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You’re on a business trip in Oakland, CA. You've been working late in downtown and now you're looking for a place nearby to grab a late dinner. You decided to check Zomato to try and find somewhere to eat. (Don't begin searching yet).

• Look around on the home page. Does anything seem interesting to you?
• How would you go about finding a place to eat near you in Downtown Oakland? You want something kind of quick, open late, not too expensive, and with a good rating.
• What do the reviews say about the restaurant you've chosen?
• What was the most important factor for you in choosing this spot?
• You're currently close to the 19th St Bart station, and it's 9PM. How would you get to this restaurant? Do you think you'll be able to make it before closing time?
• Your friend recommended you to check out a place called Belly while you're in Oakland. Try to find where it is, when it's open, and what kind of food options they have.
• Now go to any restaurant's page and try to leave a review (don't actually submit it).

What was the worst thing about your experience?

It was hard to find the bart station. The collections not being able to be sorted was a bit of a bummer

What other aspects of the experience could be improved?

Feedback from the owners would be nice

What did you like about the website?

The flow was good, lots of bright photos

What other comments do you have for the owner of the website?

I like that you can sort by what you are looking for and i like the idea of collections

You're going on a vacation to Italy next month, and you want to learn some basic Italian for getting around while there. You decided to try Duolingo.

• Please begin by downloading the app to your device.
• Choose Italian and get started with the first lesson (stop once you reach the first question).
• Now go all the way through the rest of the first lesson, describing your thoughts as you go.
• Get your profile set up, then view your account page. What information and options are there? Do you feel that these are useful? Why or why not?
• After a week in Italy, you're going to spend a few days in Austria. How would you take German lessons on Duolingo?
• What other languages does the app offer? Do any of them interest you?

I felt like there could have been a little more of an instructional component to the lesson.

It would be cool if there were some feature that could allow two learners studying the same language to take lessons together. I imagine that their screens would be synced and they could go through lessons together and chat along the way.

Overall, the app was very intuitive to use and visually appealing. I also liked the option to connect with others.

Overall, the app seemed very helpful and easy to use. I feel like it makes learning a new language fun and almost like a game. It would be nice, however, if it contained more of an instructional portion.

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UX Research Process: A Step-by-Step Guide for You

A well-organized UX research process isn’t the same as a strict, unchangeable process. There isn’t a single right way to do UX research. The best methods are flexible, adaptable, and customized to fit the specific needs of your users, team, and business.

In this blog, we’ll explore a 6-step guide for you on how to conduct UX research.

What is the UX research process?

The UX research process involves steps that help product teams learn what users need, how they act, and what they like.

UX researchers use different research methods to identify problems and find ways to stand out from competitors. Organizations also conduct UX research to observe how customers interact with their products or services in real life.

6 Steps of the UX Research Process

The UX research process helps you understand your users’ needs, behaviors, and how they use your product. By following this process, you make sure your design choices are based on real user needs. Here’s how you navigate the UX research process in 6 steps:

Step 1: Understanding the Research Goals and Objectives

Clear goals and objectives will guide your process, help you use resources wisely, garner stakeholder support, and gather valuable user insights.

• Define the Problem: Clearly outline the problem you want to solve. This involves understanding the business goals, user needs, and the context in which the product will be used.
• Set Research Goals: Identify what you need to learn from your users. This might include understanding user behavior, preferences, pain points, or workflows.

Step 2: Planning the Research

After setting your goals, the next step is planning the research and determining the data type you want to gather. This includes:

• Choose Research Methods: Selecting the appropriate UX research methods is like picking the right tools for a job. The UX research method you choose depends greatly on the type of project, your resources, the size of your research team, methods that best suit your goals, and the deadlines you need to meet.
• Common methods include: – Surveys and Questionnaires – User Interviews – Focus Groups – Usability Testing – A/B Testing – Contextual Inquiry – Field Studies
• Recruit Participants: Identify the target users you want to research. Use user research methods and ensure that the participants reflect the diversity of your actual user base.
• Prepare Research Materials: This includes creating interview guides, questionnaires, and prototypes or tools used during the research.

Step 3: Conducting the Research

Execute the planned research activities. This step involves making surveys, organizing usability tests, interviewing users, or using other methods. UX researchers use various techniques to carry out their studies. By talking directly with users, you can learn about their behaviors, preferences, and challenges firsthand.

Take detailed notes, record interviews (with permission), and collect data useful for analysis later.

Step 4: Analyze Research Data to Gather Insights and Communicate

How you analyze the data you gather in your research sessions depends on your objectives. Let’s explore some common types of analysis and the valuable insights you can gather:

• Synthesize Feedback: Organize the data collected from research activities. Look for patterns, trends, and significant insights to inform design decisions.
• Create User Personas: Based on the research, develop personas representing key user groups. Personas help the design team understand and empathize with the users.
• Identify Pain Points and Opportunities: Highlight the problems users face and identify areas where the product can be improved or new features can be added.

Sort your data into categories and tags, paying special attention to user pain points. Look for patterns and common issues. If you spot any, ask users more questions if needed. Make sure your research insights are easy to search, organize, and access for everyone on the team.

Next, communicate with other departments outside the UX team. Keep them informed and involved in your UX research process.

Step 5: Applying Research Insights into Action

The UX research data you collect is incredibly valuable. It can help you make smart decisions, improve user satisfaction, and increase engagement and retention. But it would be best if you acted on those insights.

Use the data to decide which problems to fix first and which updates to make. Focus on urgent issues that impact important metrics and prevent users from achieving their goals.

Use the research findings to guide the design process. This might involve redesigning features, refining user flows, or addressing specific pain points identified during the research.

For example, if your users need help finding the right features because the menu is too messy, you can simplify it. Using data from welcome surveys, you can also personalize it based on user needs.

