions:

• Quantitative Analysis : For quantitative data collected through surveys or analytics, use statistical analysis techniques to identify patterns, correlations, and statistically significant findings.
• Qualitative Analysis : Qualitative data, such as interview transcripts or open-ended survey responses, requires thematic coding and content analysis to uncover themes, trends, and user sentiments.
• Mixed-Methods Integration : In mixed-methods research, integrate both quantitative and qualitative data to provide a comprehensive understanding of the user experience.
• Usability Metrics : When conducting usability testing, use established usability metrics such as task completion rates, time on task, and error rates to evaluate user performance.
• Data Visualization : Visualize your data using charts, graphs, and diagrams to make complex information more accessible and understandable.

Data analysis transforms raw data into actionable insights that inform design improvements and decision-making.

Improving User Experience Through Testing

Usability testing is a fundamental UX research method that involves observing users as they interact with your product or prototype. It helps identify usability issues and gather direct feedback for improvement:

• Test Planning : Begin by creating test scenarios and tasks that align with your research objectives. Determine what you want participants to accomplish during the test.
• Recruitment : Recruit participants who match your target audience and meet your criteria. Ensure they represent the diversity of your user base.
• Moderated vs. Unmoderated Testing : Choose between moderated (where a facilitator guides participants) and unmoderated (participants complete tasks independently) usability testing, depending on your needs and resources.
• Task Observation : Observe participants as they navigate your design, paying attention to their interactions, struggles, and feedback.
• Think-Aloud Protocol : Encourage participants to vocalize their thoughts and feelings during the test. This provides insights into their cognitive processes.
• Post-Test Interviews : Conduct post-test interviews to gather deeper insights. Ask participants about their overall experience, pain points, and suggestions for improvement.
• Iterative Testing : Usability testing is often an iterative process. After making design changes based on feedback, conduct additional tests to validate improvements.

Usability testing helps uncover issues that may not be apparent through other research methods, leading to improved user satisfaction and product usability.

Collecting Quantitative Insights

Surveys and questionnaires are valuable tools for collecting structured, quantitative data from a large number of participants. They can provide insights into user preferences, satisfaction, and demographics:

• Survey Design : Carefully design your survey or questionnaire , ensuring questions are clear, concise, and relevant to your research objectives.
• Sampling : Distribute your survey to a representative sample of your target audience to obtain meaningful results.
• Response Scale : Choose an appropriate response scale, such as Likert scales or multiple-choice questions, depending on the type of data you want to collect.
• Pre-Testing : Before launching your survey, conduct pre-testing to identify and address any potential issues with question wording or survey flow.
• Data Analysis : Once survey responses are collected, perform statistical analysis to uncover patterns and correlations within the data.

Surveys and questionnaires are efficient tools for gathering quantitative data, making them ideal for measuring user satisfaction, preferences, and trends.

Interviews and Observations

Interviews and observations provide qualitative insights that can help you understand the "why" behind user behaviors and motivations:

• Interview Types : Choose between structured, semi-structured, or unstructured interviews, depending on your research goals. Structured interviews use predefined questions, while unstructured interviews allow for open-ended conversations.
• Participant Selection : Select participants who represent your target audience and can provide diverse perspectives.
• Interview Moderation : During interviews, create a comfortable environment for participants to share their thoughts openly. Encourage them to expand on their responses.
• Observations : When conducting observational research, carefully observe users in their natural context or during product use. Take notes on their actions, gestures, and expressions.
• Contextual Inquiry : Contextual inquiries involve observing users while they perform specific tasks related to your product or service. This approach provides insights into real-world behavior.
• Data Interpretation : Analyze interview transcripts and observational notes using thematic coding or content analysis to identify recurring themes and patterns.

Interviews and observations allow you to gain a deep understanding of user experiences, uncover pain points, and inform design decisions from a user-centered perspective.

With these data collection methods at your disposal, you can tailor your approach to gather the most relevant insights for your specific UX research objectives. Whether you choose to observe user interactions, administer surveys, conduct interviews, or run usability tests , each method offers unique advantages for understanding and improving the user experience.

How to Interpret UX Research Data?

As you gather data through various UX research methods, the next critical step is to analyze and interpret this data effectively. This process involves transforming raw information into actionable insights that can drive design improvements and strategic decisions.

Visualizing Insights for Clarity

Data visualization is a powerful technique for making complex data more accessible and understandable. It involves representing data graphically through charts, graphs, and diagrams. Here's why data visualization matters and how to use it effectively:

• Simplify Complex Data : Data visualization simplifies large datasets and helps users quickly grasp trends and patterns.
• Enhance Communication : Visual representations of data are often more effective in conveying information than raw numbers or text.
• Choose the Right Visualization : Select the appropriate type of visualization based on the data and the story you want to tell. Common types include bar charts, line graphs, scatter plots, and heatmaps.
• Labels and Legends : Ensure that your visualizations have clear labels, legends, and scales. This makes it easier for viewers to understand and interpret the data.
• Interactivity : In digital formats, consider adding interactivity to allow users to explore data further by hovering, clicking, or filtering.
• Data Storytelling : Use data visualizations to tell a compelling story. Explain the context, highlight key findings, and guide viewers through the insights.

Data visualization aids in identifying patterns, trends, and anomalies within your data, helping you make informed decisions based on a visual representation of your research findings.

Identifying Patterns and Trends

Identifying patterns and trends within your data is essential for understanding user behavior and preferences. Here's how to effectively uncover these insights:

• Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) : Begin with an exploratory analysis of your data. Visualizations, such as histograms, box plots, and scatterplots, can reveal patterns and outliers.
• Segmentation : Segment your data by relevant variables (e.g., demographics , psychographic , user behaviors) to identify patterns within specific groups.
• Statistical Analysis : Use statistical methods to analyze your data quantitatively. Techniques like regression analysis, correlation, and hypothesis testing can uncover relationships and trends.
• Time Series Analysis : If your data includes time-based information, such as user interactions over time, use time series analysis to identify temporal trends and seasonality.
• Qualitative Data : For qualitative data from interviews or open-ended survey responses, use thematic coding to identify recurring themes and insights.
• Comparative Analysis : Compare data before and after design changes or between different user groups to assess the impact of interventions.

Identifying patterns and trends in your data allows you to deeply understand user behaviors, preferences, and pain points, enabling data-driven decision-making.

Turning Data into Actionable Knowledge

Drawing insights and conclusions from your data is the ultimate goal of UX research. It's the stage where you transform data into actionable knowledge that informs design improvements and strategic decisions:

• Hypothesis Validation : Determine whether your research findings align with your initial hypotheses and objectives.
• Prioritization : Prioritize the most significant insights and findings. Focus on those that have the most substantial impact on the user experience.
• User-Centered Recommendations : Frame your insights in a user-centered manner. Consider how the findings can benefit users and enhance their interactions with your product or service.
• Iterative Design : Use insights to inform iterative design improvements. Test and validate changes based on research findings to ensure they address identified issues.
• Communicate Effectively : Communicate your insights and conclusions clearly to stakeholders, designers, and developers. Use data-driven evidence to support your recommendations.
• Continuous Learning : UX research is an ongoing process. Continue to learn and adapt based on user feedback and new research findings.

Ultimately, the ability to draw meaningful insights and conclusions from your UX research data is what drives the improvement of user experiences and the success of your products and services. It's the bridge between data collection and impactful action.

Examples of UX Research

To gain a deeper understanding of how UX research is applied in real-world scenarios, let's explore some concrete examples that illustrate its importance and impact.

E-Commerce Website Optimization

Scenario : An e-commerce company notices a high cart abandonment rate on their website, with users frequently leaving before completing their purchases.

UX Research Approach : The company conducts usability testing with a group of participants. They observe users as they navigate the website, add products to their carts, and attempt to complete the checkout process.

Findings : Through usability testing, the research team identifies several issues contributing to cart abandonment. Users struggle with unclear product descriptions, a complex checkout process, and a lack of payment options. Additionally, users express concerns about data security during the payment phase.

Impact : Armed with these insights, the company makes a series of improvements. They streamline the checkout process, improve product descriptions, add multiple payment options, and prominently display security certifications. As a result, cart abandonment rates decrease significantly, leading to a notable increase in completed purchases and revenue.

Mobile App Redesign

Scenario : A mobile app development company receives user feedback indicating that their app is challenging to navigate and lacks key features.

UX Research Approach : The company initiates a comprehensive research effort that includes user interviews, surveys, and competitor analysis . They aim to understand user expectations, pain points, and the strengths of competing apps.

Findings : User interviews reveal that users desire a more intuitive navigation structure and specific features that rival apps offer. Surveys confirm these preferences and competitor analysis uncovers successful design patterns.

Impact : The company embarks on a redesign project based on user feedback and industry best practices. They restructure the app's interface, add requested features, and enhance the overall user experience. As a result, user satisfaction increases, app ratings improve, and user engagement metrics rise.

Healthcare Information Portal Enhancement

Scenario : A healthcare organization operates an online portal where patients access medical records and communicate with healthcare providers. Users report difficulties in finding information and engaging with the portal.

UX Research Approach : The organization employs a mixed-methods research approach, combining quantitative data analysis with qualitative research. They analyze user interactions and survey responses while also conducting in-depth interviews with patients.

Findings : Quantitative data analysis reveals that users frequently abandon tasks without completion, such as accessing test results. Surveys and interviews uncover confusion related to navigation, terminology, and information layout.

Impact : Armed with a comprehensive understanding of user challenges, the organization revamps the portal's navigation, rewrites content in plain language, and introduces user-friendly features such as task wizards. User engagement with the portal increases, and patients report improved satisfaction with the online experience, leading to enhanced patient-provider interactions.

Social Media Platform Feature Expansion

Scenario : A popular social media platform aims to expand its feature set to stay competitive and retain users. However, the platform's leadership wants to ensure that any new features align with user preferences.

UX Research Approach : The social media platform initiates a series of surveys and user feedback sessions. They present users with potential feature concepts and gather their opinions, expectations, and concerns.

Findings : Through surveys and user feedback sessions, the platform discovers that users desire enhanced privacy controls, a more user-friendly post creation process, and better content filtering options. Additionally, users express concerns about the potential impact of new features on their data privacy.

Impact : Armed with user insights, the platform introduces new features while addressing user concerns. They implement robust privacy settings, simplify post creation, and provide users with customizable content filters. User engagement increases as users appreciate the platform's responsiveness to their needs, and user satisfaction remains high.

These examples highlight how UX research methods, such as usability testing, interviews, surveys, and data analysis, can identify specific issues, inform design improvements, and ultimately enhance the user experience. By investing in UX research, organizations can address user pain points, improve product offerings, and stay competitive in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

How to Report UX Research Findings?

After conducting UX research and drawing valuable insights, the next crucial step is effectively communicating your findings to stakeholders and team members.

Creating Research Reports

Research reports are comprehensive documents that encapsulate your entire UX research process and findings. They serve as a valuable reference for team members and stakeholders. Here's how to create effective research reports:

• Structured Format : Organize your report in a structured format that includes sections such as an executive summary, methodology, key findings, and recommendations.
• Visual Aids : Use visuals such as charts, graphs, and screenshots to illustrate your findings. Visual aids make complex data more accessible.
• Clear Language : Write in clear, concise language that is easily understandable by both technical and non-technical readers.
• Methodology Details : Provide a detailed account of your research methodology, including participant recruitment, data collection methods, and analysis techniques.
• Key Insights : Summarize the most critical findings and insights that emerged from your research. Highlight what these findings mean for the user experience.
• Actionable Recommendations : Include actionable recommendations for improving the product or service based on your research insights.

Creating a well-structured research report ensures that your findings are documented comprehensively and can be referred to as a reference for future decision-making.

Presenting to Stakeholders

Presenting your research findings to stakeholders is essential in the UX research process. It's an opportunity to convey the significance of your insights and garner support for implementing changes.

• Know Your Audience : Understand the background and interests of your audience. Tailor your presentation to their level of expertise and concerns.
• Storytelling : Craft a compelling narrative around your research. Use storytelling techniques to engage your audience and convey the user experience effectively.
• Visuals : Incorporate visuals, such as charts, graphs, and user personas, to illustrate key points and findings.
• Interactive Demonstrations : If possible, demonstrate user interactions or showcase usability improvements through interactive prototypes.
• Key Takeaways : Summarize the main takeaways and actionable recommendations. Highlight how implementing these changes can benefit the organization and users.
• Address Questions : Be prepared to answer questions and provide additional context during the presentation.

Effective presentations not only convey the value of your research but also foster collaboration and support for user-centered improvements.

Making Recommendations

One of the most critical aspects of UX research is translating findings into actionable recommendations that drive improvements in the user experience. Here's how to make recommendations effectively:

• Prioritize Recommendations : Identify and prioritize recommendations based on their potential impact and feasibility. Consider short-term and long-term goals.
• User-Centered Focus : Frame recommendations in a user-centered manner. Explain how implementing each recommendation will directly benefit users.
• Specificity : Make recommendations specific and actionable. Avoid vague suggestions. For example, instead of saying "improve navigation," specify "simplify the main menu structure."
• Data-Backed Evidence : Support recommendations with data-backed evidence from your research. Reference specific findings or user feedback that led to each recommendation.
• Collaboration : Collaborate with designers, developers, and other stakeholders to implement recommendations effectively. Provide guidance and support during the implementation phase.
• Iterative Approach : Recognize that UX research is an ongoing process. Encourage an iterative approach where recommendations are tested, refined, and re-evaluated over time.

Effective recommendations bridge the gap between research findings and meaningful changes that enhance the user experience. They guide product development efforts toward user-centered design and improved satisfaction.

Iterative UX Research

Iterative UX research is a fundamental practice that involves continuous feedback and improvement throughout the product development lifecycle. It emphasizes the importance of ongoing research, testing, and refinement to create user-centered designs.

Here's how it works:

• Feedback Loops : Establish feedback loops where user feedback and insights are collected continuously, not just at specific project phases.
• Regular Testing : Conduct regular usability testing, user interviews, or surveys to gather insights and validate design decisions.
• A/B Testing : Implement A/B testing to compare different design variations and make data-driven decisions on feature implementations.
• Prototyping : Create prototypes and gather user feedback early in the design process. Use this feedback to refine and iterate on designs.
• Monitoring Metrics : Continuously monitor key performance metrics, such as user engagement and conversion rates, to identify areas for improvement.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration : Promote collaboration between UX researchers, designers, developers, and product managers to ensure that research findings inform design and development decisions.

Iterative UX research ensures that user feedback is integrated into the design and development process, leading to products and services that continually evolve to meet user needs and preferences.

Ethical Considerations in UX Research

Ethical considerations in UX research are paramount to protect the rights and well-being of participants and ensure the integrity of the research process. Here are some ethical principles to adhere to:

• Informed Consent : Obtain informed consent from participants, clearly explaining the research purpose, procedures, and any potential risks involved.
• Privacy and Data Security : Safeguard participant privacy by anonymizing and securely storing sensitive data. Follow data protection regulations, such as GDPR.
• Transparency : Be transparent about the research objectives, methodologies, and the use of collected data. Avoid misleading or deceptive practices.
• Avoiding Harm : Ensure that research activities do not harm participants physically or emotionally. Minimize any potential discomfort or stress.
• Respect and Dignity : Treat participants with respect and dignity. Avoid any form of discrimination, bias, or exploitation.
• Bias Awareness : Be aware of potential biases in research design and analysis . Strive for inclusivity and fairness in participant selection and interpretation of findings.
• Debriefing : Provide participants with a debriefing session after their involvement in research, explaining the purpose of the study and addressing any questions or concerns.

Ethical UX research practices uphold the principles of integrity, transparency, and respect, fostering trust between researchers and participants and ensuring the ethical integrity of the research process.

Conclusion for UX Research

UX research is the compass that guides the creation of products and services with you, the user, at the center. By understanding your needs, preferences, and challenges, organizations can craft experiences that truly resonate with you. From setting clear objectives and conducting research to analyzing data and making improvements, the journey of UX research is a continuous cycle of enhancement, ensuring that the digital world becomes more user-friendly with each iteration. Remember, UX research is a powerful tool that empowers teams to create products that delight users and drive success. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just beginning your journey into UX, the principles and practices outlined in this guide can help you make a positive impact in the ever-evolving landscape of user experience.

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All you need to know about UX research

Last updated

21 February 2023

Reviewed by

Jean Kaluza

Are you looking for ways to optimize your product, service, or software to better reach and resonate with your audience?

The first step to successful UX research is to discover what UX research is, its process, and how you can leverage it in your business.

Read on to discover everything you need to know, including:

What UX research is

Why UX research is important

The five steps of UX research

Don't let UX problems go unnoticed

Use Dovetail to analyze all your customer interviews and uncover hidden UX issues that are costing your business every day.

• What is UX research?

User experience (UX) research involves gathering valuable insights into how your consumers use your product, service, or software and learning more about your target users to better meet their needs and preferences. Depending on your focus area, UX research serves different purposes in the user-centered design process.

Uncovering what your end users want and need will inform your product team's decisions on product ideas, prototypes , and changes in current designs. In marketing, these targeted user insights from your user researchers can help to customize brand designs and create messaging for the right target audience.

• Why is UX research important to businesses?

There was a time when products and services sold themselves. If it was decent, people bought it. Today, however, customers want more. They want product experiences and brand interactions to be customized. There is also far more competition in most industries than ever before.

Here are some examples of the importance of UX research to your business's success.

Bring more value to your customers

Your customers are the reason for your company's existence. If they didn't need what you're offering, there'd be no reason for you to offer it. UX research goes beyond the basics of what your product/service provides and focuses on improving customer satisfaction and customer experience.

In turn, your customer gets more value out of what you've launched—a smoother experience, more tools and resources, additional features, and more—while you boost customer retention and gain an advantage over the competition by going above and beyond to fulfill your customer's needs.

Take the bias out of your user-centered design process

Believe it or not, quite a few companies still think they know what the end user wants more than the end users themselves. This kind of thinking can be limiting because it's often wrong. The UX design process can offer a solution so long as it’s focused on real users.

UX researchers take the bias out of the process to ensure the user is at the center of brand and product decisions since your customers are the ones buying your products—not you.