Continue testing the design as it evolves. Incorporate user feedback through iterative cycles of prototyping, testing, and refinement.

Step 6: Evaluating Outcomes

After launching the product, evaluate its success by measuring user satisfaction, engagement, and overall experience. UX research is an ongoing process. Continue to gather feedback and make iterative improvements to the product based on user needs.

Best Practices for the UX Research Process

To make the most of your UX research and ensure that your findings lead to actionable and impactful design decisions, follow these best practices:

• Engage key stakeholders from the beginning of the research.
• Focus on the right research questions.
• Frame your questions in a way that avoids bias.
• Recruit the right participants.
• Use a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Be ethical in your research.
• Pay close attention to what users say.
• Involve your team in the analysis process.
• Present your findings in a way that is easy to understand and act upon.

By following these best practices, you’ll ensure that your UX research is thorough, ethical, and ultimately effective in guiding user-centered design decisions.

UX research isn’t something you do just once and then ignore. It should be a continuous part of designing and developing your product. Regular research, testing, and talking to users help shape and keep your design user-focused. Keeping UX research a priority will enhance your design process, increase conversions, and keep users happy and engaged.

Want to see how Trymata can assist with your UX research? Try it for free!

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By Sanjida Satter

Mobile usability test: from preparation to execution & more, usability testing questions for improving user’s experience, 14 best performance testing tools for application reliability.

What Is User Research, and What Is Its Purpose?

User research, or UX research, is an absolutely vital part of the  user experience design process.

Typically done at the start of a project, it encompasses different types of research methodologies to gather valuable data and feedback. When conducting user research, you’ll engage with and observe your target users, getting to know their needs, behaviors, and pain points in relation to the product or service you’re designing.

Ultimately, user research means the difference between designing based on guesswork and assumptions, and actually creating something that solves a real user problem. In other words: Do not skip the research phase!

If you’re new to user research, fear not. We’re going to explain exactly what UX research is and why it’s so important. We’ll also show you how to plan your user research and introduce you to some key user research methods .

We’ve divided this rather comprehensive guide into the following sections. Feel free to skip ahead using the menu below:

• What is user research?
• What is the purpose of user research?
• How to plan your user research.
• An introduction to different research methods—and when to use them.

Ready? Let’s jump in.

1. What is user research?

User experience research is the systematic investigation of your users in order to gather insights that will inform the design process. With the help of various user research techniques, you’ll set out to understand your users’ needs, attitudes, pain points, and behaviors (processes like task analyses look at how users actually navigate the product experience —not just how they should or how they say they do). 

Typically done at the start of a project—but also extremely valuable throughout—it encompasses different types of research methodology to gather both qualitative and quantitative data in relation to your product or service.

Before we continue, let’s consider the difference between qualitative and quantitative data .

Qualitative vs. Quantitative data: What’s the difference?

Qualitative UX research results in descriptive data which looks more at how people think and feel. It helps to find your users’ opinions, problems, reasons, and motivations. You can learn all about in-depth in this video by professional UX designer Maureen Herben:

Quantitative UX research , on the other hand, generally produces numerical data that can be measured and analyzed, looking more at the statistics. Quantitative data is used to quantify the opinions and behaviors of your users.

User research rarely relies on just one form of data collection and often uses both qualitative and quantitative research methods together to form a bigger picture. The data can be applied to an existing product to gain insight to help improve the product experiences, or it can be applied to an entirely new product or service, providing a baseline for UX, design, and development.

From the data gathered during your user research phase, you should be able to understand the following areas within the context of your product or service:

• Who your users are
• What their needs are
• What they want
• How they currently do things
• How they’d like to do them

As you consider the  why  of user research, remember that it’s easier than you might realize to overlook entire groups of users. It’s important to ensure that you’re conducting inclusive UX research and that starts in the earliest stages!

2. What is the purpose of user research?

The purpose of user research is to put your design project into context. It helps you understand the problem you’re trying to solve; it tells you who your users are, in what context they’ll be using your product or service, and ultimately, what they need from you, the designer! UX research ensures that you are designing with the user in mind, which is key if you want to create a successful product.

Throughout the design process, your UX research will aid you in many ways. It’ll help you identify problems and challenges, validate or invalidate your assumptions, find patterns and commonalities across your target user groups, and shed plenty of light on your users’ needs, goals, and mental models.

Why is this so important? Let’s find out.

Why is it so important to conduct user research?

Without UX research, you are essentially basing your designs on assumptions. If you don’t take the time to engage with real users, it’s virtually impossible to know what needs and pain-points your design should address.

Here’s why conducting user research is absolutely crucial:

User research helps you to design better products!

There’s a misconception that it’s ok to just do a bit of research and testing at the end of your project. The truth is that you need UX research first, followed by usability testing and iteration throughout.

This is because research makes the design better. The end goal is to create products and services that people want to use. The mantra in UX design is that some user research is always better than none .

It’s likely at some point in your UX career that you will come across the first challenge of any UX designer—convincing a client or your team to include user research in a project.

User research keeps user stories at the center of your design process.

All too often, the user research phase is seen as optional or merely “nice-to-have”—but in reality, it’s crucial from both a design and a business perspective. This brings us to our next point…

User research saves time and money!

If you (or your client) decide to skip the research phase altogether, the chances are you’ll end up spending time and money developing a product that, when launched, has loads of usability issues and design flaws, or simply doesn’t meet a real user need. Through UX research, you’ll uncover such issues early on—saving time, money, and lots of frustration!

The research phase ensures you’re designing with real insights and facts — not guesswork! Imagine you release a product that has the potential to fill a gap in the market but, due to a lack of user research, is full of bugs and usability issues. At best, you’ll have a lot of unnecessary work to do to get the product up to scratch. At worst, the brand’s reputation will suffer.

UX research gives the product a competitive edge. Research shows you how your product will perform in a real-world context, highlighting any issues that need to be ironed out before you go ahead and develop it.

User research can be done on a budget

There are ways that you can conduct faster and less costly user research , utilizing Guerrilla research outlined later on in this article (also handy if budget and time are an issue). Even the smallest amount of user research will save time and money in the long run.

The second challenge is how often businesses think they know their users without having done any research. You’ll be surprised at how often a client will tell you that user research is not necessary because they know their users!

In a 2005 survey completed by Bain, a large global management consulting firm, they found some startling results. 80% of businesses thought they knew best about what they were delivering. Only 8% of those businesses’ customers agreed.

The survey may be getting old, but the principle and misperception still persist.

In some cases, businesses genuinely do know their customers and there may be previous data on hand to utilize. However, more often than not, ‘knowing the users’ comes down to personal assumptions and opinions.

“It’s only natural to assume that everyone uses the Web the same way we do, and—like everyone else—we tend to think that our own behavior is much more orderly and sensible than it really is.” (Don’t Make Me Think ‘Revisited’, Steve Krug, 2014.) A must on every UX Designer’s bookshelf!

What we think a user wants is not the same as what a user thinks they want. Without research, we inadvertently make decisions for ourselves instead of for our target audience. To summarize, the purpose of user research is to help us design to fulfill the user’s actual needs, rather than our own assumptions of their needs.

In a nutshell, UX research informs and opens up the realm of design possibilities. It saves time and money, ensures a competitive edge, and helps you to be a more effective, efficient, user-centric designer.

3. How to plan your user research

When planning your user research , it’s good to have a mix of both qualitative and quantitative data to draw from so you don’t run into issues from the value-action gap, which can at times make qualitative data unreliable.

The value-action gap is a well-known psychology principle outlining that people genuinely don’t do what they say they would do, and is commonly referred to as what people say vs. what people do.

More than 60% of participants said they were “likely” or “very likely” to buy a kitchen appliance in the next 3 months. 8 months later, only 12% had. How Customers Think, Gerald Zaltman, 2003

When planning your user research, you need to do more than just User Focus Groups—observation of your users really is the key. You need to watch what your users do.

Part of being a great user researcher is to be an expert at setting up the right questions and getting unbiased answers from your users.

To do this we need to think like the user.

Put yourself in your user’s shoes without your own preconceptions and assumptions on how it should work and what it should be. For this, we need empathy (and good listening skills) allowing you to observe and challenge assumptions of what you already think you know about your users.

Be open to some surprises!

4. When to use different user research methods

There’s a variety of different qualitative and quantitative research methods out there. If you’ve been doing the CareerFoundry UX Design course , you may have already covered some of the list below in your course.

It isn’t an exhaustive list, but covers some of the more popular methods of research. Our student team lead runs through many of them in the video below.

Qualitative Methods:

• Guerrilla testing: Fast and low-cost testing methods such as on-the-street videos, field observations, reviews of paper sketches, or online tools for remote usability testing.
• Interviews: One-on-one interviews that follow a preset selection of questions prompting the user to describe their interactions, thoughts, and feelings in relation to a product or service, or even the environment of the product/service.
• Focus groups: Participatory groups that are led through a discussion and activities to gather data on a particular product or service. If you’ve ever watched Mad Men you’ll be familiar with the Ponds’ cold cream Focus Group !
• Field Studies: Heading into the user’s environment and observing while taking notes (and photographs or videos if possible).
• In-lab testing: Observations of users completing particular tasks in a controlled environment. Users are often asked to describe out loud their actions, thoughts, and feelings and are videoed for later analysis
• Card sorting : Used to help understand Information Architecture and naming conventions better. Can be really handy to sort large amounts of content into logical groupings for users.

Quantitative Methods:

• User surveys: Questionnaires with a structured format, targeting your specific user personas. These can be a great way to get a large amount of data. Surveymonkey is a popular online tool.
• First click testing: A test set up to analyse what a user would click on first in order to complete their intended task. This can be done with paper prototypes, interactive wireframes or an existing website.
• Eye tracking: Measures the gaze of the eye, allowing the observer to ‘see’ what the user sees. This can be an expensive test and heatmapping is a good cheaper alternative.
• Heatmapping: Visual mapping of data showing how users click and scroll through your prototype or website. The most well-known online tool to integrate would be Crazyegg.
• Web analytics: Data that is gathered from a website or prototype it is integrated with, allowing you to see the demographics of users, page views, and funnels of how users move through your site and where they drop off. The most well-known online tool to integrate would be Google Analytics .
• A/B testing: Comparing two versions of a web page to see which one converts users more. This is a great way to test button placements, colors, banners, and other elements in your UI.

Further reading

Now you know what user research is and why it’s so important. If you’re looking for a way to get trained in this particular discipline, there’s good news—owing to demand and popularity, there’s a growing number of UX research bootcamps out there.

If you’d like to learn more about UX research, you may find the following articles useful:

• What Does A UX Researcher Actually Do? The Ultimate Career Guide
• How to Conduct User Research Like a Professional
• How to Build a UX Research Portfolio (Step-by-Step Guide)

User research is the process of understanding the needs, behaviors, and attitudes of users to inform the design and development of products or services. It involves collecting and analyzing data about users through various methods such as surveys, interviews, and usability testing.

2. How to conduct user research?

User research can be conducted through various methods such as surveys, interviews, observations, and usability testing. The method chosen depends on the research goals and the resources available. Typically, user research involves defining research objectives, recruiting participants, creating research protocols, conducting research activities, analyzing data, and reporting findings.