Increase your odds of success by making more informed decisions

When heading into a product launch, brainstorming ideas, or reevaluating your product, the most daunting question is: Will people buy it? The odds of succeeding when you launch your product or reconstruct a current one skyrocket if your decisions are based on consumer data and human insights.

This is because you're not making decisions derived from “gut feelings” and guesswork. You’re using cold, hard facts that come straight from the users themselves via techniques such as:

Observational studies

Contextual interviews

User feedback

Online surveys

Usability testing

• What is the return on investment (ROI) for UX research?

The significant time, effort, skill, and expertise your UX researcher needs to conduct their work effectively may make you wonder whether the process is worth the cost and effort. However, research suggests it's a necessary part of product success.

Baymard Institute reveals some telling statistics in its report:

When done right, a flawless UX design can potentially produce 400% higher conversion rates

The average ROI of UX research is 9,900% or $100 back for every $1 spent

Studies show that data-driven companies often outperform their counterparts by 228% or more

By redesigning its site with a more UX focus, Staples was able to increase its eCommerce revenue by 500%

The important takeaway here is that your users’ experience is vital to your success. Despite the complexities of user research , it is essential to every part of your business and development process because it puts the customer at the center of everything you do.

If you don’t focus on your users in this way, you risk your “solution” missing the mark as far as your prospective users' needs and wants are concerned. Misses like this can be due to building products on guesses or assumptions that internal stakeholders believe to be true without any validation. The result is unhappy users, falling retention rates, and costly designs and builds, resulting in negative impacts on ROI.

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Don’t leave money on the table. See how much you could save in lost revenue each year when you solve UX issues and deliver a better experience for your customers.

Value per visit

x Abandoned users

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• User experience research methods

According to the Nielsen Norman Group , the methods you use to conduct UX research depend on what stage of the design cycle you're in.

Stage 1: Discover

During this stage, researchers conduct methods such as:

Field studies

User interviews

Diary studies.

Interviews with stakeholders (discuss designs with stakeholders)

Requirements and constraints

Sales and support interviews

Support call monitoring

Competitive testing

Stage 2: Explore

Researchers use different methods to explore the problems at hand more deeply. They use methods such as:

Competitive analysis

Design review

Task analysis

Persona building

Journey mapping

Design diversity exploration

Cognitive walkthroughs

Prototype feedback and testing

Writing user stories

Card sorting

Stage 3: test.

The most common testing methods are:

Qualitative usability testing

Accessibility evaluation

Benchmark testing

Training research

Social media monitoring

Forum post analysis

User group outreach

Help documentation

Stage 4: Listen

Some excellent methods of listening to your users are:

Search-log analysis

FAQ reviews

Feedback reviews

Analytics reviews

Usability error reviews

Conference outreach

Q&A talks and demos

All these methods can be categorized into several UX research methods, which fall under one or more of the following terms.

Attitudinal vs. behavioral

Consumer insights and data are either attitudinal or behavioral. Attitudinal research refers to the data end users report to you when questioned about their opinions. This is the information you obtain through surveys, focus groups, card sorts, etc.

Behavioral research is the data your researchers collect through observing participants. Examples of observation methods include usability studies, A/B testing, and eye-tracking.

Qualitative vs. quantitative

Qualitative research methods strive to better understand end users through words and meanings. Quantitative methods draw insights from numbers and statistics.

Their purpose, methods, and sampling are very different.

The purpose of qualitative methods is to understand a phenomenon better, while quantitative methods aim to identify relationships and describe a phenomenon. Qualitative sampling is more intentional and on a smaller scale, whereas quantitative sampling is random and larger scale.

Qualitative methods include case studies, clinical research, and ethnography (studies of cultural contexts); in other words, data you draw from interviews, focus groups, and field observation. On the other hand, quantitative methods consist of quasi-experimental , experimental, and comparative techniques drawn from conducting surveys, tests, and questionnaires.

Generative vs. evaluative

Another important distinction when studying user experience is generative versus evaluative.

Generative research refers to the methods your team implements in the Discover and Explore stages of the Nielsen Norman Group design cycle. It seeks to uncover a deeper understanding of your users to identify opportunities for more valuable solutions.

On the other hand, evaluative research analyzes potential usability issues to validate that your product is aligned with real users who will benefit from it. You would conduct this type of research in the Test and Listen stages of the Nielsen Norman example.

• Qualitative UX research methods with examples

Qualitative UX research is often much more complex than the straightforward structure of quantitative data that requires numerical data points and statistical analysis. Although both are very important pieces of the puzzle, qualitative goes beyond the numbers to interpret what that data means. As a result, data analysis and user participation often take longer and require a wide range of language skills to conduct effectively.

Here are some examples of a user research method you can employ to gather qualitative insights .

Participatory design

One way to approach your UX research is by getting advice from people who use and work on your products, bringing them into the early stages of your design process. The participatory design method involves stakeholders—end users, partners, the design team, the development team, product managers, and more in the design decisions to ensure the final product is user-centered.

It's excellent for user testing and usability research methods and often leads to higher customer satisfaction ratings. It also works to bring your team together around a table to work on a shared problem and democratically decide on a solution. While it often involves a higher time investment upfront, it can result in a more fluid approach and greater efficiency throughout the project.

Card sorts are another popular UX research method. Through the use of mental models, they help you discover how users would organize your product. It’s often used in information architecture (IA) design. Here's how it works:

On index cards or Post-it notes, researchers write topics their product (e.g. a website) will have.

Participants organize these topics into groups that they define.

After grouping topics, participants will write a name for each group.

In an optional step, researchers may debrief participants with observations on the difficulty of placing topics in groups, overlapping topics, and thoughts on topics that weren't included in the card sort.

Diary studies are a qualitative research method that requires users to record their thoughts, experiences, and daily activities in a journal. How long a user keeps this record will depend on the head design researcher, but it can range from a few days to a few weeks.

Researchers evaluate and collect information from these diary studies to better understand user behavior and inform the ideal user journey. This method can be excellent for understanding user habits, journeys, attitudes, feelings, and the context of using your product (when, where, why, and how).

Diary study templates

• Types of user research tools

If you were to explore a UX research team's arsenal of tools, you would find dozens of ways to gather and interpret data. The tools used by one research team aren't always the same as those used by another team.

The differences can be due to several factors like preferences, budget, purpose, product types, design scope, and more. 

Surveys or questionnaires

There are tools available to help you create surveys and questionnaires, which make the process more informed and efficient in terms of time and cost. Depending on your needs, you can also toggle with different levels of complexity.

User groups or focus groups

User groups and focus groups bring together a larger team of people to capture insights from all of them at once.

Your team will need tools to help participants schedule a time and pick a place. You'll also need tools for the actual interview process (keeping participants on track) and the observations that follow.

Documenting, analyzing, and sharing

You can gather all the data in the world about your target market, but it's useless if you can't pull actionable insights from it.

This is where tools that allow you to store, analyze, and share data become crucial. Dovetail can help you manage, analyze, and share your user and product research. Collect and organize all your data in one place and action everything from transcribing and evaluating interviews to recording and organizing user insights.

User interview tools help you manage different stages of your user interview process, such as:

Recruitment

Offering incentives

Live user testing

Collaborative insights

With more robust apps, you'll find interview tools already integrated into your centralized research platform .

• The five stages of conducting UX research

There are five basic stages to good user research. Let’s take a look.

Stage 1: Objectives

The first stage of conducting good UX research is defining and detailing your research objectives. Well-thought-out, defined goals lead to significantly more success than poorly defined ones. Clear objectives also allow researchers to focus their research on a common goal: reducing usability issues, identifying user needs, etc.

This process will include the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How questions of your design process and research.

Stage 2: Hypothesis

The next stage of good research is framing your hypothesis, that is, making assumptions about user behaviors or potential solutions based on what you know about your end users (or think you know about them). This stage is structured to help you determine the best methods for moving forward with your research.

Stage 3: Methods

By the third stage of UX research, your research team has defined goals and made some hypotheses about the results. Now it's time to use that information to determine the best research methods for achieving your goal(s). There are dozens to choose from, so you'll need to consider important factors when selecting the ones you’ll use.

Consider asking yourself some of the following questions about each UX research method you’re considering:

Are you trying to define the phenomenon or explain why it’s happening?

Does it align with your goals?

Will it get you the desired results in your set time frame?

Is it a method researchers would typically use for this type of research?

Is it compatible with your dataset?

Is it appropriate for your ideal users/participants?

If you can answer yes to all these questions, the method may be the right choice. It will take significantly more thorough discussions before finalizing your approach, but this is a good starting point.

Stage 4: Process

You’ve decided on your UX research methods, so now it's time to put them to work. The next step is to source and gather the right participants. Make sure they're representative of your ideal end users. Otherwise, you risk getting inaccurate results from inadequate or irrelevant data.

Whether you’re interviewing, creating surveys, card sorting, or observing (or all these), this stage of your research requires capturing the results. Doing so may take specific skills depending on the method. For example, in qualitative sessions, psychological tricks like remaining silent so that your participant will want to speak or whether to use open or closed questions for certain survey questions.

The most successful research produces a wide range of content and material from which to collect insights, such as videos, notes, images, and more.

Stage 5: Synthesis

In the final stage of your UX research, you’ll gather all your results and make sense of what you've learned. First and foremost, does it prove or disprove your hypothesis? What insights can you take from your research to better accommodate the people who use your products?

The work of a UX researcher never ends, as human behavior is constantly changing. It is up to UX researchers to keep conducting studies and interpreting the results to better understand customer needs and expectations. This approach ensures that solutions will always bring the most value possible to your customers.

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The Complete Guide to UX Research Methods

UX research provides invaluable insight into product users and what they need and value. Not only will research reduce the risk of a miscalculated guess, it will uncover new opportunities for innovation.

By Miklos Philips

Miklos is a UX designer, product design strategist, author, and speaker with more than 18 years of experience in the design field.

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“Empathy is at the heart of design. Without the understanding of what others see, feel, and experience, design is a pointless task.” —Tim Brown, CEO of the innovation and design firm IDEO

User experience (UX) design is the process of designing products that are useful, easy to use, and a pleasure to engage. It’s about enhancing the entire experience people have while interacting with a product and making sure they find value, satisfaction, and delight. If a mountain peak represents that goal, employing various types of UX research is the path UX designers use to get to the top of the mountain.

User experience research is one of the most misunderstood yet critical steps in UX design. Sometimes treated as an afterthought or an unaffordable luxury, UX research, and user testing should inform every design decision.

Every product, service, or user interface designers create in the safety and comfort of their workplaces has to survive and prosper in the real world. Countless people will engage our creations in an unpredictable environment over which designers have no control. UX research is the key to grounding ideas in reality and improving the odds of success, but research can be a scary word. It may sound like money we don’t have, time we can’t spare, and expertise we have to seek.

In order to do UX research effectively—to get a clear picture of what users think and why they do what they do—e.g., to “walk a mile in the user’s shoes” as a favorite UX maxim goes, it is essential that user experience designers and product teams conduct user research often and regularly. Contingent upon time, resources, and budget, the deeper they can dive the better.

What Is UX Research?

There is a long, comprehensive list of UX design research methods employed by user researchers , but at its center is the user and how they think and behave —their needs and motivations. Typically, UX research does this through observation techniques, task analysis, and other feedback methodologies.

There are two main types of user research: quantitative (statistics: can be calculated and computed; focuses on numbers and mathematical calculations) and qualitative (insights: concerned with descriptions, which can be observed but cannot be computed).

Quantitative research is primarily exploratory research and is used to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data or data that can be transformed into usable statistics. Some common data collection methods include various forms of surveys – online surveys , paper surveys , mobile surveys and kiosk surveys , longitudinal studies, website interceptors, online polls, and systematic observations.

This user research method may also include analytics, such as Google Analytics .

Google Analytics is part of a suite of interconnected tools that help interpret data on your site’s visitors including Data Studio , a powerful data-visualization tool, and Google Optimize, for running and analyzing dynamic A/B testing.

Quantitative data from analytics platforms should ideally be balanced with qualitative insights gathered from other UX testing methods , such as focus groups or usability testing. The analytical data will show patterns that may be useful for deciding what assumptions to test further.

Qualitative user research is a direct assessment of behavior based on observation. It’s about understanding people’s beliefs and practices on their terms. It can involve several different methods including contextual observation, ethnographic studies, interviews, field studies, and moderated usability tests.

Jakob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group feels that in the case of UX research, it is better to emphasize insights (qualitative research) and that although quant has some advantages, qualitative research breaks down complicated information so it’s easy to understand, and overall delivers better results more cost effectively—in other words, it is much cheaper to find and fix problems during the design phase before you start to build. Often the most important information is not quantifiable, and he goes on to suggest that “quantitative studies are often too narrow to be useful and are sometimes directly misleading.”

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. William Bruce Cameron

Design research is not typical of traditional science with ethnography being its closest equivalent—effective usability is contextual and depends on a broad understanding of human behavior if it is going to work.

Nevertheless, the types of user research you can or should perform will depend on the type of site, system or app you are developing, your timeline, and your environment.

Top UX Research Methods and When to Use Them

Here are some examples of the types of user research performed at each phase of a project.

Card Sorting : Allows users to group and sort a site’s information into a logical structure that will typically drive navigation and the site’s information architecture. This helps ensure that the site structure matches the way users think.

Contextual Interviews : Enables the observation of users in their natural environment, giving you a better understanding of the way users work.

First Click Testing : A testing method focused on navigation, which can be performed on a functioning website, a prototype, or a wireframe.

Focus Groups : Moderated discussion with a group of users, allowing insight into user attitudes, ideas, and desires.

Heuristic Evaluation/Expert Review : A group of usability experts evaluating a website against a list of established guidelines .

Interviews : One-on-one discussions with users show how a particular user works. They enable you to get detailed information about a user’s attitudes, desires, and experiences.

Parallel Design : A design methodology that involves several designers pursuing the same effort simultaneously but independently, with the intention to combine the best aspects of each for the ultimate solution.

Personas : The creation of a representative user based on available data and user interviews. Though the personal details of the persona may be fictional, the information used to create the user type is not.

Prototyping : Allows the design team to explore ideas before implementing them by creating a mock-up of the site. A prototype can range from a paper mock-up to interactive HTML pages.

Surveys : A series of questions asked to multiple users of your website that help you learn about the people who visit your site.

System Usability Scale (SUS) : SUS is a technology-independent ten-item scale for subjective evaluation of the usability.

Task Analysis : Involves learning about user goals, including what users want to do on your website, and helps you understand the tasks that users will perform on your site.

Usability Testing : Identifies user frustrations and problems with a site through one-on-one sessions where a “real-life” user performs tasks on the site being studied.

Use Cases : Provide a description of how users use a particular feature of your website. They provide a detailed look at how users interact with the site, including the steps users take to accomplish each task.

You can do user research at all stages or whatever stage you are in currently. However, the Nielsen Norman Group advises that most of it be done during the earlier phases when it will have the biggest impact. They also suggest it’s a good idea to save some of your budget for additional research that may become necessary (or helpful) later in the project.

Here is a diagram listing recommended options that can be done as a project moves through the design stages. The process will vary, and may only include a few things on the list during each phase. The most frequently used methods are shown in bold.

Reasons for Doing UX Research

Here are three great reasons for doing user research :

To create a product that is truly relevant to users

• If you don’t have a clear understanding of your users and their mental models, you have no way of knowing whether your design will be relevant. A design that is not relevant to its target audience will never be a success.

To create a product that is easy and pleasurable to use

• A favorite quote from Steve Jobs: “ If the user is having a problem, it’s our problem .” If your user experience is not optimal, chances are that people will move on to another product.

To have the return on investment (ROI) of user experience design validated and be able to show:

• An improvement in performance and credibility
• Increased exposure and sales—growth in customer base
• A reduced burden on resources—more efficient work processes

Aside from the reasons mentioned above, doing user research gives insight into which features to prioritize, and in general, helps develop clarity around a project.

What Results Can I Expect from UX Research?

In the words of Mike Kuniaysky, user research is “ the process of understanding the impact of design on an audience. ”

User research has been essential to the success of behemoths like USAA and Amazon ; Joe Gebbia, CEO of Airbnb is an enthusiastic proponent, testifying that its implementation helped turn things around for the company when it was floundering as an early startup.

Some of the results generated through UX research confirm that improving the usability of a site or app will:

• Increase conversion rates
• Increase sign-ups
• Increase NPS (net promoter score)
• Increase customer satisfaction
• Increase purchase rates
• Boost loyalty to the brand
• Reduce customer service calls

Additionally, and aside from benefiting the overall user experience, the integration of UX research into the development process can:

• Minimize development time
• Reduce production costs
• Uncover valuable insights about your audience
• Give an in-depth view into users’ mental models, pain points, and goals

User research is at the core of every exceptional user experience. As the name suggests, UX is subjective—the experience that a person goes through while using a product. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the needs and goals of potential users, the context, and their tasks which are unique for each product. By selecting appropriate UX research methods and applying them rigorously, designers can shape a product’s design and can come up with products that serve both customers and businesses more effectively.

Further Reading on the Toptal Blog:

• How to Conduct Effective UX Research: A Guide
• The Value of User Research
• UX Research Methods and the Path to User Empathy
• Design Talks: Research in Action with UX Researcher Caitria O'Neill
• Swipe Right: 3 Ways to Boost Safety in Dating App Design
• How to Avoid 5 Types of Cognitive Bias in User Research

Understanding the basics

How do you do user research in ux.

UX research includes two main types: quantitative (statistical data) and qualitative (insights that can be observed but not computed), done through observation techniques, task analysis, and other feedback methodologies. The UX research methods used depend on the type of site, system, or app being developed.

What are UX methods?

There is a long list of methods employed by user research, but at its center is the user and how they think, behave—their needs and motivations. Typically, UX research does this through observation techniques, task analysis, and other UX methodologies.

What is the best research methodology for user experience design?

The type of UX methodology depends on the type of site, system or app being developed, its timeline, and environment. There are 2 main types: quantitative (statistics) and qualitative (insights).

What does a UX researcher do?

A user researcher removes the need for false assumptions and guesswork by using observation techniques, task analysis, and other feedback methodologies to understand a user’s motivation, behavior, and needs.