3. Is user research the same as UX?

User research is a part of the broader UX (User Experience) field, but they are not the same. UX encompasses a wide range of activities such as design, testing, and evaluation, while user research specifically focuses on understanding user needs and behaviors to inform UX decisions.

4. What makes good user research?

Good user research is characterized by clear research goals, well-defined research protocols, appropriate sampling methods, unbiased data collection, and rigorous data analysis. It also involves effective communication of research findings to stakeholders, as well as using the findings to inform design and development decisions.

5. Is user research a good career?

User research is a growing field with many opportunities for career growth and development. With the increasing importance of user-centered design, there is a high demand for skilled user researchers in various industries such as tech, healthcare, and finance. A career in user research can be fulfilling for those interested in understanding human behavior and designing products that meet user needs.

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UX Research

What is ux research.

UX (user experience) research is the systematic study of target users and their requirements, to add realistic contexts and insights to design processes. UX researchers adopt various methods to uncover problems and design opportunities. Doing so, they reveal valuable information which can be fed into the design process.

See why UX research is a critical part of the UX design process.

• Transcript loading…

UX Research is about Finding Insights to Guide Successful Designs

When you do UX research, you’ll be better able to give users the best solutions—because you can discover exactly what they need. You can apply UX research at any stage of the design process. UX researchers often begin with qualitative measures, to determine users’ motivations and needs . Later, they might use quantitative measures to test their results . To do UX research well, you must take a structured approach when you gather data from your users. It’s vital to use methods that 1) are right for the purpose of your research and 2) will give you the clearest information. Then, you can interpret your findings so you can build valuable insights into your design .

“I get very uncomfortable when someone makes a design decision without customer contact.” – Dan Ritzenthaler, Senior Product Designer at HubSpot

We can divide UX research into two subsets:

Qualitative research – Using methods such as interviews and ethnographic field studies, you work to get an in-depth understanding of why users do what they do (e.g., why they missed a call to action, why they feel how they do about a website). For example, you can do user interviews with a small number of users and ask open-ended questions to get personal insights into their exercise habits. Another aspect of qualitative research is usability testing , to monitor (e.g.) users’ stress responses. You should do qualitative research carefully. As it involves collecting non-numerical data (e.g., opinions, motivations), there’s a risk that your personal opinions will influence findings.

Quantitative research – Using more-structured methods (e.g., surveys, analytics), you gather measurable data about what users do and test assumptions you drew from qualitative research. For example, you can give users an online survey to answer questions about their exercise habits (e.g., “How many hours do you work out per week?”). With this data, you can discover patterns among a large user group. If you have a large enough sample of representative test users, you’ll have a more statistically reliable way of assessing the population of target users. Whatever the method, with careful research design you can gather objective data that’s unbiased by your presence, personality or assumptions. However, quantitative data alone can’t reveal deeper human insights.

We can additionally divide UX research into two approaches:

Attitudinal – you listen to what users say—e.g., in interviews.

Behavioral – you see what users do through observational studies.

When you use a mix of both quantitative and qualitative research as well as a mix of attitudinal and behavioral approaches, you can usually get the clearest view of a design problem.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Use UX Research Methods throughout Development

The Nielsen Norman Group—an industry-leading UX consulting organization—identifies appropriate UX research methods which you can use during a project’s four stages . Key methods are:

Discover – Determine what is relevant for users.

Contextual inquiries – Interview suitable users in their own environment to see how they perform the task/s in question.

Diary studies – Have users record their daily interactions with a design or log their performance of activities.

Explore – Examine how to address all users’ needs.

Card sorting – Write words and phrases on cards; then let participants organize them in the most meaningful way and label categories to ensure that your design is structured in a logical way.

Customer journey maps – Create user journeys to expose potential pitfalls and crucial moments.

Test – Evaluate your designs.

Usability testing – Ensure your design is easy to use.

Accessibility evaluations – Test your design to ensure it’s accessible to everyone.

Listen – Put issues in perspective, find any new problems and notice trends.

Surveys/Questionnaires – Use these to track how users’ feel about your product.

Analytics – Collect analytics/metrics to chart (e.g.) website traffic and build reports.

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Whichever UX research method you choose, you need to consider the pros and cons of the different techniques . For instance, card sorting is cheap and easy, but you may find it time-consuming when it comes to analysis. Also, it might not give you in-depth contextual meaning. Another constraint is your available resources , which will dictate when, how much and which type of UX research you can do. So, decide carefully on the most relevant method/s for your research . Moreover, involve stakeholders from your organization early on . They can reveal valuable UX insights and help keep your research in line with business goals. Remember, a design team values UX research as a way to validate its assumptions about users in the field , slash the cost of the best deliverables and keep products in high demand —ahead of competitors’.

User research methods have different pros and cons,and vary from observations of users in context to controlled experiments in lab settings.

Learn More about UX Research

For a thorough grasp of UX research, take our course here: User Research – Methods and Best Practices

Read an extensive range of UX research considerations, discussed in Smashing Magazine: A Comprehensive Guide To UX Research

See the Nielsen Norman Group’s list of UX research tips: UX Research Cheat Sheet

Here’s a handy, example-rich catalog of UX research tools: 43 UX research tools for optimizing your product

Questions related to UX Research

UX research is a good career for those who enjoy working with a team and have strong communication skills. As a researcher, you play a crucial role in helping your team understand users and deliver valuable and delightful experiences. You will find a UX research career appealing if you enjoy scientific and creative pursuits. 

Start exploring this career option; see the User Researcher Learning Path .

Studies suggest that companies are also willing to pay well for research roles. The average salary for a UX researcher ranges from $92,000 to $146,000 per year.

In smaller companies, user research may be one of the responsibilities of a generalist UX designer. How much can your salary vary based on your region? Find out in UI & UX Designer Salaries: How Much Can I Earn .