Why is UX research important?

UX research will help create a product that is relevant to users and is easy and pleasurable to use while boosting a product’s ROI. Aside from these reasons, user research gives insight into which features to prioritize, and in general, helps develop clarity around a project.

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Miklos Philips

London, United Kingdom

Member since May 20, 2016

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The Complete Guide To UX Research (User Research)

UX Research is a term that has been trending in the past few years. There's no surprise why it's so popular - User Experience Research is all about understanding your customer and their needs, which can help you greatly improve your conversion rate and user experience on your website. In this article, we're going to provide a complete guide to UX research as well as how to start implementing it in your organisation.Throughout this article we will give you a complete high-level overview of the entire UX Research meaning, supported by more in-depth articles for each topic.

Introduction to UX Research

Wether you're a grizzled UX Researcher who's been in the field for decades or a UX Novice who's just getting started, UX Research is an integral aspect of the UX Design process. Before diving into this article on UX research methods and tools, let's first take some time to break down what UX research actually entails.

Each of these UX Research Methods has its own strengths and weaknesses, so it's important to understand your goals for the UX Research activities you want to complete.

What is UX Research?

UX research begins with UX designers and UX researchers studying the real world needs of users. User Experience Research is a process --it's not just one thing-- that involves collecting data, conducting interviews, usability testing prototypes or website designs with human participants in order to deeply understand what people are looking for when they interact with a product or service.

By using different sorts of user-research techniques you can better understand not only people desires from their product of service, but a deeper human need which can serve as an incredibly powerful opportunity.

There's an incredible amount of different sorts of research methods. Most of them can be divided in two camps: Qualitative and Quantitative Research.

Qualitative research - Understanding needs can be accomplished through observation, in depth interviews and ethnographic studies. Quantitative Research focusses more on the numbers, analysing data and collecting measurable statistics.

Within these two groups there's an incredible amount of research activities such as Card Sorting, Competitive Analysis, User Interviews, Usability Tests, Personas & Customer Journeys and many more. We've created our The Curated List of Research Techniques to always give you an up-to-date overview.

Why is UX Research so important?

When I started my career as a digital designer over 15 years ago, I felt like I was always hired to design the client's idea. Simply translate what they had in their head into a UI without even thinking about changing the user experience. Needless to say: This is a recipe for disaster. An no, this isn't a "Client's don't know anything" story. Nobody knows! At least in the beginning. The client had "the perfect idea" for a new digital feature. The launch date was already set and the development process had to start as soon as possible.

When the feature launched, we expected support might get a few questions or even receive a few thank-you emails. We surely must've affected the user experience somehow!

But that didn't happen. Nothing happened. The feature wasn't used.

Because nobody needed it.

This is exactly what happens when you skip user experience research because you think you're solving a problem that "everybody" has, but nobody really does.

Conducting User Experience research can help you to have a better understanding of your stakeholders and what they need. This is incredibly valuable information from which you can create personas and customer journeys. It doesn't matter if you're creating a new product or service or are improving an existing once.

Five Steps for conducting User Research

Created by Eric Sanders , the Research Learning Spiral provides five main steps for your user research.

• Objectives: What are the knowledge gaps we need to fill?
• Hypotheses: What do we think we understand about our users?
• Methods: Based on time and manpower, what methods should we select?
• Conduct: Gather data through the selected methods.
• Synthesize: Fill in the knowledge gaps, prove or disprove our hypotheses, and discover opportunities for our design efforts.

1: Objectives: Define the Problem Statement

A problem statement is a concise description of an issue to be addressed or a condition to be improved upon. It identifies the gap between the current (problem) state and desired (goal) state of a process or product.

Problem statements are the first steps in your research because they help you to understand what's wrong or needs improving. For example, if your product is a mobile app and the problem statement says that customers are having difficulty paying for items within the application, then UX research will lead you (hopefully) down that path. Most likely it will involve some form of usability testing.

Check out this article if you'd like to learn more about Problem Statements.

2: Hypotheses: What we think we know about our user groups

After getting your Problem Statement right, there's one more thing to do before doing any research. Make sure you have created a clear research goal for yourself. How do you identify Research Objectives? By asking questions:

• Who are we doing this for? The starting point for your personas!
• What are we doing? What's happening right now? What do our user want? What does the company need?
• Think about When. If you're creating a project plan, you'll need a timeline. It also helps to keep in mind when people are using your products or service.
• Where is the logical next step. Where do people use your product? Why there? What limitations are there to that location? Where can you perform research? Where do your users live?
• Why are we doing this? Why should or shouldn't we be doing this? Why teaches you all about motivations from people and for the project.
• Last but not least: How? Besides thinking about the research activities itself, think about how people will test a product or feature. How will the user insights (outcome of the research) work be used in the  User Centered Design - and development process?

3: Methods: Choose the right research method

UX research is about exploration, and you want to make sure that your method fits the needs of what you're trying to explore. There are many different methods. In a later chapter we'll go over the most common UX research methods .

For now, all you need to keep in mind that that there are a lot of different ways of doing research.

You definitely don't need to do every type of activity but it would be useful to have a decent understanding of the options you have available, so you pick the right tools for the job.

4. Conduct: Putting in the work

Apply your chosen user research methods to your Hypotheses and Objectives! The various techniques used by the senior product designer in the BTNG Design Process can definitely be overwhelming. The product development process is not a straight line from A to B. UX Researchers often discover new qualitative insights in the user experience due to uncovering new (or incorrect) user needs. So please do understand that UX Design is a lot more than simply creating a design.

5. Synthesise: Evaluating Research Outcome

So you started with your Problem Statement (Objectives), you drafted your hypotheses, chose the top research methods, conducted your research as stated in the research process and now "YOU ARE HERE".

The last step is to Synthesise what you've learned. Start by filling in the knowledge gaps. What unknowns are you now able to answer?

Which of your hypotheses are proven (or disproven)?

And lastly, which new exciting new opportunities did you discover!

Evaluating the outcome of the User Experience Research is an essential part of the work.

Make sure to keep them brief and to-the-point. A good rule of thumb is to include the top three positive comments and the top three problems.

UX Research Methods

Choosing the right ux research method.

Making sure you use the right types of user experience research in any project is essential. Since time and money is always limited, we need to make sure we always get the most bang-for-our-buck. This means we need to pick the UX research method that will give us the most insights as possible for a project.

Three things to keep in mind when making a choice among research methodologies:

• Stages of the product life cycle - Is it a new or existing product?
• Quantitative vs. Qualitative - In depth talk directly with people or data?
• Attitudinal vs. Behavioural - What people say vs what people do

Image from Nielsen Norman Group

Most frequently used methods of UX Research

• Card Sorting: Way before UX Research even was a "thing", psychological research originally used Card Sorting.  With Card Sorting, you try to find out how people group things and what sort of hierarchies they use. The BTNG Research Team is specialised in remote research. So our modern Card Sorting user experience research have a few modern surprises.
• Usability Testing: Before launching a new feature or product it is important to do user testing. Give them tasks to complete and see how well the prototype works and learn more about user behaviours.
• Remote Usability Testing: During the COVID-19 lockdown, finding the appropriate ux research methods haven't always been that easy. Luckily, we've adopted plenty of modern solutions that help us with collecting customer feedback even with a remote usability test.
• Research-Based User Personas: A profile of a fictional character representing a specific stakeholder relevant to your product or service. Combine goals and objections with attitude and personality. The BTNG Research Team creates these personas for the target users after conducing both quantitative and qualitative user research.
• Field Studies: Yes, we actually like to go outside. What if your product isn't a B2B desktop application which is being used behind a computer during office hours? At BTNG we have different types of Field Studies which all help you gain valuable insights into human behaviour and the user experience.
• The Expert Interview: Combine your talent with that of one of BTNG's senior researcher. Conducting ux research without talking to the experts on your team would be a waste of time. In every organisation there are people who know a lot about their product or service and have unique insights. We always like to include them in the UX Research!
• Eye Movement Tracking: If you have an existing digital experience up and running - Eye Movement Tracking can help you to identify user experience challenges in your funnel. The outcome shows a heatmap of where the user looks (and doesn't).

Check out this article for a in-depth guide on UX Research Methods.

Qualitative vs. Quantitative UX research methods

Since this is a topic that we can on about for hours, we decided to split this section up in a few parts. First let's start with the difference.

Qualitative UX Research is based on an in-depth understanding of the human behaviour and needs. Qualitative user research includes interviews, observations (in natural settings), usability tests or contextual inquiry. More than often you'll obtain unexpected, valuable insights through this from of user experience research methods.

Quantitative UX Research relies on statistical analysis to make sense out of data (quantitative data) gathered from UX measurements: A/B Tests - Surveys etc. Quantitative UX Research is as you might have guessed, a lot more data-orientated.

If you'd like to learn more about these two types of research, check out these articles:

Get the most out of your User Research with Qualitative Research

Quantitative Research: The Science of Mining Data for Insights

Balancing qualitative and quantitative UX research

Both types of research have amazing benefits but also challenges. Depending on the research goal, it would be wise to have a good understanding which types of research you would like to be part of the ux design and would make the most impact.

The BTNG Research Team loves to start with Qualitative Research to first get a better understanding of the WHY and gain new insights. To validate these new learning they use Quantitative Research in your user experience research.

A handful of helpful UX Research Tools

The landscape of UX research tools has been growing rapidly. The BTNG Research team use a variety of UX research tools to help with well, almost everything. From running usability tests, creating prototypes and even for recruiting participants.

In the not-too-distant future, we'll create a Curated UX Research Tool article. For now, a handful of helpful UX Research Tools should do the trick.

• For surveys : Typeform
• For UX Research Recruitment: Dscout
• For analytics and heatmaps: VWO
• For documenting research: Notion & Airtable
• For Customer Journey Management : TheyDo
• For transcriptions: Descript
• For remote user testing: Maze
• For Calls : Zoom

Surveys: Typeform

What does it do? Survey Forms can be boring. Typeform is one of those ux research tools that helps you to create beautiful surveys with customisable templates and an online editor. For example, you can add videos to your survey or even let people draw their answers instead of typing them in a text box. Who is this for? Startup teams that want to quickly create engaging and modern looking surveys but don't know how to code it themselves.

Highlights: Amazing UX, looks and feel very modern, create forms with ease that match your branding, great reports and automation.

Why is it our top pick? Stop wasting time on ux research tools with too many buttons. Always keep the goal of your ux research methods in mind. Keep things lean, fast and simple with a product with amazing UX.

https://www.typeform.com/

UX Research Recruitment: Dscout

What does it do? Dscout is a remote research platform that helps you recruit participants for your ux research (the right ones). With a pool of +100.000 real users, our user researchers can hop on video calls and collect data for your qualitative user research. So test out those mobile apps user experience and collect all the data! Isn't remote research amazing?

Highlights: User Research Participant Recruitment, Live Sessions,Prototype feedback, competitive analysis, in-the-wild product discovery, field work supplementations, shopalongs.

Why is it our top pick? Finding the right people is more important than finding people fast. BTNG helps corporate clients in all types of industries which require a unique set of users, each time. Dscout helps us to quickly find the right people and make sure our user research is delivered on time and our research process stays in tact.

https://dscout.com/

Analytics and heatmaps: VWO

What does it do? When we were helping the Financial Times, our BTNG Research Team collaborated with FT Marketing Team who were already running experiments with VWO. 50% of the traffic would see one version of a certain page while 50% saw a different version. Which performed best? Perhaps you'd take a look at time-on-page. But more importantly: Which converts better!

Hotjar provides Product Experience Insights that show how users behave and what they feel strongly about, so product teams can deliver real value to them.

Highlights: VWO is an amazing suite that does it all:Automated Feedback, Heatmaps, EyeTracking, User Session Recordings (Participant Tracking) and one thing that Hotjar doesn't do: A/B Testing.

Why is it our top pick? Even tho it's an expensive product, it does give you value for money. Especially the reports with very black and white outcomes are great for presenting the results you've made.

https://vwo.com/

Documenting research: Notion

What does it do? Notion is our command center, where we store and constantly update our studio's aggregate wisdom. It is a super-flexible tool that helps to organise project documentation, prepare for interviews with either clients or their product users, accumulate feedback, or simply take notes.

Highlights: A very clean, structured way to write and share information with your team in a beautiful designed app with an amazing user experience.

Why is it our top pick? There's no better, more structured way to share information.

https://www.notion.so/

Customer Journey Management: TheyDo

What does it do? TheyDo is a modern Journey Management Platform. It centralises your journeys in an easy to manage system, where everyone has access to a single source of truth of the customer experience. It’s like a CMS for journeys.

Highlights: Customer Journey Map designer, Personas and 2x2 Persona Matrix, Opportunity & Solution Management & Prioritisation.

Why is it our top pick? TheyDo fits perfectly with BTNG's way of helping companies become more customer-centric. It helps to visualise the current experience of stakeholders. With those insight which we capture from interviews or usability testing, we discover new opportunities. A perfect starting point for creating solutions!

https://www.theydo.io/

Transcriptions: Descript

What does it do? Descript is an all-in-one solution for audio & video recording, editing and transcription. The editing is as easy as a doc. Imagine you’ve interviewed 20 different people about a new flavor of soda or a feature for your app. You just drop all those files into a Descript Project, and they show up in different “Compositions” (documents) in the sidebar. In a couple of minutes they’ll be transcribed, with speaker labels added automatically.

Highlights: Overdub, Filler Word Removal, Collaboration, Subtitles, Remote Recording and Studio Sound.

Why is it our top pick? Descript is an absolute monster when it comes to recording, editing and transcribing videos. It truly makes digesting the work after recording fast and even fun!

https://www.descript.com/

Remote user testing: Maze

What does it do? Maze is a-mazing remote user testing platform for unmoderated usability tests. With Maze, you can create and run in-depth usability tests and share them with your testers via a link to get actionable insights. Maze also generates a usability study report instantly so that you can share it with anyone.

It’s handy that the tool integrates directly with Figma, InVision, Marvel, and Sketch, thus, you can import a working prototype directly from the design tool you use. The BTNG Design Team with their Figma skills has an amazing chemistry with the Research Team due to that Figma/Maze integration.

Highlights: Besides unmoderated usability testing, Maze can help with different UX Research Methods, like card sorting, tree testing, 5-second testing, A/B testing, and more.

Why is it our top pick? Usability testing has been a time consuming way of qualitative research. Trying to find out how users interact (Task analysis) during an Interviews combined with keeping an eye on the prototype can be... a challenge. The way that Maze allows us to run (besides our hands on usability test) now also run unmoderated usability testing is a powerful weapon in our arsenal.

https://maze.co/

Calls: Zoom

What does it do? As the other video conferencing tools you can run video calls. But what makes Zoom a great tool? We feel that the integration with conferencing equipment is huge for our bigger clients. Now that there's also a Miro integration we can make our user interviews even more fun and interactive!

Highlights: Call Recording, Collaboration tools, Screen Sharing, Free trial, connects to conferencing equipment, host up to 500 people!

Why is it our top pick? Giving the research participants of your user interviews a pleasant experience is so important. Especially when you're looking for qualitative feedback on your ux design, you want to make sure they feel comfortable. And yes, you'll have to start using a paid version - but the user interface of Zoom alone is worth it. Even the Mobile App is really solid.

https://zoom.us/

In Conclusion

No matter what research methodology you rely on if it is qualitative research methods or perhaps quantitative data - keep in mind that user research is an essential part of the Design Process. Not only your UX designer will thank you, but also your users.

In every UX project we've spoken to multiple users - no matter if it was a task analysis, attitudinal research or focus groups... They all had one thing in common:

People thanked us for taking the time to listen to them.

So please, stop thinking about the potential UX research methods you might use in your design process and consider what it REALLY is about:

Solving the right problems for the right people.

And there's only one way to get there: Trying things out, listening, learning and improving.

Looking for help? Reach out!

See the Nielsen Norman Group’s list of user research tips: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-research-cheat-sheet/

Find an extensive range of user research considerations, discussed in Smashing Magazine: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2018/01/comprehensive-guide-ux-research/

Here’s a convenient and example-rich catalogue of user research tools: https://blog.airtable.com/43-ux-research-tools-for-optimizing-your-product/

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What is User Experience (UX) Research?

Learn about the rapidly growing research discipline guiding today’s most innovative products, services and solutions.

The Basics of UX Research

What is ux research.

UX research studies the interaction between people and the products, services or solutions they use. As an integral part of the overall design process, UX research allows teams to model their current users and optimize future engagements .

UX researchers conduct a variety of controlled experiments to generate the insights Design Thinking teams rely on. These experiments, also called “methods” or “tools”, range from qualitative walkthroughs and interviews to quantitative surveys and card sorting.

Why is UX Research important?

Today’s highly competitive global market means people expect more from every experience than ever before. It is no longer enough for your solution to have utility — usability is equally important. If your solution isn’t fun or friendly to use, you can expect adoption will suffer.

What is UX Research vs UX Design?

UX research and design are two sides of the same coin: The former is concerned with understanding an experience, and the latter is focused on defining it. Each discipline relies on its own specific set of skills, and they are often conducted by different teams or team members.

While UX Research and UX Design have distinct focuses and methods, they are connected through pivotal UX artifacts, including user personas and information architectures.

What is usability vs accessibility?

Usability and accessibility are closely related concepts considered throughout the UX research process. In short,

• Usable interfaces require little or no explanation to use
• Accessible interfaces can be used by people with a range of abilities

The goal of UX research is to provide designers with the data they need to develop solutions that are both immediately usable and widely accessible.

Over the past 30 years, several tools and standards have been developed to help identify usability and accessibility issues. Two well-known benchmarks are described below.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Initially developed in the late 1990s, the WCAG are designed to help improve the accessibility of online content for people with disabilities by providing a comprehensive set of design recommendations. In some countries, such as the UK, these guidelines are enforced by law. Learn more about WCAG guidelines

System Usability Scale (SUS) Developed in the 1980s, the SUS is a simple survey that asks participants to answer 10 questions about a product or service on a scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The ratings are then combined, and a resulting score from 0-100 is produced. Traditionally, a score of 68 or higher is considered more usable than average. Learn more about the System Usability Scale

Common UX Research Tools

To study the user experience, UX researchers employ a variety of tools derived from disciplines including ergonomics, psychology and engineering. These tools are commonly divided into Quantitative UX Research Methods and Qualitative UX Research Methods . The difference between the two is the type of data they provide — i.e. specific quantities or observed qualities.

Quantitative UX Research Tools

Quantitative UX research techniques generate hard data that can be used to prioritize needs, benchmark designs, and assess KPIs. Among the most common techniques are:

Quantitative UX Research tools

• User surveys
• Heuristic evaluation
• Card sorting
• Click-tracking
• A/B testing

Qualitative UX Research Tools

Qualitative UX research techniques generate human insights that can be used to model users, map interactions and inspire innovative ideas. Among the most common techniques are:

Qualitative UX Research tools

• User interviews
• Focus groups
• Remote walkthrough
• Tree testing
• Diary studies

You can find more detailed information about each of the methods listed below in our UX Research Methods guide.

The 4-Stage UX Research Process

The following framework breaks down the complete UX research process into a series of four distinct stages: Explore, Observe, Iterate and Verify.

These four UX research stages can be completed individually to fill specific knowledge gaps, or in sequence to support a complete design thinking process.

Stage 1 Explore the solution space

Whether developing new solutions or improving existing ones, the UX research process always begins in the explore stage. The only difference between the two situations is the type of data that will be available to researchers — while existing designs can be examined for their performance (through analytics, surveys and heuristic evaluation), novel designs requires other ways of proxying the current experience.

Explore Methods

• Literature review
• Analytics review

Deliverable: The primary deliverable of this stage is an insight-filled document called the “Current Landscape”. This document identifies major opportunities and constraints within the solution space, and is often compiled prior to design thinking workshops in order to streamline creative collaborations. For more details about the current landscape, see our design thinking workshop guide .

Stage 2 Observe users in context

Arguably the most important stage of the entire UX research process, this is where teams generate the actionable human insights that inspire new ideas and align cross functional efforts. Here, a variety of moderated (direct observation) and unmoderated (fly on the wall) methods are used to model users and identify their most relevant behaviors and goals.

While this stage is mandatory for user-centered design, the scope and scale of the research is highly variable: For example, global teams building a new product for an emerging market will need to spend significantly more time here than teams looking to improve an existing solution for a familiar audience.

Observe Methods

• Card sorting (open, closed, Delphi)
• Diary/photo studies
• Participatory design

Deliverables: Insights generated during the Observe stage are typically delivered in the form of: user stories, user personas, user journey maps and empathy maps. Together, these artifacts define who your “users” are, providing design thinking teams with the context they need to develop supportive solutions.

Note that user stories (As a / I want / So that) and empathy maps (Think/Do/Say/Hear, Pain/Gain) capture the direct observations of specific individuals, whereas personas and journey maps reflect the collective experiences of a user group. As such, personas and maps developed during UX research should always be treated as prototypes that are iterated upon as a broader team.

Stage 3 Iterate architecture and flows

The Iterate stage is where UX research shifts from studying situations to studying solutions. As such, the methods move from primarily qualitative toward more quantitative methods which are easier to connect to KPIs. Given the iterative nature of design, multiple rounds of research may be needed here to guide major design decisions regarding the most effective conceptual models, user flows, interfaces and other design elements. Large projects with low risk tolerance such as healthcare can expect to spend a significant amount of time in this stage, while projects that can afford to launch an MVP and “learn live” should devote considerably less.

Iterate Methods

• Concept testing
• Heuristic evaluations
• Click tracking
• Eye tracking

Deliverables: Score-carding is a common way to articulate insights gathered during the Iterate phase. By developing a transparent set of predetermined criteria, researchers can reduce bias and create reusable benchmarks for future design projects.

Stage 4 Verify critical decisions

When a pre-production prototype is ready, UX researchers are able to shift from studying aspects of an experience, to studying the entire experience in context. This process is often referred to as usability testing, and it allows teams to verify design decisions and make accurate measurements of the design performance. Based on the domain, these measurements can confirm improvements to the design, and make predictions about the real-world impact marketing purposes or financial considerations.

Similar to the Iterate stage, the requirement to “smoke test” designs prior to launch is determined by the risk tolerance of the domain. While a simple Hallway Usability Test leveraging a System Usability Scale is enough for some, others will require more rigor. Note that while usability tests used to require dedicated labs, the ease of screen sharing and recording today have opened the door to a variety of low-cost, unmoderated testing possibilities.

Verify Methods

• Usability testing
• Intercept surveys

Deliverables: The results of Usability Testing can be delivered either directly (ex. System Usability Scale scorecards), or formalized as Performance Forecasts that speak directly to specific project KPIs. For example, performance metrics like 15% increase in time-on-task, or 50% higher conversions could be important metrics to drive adoption.

How to Create a UX Research Plan

UX research plans are a helpful tool for organizing complex design efforts with cross functional teams. While there are countless ways to format your plan (documents, diagrams, spreadsheets, slideshows), they should always aim to cover the basic “WH” questions regarding each planned method.

When creating your UX research plan, consider the following 5 steps as a starting point:

Determine your research objectives

The first step of creating a UX research plan is clarifying what you hope to gain.

Ask yourself:

• Why do we need to conduct UX research?
• What do we hope to learn?
• Are we looking to support an entire project
• Or answering a specific question?

Using the four stages above (Explore, Observe, Iterate, Verify) is a helpful way to define your objectives.. In practice, tactical UX research will focus on a single stage, while strategic support will address several or all. You can also determine your objectives based on what deliverables you need: For example, if you know you need User Personas, your research plan should focus primarily on methods within the Explore and Observe.

Consider business constraints

UX research isn’t a blue-sky endeavour — it’s a targeted system for improving real-world solutions. That means the same constraints that guide your design project decisions apply. In general:

• Team: What experience do we have internally? Who can fully commit?
• Time: Do we need it done yesterday, or are we preparing for tomorrow?
• Budget: How much are the answers we want worth to us?

Fortunately, new technologies have significantly reduced UX research costs, and much of what used to require special labs can now be done remotely with easy-to-use (as you’d expect) online tools.

Select your research methods

Knowing what you need to know — and what you have to work with — will define the methods you select. In addition to knowing what stage you are in, the following groups can help guide your selections.

• Lean methods help teams align early
• Rich methods provide inspiring user insights
• Reactive methods support steady improvements
• Preventive methods model future experiences

Note that the design thinking process is highly iterative, so leave room to stay flexible. This is especially true when building novel solutions or addressing new markets. That’s where applying UX research stages are especially helpful to maintain the overall direction.

Identify research participants

You will never get the right answers if you ask the wrong people. That’s why having validated user personas is such a powerful part of the UX design process , as it makes recruiting the right people relatively simple. However, if your goal is to develop personas (as is often the case), more careful consideration is required.

When recruiting for each method, consider:

• Internal or external?
• Clients or crowdsourced?
• Experienced or naive?
• How many per persona?

How many is enough? While cost/risk tolerance is typically a key driver for the number of participants, statistical methods should dictate sample sizes when confidence intervals are desired (as in surveys).

Note: It is generally held that UX research conducted with five participants can identify 80% of the usability issues. Beyond that, the laws of diminishing returns take over, and the additional issues you find will be niche. See [1] for an interesting study on the “5 participant rule”.

Compile a shareable roadmap

The final step when creating a UX research plan is assembling the plan itself. Cloud-based spreadsheets or documents are generally best.

UX Research plan outline

• The primary research objective
• The stages that will be used
• The methods within each stage
• Top question each method answers
• Who will participate in each method
• Deliverables for every stage
• Key dates and major milestones

And note, UX research plans provide a strategic overview; details like specific interview questions and survey stimuli should be determined using the most current information available at the time of testing.

UX Research Benefits and Examples

Today, the results of great UX research are everywhere: From the websites we browse to the services we use, virtually all successful public-facing solutions prioritize the user experience. That said, there are clear leaders when it comes to usability. This section is dedicated to celebrating those examples, while demonstrating how good UX research goes a long way toward building unforgettable brands.

Creating clarity

Prioritizing features and functions is one of the most difficult aspects of modern design. What’s the primary CTA? What do users need to know most? What do we say first? In the end, many design teams try to prioritize everything, resulting in elements that compete for attention instead of guiding it through.

By studying real users in context, UX research helps teams build clear, clutter-free solutions that prioritize what users want to do — moving the rest of the experience out of the way. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the home pages and screens of UX-obsessed brands like Nike or AirBnB.

Providing personalization

Personalized experiences are no longer a nice-to-have. We expect the products and services we use to not only know our names, but to also anticipate our needs. And as technology continues to advance, our ability to support these moments does too.

Today, examples of how UX Research supports a more personalized experience are everywhere, and especially obvious during behavior-based onboarding flows.

Elevating engagement

Modern UX research reveals more about how people use our products than ever. And with the ability to parse large sets of quantitative data, design teams can remove engagement bottlenecks with scientific precision. The result is especially apparent in examples of gamification, where user-friendly becomes user-fun.

UX Research Best Practices

Test in the most natural settings possible.

While focus groups and lab-based usability tests are rich sources of information, they are a far cry from a real, everyday situation. Whenever possible, aim to observe users where the experience in question actually takes place. Unmoderated tests, remote walkthroughs, diary studies and intercept surveys are great for this reason.

Consult experts, but don’t rely on them alone

A common mistake in design projects is to rely on inputs from experienced users and subject matter experts alone. While they will provide great insights, their experience will differ dramatically from that of naive users. UX designers can easily fall into this trap, too, given how easy it is to forget that the vast majority of people are far less tech savvy or digitally aware.

Let your data do the talking

The fastest way to align cross-functional teams is to let the data do the talking. Personal experiences and “gut instincts” will always play a role, but they shouldn’t be driving complex decisions that have million- or billion-dollar implications.

Encourage the think-aloud protocol

While focus groups and lab-based usability tests can be rich sources of information, they are a far cry from a real situation. Whenever possible, aim to observe users where the experience usually takes place.

So What is UX Research?

UX Research is a discipline devoted to studying how people interact with specific products, services or solutions. It is often used to help Design Thinking teams model current/potential users and optimize future solutions. The ability for UX research to uncover strategic design opportunities has made it a clear differentiator in today’s digital landscape.

Unlike the overarching Design Thinking process , UX research methods are typically conducted by experienced UX practitioners — either dedicated UX researchers or multi-faceted designers.

• UX research methods are both qualitative and quantitative
• The benefits of UX research include creating clarity , providing personalization , and elevating engagement
• Four UX Research stages are: Explore, Observe, Iterate and Verify
• Surveys, interviews and walkthroughs are commonly used tools
• Common UX research deliverables include the current landscape, user personas, and accessibility audits

Recommended Reading The Ultimate Guide to Design Thinking

• What is Design Thinking?
• The Complete Design Thinking Process
• How to RUN a Design Thinking Workshop
• User Stories, Maps and Examples
• Faulkner L. Beyond the five-user assumption: benefits of increased sample sizes in usability testing. Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput. 2003;35: 379–383.

The User Research and Insights Tool for Design and Product Teams

What Is UX Research and Why Is It Important?

When a UX designer is working on a product, they have two options. Option A is to make a research hypothesis or generalized assumptions about who you think your audience is and what they want. 

Option B is to ask questions like who my ideal audience is, what problems they currently face, and how can I create an inclusive design that offers a great user experience for them?

Option A usually leads to terrible product design, product recalls, poor usability, and dissatisfaction with the product.  If 32% of customers never return to a brand after a poor experience, then you have no second chance to make it right with them.

Option B ensures that design isn’t influenced by inherent bias or assumptions that ruin product usability. Instead, you’re listening to your audience and building user-centric products they love. The result? Increased customer satisfaction, excellent user experience, and higher revenues for your company.

If you’re interested in learning how to conduct user research, stick around. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover the following sections:

• What is UX research
• Why is UX research important?
• When should you conduct user research?
• What is the difference between UX research and UX design?
• What does a UX researcher do?
• How to conduct UX research

What Is UX research?

UX research is the practice of studying human interactions to understand their behaviors, motivations, and needs. User research aims to get realistic context that helps you understand the impact of design on your target audience, uncover problems, and find design opportunities.

While you can apply UX research at any stage of the design process , most UX researchers start with qualitative methods to learn the user’s needs and motivation. Then, later in the design process, they use quantitative measures to test UX research findings.

Why Is UX Research Important? 

UX research is essential for the following reasons:

• Increase sales, customer engagement, and customer retention
• Understand your user’s needs to create products they love
• Ensure you’re targeting the right audience
• Reduce the cost of production
• Build inclusive products free of bias
• Understand your unique value in comparison to competitors
• Understand the ROI of UX design

When Should You Conduct User Research? 

Creating a new product.

Conduct user experience research when you start a new project, or you feel like you don’t have a comprehensive picture of the problem at hand. Additionally, it’s a great way to understand the weakness and strengths of competing products in the market. 

Using UX research in the early stage ensures the team is aligned on business goals for the project.

Research methods at this stage include:

• Competitive analysis
• Stakeholder interviews
• User interviews
• Customer journey mapping
• Field studies
• Buyer personas

Product Update

You can use the same approach for building a new product to update or add new features to the product. Research participants would be customers instead of non-users as they’re better suited to highlight existing problems and features they want to see in upcoming updates.

Research techniques include:

• Google Analytics to understand user behavior on your website or app
• Surveys 

Product Redesign

During product redesign, data about user behavior should influence design decisions. Research techniques such as usability testing, A/B testing, and user interviews will come in handy for data collection.

What Is the Difference Between UX Research and UX Design?

Ux research.

UX research encompasses user experience with a product. It focuses on collecting data to help UX designers improve interface quality. The UX researcher follows a structure when conducting research and contributes to the design process through research-backed ideas.

UX research includes these tasks:

• Create a UX research plan
• Recruit research participants 
• Determine UX research methods
• Collect data about the user experience
• Analyze data to make recommendations that influence design
• Present findings to UX design team and other stakeholders

UX design focuses on the human interface.  UX designers work to improve the UI of a product and the quality of the customer experience. 

UX design includes:

Information architecture : Focuses on the organization of information so that users can easily find what they need.

Interaction design:   Focuses on user interaction with features and elements of the product.

Usability : Researchers test the usability of a product after developing the architecture. The goal is to create a user-friendly UI that makes it easy to find information.

Wireframes: After usability testing, designers create a sample application (the wireframe). The wireframe requires knowledge of the ideal customer, which is only possible through UX research.

The difference?

To develop user-centered designs, UX designers need information about the user’s expectations and needs. UX research provides valuable information that helps UX designers understand their audience, eliminate bias from their work and create products that customers need.

What Does A UX Researcher Do?

A UX researcher is an empathetic, critical thinker. You study a target audience to collect and analyze data that inform product design. The work of a UX researcher isn’t separate from the design process, but it has the most humanizing impact on design. 

A few tasks that UX experience researchers perform include:

Research Planning

• Develop a research plan based on research goals
• Recruit participants for research studies
• Write research screeners to prune the list of research participants 
• Create discussion guides to lead the conversation

Collect Data

• Develop and implement qualitative surveys
• Moderate usability testing sessions
• Conduct user interviews

Analyze Data

• Turn research data into key insight using UX research tools like Aurelius
• Translate key insight into recommendations for the product team to act on

Present Insights

• Craft journey maps and user personas to communicate insight to dev and design teams
• Present UX research findings in a clear and organized fashion to project stakeholders

How to Conduct User Research?

Define the research objectives.

The first step is to write down your research objectives. Your research objectives should be three to seven goals per research project.

For example: If the goal is to understand what users need when purchasing a headphone, your questions could include: 

Who : Who questions help you narrow down prospective audiences by defining psychographics and demographics that form the base of your recruitment efforts. Who is using a headphone? Who am I selling this product to?

When : The different situations when people use headphones, such as watching a movie, recording, and listening to music.

Why: Why do they use a headphone? Do they want noise-canceling, audiophile-quality sound, or greater productivity?

Where: Where are they getting information from? From where do they enter the buying cycle?

What: What does your audience currently know about headphones? What influences their decision when they purchase a headphone or decide to get upgrades?

How: How do they embark on the purchase journey? How do they get to the finish line and take action to reach their goals?

Create Hypotheses

After establishing your research objectives, your head is brimming with potential design solutions. You want to jump in, execute your ideas and send them off for product testing right now!

Slow your roll, tiger. Most of your ideas are based on assumptions. Your hypothesis is what you believe you already know about the end-user and their problems. But don’t be afraid to integrate your hypothesis into research to prove or disprove your assumption.

Externalizing your hypothesis helps you choose suitable research methods based on your objectives. It also makes you aware of your biases towards the topic. 

After research, use your hypotheses to communicate your research discovery. 

For example: 

“Earlier on, we believed that [insert hypothesis], but during the research process, we discovered that [insert research findings]. ”

Next, get a team together, take the questions you framed from your objectives and spend an hour or two deliberating answers. Using our example of headphones from before:

Behavior-related hypotheses: Headphone users mostly use their headphones when working, listening to music, or video conferencing.

Attitude-related hypotheses : Headphone users only want to wear headphones that their favorite celebrities have endorsed.

Feature-related hypothesis: Headphone users will only tell others about the product if the audio quality is great and has noise cancelling features.

Identify Your Target Audience

A few tips to help you identify your target audience include:

Who Are Your Current Customers?

Consider bringing in the sales, marketing, and customer support team to get more information about your current customers. It’s essential to segment your audience based on needs, location, and other demographic data.

Who Is Your Competition?

You can probably list off a few names of competitors off the top of your head. But it still helps to do more research. First, use Google to search your primary keyword and see who’s ranking for that topic. 

Then, go through their website to get an idea of their feature description. Next, use social listening tools to hear what your audience uses to solve their problems and how they feel about those products or services.

Use Google Analytics

Login to your Google Analytics account and click on Audience in the left-hand column.

There’s so much information to learn about your target audience. You’ll find demographic details such as gender, age, location, interest, and behavior.

Research Your Ideal Customer

Use the data from your competitors’ social media search and Google Analytics to form the base of your target persona. Where do they live? What’s their ethnicity? What’s their age? Where do they work?