Research is one part of the overall UX design process. UX research helps inform the design strategy and decisions made at every step of the design process. In smaller teams, a generalist designer may end up conducting research.

A UX researcher aims to understand users and their needs. A UX designer seeks to create a product that meets those needs.

A UX researcher gathers information. A UX designer uses that information to create a user-friendly and visually appealing product.

Learn more about the relationship between UX research and UX design in the course:

User Experience: The Beginner’s Guide

If we consider a very broad definition of UX, then all user research is UX research.

However, in practice, there is a subtle difference between user research and UX research. While both involve understanding people, user research can involve users in any kind of research question, and some questions may not be that directly connected to user experience.

For example, you might do user research relating to a customer’s experience in relation to pricing, delivery or the experience across multiple channels.

Common UX research methods are usability testing, A/B testing, surveys, card sorting, user interviews, usage analytics and ethnographic research. Each method has its pros and cons and is useful in different scenarios. Hence, you must select the appropriate research method for the research question and target audience. Learn more about these methods in 7 Great, Tried and Tested UX Research Techniques .

Get started with user research. Download the User Research template bundle .

For a deep dive into usability testing—the most common research method, take the course Conducting Usability Testing .

Having a degree in a related field can give you an advantage. However, you don’t need a specific degree to become a UX researcher. A combination of relevant education, practical experience, and continuous learning can help you pursue a career in UX research. Many UX researchers come from diverse educational backgrounds, including psychology, statistics, human-computer interaction, information systems, design and anthropology.

Some employers may prefer candidates with at least a bachelor’s degree. However, it does not have to be in a UX-related field. There are relatively fewer degrees that focus solely on user research.

Data-Driven Design: Quantitative Research for UX

User Research – Methods and Best Practices

Every research project will vary. However, there are some common steps in conducting research, no matter which method or tool you decide to use: 

Define the research question

Select the appropriate research method

Recruit participants

Conduct the research

Analyze the data

Present the findings

You can choose from various UX research tools . Your choice depends on your research question, how you're researching, the size of your organization, and your project. For instance:

Survey tools such as Typeform and Google Forms.

Card sorting tools such as Maze and UXtweak.

Heatmap tools such as HotJar and CrazyEgg

Usability testing (through first-click testing and tree-testing) tools such as Optimal Workshop and Loop 11

Diagramming applications such as Miro and Whimsical to analyze qualitative data through affinity diagramming.

Spreadsheet tools such as Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel for quantitative data analysis

Interface design and prototyping tools like Figma, Adobe XD, Sketch and Marvel to conduct usability testing.

Presentation tools such as Keynote, Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint.

Many of these tools offer additional features you can leverage for multiple purposes. To understand how you can make the most of these tools, we recommend these courses:

There are relatively fewer degrees that focus solely on user research.

While there are no universal research case study formats, here’s one suggested outline: 

An overview of the project: Include the problem statement, goals and objectives.

The research methods and methodology: For example, surveys, interviews, or usability testing).

Research findings

The design process: How the research findings led to design decisions.

Impact of design decisions on users and the business: Include metrics such as conversion and error rates to demonstrate the impact.

Optionally, include notes on what you learned and how you can improve the process in the future.

Learn how to showcase your portfolio to wow your future employer/client in the How to Create a UX Portfolio course.

While AI can help automate tasks and help UX researchers, it will not completely replace them. AI lacks the creativity and empathy that human designers bring to the table.

Human researchers are better at understanding the nuances of human behavior and emotions. They can also think outside the box and develop creative solutions that AI cannot. So, AI can help researchers be more efficient and effective through data analysis, smart suggestions and automation. But it cannot replace them.

Watch AI-Powered UX Design: How to Elevate Your UX Career to learn how you can work with AI.

Agile teams often struggle to incorporate user research in their workflows due to the time pressure of short sprints. However, that doesn’t mean agile teams can’t conduct research. Instead of seeing research as one big project, teams can break it into bite-sized chunks. Researchers regularly conduct research and share their findings in every sprint.

Researchers can involve engineers and other stakeholders in decision-making to give everyone the context they need to make better decisions. When engineers participate in the decision-making process, they can ensure that the design will be technically feasible. There will also be lower chances of errors when the team actually builds the feature. Here’s more on how to make research a team effort .

For more on bite-sized research, see this Master Class: Continuous Product Discovery: The What and Why

For more practical tips and methods to work in an agile environment, take our Agile Methods for UX Design course.

User research is very important in designing products people will want and use. It helps us avoid designing based on what we think instead of what users actually want.

UX research helps designers understand their users’ needs, behaviors, attitudes and how they interact with a product or service. Research helps identify usability problems, gather feedback on design concepts, and validate design decisions. This ultimately benefits businesses by improving the product, brand reputation and loyalty. A good user experience provides a competitive edge and reduces the risk of product failure.

Learn more about the importance of user research in the design process in these courses:

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What is the primary purpose of UX research in design processes?

• To ensure the product is visually appealing.
• To reduce the cost of marketing the product.
• To understand user needs and enhance design decisions.

Which type of UX research do designers use to collect non-numerical data such as opinions and motivations?

• Behavioral research
• Qualitative research
• Quantitative research

Which UX research method involves users sorting terms into categories to help structure design logically?

• Card sorting
• Information architecture
• Usability testing

What is a potential drawback of using card sorting in UX research?

• It can be expensive and requires special software.
• It may not provide deep contextual insights.
• It only works for digital products.

How does UX research primarily benefit a design team in a business context?

• It focuses exclusively on the aesthetic aspects of product design.
• It reduces dependency on technology.
• It validates design assumptions and keeps products competitive.

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Literature on UX Research

Here’s the entire UX literature on UX Research by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about UX Research

Take a deep dive into UX Research with our course User Research – Methods and Best Practices .

How do you plan to design a product or service that your users will love , if you don't know what they want in the first place? As a user experience designer, you shouldn't leave it to chance to design something outstanding; you should make the effort to understand your users and build on that knowledge from the outset. User research is the way to do this, and it can therefore be thought of as the largest part of user experience design .

In fact, user research is often the first step of a UX design process—after all, you cannot begin to design a product or service without first understanding what your users want! As you gain the skills required, and learn about the best practices in user research, you’ll get first-hand knowledge of your users and be able to design the optimal product—one that’s truly relevant for your users and, subsequently, outperforms your competitors’ .

This course will give you insights into the most essential qualitative research methods around and will teach you how to put them into practice in your design work. You’ll also have the opportunity to embark on three practical projects where you can apply what you’ve learned to carry out user research in the real world . You’ll learn details about how to plan user research projects and fit them into your own work processes in a way that maximizes the impact your research can have on your designs. On top of that, you’ll gain practice with different methods that will help you analyze the results of your research and communicate your findings to your clients and stakeholders—workshops, user journeys and personas, just to name a few!

By the end of the course, you’ll have not only a Course Certificate but also three case studies to add to your portfolio. And remember, a portfolio with engaging case studies is invaluable if you are looking to break into a career in UX design or user research!

We believe you should learn from the best, so we’ve gathered a team of experts to help teach this course alongside our own course instructors. That means you’ll meet a new instructor in each of the lessons on research methods who is an expert in their field—we hope you enjoy what they have in store for you!

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UX Research Cheat Sheet

February 12, 2017 2017-02-12

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User-experience research methods are great at producing data and insights, while ongoing activities help get the right things done. Alongside R&D, ongoing UX activities can make everyone’s efforts more effective and valuable. At every stage in the design process, different UX methods can keep product-development efforts on the right track, in agreement with true user needs and not imaginary ones.

In This Article:

When to conduct user research.

One of the questions we get the most is, “When should I do user research on my project?” There are three different answers:

• Do user research at whatever stage you’re in right now . The earlier the research, the more impact the findings will have on your product, and by definition, the earliest you can do something on your current project (absent a time machine) is today.
• Do user research at all the stages . As we show below, there’s something useful to learn in every single stage of any reasonable project plan, and each research step will increase the value of your product by more than the cost of the research.
• Do most user research early in the project (when it’ll have the most impact), but conserve some budget for a smaller amount of supplementary research later in the project. This advice applies in the common case that you can’t get budget for all the research steps that would be useful.

The chart below describes UX methods and activities available in various project stages.

Each project is different, so the stages are not always neatly compartmentalized. The end of one cycle is the beginning of the next.

The important thing is not to execute a giant list of activities in rigid order, but to start somewhere and learn more and more as you go along.

When deciding where to start or what to focus on first, use some of these top UX methods. Some methods may be more appropriate than others, depending on time constraints, system maturity, type of product or service, and the current top concerns. It’s a good idea to use different or alternating methods each product cycle because they are aimed at different goals and types of insight. The chart below shows how often UX practitioners reported engaging in these methods in our survey on UX careers.

If you can do only one activity and aim to improve an existing system, do qualitative (think-aloud) usability testing , which is the most effective method to improve usability . If you are unable to test with users, analyze as much user data as you can. Data (obtained, for instance, from call logs, searches, or analytics) is not a great substitute for people, however, because data usually tells you what , but you often need to know why . So use the questions your data brings up to continue to push for usability testing.

The discovery stage is when you try to illuminate what you don’t know and better understand what people need. It’s especially important to do discovery activities before making a new product or feature, so you can find out whether it makes sense to do the project at all .

An important goal at this stage is to validate and discard assumptions, and then bring the data and insights to the team. Ideally this research should be done before effort is wasted on building the wrong things or on building things for the wrong people, but it can also be used to get back on track when you’re working with an existing product or service.

Good things to do during discovery:

• Conduct field studies and interview users : Go where the users are, watch, ask, and listen. Observe people in context interacting with the system or solving the problems you’re trying to provide solutions for.
• Run diary studies to understand your users’ information needs and behaviors.
• Interview stakeholders to gather and understand business requirements and constraints.
• Interview sales, support, and training staff. What are the most frequent problems and questions they hear from users? What are the worst problems people have? What makes people angry?
• Listen to sales and support calls. What do people ask about? What do they have problems understanding? How do the sales and support staff explain and help? What is the vocabulary mismatch between users and staff?
• Do competitive testing . Find the strengths and weaknesses in your competitors’ products. Discover what users like best.

Exploration methods are for understanding the problem space and design scope and addressing user needs appropriately.

• Compare features against competitors.
• Do design reviews.
• Use research to build user personas and write user stories.
• Analyze user tasks to find ways to save people time and effort.
• Show stakeholders the user journey and where the risky areas are for losing customers along the way. Decide together what an ideal user journey would look like.
• Explore design possibilities by imagining many different approaches, brainstorming, and testing the best ideas in order to identify best-of-breed design components to retain.
• Obtain feedback on early-stage task flows by walking through designs with stakeholders and subject-matter experts. Ask for written reactions and questions (silent brainstorming), to avoid groupthink and to enable people who might not speak up in a group to tell you what concerns them.
• Iterate designs by testing paper prototypes with target users, and then test interactive prototypes by watching people use them. Don’t gather opinions. Instead, note how well designs work to help people complete tasks and avoid errors. Let people show you where the problem areas are, then redesign and test again.
• Use card sorting to find out how people group your information, to help inform your navigation and information organization scheme.

Testing and validation methods are for checking designs during development and beyond, to make sure systems work well for the people who use them.