Build audience personas

Now that you’ve identified who you’ll like to serve and the benefit they’ll get from your product, it’s time to create a buyer persona that accurately represents your target audience.

Include Common Details

Next, include important information about your customers. What common issues do your ideal audience face? For example, remote employees need better audio quality when recording Loom videos or jumping on a video conference call.

Humanize Personas

Give your personas a name and a face. Treating them like real people makes it easier to empathize with their needs and write more personalized content they can connect with on an emotional level.

Segment Your Personas

Develop three to five fictional audience personas since it’s impossible to fit all audience characteristics in one persona. Group audience members who have similar challenges and goals in the same segment.

Determine the User Research Methods to Collect Data 

At this stage, you know your research goals, you’ve made some design hypotheses, and you’ve developed your audience personas. It’s time to choose the UX research methods that will help you achieve your goals. The techniques depend on what stage you are in the process.

Here are some options to consider:

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research 

The first thing to note is that it’s not a competition between quantitative vs qualitative research . They both have their use cases and complement each other. 

Use quantitative research to collect and analyze numerical data. It’s an affordable way to get a large sample size. Quantitative research is also valuable when you have a prototype, and you need to identify usability issues with the product. 

Examples of quantitative research methods include A/B testing, usability testing, tree testing, card sorting, and desirability studies.

Qualitative research evaluates the user experience and usability of a product. It’s any research technique where findings are descriptive elements and words that can be observed but not measured. 

Qualitative research focuses on collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data like behavior, emotion, feeling, or even opinion. Instead of calculating numbers, qualitative research categorizes responses and manually analyzes data sets. 

Qualitative research includes ethnography, focus groups, user interviews, diary studies, and moderated usability testing.

Here’s a table showing the key differences between qualitative vs quantitative user research

Usability Testing 

Usability testing is ideal when you have a prototype. Recruit five users as they can find 85% of the usability problems . 

During usability testing, you evaluate the usability of a product by testing it with users from your target audience. You watch, listen and ask questions as research participants perform tasks with the product. When remote, you record the participant’s screen via video conferencing as they interact with the product in their natural habitat. 

The goal is to identify usability problems and collect quantitative and qualitative data to understand user satisfaction with the product.

Issues that usability testing uncovers include:

• Friction points when using the product
• Knowledge gaps to plug regarding the product use cases

Diary Studies  

A diary study is a qualitative research method that captures user experiences, behaviors, and activities over an extended time. It gives you a realistic insight into the daily life of your ideal user and how they interact with your product.

Conduct diary studies when:

• You want to see a diverse experience and learn how perceptions and behavior change
• You’re curious about specific micro-moments that affect big decisions
• You’re worried that in-person observers will influence participant behavior

Card Sorting

Researchers use card sorting to evaluate or design the information architecture of a website or app. During the card sorting session, participants arrange topics into categories in a way that makes sense to them. 

The answers tell UX designers if the UI is correct or needs to be re-examined to fit the user’s expectations. In addition, it’s cheaper to conduct and easy for stakeholders to understand the data.

Options for card sorting include:

Open card sort : Participants organize cards or topics into groups that feel right to them. Next, they label each group in their own words. Open card sort helps you learn the labels and terms users think of when searching for your product.

Closed card sort : Participants sort topics into predefined categories. It’s ideal when you’ve defined categories and want to test if the labels work.

A few best practices for card sorting include:

• Randomize the order of presentation
• Limit the number of cards to prevent overwhelming the user
• Tell the user how long the card sorting should take
• Consider starting with an open sort to categorize cards and a closed sort to label cards

User Interviews 

User interviews help researchers to gain insight into the user experience of your ideal customer. It enables you to understand their feelings, emotions, and how they interact with a product. 

User interviews help you plug holes in your product design using feedback from the user.  Interviews are a great way to humanize your product and connect with your audience. You gain deeper insight into a topic that highlights the product’s best features and areas of improvement. The insight leads to product design that integrates with their daily lives.

Conduct user interviews at the start of the project, when you have an early prototype, and after product launch to collect feedback.

You can recruit participants through your database, online communities, social media, or a dedicated research panel.

Here’s a checklist to guide you when conducting user interviews:

Further reading:

The complete guide to conducting user research interviews

How to conduct great user interviews

Conduct User Research

After choosing your research methods, it’s time to conduct research. Depending on your methods, you’ll recruit users (usually 8-10 for qualitative and above 50 for quantitative) to meet for research activities. Meetings should be pre-scheduled and shouldn’t exceed an hour per session.

 As you conduct research, answer these questions:

• Does the information align with my research objectives?
• Am I getting information I already have?

If you’re not gathering the correct data, it’s probably for the following reasons:

• You need new research questions and hypotheses to dig deeper into the topic
• This is not your target audience, and you should change your recruitment process
• Your design hypotheses are a poor fit
• You’ve chosen the wrong methods for your research objectives
• You’re not using a research repository to make sense of your data

Analyze Findings 

While data collection is essential for UX research, organizing and analyzing data is just as important.

The first step is to choose a research repository software that allows you to store and organize a plethora of research data. Data could be videos, audio transcription, notes, and even Excel spreadsheets. You can also connect Aurelius with Zapier to pull data from Google Forms, Survey Monkey, and other data collection tools.

Make sure you organize your information in Aurelius as you collect them. It speeds up the research process and makes it easier to find and reuse data when researching a similar subject. You can organize notes by project name, product feature, or categories in the project. If you’ve got audio and video files, you can transcribe them into notes in Aurelius to easily make sense of the data.

Create a project, add your notes and organize them to make it easier to synthesize. Next, use Tags to find patterns across your research data.  Then, use the key insight feature to highlight relevant text and draw insight from past and current projects.

Rather than writing lengthy reports nobody reads, create a UX nugget that is easy to digest, share and revisit. UX nuggets are research findings that communicate what you’ve learned from research.

Further reading: 

How to organize qualitative research

How does Aurelius improve UX research for product teams

Share your Findings with Stakeholders

Until you share your research findings, it doesn’t exist. Aurelius turns your key insight and recommendations into a research report. You can customize the report with design elements (available in Aurelius) and share your research as a PDF or live link.

Tips to guide you when sharing or presenting UX research include:

• Use storytelling to capture a cold audience
• Speak directly to your audience interest to connect with them on a personal level
• Opt for UX nuggets over detailed reports. Keep it down to 4-6 key insights
• Use an inverted pyramid where essential information sits at the top and flows down from there
• Use graphics to simplify data
• Keep it short
• Use slides during presentations
• Tell the audience what you want them to do next
• Send follow up emails and reach out to decision-makers
• Integrate your company Slack or Jira with Aurelius to share your findings with the relevant internal stakeholders

How to present UX research and get buy-in from stakeholders  

How to organize and share UX research data and insights

What Is the Best UX Research Tool? 

Here are some UX research tools to help you conduct research:

• Aurelius to analyze research data, make recommendations and share UX research findings
• Google Docs for note-taking
• Spreadsheets to store and organize data
• Great Question to build a panel of customers to interview
• Ethnio to recruit participants who are browsing your website or app
• Usabilia for product testing
• Mouseflow for capturing user behavior and identifying friction points
• Optimizely for A/B testing
• Google Analytics to understand user behavior on your website
• Calendly for booking user interviews and remote research sessions

Simplify UX Research with Aurelius 

User research is an essential part of product design and should not be overlooked as an afterthought. UX research helps you understand who your ideal audience is, the problems they face, and the solutions they seek.

As you collect research data, organize them immediately into Aurelius. That way, it’s easier to sort through data, find common themes, highlight key insights and make recommendations. 

It’s also important to follow up when you share your research if you want stakeholders to take action. With Aurelius, you can do all these by integrating Zapier and sharing your research in Slack, Jira, and other tools in your company workflow.

Frequently Asked Questions About UX Research

What is ux research.

UX research studies a target audience to collect and analyze data that improves the product design process.

What Is the Purpose of UX Research?

The purpose of UX research include:

• To prove or disprove hypotheses
• Eliminate inherent bias in design
• Find common themes across research data
• Understand the mental models, needs, and goals of a target user

What Is the Process of Doing UX Research?

The stages of UX research process include:

• Define project goals and objectives
• Determine hypotheses
• Choose UX research methods
• Define UX research plan
• Collect data through UX research methods
• Synthesize and organize research findings
• Analyze data
• Share UX research with stakeholders

What Skills Do You Need to be a UX Researcher?

• Experience in a related field
• Research writing skills
• Ability to work collaboratively with other teams
• An analytical mind
• An understanding of the design process

How Long Does UX Research Take?

There’s no defined timeline for UX research. However, a typical research project can last between three weeks and up to three months. For example, usability testing can take 2-4 weeks, surveys can take 2-3 weeks, and diary studies could run for months.

What are Some UX Research Methods?

Examples of user research methods include:

• Diary studies
• User interview
• A/B testing
• Usability testing
• Live intercepts
• Ethnographic field studies
• Focus groups
• Experience sampling
• Observation 

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UX Researcher

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What Is a UX Researcher? How to Become One, Salary, Skills.

UX researchers are responsible for studying and understanding what users of a system or product need and want. UX researchers use their findings to improve the design of goods, software and services. Here’s what to know about a UX researcher’s salary, needed skills and how to become one.

What Is a UX Researcher?

UX researchers study user behavior to answer important questions about how digital products and services are designed and how customers interact with them. The goal of a UX researcher is to improve a product or service through their findings. Some of the key insights UX researchers must uncover about users include their demographic information, how they use a product, what they get from a product and what issues they may have with the product. 

What Do UX Researchers Do?

UX researchers are tasked with learning what motivations, needs and behaviors users have when interacting with a product or service. The two main types of UX research are quantitative and qualitative. The goal of quantitative research is to identify the experience of a user by looking at data, such as click-through rates on landing pages, for example. The goal of qualitative research is to understand why users behave the way they do, and for this, UX researchers rely on field studies, moderated usability tests and user interviews.

UX Researcher Responsibilities

• Design, organize and implement user research projects, including A/B tests, field studies, user surveys, user interviews and usability tests.
• Analyze and synthesize qualitative and quantitative research to create and report findings.
• Present findings to designers, developers, leadership and stakeholders. 
• Collaborate with product and design teams and provide actionable feedback. 

Day-to-Day Responsibilities of UX Researchers

• Craft user research plans.
• Develop budgets and timelines for research projects. 
• Recruit targeted users.
• Conduct user interviews. 
• Create user surveys. 
• Organize usability tests.
• Conduct field studies.
• Analyze results from interviews and surveys. 

UX Researchers Within a Company

UX researchers are typically part of the product development team within a company. They often collaborate with leaders on the product team and design to create research plans, analyze results and data from surveys and questionnaires and make product recommendations. 

Importance of UX Researchers

UX researchers help companies understand the needs and wants of their customers as they approach the product or service. Without thoughtful UX researchers, companies will overlook the most important part of the design process: empathy. 

What Skills Are Needed to Be a UX Researcher?

Qualifications to be a ux researcher.

• Experience designing and executing user research.
• Knowledge of UX design principles.
• Strong understanding of statistics and data.
• Experience with user research tools and software.

UX Researcher Prerequisites

• UX researchers usually hold a bachelor’s degree in psychology, statistics, human-computer interaction, information systems or a related field. 
• A portfolio of previous user research projects. 

UX Researcher Hard Skills

• Data analysis.
• Math and statistics.
• UX research methods and software tools. 
• User testing. 
• Basic design skills.

UX Researcher Soft Skills

• Empathy and curiosity.
• Interpersonal communication and writing skills.
• Problem solving and critical thinking skills.
• Collaboration and teamwork skills.

Tools and Programs UX Researcher Use

• Google Forms 
• Google Optimize
• Optimal Workshop

How to Become a UX Researcher

Ux researcher education and experience.

UX researchers can come from a variety of different backgrounds; there isn’t one set degree that is necessarily best for UX research. Studying technology or behavioral and social sciences can all be relevant to UX research, as an understanding of tech and how humans interact with it is central to the role.

Outside of education, volunteering to run UX research projects for local businesses and non-profit organizations, as well as participating in hackathons, may be helpful experience in developing a UX research portfolio.

• UX Researcher Certificates and Courses
• UX Bootcamps to Know
• Google UX Design Professional Certificate
• General Assembly UX Design Immersive
• Northwestern UX/UI Boot Camp

UX Researcher Career Path

Although UX researchers can come from many different educational backgrounds, starting a UX research career with an internship is a great first step in the field. UX researchers may later take on roles such as UX designer or UX engineer.

UX Researcher Salary and Job Outlook

UX research is a growing field, with 41 percent of researchers only having five years of experience in the field. But the size of UX researcher teams is expected to grow too. Of UX researchers surveyed by User Interviews , 71 percent said there are five or more researchers on their team.

The full compensation package for a UX researcher depends on a variety of factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s experience and geographic location. See below for detailed information on the average UX researcher salary.

Expand Your UX Researcher Career Opportunities

Build a multi-dimensional skillset by completing online UX and design courses through Udemy.

Are you interested in UX Design, but have no prior experience or an idea of where to start? You’ve come to the right place!

UPDATE (03/01/2016) : New Section!

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• We discuss design tools like Sketch 3, Photoshop, and Illustrator, so you can…

Your product won't be easy to use on accident.  The only way to deliver products and services that delight users is to  listen to them . If you want to learn how to do that, then this is the course for you.

2023 Edition.

You've just landed on Udemy's highest rated course on user experience (UX). Thousands of user researchers and designers have used this course to kick-start their career in UX. You can do it, too.

UX Researcher Certifications + Programs

Reignite your journey up the career ladder with Udacity’s online UX and design certifications.

General Assembly’s User Experience Design Immersive is a transformative course designed for you to get the necessary skills for a UX Design role in three months. 

The User Experience Design bootcamp is led by instructors who are expert practitioners in their field, supported by career coaches that work with you since day one and enhanced by a career services team that is constantly in talks with employers about their UX Design hiring needs.

What you'll accomplish

As a graduate, you’ll have a portfolio of projects that show your creative and technical ability to launch the next generation of successful apps, websites and digital experiences. Throughout this program, you will:

Identify and implement the most effective methods of user research to gain a deeper understanding of what users want and need.

Use interaction and visual design techniques to craft a dynamic digital product that brings delight and function to users.

Conduct usability testing to make product experiences more accessible for diverse user populations and environments.

Learn best practices for working within a product team, employing product management techniques and evaluating technical constraints to better collaborate with developers.

Produce polished design documentation, including wireframes and prototypes, to articulate design decisions to clients and stakeholders.

Prepare for the world of work, compiling a professional-grade portfolio of solo, group, and client projects.

Prerequisites

This is a beginner-friendly program with no prerequisites, although many students are familiar with common tools for graphic and web designers and some may have had exposure to UX concepts in the past. The General Assembly curriculum helps you gain fluency in end-to-end UX processes, tools, and documentation and put them to work on the path to a new career as a User Experience Designer.

Why General Assembly

Since 2011, General Assembly has graduated more than 40,000 students worldwide from the full time & part time courses. During the 2020 hiring shutdown, GA's students, instructors, and career coaches never lost focus, and the KPMG-validated numbers in their Outcomes report reflect it. *For students who graduated in 2020 — the peak of the pandemic — 74.4% of those who participated in GA's full-time Career Services program landed jobs within six months of graduation.  General Assembly is proud of their grads + teams' relentless dedication and to see those numbers rising. Download the report here .

Your next step? Submit an application to talk to the General Assembly Admissions team

Note: reviews are referenced from Career Karma - https://careerkarma.com/schools/general-assembly

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What is UX Research

2nd May 2023 at 15:29

In today’s digital age, businesses are increasingly realising the importance of creating products and services that offer a great user experience . UX research is a critical component of this process, helping businesses to understand their users’ needs, preferences, and behaviours, and to design products and services that meet those needs. 

In addition to exploring the definition of UX research, in this article we’ll look at topics such as why UX research is important, what methods are commonly used, and what benefits businesses can derive from it.

Definition of UX Research

To begin with, UX research, or user experience research, is a systematic process of gathering and analysing data about users’ behaviours, needs, and preferences to inform the design and development of products or services that are user-centric and effective . 

UX research involves various methods and techniques, such as usability testing, interviews, surveys, card sorting, and observational studies, to collect data from users and gain insights into their interactions, motivations, and feedback. The goal of UX research is to understand the needs, expectations, and pain points of users, and use that information to optimise the products/services, ultimately improving the overall user experience.

Purpose of UX Research

The importance of UX research can be broken down into 4 aspects:

1. User-Centric Design

UX research helps businesses understand their users better. This knowledge allows for user-centric designs that are more likely to be adopted and embraced by the target audience.

2. Improved User Satisfaction

By conducting UX research, businesses can identify and address pain points, usability issues, and other obstacles that users may encounter whilst interacting with a product or service. This leads to improved user satisfaction as the design is optimised.

3. Reduced Risk of Product Failure

UX research helps in identifying and mitigating risks associated with product or service failure. By gaining insights from users early in the design process, businesses can make informed decisions and avoid costly mistakes by ensuring that the product or service meets the needs and expectations of the target audience.

4. Data-Driven Decision Making

UX research provides data and insights that can inform design decisions. By collecting and analysing user data, businesses can make informed decisions about the direction of the product or service, based on evidence and feedback from real users. This helps in optimising design choices and prioritising features throughout the product development lifecycle.

Common Methods and Process of UX Research

The methods used in UX research can be broadly categorised into qualitative and quantitative approaches. Here are some examples of how to do UX research:

1. Usability Testing

Usability testing involves observing users as they interact with a product or service to identify any usability issues, gather feedback, and assess overall user satisfaction. This can be done through in-person or remote sessions, where users are asked to perform specific tasks whilst their interactions and feedback are recorded and analysed.

2. Interviews

Interviews are conducted to gather qualitative data through one-on-one conversations with users. This allows researchers to probe into users’ experiences in more depth and provide richer insights.

Surveys are used to collect quantitative data from a large number of users. Administered online or in person, surveys gather data on user demographics, preferences, and feedback on various aspects of a product or service.

4. Card Sorting

Card sorting is a method used to understand how users organise and categorise information or content. Users are asked to sort information into predefined categories or create their own categories, providing insights into their mental models and information architecture preferences.