• Do qualitative usability testing . Test early and often with a diverse range of people, alone and in groups. Conduct an accessibility evaluation to ensure universal access.
• Ask people to self-report their interactions and any interesting incidents while using the system over time, for example with diary studies .
• Audit training classes and note the topics, questions people ask, and answers given. Test instructions and help systems.
• Talk with user groups.
• Staff social-media accounts and talk with users online. Monitor social media for kudos and complaints.
• Analyze user-forum posts. User forums are sources for important questions to address and answers that solve problems. Bring that learning back to the design and development team.
• Do benchmark testing: If you’re planning a major redesign or measuring improvement, test to determine time on task, task completion, and error rates of your current system, so you can gauge progress over time.

Listen throughout the research and design cycle to help understand existing problems and to look for new issues. Analyze gathered data and monitor incoming information for patterns and trends.

• Survey customers and prospective users.
• Monitor analytics and metrics to discover trends and anomalies and to gauge your progress.
• Analyze search queries: What do people look for and what do they call it? Search logs are often overlooked, but they contain important information.
• Make it easy to send in comments, bug reports, and questions. Analyze incoming feedback channels periodically for top usability issues and trouble areas. Look for clues about what people can’t find, their misunderstandings, and any unintended effects.
• Collect frequently asked questions and try to solve the problems they represent.
• Run booths at conferences that your customers and users attend so that they can volunteer information and talk with you directly.
• Give talks and demos: capture questions and concerns.

Ongoing and strategic activities can help you get ahead of problems and make systemic improvements.

• Find allies . It takes a coordinated effort to achieve design improvement. You’ll need collaborators and champions.
• Talk with experts . Learn from others’ successes and mistakes. Get advice from people with more experience.
• Follow ethical guidelines . The UXPA Code of Professional Conduct is a good starting point.
• Involve stakeholders . Don’t just ask for opinions; get people onboard and contributing, even in small ways. Share your findings, invite them to observe and take notes during research sessions.
• Hunt for data sources . Be a UX detective. Who has the information you need, and how can you gather it?
• Determine UX metrics. Find ways to measure how well the system is working for its users.
• Follow Tog's principles of interaction design .
• Use evidence-based design guidelines , especially when you can’t conduct your own research. Usability heuristics are high-level principles to follow.
• Design for universal access . Accessibility can’t be tacked onto the end or tested in during QA. Access is becoming a legal imperative, and expert help is available. Accessibility improvements make systems easier for everyone.
• Give users control . Provide the controls people need. Choice but not infinite choice.
• Prevent errors . Whenever an error occurs, consider how it might be eliminated through design change. What may appear to be user errors are often system-design faults. Prevent errors by understanding how they occur and design to lessen their impact.
• Improve error messages . For remaining errors, don’t just report system state. Say what happened from a user standpoint and explain what to do in terms that are easy for users to understand.
• Provide helpful defaults . Be prescriptive with the default settings, because many people expect you to make the hard choices for them. Allow users to change the ones they might need or want to change.
• Check for inconsistencies . Work-alike is important for learnability. People tend to interpret differences as meaningful, so make use of that in your design intentionally rather than introducing arbitrary differences. Adhere to the principle of least astonishment . Meet expectations instead.
• Map features to needs . User research can be tied to features to show where requirements come from. Such a mapping can help preserve design rationale for the next round or the next team.
• When designing software, ensure that installation and updating is easy . Make installation quick and unobtrusive. Allow people to control updating if they want to.
• When designing devices, plan for repair and recycling . Sustainability and reuse are more important than ever. Design for conservation.
• Avoid waste . Reduce and eliminate nonessential packaging and disposable parts. Avoid wasting people’s time, also. Streamline.
• Consider system usability in different cultural contexts . You are not your user. Plan how to ensure that your systems work for people in other countries . Translation is only part of the challenge.
• Look for perverse incentives . Perverse incentives lead to negative unintended consequences. How can people game the system or exploit it? How might you be able to address that? Consider how a malicious user might use the system in unintended ways or to harm others.
• Consider social implications . How will the system be used in groups of people, by groups of people, or against groups of people? Which problems could emerge from that group activity?
• Protect personal information . Personal information is like money. You can spend it unwisely only once. Many want to rob the bank. Plan how to keep personal information secure over time. Avoid collecting information that isn’t required, and destroy older data routinely.
• Keep data safe . Limit access to both research data and the data entrusted to the company by customers. Advocate for encryption of data at rest and secure transport. A data breach is a terrible user experience.
• Deliver both good and bad news . It’s human nature to be reluctant to tell people what they don’t want to hear, but it’s essential that UX raise the tough issues. The future of the product, or even the company, may depend on decisionmakers knowing what you know or suspect.
• Track usability over time . Use indicators such as number and types of support issues, error rates and task completion in usability testing, and customer satisfaction ratings, to show the effectiveness of design improvements.
• Include diverse users . People can be very different culturally and physically. They also have a range of abilities and language skills. Personas are not enough to prevent serious problems, so be sure your testing includes as wide a variety of people as you can.
• Track usability bugs . If usability bugs don’t have a place in the bug database, start your own database to track important issues.
• Pay attention to user sentiment . Social media is a great place for monitoring user problems, successes, frustrations, and word-of-mouth advertising. When competitors emerge, social media posts may be the first indication.
• Reduce the need for training . Training is often a workaround for difficult user interfaces, and it’s expensive. Use training and help topics to look for areas ripe for design changes.
• Communicate future directions . Customers and users depend on what they are able to do and what they know how to do with the products and services they use. Change can be good, even when disruptive, but surprise changes are often poorly received because they can break things that people are already doing. Whenever possible, ask, tell, test with, and listen to the customers and users you have. Consult with them rather than just announcing changes. Discuss major changes early, so what you hear can help you do a better job, and what they hear can help them prepare for the changes needed.
• Recruit people for future research and testing . Actively encourage people to join your pool of volunteer testers. Offer incentives for participation and make signing up easy to do via your website, your newsletter, and other points of contact.