5. Observational Studies

Observational studies involve observing and recording users’ natural behaviours and interactions in real-world settings. This method can provide insights into how users interact with a product or service in their natural environment, uncovering patterns of behaviour and preferences.

6. Focus Groups

Focus groups involve gathering a small group of users to discuss their experiences, perceptions, and opinions about a product or service. This method allows for group dynamics and interactions to provide insights into different perspectives and opinions.

7. Analytics and Metrics

Analytics and metrics involve analysing quantitative data collected from user interactions with a product or service, such as website traffic, click-through rates, conversion rates, and other performance indicators.

These are just a few examples of the common methods used in UX research. The selection of methods depends on the research goals, the target audience, and the context of the product or service being studied. UX researchers often use a combination of methods to gather both qualitative and quantitative data to gain a holistic understanding of users and their experiences.

Benefits of UX Research

There are several benefits of conducting UX research, including:

1. Better UX Design

UX research assists consultants to better identify user needs, pain points, and preferences. Carrying out UX research before the design phase is a big help in producing more precise wireframes.

2. Increased Brand Reputation and Customer Satisfaction

By designing products and services that meet users’ needs and expectations, businesses can increase customer satisfaction, which can lead to increased loyalty and repeat business. That also contributes to brand reputation.

3. Competitive Advantage

Delivering a superior user experience can be a key differentiator in a competitive market. UX research helps businesses to create products and services that stand out from the competition and offer unique value to users.

4. Improved Revenue

By improving the user experience and customer satisfaction, businesses can increase their revenue through increased sales, repeat business, and referrals. Identifying usability issues and other problems early in the design process can also reduce the cost of making changes later on.

UX research is a powerful tool for creating products and services that offer a great user experience. We hope this article gives you an understanding of what UX research is and what user research can help you achieve.

UX research service is a strong forte of UX Connections. Be it persona creating, usability testing or customer journey mapping that you need, we are able to deliver and take your products, services and campaigns to the next level. Talk to us !

FAQs About UX Research

1. How many types of UX research are there?

UX research can be categorised into several types, including user Interviews, surveys, usability testing, card sorting, A/B testing and competitor analysis.

2. What are some examples of UX research?

An example of UX research is conducting interviews with target users to understand their needs and preferences, or observing users as they interact with a product or prototype during usability testing sessions.

3. What is the process of UX research?

The process of UX research could include:

• Defining research objectives and questions.
• Planning the research methodology and recruiting participants.
• Conducting research activities.
• Analysing the collected data to identify insights.
• Presenting research findings and insights to stakeholders.

4. What is UX research and design?

UX research focuses on understanding user needs, behaviours, and motivations through various research methods.

UX design on the other hand creates user friendly designs that meet user needs and business goals.

5. What is user vs UX research?

User research focuses on understanding the target users, such as their needs and preferences.

UX research encompasses a broader range of activities aimed at understanding the factors to better user experience, including usability testing and competitor analysis.

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Evaluating UX research methods and types for your product

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How we think of and practice UX ( user experience ) research has evolved rapidly in recent years. What was once a specialized discipline is now viewed as something everyone in an organization can (and should) participate in. As a result, the definition of UX research is also changing. Whether you’re a UX veteran or newly introduced to the concept, user experience research is evolving and branching out.

What is UX research and why is it important?

As UX research becomes more commonplace in organizations big and small, its definitions and applications have naturally evolved. Traditionally, user experience research is the practice of studying user interactions to help with the design of people-first products and experiences.

Nonetheless, the meaning of UX can vary depending on who you’re talking to. For product teams, UX research might mean validating prototypes and concepts, and for marketing teams, it may mean testing brand designs and messaging before a launch. Each team's UX research deliverables will vary, too. In other words, UX research is no longer a practice held in one corner of the business. The most successful organizations empower all teams to collect user and  customer insights  in order to make better business decisions.

Types of UX research and when to use them

Before we jump into individual research methods, or the tactics used for conducting UX research, there are big-picture questions that need to be addressed first. And that’s: what types of UX research are there?

Qualitative vs. quantitative research

When it comes to understanding your users, you may find yourself wondering if your UX research approach should be  qualitative or quantitative . And it’s important to figure that out because the two types uncover very different insights.

To get a full picture of your user experience, you need to understand both what’s happening and why. If you only have quantitative data, you may be missing out on key insights that could make a difference in your understanding of the user experience. And if you only do qualitative research, you won’t be able to tell whether your findings are representative of a larger population. 

Quantitative research: What's happening with your users?

Quantitative research provides the hard numbers that can highlight patterns and trends in user behavior. This method relies on statistical data to quantify behaviors, opinions, and attitudes. Tools such as surveys, usage statistics, and A/B testing can offer valuable metrics that show what users are doing, how many are doing it, and under what conditions these actions occur.

For instance, quantitative methods can determine the number of users who abandon a shopping cart before completing a purchase, or they can measure how a new feature affects user engagement. These insights are crucial for making data-driven decisions that enhance user interfaces and streamline user interactions.

Qualitative research: Why are your users behaving this way?

On the flip side, qualitative research dives deeper into the motivations behind user actions, filling in the narrative gaps left by quantitative data. Through techniques such as interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic studies, qualitative research explores the underlying reasons for user behaviors, providing context to the numbers.

This method is especially useful when you need to understand the nuances of user satisfaction, discover pain points, and gather detailed feedback about user experiences. It helps to paint a vivid picture of why certain features are loved or disliked, and it can reveal how users emotionally connect with your product.

Integrating qualitative and quantitative research for a comprehensive understanding

The most effective UX research strategy employs both qualitative and quantitative research to create a comprehensive understanding of user experiences. By integrating these approaches, you can both quantify user behavior and understand the motivations behind it.

Starting with quantitative data to identify areas of interest or concern, you can then apply qualitative research to explore those areas more deeply. This combination allows you to not only validate broad patterns found in the data but also to explore the rich, personal insights that give these patterns meaning.

A balanced approach for deeper insights

By balancing quantitative and qualitative research, you achieve a more complete view of the user experience. Quantitative data gives you the necessary breadth to make generalizable conclusions, while qualitative data brings depth and color to those conclusions, providing a clearer direction for actionable improvements. Together, they enable a holistic approach to UX research that aligns business strategies with genuine user needs.

Attitudinal vs. behavioral research

Though sometimes misconstrued as being the same thing, attitudinal and behavioral research are not synonymous. However, as with quantitative and qualitative research, the two can be useful when assessed concurrently. 

Attitudinal research involves the assessment of users’ preconceived attitudes or feelings toward an experience. For example, this could involve asking a user why they like or dislike a feature on your site prior to using it. In contrast, behavioral research is focused on what the user does. 

Drawing another parallel to the distinction between quantitative and qualitative methods, behavioral research will tell you what’s happening, while attitudinal research helps to provide the reason why it’s happening. Always keep in mind that what users say and what users do are often different

Behavioral research: Observing user actions

Behavioral research is grounded in the observation of user behavior as they interact with a product. This method tracks what users actually do, not just what they say they do. By analyzing actions such as clicks, navigation paths, and interaction patterns, behavioral research uncovers how user behavior aligns—or doesn’t—with expected or intended use cases.

For instance, behavioral analytics can reveal if users find and use a new feature, or if they encounter issues completing tasks, allowing teams to objectively measure user engagement and identify problematic areas of a design.

Attitudinal research: Understanding user sentiments

Conversely, attitudinal research delves into the why behind user actions by exploring their attitudes, preferences, and feelings. This type of research typically involves direct feedback from users through methods like surveys, interviews, or sentiment analysis, providing insights into their satisfaction, preferences, and perceptions.

Attitudinal research can explain why a feature that performs well behaviorally might receive negative feedback, or why users request changes to elements that appear to function perfectly well from a behavioral standpoint.

Combining attitudinal and behavioral research for full spectrum insights

To fully understand user experience, it’s beneficial to combine both attitudinal and behavioral research. While behavioral data shows what users are doing, attitudinal data explains why they are doing it. For example, if behavioral data shows an increase in usage of a particular feature, but attitudinal data reveals that users feel frustrated or confused while using it, there may be deeper issues that need addressing.

By assessing both what users do and how they feel about their interactions, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of user experience, leading to more informed decision-making and better product development.

A holistic approach to user research

While attitudinal research provides context and understanding of user feelings and perceptions, behavioral research offers concrete data on user actions. Together, they provide a holistic view of the user experience, enabling UX researchers and designers to create more user-centric products that are not only functionally effective but also emotionally resonant. 

Generative vs evaluation research

The goals of  generative and evaluation research  (sometimes referred to as evaluative research) are very different. Generative research helps you define the problem you’d like to design a solution for. Evaluation research, on the other hand, helps you evaluate an existing design (in prototype, final, or some other form).

Generative research: Defining the user's world

Generative research, sometimes known as discovery research, is fundamentally about defining the problem space before attempting to design solutions. This type of research is exploratory in nature, aimed at uncovering the deep needs, desires, and behaviors of users that are not yet fully understood. It helps paint a broad picture of the context in which a product will be used and the potential challenges and opportunities that exist within that context.

Methodologies often employed in generative research include:

• User interviews to dive deep into the motivations and needs of individuals.
• Ethnographic studies to observe users in their natural environments, providing a richer, more authentic understanding of user behaviors.
• Field studies which involve direct observation and interaction with the user while they engage in their daily activities, offering insights that are often unattainable through other means.

Generative research is crucial in the early stages of product development when teams are tasked with defining the 'what' and 'why'—what needs to be built and why it is important. This research feeds the creative process with valuable insights that guide the design and innovation of new products.

Evaluative research: Assessing and refining the solution

Once a prototype or product iteration has been developed, evaluative research comes into play. This type of research assesses how well a product or feature performs against the intended user needs and business goals. It is more structured and tends to be quantitative, although qualitative methods can also be used to gain deeper insights.

Common evaluative research techniques include:

• Usability testing to identify how effectively users can use the product and where they encounter issues.
• A/B testing to compare different versions of a product and determine which one performs better in terms of user engagement and satisfaction.
• Surveys with closed-ended questions that provide measurable data about user satisfaction and usability.

Evaluative research is critical for refining and validating the design, ensuring that it not only meets the initial design specifications but also resonates with users and meets their needs effectively. It helps teams iterate on design solutions, making informed adjustments based on user feedback and behavior.

Integrating generative and evaluative research for comprehensive insights

While generative research is ideal for identifying new opportunities and understanding user needs, evaluative research is essential for testing and refining those ideas against real-world applications. The integration of both research types allows teams to create products that are both innovative and effective, ensuring that they not only meet the creative vision but also perform well in practical use.

By understanding the distinct roles of generative and evaluative research, teams can better plan their UX research activities to support all phases of the product development lifecycle—from conception to launch and beyond.

UX research methods

UX needs to be a strategic initiative that drives a culture of user-centric design and thinking—informing everything from the product itself to marketing campaigns and messaging to brand design and social media. There's a variety of UX research tools and user research techniques  that help teams collect the insights needed specific for every role.

Let’s take a look at some of the more common methods now.

Remote usability testing

It might be obvious that  remote usability testing  is a great method for conducting UX research—if only by its name alone. This method of  remote research  uses an  insight platform  to record the screen (and voice, depending on the software you choose) of test participants as they interact with your product or experience in their natural environment—at home, in their office, or a specific location.

Through usability testing , designers, product managers, and researchers alike can uncover and understand how real people respond to products and experiences. From what they like and dislike, to where they get stuck and confused, to areas of improvement, the valuable insights gathered from these tests are eye-opening.

Diary studies

Diary studies  are a form of  longitudinal research  (research that takes place over a long period with the same participants). Typically, users self-report their activities at regular intervals to create a log of their activities, thoughts, and frustrations. It’s a useful approach for capturing organic feedback on activities that are repetitive, long, or unpredictable.

The value of diary studies

Optimal scenarios for diary studies: Diary studies are most beneficial when exploring behaviors or experiences that unfold over longer periods. They are ideal for:

• Extended processes: Observing how users engage with a process that takes time, such as adopting new technology or navigating significant life events like purchasing a home.
• Behavioral triggers: Discovering the catalysts that prompt specific user actions, such as reaching for a health-tracking app or initiating a digital payment.
• Routine integration: Understanding how services or products become part of daily habits, affecting user retention and satisfaction.

These studies provide a depth of insight that snapshots from brief interactions simply cannot match, offering a richer, more contextual understanding of the user journey.

Strengths and challenges of diary studies

• In-depth insights: Over time, diary studies can reveal profound insights into user behavior and psychology that other methods might miss due to their limited observation windows.
• Rich contextual data: By capturing real-time data, diary studies provide a detailed view of how products or services fit into the fabric of everyday life.

Considerations:

• High participant commitment: The intensive nature of diary studies requires a significant time commitment from participants, which could lead to dropout if not properly managed.
• Complex data handling: The qualitative data from diary studies can be voluminous and complex, requiring meticulous analysis to derive meaningful conclusions.

Conducting effective diary studies

Preparation and participant engagement: Successful diary studies begin with thoughtful planning and careful participant selection. Maintaining flexible demographics and providing clear, comprehensive instructions are crucial to participant retention and data quality. Adequately compensating participants for their time is also essential given the extended nature of their involvement.

Instruction clarity: Participants should receive explicit instructions detailing the frequency and type of diary entries required, whether textual, visual, or both, and any specific focus areas or questions to address.

Pilot and iterate: Piloting the study with a few participants can help identify any issues with the study design and instructions, ensuring everything is clear and the study is set up for success.

Enhancing insights with interviews

Initial interviews: Starting with an in-depth interview can help set clear expectations, build rapport, and encourage thorough participation throughout the study period.

Concluding interviews: Post-study interviews allow for deeper exploration of diary entries, helping clarify ambiguities and delve deeper into significant findings.

Integrating with other research methods: While powerful on their own, diary studies can be even more informative when combined with other research methods, such as surveys or usability tests, to build a comprehensive picture of the user experience over time.

In essence, diary studies offer a unique lens through which to view the user experience, capturing the ebb and flow of daily life and its impact on product engagement and satisfaction.

Card sorting

Card sorting  is a qualitative research method used to group, label, and describe information more effectively—based on feedback from customers or users.  Card sorting requires you to create a set of cards—sometimes literally—to represent a concept or item. These cards will then be grouped or categorized by your users in ways that make the most sense to them. Most commonly, it’s used when designing (or redesigning) the navigation of a website or the organization of content within it, because it helps to evaluate information architecture.

It may seem obvious, but through a series of expertly-phrased and positioned questions,  surveys  allow you to empathize with your users in order to gain quantitative insights that aren’t as visible to developers, managers, and marketers. Listening to your customer can help you find new problems to solve or devise new ideas, and collecting customer feedback through surveys is an active, receptive, and honest way to do it.

Designing effective surveys

Key considerations for survey design:

• Ask the right questions: Tailor your questions to elicit the most informative responses. This involves understanding the kind of information you need and framing your questions to minimize bias, ensuring they are clear and direct.
• Incentivize participation: Motivate your respondents by offering rewards or explaining the value their feedback provides. This not only increases the response rate but also encourages thoughtful, honest answers.
• Simplify the process: Ensure your survey is concise and straightforward. Managing expectations upfront about the time commitment and providing a seamless user experience can reduce dropout rates.
• Prioritize accessibility and readability: Good UX design is crucial. Surveys should be easy to read and accessible on all devices, using clear fonts, contrasting colors, and an intuitive layout.

Why customer feedback is crucial

Feedback is essentially a dialogue between you and your customers. It helps you understand their needs, preferences, and pain points. Continuous feedback throughout the product development cycle allows you to make iterative improvements, ensuring that the final product resonates well with your users. Real-time insights from surveys can guide your decision-making process, helping you solve the right problems and innovate effectively.

Leveraging survey feedback

Immediate and long-term benefits:

• Identify new challenges: Surveys can pinpoint areas that need attention, revealing both new opportunities and existing flaws.
• Drive product evolution: Regular customer feedback helps you keep pace with users' evolving expectations, ensuring your product or service remains relevant.
• Enhance customer satisfaction: By acting on survey feedback, you demonstrate that you value customer input, fostering loyalty and enhancing overall user satisfaction.

Building on survey insights

While surveys provide valuable quantitative data, integrating these findings with qualitative research, such as interviews or observational studies, can enrich your understanding. This mixed-method approach allows you to not only quantify trends but also explore the reasons behind them, offering a comprehensive view of your user experience.

Live interviews  are a great way to collect qualitative insights. By having dynamic discussions, interviewees are able to observe verbal as well as non-verbal cues and ask open-ended questions to uncover those details that surveys and usability testing cannot. Interviewing is an especially useful UX research method for understanding complex feelings and experiences because it allows you to ask follow-up questions.

When should UX research be conducted?

Early on, UX research was most commonly used to solve a problem that was already known. For example, if a company noticed that visitors were dropping off their site at an unusually high rate on a particular page, researchers would look into how to solve that specific problem. As a result, research wasn’t necessarily something that was done for discovery or as a regular part of the development process.

But that’s a thing of the past. The value teams are getting from fast human insights is driving  UX research best practices  to become embedded in everyday processes for teams across the business. What was once just a problem-solving mindset has evolved to combine the perspective of finding what problems to solve, as well. 

This is where researchers flex their strategic skills, and  companies are getting creative with user experience research  to provide valuable insights. As any consumer will tell you, there are countless experiences that leave us underwhelmed, if not disappointed, that might not be so obvious to spot.

For example, if you visit an e-commerce site, find a product, and purchase it, there isn’t a lot of information that would trigger anyone to wonder if the purchasing experience needed any attention. After all, a purchase was made, right? Discovering what problems need solving, in addition to solving the ones you know need attention, is a big shift in UX research mentality.

A final word on UX research

UX, CX, usability, user testing. No matter what you call it, putting your customers at the center of your company’s mission and culture has become a  competitive advantage  that not only attracts new customers but keeps them coming back.

This expanded view and access to user experience research mean that not only are companies better equipped than ever to create and improve great experiences for their customers, it also means that customers will be expecting better and better experiences in the future.

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• UI and UX design

UX research

• Linda Rosencrance

What is UX research?

User experience (UX) research is the study of learning what end users of a system or product need and want, then employing those insights to enhance the design process for products, services or software.

UX research can take different forms depending on the area of focus. For example, for product teams, UX research could mean validating concepts and prototypes. For marketing teams, it might mean testing brand designs and messaging before launching products.

When conducting UX research, researchers study the motivations, behaviors and needs of users by analyzing how they perform certain tasks. UX research can also approach testing by working directly with users, remotely observing users using digital tools or conducting surveys to collect user feedback.

UX research methods and approaches

Like many types of research, studies on UX behaviors embody a number of different approaches to testing, data aggregation and garnering information. This involves both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Using quantitative research methods, UX researchers test proposed hypotheses about users' behaviors and attitudes based on a system of numerical and statistical evidence. Quantitative methods uncover, for instance, what percentage of people can successfully find a button on a page or how many users clicked on a particular link.

Meanwhile, qualitative UX research focuses on understanding why users behave the way they do or their reasons for wanting things to work a certain way. Qualitative research can be done via observations, field studies, moderated usability tests and user interviews. This research aims to comprehend the human side of data by trying to understand the underlying reasons and motivations that cause consumers to act the way they do.

While not an exhaustive list, here are some of the most prominent forms of UX research in use today:

• Card sorting. A technique that assesses and designs the navigation and structure of an application or website by giving individuals a list of related items (for example, a sample inventory listing for an online supermarket) and asking them to group the items in a way that makes the most logical sense to them.
• Contextual interviews. Monitored sessions where UX researchers observe users in their natural environments and ask questions to gain firsthand accounts of their experiences.
• Focus groups. A moderated feedback approach where a panel of users are asked to discuss their experiences among themselves, either in moderated or open formats, to help researchers learn more about the group's attitudes, ideas and wants.
• Expert reviews. Accredited and verified evaluations of a website against a list of established industry standards or other governing guidelines.
• Surveys. A selected series of questions posed to a number of users that help researchers learn about the individuals who use the end product.
• Usability testing. An evaluation technique that attempts to uncover the problems and frustrations users have with a site through one-on-one sessions where users perform tasks using a particular software application or other product.
• A/B testing. An assessment technique where users take part in blind studies that randomly assign those users to different versions of a website, application or other software product.

What are the benefits of UX research?

UX research helps organizations in many ways, but the following are some of the oft-cited benefits of performing UX research on a regular basis:

• Understand how users experience websites, mobile applications, products and prototypes.
• Evaluate and improve ideas and prototypes based on the findings of the UX research, enabling organizations to make the right design decisions early in the development process.
• Discover new customer needs and business opportunities.
• Find and fix flaws in products and services.
• Provide better user experiences than competitors.
• Understand every user interaction across the entire customer journey .
• Develop a more useful picture of the target audience for better advertising and marketing.

UX researcher role and responsibilities

The role of a UX researcher is to uncover user behaviors, needs and motivations to make products, services and websites more intuitive and enjoyable for users. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, they conduct comprehensive research and share the insights from research with the UX designers. The goal of the UX researcher is to make the overall design process smoother and more productive.

Some typical responsibilities of the UX researcher include:

• Create a well-crafted research plan with clear objectives.
• Build a picture of the target users based on their needs, wants, motivations and challenges.
• Write usability research screener questionnaires and discussion guides.
• Recruit targeted users for specific research studies.
• Moderate one-on-one usability sessions.
• Develop and implement quantitative surveys.
• Conduct client and stakeholder interviews.
• Provide actionable and meaningful recommendations for the product team.
• Present findings of the design research to a larger team clearly and in an organized manner.
• Work closely with the product team to identify research goals.
• Establish and implement an overall research strategy.

Best practices to conduct UX research

The following are some of the most important considerations to keep in mind when implementing a UX research initiative:

• Understand the needs and behaviors of users. This is key to building a product people want to use. Employ qualitative research, including studies and one-on-one interviews, to understand users' behaviors and desires.
• Pay attention to the differences in user behavior. After moving to the quantitative stage of measuring user behavior, don't just focus on the behaviors of the majority because not every user behaves the same way. Ask what you can learn from the behavior of the minority. Be open to every possibility, even if the findings don't align with the initial assumptions.
• Do UX research at every stage of a project. Although it may be best to conduct most research at the beginning to ensure the project is on track, it's also important to save some resources and budget to also conduct research later in the project.
• Conduct usability testing during the refinement and iteration phase. This will help provide an indication of what features should be added and what needs to be fixed by revealing how users interact with early versions of the product.
• Communicate the findings of usability tests, studies, quantitative and qualitative research, and user interviews with the developers working on the product. UX researchers should translate their users' needs into the technical language that the developers and the product team will understand.

How to become a UX researcher

While there are many paths to become a UX researcher, most job postings suggest that those interested in the career should possess the following certifications and skills:

• A bachelor's degree in computer science, psychology, marketing or another related field.
• Experience conducting user research using qualitative and user-centered design methodologies.
• In-depth understanding of user interface design.
• Working knowledge of behavioral analysis , quantitative methodology and statistics.
• General problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
• Good teamwork, communication and collaboration skills.
• Strong organization and time management skills.

Continue Reading About UX research

• The psychology of UX design: How design affects CX
• 4 UX analysis methods that ensure optimal user experiences
• What can urban sprawl teach us about UX design issues?
• UX guidelines for people-friendly software
• Why you need a UX researcher on your product team

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Are user research and UX research the same thing?

User research and UX research: interchangeable terms or two different disciplines? Explore how the two differ and where they overlap in this guide.

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The terms “user research” and “UX research” tend to be used interchangeably—but are they really the same thing? Does it even matter?

If you’re a user or UX researcher, you may be curious about any differences between the two terms, and what that might mean in relation to your role. Perhaps you’re considering a career in user/UX research and want to get clarification before you start any kind of training.

Either way, the topic of user research vs. UX research is increasingly garnering attention in the field. But is it just semantics or are there meaningful distinctions to be made? Let’s find out.

[GET CERTIFIED IN USER RESEARCH]

Before we try to answer this question, let’s go right back to basics with a definition of each term.

User research is the process of studying your target users. Target users are the people whose needs and preferences you want to understand and ultimately meet. The purpose of user research is to deeply understand your target users’ behaviours, emotions, needs, motivations, goals, and frustrations within a given context—for example, within the context of trying to eat healthily or maintain a sustainable fitness regime.

UX research, or user experience research, can also be defined as the study of target users. And, just like user research, UX research seeks to establish a deep understanding of the target users’ goals, behaviours, feelings, needs, and pain-points. We can expand on this definition slightly, though, to add that UX research focuses particularly on the users’ experience with a specific product or service—be it an existing product or service, or one that’s about to be designed.

Based on those definitions, we can draw the initial conclusion that UX research is simply a more specific subset of user research.

But does that hold true in practice? Let’s dive a little deeper. 

UX research vs. user research: similarities and overlap

We’ve established that both UX research and user research are concerned with the study of target users. And, given that the terms are mostly used interchangeably, it’s no surprise that there’s plenty of overlap between the two. 

Here’s what UX research and user research have in common:

• They both focus on understanding target users. The ultimate goal of both user research and UX research is to gain insight into how and why target users behave, think, and feel a certain way, and to uncover their goals, desires, preferences, and challenges in relation to a particular task or context.
• User research and UX research follow the same high-level process of identifying and recruiting target users (or people who represent the target user group), selecting an appropriate research method, analysing and interpreting research data , and translating it into actionable insights.
• They each rely on both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Whether you call it user research or UX research, the research methods available remain largely the same—surveys and questionnaires, user behaviour analysis, interviews, ethnographic studies, and focus groups (to name a few). You can learn more about quantitative vs. qualitative research here .
• User research and UX research involve similar tools. There’s considerable overlap between the tools required for user and UX research . Both make use of survey tools, remote interview and video conferencing software, diary study tools, analytics tools, and project management, collaboration, and presentation platforms.
• They are both bound by research ethics. User research and UX research involve studying, interacting with, and gathering data on real people—and that requires careful consideration of, and adherence to, user research ethics . 

Based on that list, it’s hard to imagine how any distinction can possibly be drawn between the two. But some people do indeed consider them slightly different disciplines based on some subtle nuances. Let’s explore those now.

User research vs. UX research: some subtle differences between the two

If you zoom in very closely on what user research and UX research entail—and consider the finer details of when, how, and why they’re carried out—you can find some subtle differences between the two. 

Here’s how you might distinguish between user research and UX research:

• Breadth and scope of focus: User research, by definition, is the broad study of target users. It’s not necessarily done within the context of product design; it might relate to market research, for example. UX research, on the other hand, is firmly embedded in the UX design process . It’s carried out with the goal of improving a user’s experience with a specific product or service. In that sense, user research is more holistic and all-encompassing, while UX research is much narrower in focus.
• Nature of research activities: This difference in scope and focus filters through to the nature of the research carried out. Because it’s a broader field, user research can involve studies that are not directly related to a specific product or service. For example, a user researcher may conduct a study to learn more about how people of different age groups use social media. With UX research, on the other hand, research activities focus on learning about the target users in relation to a specific product. This usually involves having the user interact directly with the product (or service, or a prototype thereof), or running an activity that gives you insight into how they want a particular product to function—for example, conducting a card sorting exercise to help you determine the best information architecture for your website.
• Use of insights and findings: User research, in its broadest form, is not necessarily used to inform the design and direction of a product. It can do that, but it may also be used to devise effective marketing strategies, to improve customer service, to develop a strong brand, or to identify important market trends. UX research, however, is almost always used to gain valuable insights that can inform the strategy, design, and evolution of a specific product, service, or user experience.
• Expertise: UX research and user research require almost identical skill sets, with one key difference. By definition, user researchers don’t necessarily have to be experts in user experience (UX) design and all its underlying principles. However, you wouldn’t land a job as a UX researcher without some prior knowledge of UX.

It’s important to note that these potential differences are not always evident or even relevant in practice. There are plenty of user researchers who work in UX; the terms, and job titles, are used interchangeably 99% of the time.

On that note, it’s worth exploring what happens when you look for “user researcher” and “UX researcher” jobs. This gives us great insight into how employers define and use the two job titles, and whether or not there’s a difference in terms of tasks and responsibilities. So let’s do that!

User researcher vs. UX researcher job titles: do employers distinguish between the two roles?

We’ve outlined some theoretical differences between user research and UX research. But do these subtle nuances have any real-world implications?

To see whether or not there’s a tangible, practical difference between the two, we ran a little experiment. We searched for both “user researcher” and “UX researcher” jobs online and compared the results. Here’s what happened.

• On Indeed , a search for “user researcher” jobs in the United States returned just over 600 results. A search for “UX researcher” jobs returned just over 300 results. On LinkedIn, the results were about the same, with around 250 jobs for each.
• When searching for “user researcher” jobs on Indeed, the large majority of the jobs shown were for the following roles: user experience researcher, UX researcher, senior user researcher, usability researcher, design researcher, and staff researcher.
• When searching for “UX researcher” jobs on Indeed, the majority of the jobs shown were for the following job titles: UX researcher, user experience researcher, usability researcher, senior UX researcher, and UX researcher and designer.

It would seem that it makes no difference if you search for user researcher or UX researcher roles: you’ll ultimately get the same mixture of job titles in the results.

So how about salary? Interestingly, the Indeed salary portal makes no distinction between “UX researcher” and “user researcher”. Search for both “user researcher” and “UX researcher” salaries and you won’t get a single salary figure. Instead, you’ll be shown salary data for a variety of job titles such as user experience researcher and user experience designer. 

The closest match, in this case, is “user experience researcher” (which is just the UX researcher job title written out in full). If you’re interested, the average salary for this role is $124,000 in the United States (based on data collected by Indeed ).

And what if we compare UX researcher job descriptions to user researcher roles? This should give us some insight into whether or not employers actually distinguish between the two in terms of function, tasks, and responsibilities. 

Here are the job descriptions we compared:

• Trust and Safety User Researcher at TikTok, described as follows: “ In this role, you will play an integral part in providing hands-on experience and proficiency in managing tracking surveys and quantitative research. You will conduct in-depth data analyses, develop and implement quantitative research methods, and track user sentiments to inform our business decisions.”
• Lead User Researcher at Kooth, a digital mental health and wellbeing company, described as follows: “ As the Lead User Researcher, you will be responsible for conducting research and utilising mixed methodologies to gather insights on user needs, behaviours, and motivations. You will use this information to inform and improve the product design and user experience of our service, as well as contribute to the experience strategy.”
• UX Researcher, Pixel, at Google, described as follows: “As a User Experience Researcher (UXR), you’ll help your team of UXers, product managers, and engineers understand user needs. You’ll work with stakeholders across functions and levels and have impact at all stages of product development. You’ll play a critical role in creating useful, usable, and delightful products.”
• UX Researcher, Qualitative, at Meta, described as follows: “Our UX Research team is designing for the global diversity of human needs, which requires us to deeply understand the behaviours of the people behind them. Our researchers tackle some of the most complex challenges to gain deeper insights into how people interact with each other and the world around them, and work collaboratively to contribute new ideas to products that impact the experiences of billions of people on a global scale.”

[GET CERTIFIED IN UX]

And here’s what we found. 

There are many common threads between the roles in terms of tasks and responsibilities:

• Both the user researcher and UX researcher roles emphasise a user-centric approach.
• All roles involve conducting user research in the form of surveys, interviews, and usability testing.
• Every role includes analysing data to inform decision-making.
• All roles require cross-functional collaboration with product managers, designers, engineers, and/or business stakeholders.

As well as one notable difference: the user researcher roles have a strong strategic focus, emphasising the importance of aligning research outcomes with business goals. While all job descriptions involve conducting user research, the UX researcher roles are notably more hands-on with research execution.

Does this mean that employers view user researchers and UX researchers as two different roles?

Possibly, and not necessarily. The difference between the UX researcher and user researcher roles we’ve studied (and bear in mind, it’s a very small sample!) may be down to differences in how each company and team is set up, as well as their general focus, rather than any major fundamental differences between the user researcher and UX researcher job titles.

Ultimately, it’s important to evaluate each job ad in relation to the context: the company posting it, the seniority level of the role, and the size and structure of the wider team.

Generally speaking, though, user researchers and UX researchers are viewed as one and the same. Whether advertising for a UX researcher, a user researcher, or some other variation on the job title: employers appear to require the same skills, methodologies, and mindset.

UX research vs. user research: the final verdict

We’ve outlined all the ways in which user research and UX research are identical, and pointed out some differences. 

So what’s the verdict? Is it necessary to distinguish between the two, or can we accept that the terms are interchangeable despite some subtle nuances? 

In the end, it really boils down to context. In essence, user researchers and UX researchers do the same thing. They conduct research to build a deep understanding of their target users.

In a UX and design context, these insights are used to make smart design decisions that will improve the user’s experience of a given product. Outside of UX, user research can play a critical role in informing business strategies and improving marketing efforts. These differences may or may not come into play depending on the company and the team into which the researcher is hired.

For all intents and purposes, we expect that the terms will continue to be used interchangeably. Distinctions can be drawn upon closer inspection, but ultimately, these differences have little to no impact in terms of the skills you’ll need to learn, the qualifications you’ll need to obtain, and the roles you can apply for. 

Planning a career in user or UX research? Here’s how to get started

Whether you want to focus on user research for UX and product design, or build a research career in another domain—you’ll need to master the art and science of conducting user research. This includes:

• Learning how to apply both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies , from user surveys and user interviews to focus groups, diary studies, and more. 
• Developing strong data analysis skills in order to extract meaningful insights from your research that can be used to inform actions and decisions. 
• Understanding the importance of user research ethics to protect the safety and well-being of your research participants. 
• Building proficiency in user research tools —from interview and transcription software to analytics tools, survey tools, and more. 
• Honing essential soft skills such as collaboration, communication, presentation, problem-solving, and critical thinking.

If you’re new to user research (or want to consolidate and verify your existing research skills), consider a formal user research qualification. This will ensure that you cover all essential ground, teach you how to apply your research skills in a real-world context, and equip you with both a credible certification and a professional research portfolio—allowing you to demonstrate what you’re capable of and confidently apply for user research (and UX research) roles. 

Want to learn more about UX and user research in the meantime? Check out these posts:

• 3 Real-world research case studies from Airbnb, Spotify, and Google—and what we can learn from them
• What exactly does a UX researcher do?
• The importance of user research in UX design

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2 July 2024

• UX Researcher
• Job profiles

The UX Researcher’s work is to provide answers to the most challenging questions in the product’s design. The UX Researcher reveals what the consumers need from the business’s products by conducting primary research, exploring consumer behavior and motivation, and working with the Product Design, Product Management, and Product Development (engineers) departments in developing new product features.

The UX Researcher also has to play a role in inspiring change at all stages of the product’s development through the delivery of exciting written, oral, and visual presentations about his findings. However, the most fundamental role of the UX Researcher is to assist the entire User Experience (UX) team in understanding what would ensure that the consumer’s experience with the product feels more intuitive, fun, accessible, and quite possibly, magical.

In addition to this, a good UX Researcher evaluates all the features that contribute to the consumer’s experience, provides expertise, collaborates internally, and on occasion, spearheads projects.

Objectives and Responsibilities of the UX Researcher

Collaboration: The UX Researcher is tasked with facilitating engagement and collaboration across various disciplines in the business. In this capacity, the UX Researcher’s purpose is to ensure that the consumers’ needs are properly understood and seriously considered in all product departments.

The UX researcher also works closely with the Product Developers, Product Managers, Interaction Designers, and other product departments for the purpose of promoting the best practices in consumer research.

Research: As is already suggested in the title, the UX Researcher is responsible for spearheading the planning and conducting of consumer research at every stage of the product’s lifecycle; from its conceptualization, prototype validations, all the way to usability tests on the final product.

At this capacity, the UX Researcher liaises with the Senior UX researcher in the co-development and tracking of consumer-research needs and goals. The purpose of this is to ensure that consumer research is consistently supporting product initiatives and that product departments are not just shooting in the dark in their research initiatives.

Education: As the business’s consumer experience specialist, it is only natural that the UX Researcher is tasked with the education of other departments in this field. At this capacity, the UX Researcher documents and presents actionable product research findings of his own to the various Product Management departments. The presentation of research findings are delivered in an engaging way that is comprised of oral, visual, and written reports.

For example, the UX Researcher will relay complex but useful product research findings to the product development department, mostly comprised of engineers, in a creative and engaging manner that they can relate to and understand as engineers. This is for the purpose of assisting them to iteratively design a product that satisfies consumer experience.

Internal Evangelism: Being a research specialist, the UX Researcher is better positioned to understand the product’s strong points of sale. In addition, the UX researcher is able to understand the product’s competitive edge. For this reason, the UX Researcher is also tasked with being an advocate for the product’s value as well as the value of consumer research in addressing the product’s needs.

At this capacity, the UX Researcher provides clear points of improvement for the product and research approaches to various product teams as well as the Senior UX Researcher.

Research Design: This is an extension of his research role and a fundamental function of the UX Researcher. The UX Researcher is responsible for designing quantitative and qualitative research approaches for application in all product departments. These approaches are, however, forwarded to the Senior UX Researcher for further consideration pending approval.

In the performance of this function, the UX Researcher tailors the proposed research approaches in such a way that they avail solutions for core issues that regularly come up in individual stages of the product’s lifecycle.

Other Duties: The UX Researcher also performs other duties as required by the Senior UX Researcher or the Employer.

Required Qualifications of the UX Researcher

Education: A candidate for this position must have a Bachelor’s degree in Business Association, Marketing, Economics, Computer Science, Cognitive Science, Psychology, Information Science, or any other related field. A working experience of the equivalent is also acceptable for the position.

Experience: A suitable candidate will have at least 2 years of work experience in statistical analysis, qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, product usability moderating, experimental design, and test method selection. In addition, a candidate for this position must have had proven successful experience in the integration of consumer research into a business’s product design practice. Additionally, a suitable candidate will have experience in product usability testing tools, for example Keynote.

Also an experience related requirement, a UX Researcher candidate must display a strong comprehension of the strengths and limitations of the different research methods, inclusive of when and how to apply each in product/market/consumer analyses.

Communication Skills: The role of the UX Researcher involves some fairly complex research concepts that a majority of the people in the business will find difficult to understand in their raw version. For this reason, a UX Researcher must possess excellent communication skills to be able to relay these research methodology concepts and findings to product department personnel and to other collaborating personnel in a clear, simple, and relatable manner. Candidates’ communication skills have to be good both in written and verbal form.

Problem Solver: The role of the UX Researcher is a role designed for the formulation of actionable research solutions for the product and product departments’ research issues. For this reason, the UX Researcher must possess an effective problem solving ability even under short notice. The UX Researcher must be able to come up with creative solutions and consider a variety of alternative solutions for each problem.

Software: The position of UX Researcher also demands the delivery of detailed, high quality, engaging, and interactive presentations to the Senior UX Researcher and product departments. For this purpose, it is essential that a UX Researcher have proficiency in Sketch, InDesign, Illustrator, Keynote and Photoshop computer softwares.

Ms Office: The UX Researcher must be proficient in Ms Word and the Ms Excel analytical tools. He must also demonstrate proficiency in the use of PowerPoint in order to create engaging content for presentations made to the Senior UX Researcher and to product department personnel.

Interpersonal Skills: A candidate for this position must display a genuine passion for product-centric innovation; an ability to work well independently as well as with a team; must have a keen and exceptional attention to detail; and more importantly, an ability to identify root recommendations inspired by the consumers’ needs and behaviors.

JOB SKILLS REQUIRED FOR UX Researcher

• User Research
• Verbal Communication
• Visual Communication

SYNONYMS AND VERY SIMILAR JOBS

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• Artificial Intelligence
• Product Management
• UX Research

Market Research vs UX Research: Key Differences & When to Use Each

Johanna Székelyhidi

Starting from scratch with a digital product is a thrilling but tough job. Research helps answer tough questions, so knowing when and how to use UX research vs market research methods is crucial.

In this article we answer: 

• How can you distinguish between different types of research?
• What characteristics define market research vs UX research? 
• Which one should you use, and when?
• How can you combine market research and UX research?

Doing research can give the answers you need to move on and create a great product. 

The big question is, then, what type of research do you need, and when. 

Let’s get started.

Essential Questions for Digital Product Planning

When you’re building a digital product, you need to answer these eight questions as soon as possible.

• Does the need for your product exist? Examine how big of a potential market it has.
• What competing products have already entered the market? Don’t just list them, go deeper and find out about their functionalities, differentiation, and market share. 
• Who would be  the target customers for your product? Learn what they are trying to accomplish, their pain points and motivations.
• How do potential users currently solve their problems? Your product needs to be easier to use, better, faster, or cheaper. 
• How likely are they to buy your product? Estimates can only take you so far, but you need some data-based info on how  much they would pay.
• What features do they find the most important? These need to be perfected.
• How do they use it? Research their satisfaction and how intuitive they find your product. 
• Finally, how will you get more users?   Growth potential is crucial.

Questions like these keep coming and they can overwhelm us sometimes. Don’t panic. Research will get you the relevant and reliable answers you need. Let’s explore which type of research suits your needs.

UX Research vs Market Research Differences

Not all research works the same. The type of research depends on the questions you want to answer and the kind of information you need. 

UX research aims to find people’s true pain points and motivations based on their behavior, whereas market research aims to find people’s attitudes towards a product and estimate the size of the potential market. 

The UX Research Approach

A UX researcher would try to find answers by conducting interviews with potential users. You’ll get data on what users want to achieve ; how they currently do it ; what problems they face along the way ; and what motivates them to keep going.

UX research focuses on:

• Understanding user needs, behaviors, and motivations
• Problems users face, and how they solve them

Methods used in user research include:

• Interviews and surveys
• Observations and field studies
• Usability testing and A/B testing
• Card sorting and tree testing
• Persona creation and user journey mapping

Outcomes of user research provide:

• Insights into user preferences and expectations
• Data to inform design decisions and improve user experience
• Validation of design concepts and prototypes
• Metrics for measuring usability and satisfaction
• Recommendations for product improvements and feature prioritization

The research should indicate if a need for a product like we envision exists. However, it wouldn’t say how much need exists (how many people have the problem, with what frequency, etc.). 

The Market Research Approach

A market researcher would also try to conduct interviews with potential users. This is where the question of market research vs UX research comes in. 

Market researchers focus on:

• The  product idea’s appeal and key purchasing factors
• Explore alternative solutions

Market researcher would conduct a survey with a representative sample to assess:

• Product occurrence and frequency
• Current solutions
• Likelihood of using the new product
• User demographics

Survey results would:

• Add quantitative insights to qualitative data
• Indicate market need
• Estimate the product’s potential

This example shows how UX research and market research clearly differ in strategy. It also indicates that the insights they provide complement each other . 

Main Differences

Market research: broad insights focused on attitudes.

When you want to get the broad picture by uncovering high-level information about a specific industry, use market research. Market researchers use mainly quantitative methods , meaning they focus on numbers. They run studies on large representative samples to infer results for the whole population. 

The results of surveys reflect the situation in the whole population within an acceptable margin of error. This can make us quite sure of the average potential user’s age, income level, level of education and other general characteristics. Market research tends to give more weight to attitudinal data (what people say about themselves or about what they would do) rather than to concrete behaviors in a certain context. Market research is mainly used to inform marketing decisions.

UX Research: Detailed Insights Focused on Behavior

UX research employs a very different strategy. It has nothing to do with market size and shares, trends, market segments, or demographics. It has even less to do with attitudinal responses. Instead, it looks at people’s behavior when they solve everyday problems or use a product.

UX research provides a direction about how to design a product, and to what extent it meets user needs. We can use significantly smaller sample sizes because the results don’t need statistical accuracy. 

Consequently, UX research doesn’t deal with broad data, but rather very specific, deep insights about users. Researchers collect insights into the deeper reasons behind people’s actions and words. It observes what users actually do with a product and focuses on improving design and usability.

Can’t I just Choose One and Adapt the Results to Fit My needs?

Not really. Both research methods play an important role, and you must avoid using one in the wrong context. 

Relying on market research insights to inform UX design decisions works equally as bad as relying on user research insights to derive market size. 

UX design requires different information than market research data. Also, a UX researcher or a market researcher requires different knowledge and skill sets. All-rounders who can equally master both come along a lot less often.

If you want to work with expert UX researchers, why don’t you browse our services ?

UX Research vs. Market Research: When to Use Each?

Generally speaking, market research plays an important role during the product development cycle’s early stages for analyzing the potential to turn a profit. Here we need business insights on market size, trends, and competition. Also, product/service areas that interest people need to be identified.

After the initial market research, UX research will take over and dive into one of the focus areas we want to understand more deeply. UX research brings useful insights for building an innovative product: validating specific design decisions, deriving features and testing product ideas. 

Once you have concrete ideas from UX research, market research evaluates which concepts will sell well and identifies price points.

Let’s compare the goals and methods of market research and UX research to see when each is best used in the product lifecycle.

• Market research goals : evaluate needs, market size, trends, competition, value proposition, pricing, and segmentation.
• UX research goals : Define personas; create user journeys and test designs; choose features; build information architecture; analyze usage, product satisfaction, loyalty, and new needs.
• Market research methods : surveys, focus groups, competitor analysis, price studies, and conjoint analysis.
• UX research methods : interviews, diary studies, ethnography, usability testing, concept testing, card sorting, analytics, A/B testing, clickstream analysis, eye tracking, net promoter score, and customer feedback.

Stages of your product lifecycle

• Discover : involves interviews, diary studies, ethnography, surveys, focus groups, secondary analysis, and competitor analysis.
• Define : includes defining personas, value proposition, and user journeys.
• Design : involves testing designs, choosing features, and information architecture.
• Develop : encompasses testing concepts, usability, concept testing, card sorting, and price studies.
• Deploy : focuses on analytics, A/B testing, clickstream analysis, eye tracking, Net Promoter Score, customer feedback, and market segmentation.

Combine market and UX research to make better decisions

For making the best decisions, combine market research and UX research throughout product development.

• Initial Stage (Discover): Use market research to understand market needs and trends, and UX research to gather initial user insights.
• Concept Development (Define): Market research helps define the value proposition; UX research defines personas and user journeys.
• Design Phase (Design): Market research guides feature prioritization; UX research focuses on usability testing and design refinement.
• Development Phase (Develop): Use market research for pricing strategies; UX research continues usability testing and concept validation.
• Pre-Launch (Deploy): Market research fine-tunes marketing strategy; UX research optimizes user experience through analytics and testing.

Integrate findings from both types of research throughout the product lifecycle. Make the research process iterative and collaborative between departments. 

“ The most important thing for user experience professionals to know is when marketing research is needed, and when user experience research is needed,” says Apala Lahiri Chavan, the Chief Oracle and Innovator at Human Factors International. “If you understand how these two methodologies work together through a product lifecycle, you will be able to work effectively with marketing departments. You can demonstrate the value of including user experience research in their projects because you are able to explain how it complements the market research they are already conducting.”

And now you know how to go about it.

Key Takeaways

To sum up this deep dive, let’s review the main points we touched upon in this post.

#1 Research methods don’t all work the same . Think of the kind of information you need and choose a method that can provide the relevant answers.

 #2 Never confuse UX research and market research or use them interchangeably. Synergy is key.

 #3 Market research mainly provides broad, quantitative insights about people’s attitudes and their willingness to buy a product. This, in turn, informs marketing decisions.

 #4 UX research mainly provides deep, focused qualitative insights about people’s behavior and how they would use a product. As a result, this informs design decisions. 

#5 Used together , user research and market research can help product managers make better decisions and provide a clear roadmap to create successful products.

Want To Learn More?

What is beyond market research vs UX research? Read more related articles to research on our blog: Product Manager’s Guide To UX Research and Nine UX Research Methods Product People Should Know . 

Reach out to us if you want to consult expert researchers with 10+ years of experience. We sure have some ideas!

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A Beginner’s Guide to Quantitative UX Research

UX research is at the cornerstone of UX design as it’s the best way to identify where there’s a problem and to uncover the design opportunities available to remedy them. Through various research methods, designers work to pinpoint the needs of their users and the best ways to meet those needs.

An important subcategory of UX research is quantitative user research . Quantitative user research is what most people imagine when they think of research data—it’s numerical or statistical information obtained through highly controlled testing environments. While its counterpart, qualitative data, gives researchers important subjective information, quantitative data provides crucial objective information that helps designers to evaluate their products and determine when a redesign might be necessary.

We’ve created this comprehensive guide to quantitative user research to help you understand what quantitative data is, how it’s used, and the different types of quantitative research methods employed by UX designers.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What is quantitative UX research?

When to use quantitative UX research

• Quantitative UX research methods
• Utilizing mixed methods in UX research
• Key takeaways

Now, let’s get started!

1. What is quantitative UX research?

Quantitative user research is the process of collecting and analyzing objective, numerical data from various types of user testing.

Quantitative research utilizes large sample numbers to produce bias-free, measurable data about a user population. It answers the questions of “how many, how much, and how often?”

The main goal of quantitative user research is to indirectly measure the usability of a completed or final product. However, quantitative research is also used to compare a product to its competitors or calculate a company’s ROI.

2. When to use quantitative UX research

Quantitative user research is best conducted on a product that is already in existence or when you’re completing a final design. This means that quantitative research is utilized at the very beginning or very end of a design cycle. However, to time your quantitative research well, you’ll need to evaluate your research goals and understand the benefits that running quantitative user research will have on your designs.

Here’s a brief overview of some benefits of quantitative research, some potential downsides, and the situations when you should use quantitative methods in your UX research.

Benefits of quantitative research

• Easier to avoid human-bias as it’s difficult to lead participants to certain outcomes in a structured and highly controlled testing environment
• Allows you to assign numbers to the usability of your product, which may be more convincing to some investors and stakeholders
• Results in data that is easily presented in the form of graphs, charts, etc.
• Helps you understand if changes in your designs create different (statistically significant) outcomes
• Warrants less direct contact with users and easy to conduct remotely

Potential downsides to quantitative UX research

• Can only give you an idea of what is happening, but doesn’t answer the question of why certain trends or patterns are present
• Doesn’t result in anecdotal data or direct quotes from users, which can also be impactful with some investors and stakeholders
• In order to obtain any sort of statistical significance, you need to have a lot of respondents/participants (a large sample size), which may be difficult to organize
• Can be costly due to the need for a larger sample size
• Lets you know if a redesign is necessary but doesn’t clue you in on how the product  should be redesigned
• When comparing your product to its competitors
• To determine if a redesign is necessary or worth doing
• When you need to analyze and compare different designs and whether the changes observed are statistically significant
• If you need to evaluate company goals, key performance indicators, or when justifying support for and investment in your UX design team to upper management

3. Quantitative UX research methods

There are many types of tests and research methods that can provide meaningful quantitative data when analyzing your product. Here, we discuss a few of the most common ones: Analytics, heatmaps, funnel analysis, cohort analysis, and A/B testing.

Analytics, and Google Analytics in particular, is one of the most valuable sources of quantitative user data. Through metrics like bounce rates, page views, conversion rates, and click-throughs, analytics helps give you a clear cut idea of the usability of a site and what users are doing when they interact with it. It can quickly give you numerical data that will suggest what parts of a site need work or if a complete redesign is warranted.

Mouse heatmaps

Similar to analytics, mouse heatmaps paint a pretty vivid picture (literally) of what is happening when a user interacts with a site. Mouse heatmaps help you visualize a user’s mouse movement and records when they hover, scroll, click, or pause when moving through a site. With radar-like color coding, mouse heatmaps show where your users’ attention is drawn and what areas can be leveraged for higher conversion rates.

Funnel analysis

Funnel analysis is a method that helps you visualize the steps needed for your users to complete a task and analyze how successful they are at doing so at each step. The map typically takes on the shape of a funnel as you assess what percentage of users are making it all the way to the final step of the task. A funnel analysis helps you visualize where most users are dropping out of the journey and what steps in the funnel need attention in order to maximize conversion rates.

Cohort analysis

Utilizing a cohort analysis helps you look at user engagement over time. The activity of your older users is often masked by the high rates of new users. So instead of lumping all your users into one category, a cohort analysis sorts them into related groups so you can accurately assess if engagement is improving over time or if it just appears that way due to growth. It will also show you where your users are dropping out and what areas need work in order to improve user retention.

A/B Testing

A/B testing allows designers to compare two or more versions of a design on users to see which one is more effective. It’s best that the designs differ by only one or two key features so that you can accurately assess if different outcomes of the test are actually due to differences in specific features. While you can obtain some qualitative data from in-person A/B testing (ie. quotes, facial expressions), A/B testing gives you a percentage of how many users prefer each design, giving you a distinct idea of which version is more effective.

4. Utilizing mixed methods in UX research

Quantitative user research can offer invaluable data when analyzing the usability of a product. However, when used on its own, it’s not enough to portray a complete picture of how successful a product is at fulfilling the user’s needs. This is where mixed methods research comes in.

Mixed methods research simply refers to using both quantitative and qualitative user research to investigate the efficiency of a product. 

As we’ve already said, quantitative data gives you objective, numerical data that answers all your “what, how many, and how much” questions. Qualitative data, on the other hand, provides crucial user feedback and subjective data to answer why certain trends are occurring, and how you might address any problems or pain points.

When used as a pair, quantitative and qualitative data give you a more thorough and detailed view of how users are reacting to a product, what areas have flaws or frictions, and how they might be remedied.

5. Key takeaways

Quantitative data is a crucial part of UX research that gives designers minimally-biased and objective numerical or statistical data about the efficiency of their products. Through various testing methods, UX researchers and designers employ quantitative user research to evaluate the usability of a product or determine if a redesign is necessary. However, quantitative UX research is best used alongside its qualitative UX research counterpart. When used in conjunction, designers can easily identify trends in user behavior, understand why they might be happening, and work towards resolving them.

To learn more about UX research, check out these articles:

• How to conduct UX research like a pro
• Qualitative vs. quantitative UX research—what’s the difference? 
• How to conduct inclusive user research
• 5 Mistakes to avoid in your UX research portfolio