Use this cheat-sheet to choose appropriate UX methods and activities for your projects and to get the most out of those efforts. It’s not necessary to do everything on every project, but it’s often helpful to use a mix of methods and tend to some ongoing needs during each iteration.

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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/

Related Posts

How to generate UX Insights

The importance of User Research

How to recruit participants

What is ux research.

UX Research Tools

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A 7-step adaptable UX research process

Every team knows how important great UX research is for satisfying and converting users. But with so many tasks to juggle, research can get pushed to the bottom of the workflow. 

You conduct research—but only in response to stakeholder requests, user complaints, or a major new web or product launch. By then, it’s too late for your research to shape your design. The result? Scrappy research and a missed opportunity to forge your product around user needs.

Last updated

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Be proactive rather than reactive by implementing a solid user experience (UX) research process from the start. Stay tuned to learn how to structure a flexible, 7-step research process that will guide your product development and design thinking to help you generate customer delight.

Boost your UX research with Hotjar

Design confidently with Hotjar’s rich, data-informed user experience insights

Why a strong UX research process is key

The UX research process acts as the foundation for all other stages of UX design and product development.

Mar P., product researcher at Hotjar, says: “The main goal of UX research is to create a product that works for your users and your business. It's about understanding real user problems so the team can work on solutions and move away from assumptions that can lead to bad product decisions. ”

Without a strong UX research process, you’ll end up with frustrated users, low conversion and customer loyalty rates, high error and churn rates, and costly redesigns. In short, if you rely on guesswork rather than research , users suffer—and so do your business objectives and team.

What are the benefits of great UX research? 

Great UX research helps you make confident UX decisions. 

It lets you validate your assumptions and weed out unpromising ideas before you waste resources on them, and ensures your product is designed to delight users from the start. 

Ongoing UX research is crucial to cultivating empathy for users throughout your organization . User experience data helps you solve problems and continually optimize your platform or product to meet user needs, and gives you the insights you need to get stakeholder buy-in on fixes and redesigns.

UX research is critical in validating that a team’s concepts are on the right track. It fosters alignment between an idea and the reality of what users actually want and need. UX research also allows teams to ‘fail early’ and adapt before large sums of time and money are spent.

The UX research process

Clearly, research is critical to UX design and development success. 

So it can’t just happen sporadically to put out customer or stakeholder fires, or when you happen to find yourself with extra time—which, let's be honest, never happens .

Instead, engage in a structured UX research process to prioritize research and infuse all stages of UX design with data insights.

But remember: a structured process doesn’t mean a rigid process. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to UX research: the best processes are flexible, adaptable, and tailored to the unique needs of your users, team, and business. 

Use our guide to establish a solid UX research process—tweaking it throughout to fit your workflow, company culture, and customer types.

You want your UX research to inform decisions, rather than post-rationalize decisions that have already been made without customer input. That’s why you need to define a research process.

7 steps for user research with impact

Our step-by-step guide to UX research is based on lean UX design principles, meaning continuous iteration, testing, and user feedback are central. 

Lean UX is based on an agile cycle with three phases: 

Think: brainstorming and reflecting on areas for improvement 

Make: creating new designs or features to solve user problems

Check: testing assumptions and verifying designs with real customers 

UX research is a non-linear process—research doesn’t end when design and development begin. The best research centers on continuous discovery at every stage, and involves circling back and forth between those stages. 

These 7 steps will get you well on your way:

1. Clarify your goals 

Clear goals will help you define the process, efficiently distribute resources, get stakeholders on board, and maximize the user insights you uncover .

Start by formulating hypotheses and topics of interest based on the potential problems and opportunities you want to learn more about. These might emerge from previous research, new opportunities you’ve identified, or from creative brainstorming. 

Then, define the key UX research questions you want to answer . These might center on user behavior (why are customers abandoning carts?), on different UX design options (which new CTA option performs best?), or on customer goals (which new features would most improve the user experience?). 

Pro tip : design user questions that are focused but flexible enough to allow for free discovery. Don’t go in armed with too many assumptions and don’t ask leading questions. Make sure you leave space to discover new information from your users that might not have occurred to you. Set up Hotjar’s Feedback widget to collect open-ended feedback from users to start.

Next, make sure you contextualize UX research goals in line with larger organizational objectives and success metrics: how will decreasing cart abandonment impact conversions and revenue, for example? 

Finally, explain to key stakeholders what you’re doing—and why—to get their support and maximize the reach of your research.  

It’s important to set research goals around current problems. For instance, if we need to offer an advanced search function for an ecommerce website, the goal will be to find the best solution for our users that’s easy to implement from the development perspective.

2. Define your research methods

Once you’ve set goals and designed user questions, decide what kinds of research you’ll do and the type of data you want to collect. 

Use a variety of methods to cover all the bases and fill potential gaps. These will depend on your user and business needs, and the resources you have available. 

Make sure you include both attitudinal and behavioral UX research methods .  

Behavioral research is about observing how users act. Heatmaps, A/B testing, user recordings, and eye-tracking are all important sources you can use to understand user behavior data.

Attitudinal research tells you how users are thinking and feeling . This often involves asking them directly through surveys, focus groups, customer interviews, concept testing, and card sorting.

If you rely on only one of these, you’ll be missing out on the big picture. Combining behavioral and attitudinal research fills in the gaps between what users say and what they actually do , which don’t always align.

Seek to also explore a mix of qualitative and quantitative UX data. 

Quantitative studies put a number on user behavior. Analyzing the number of users who scrolled past your CTA or clicked in frustration where they couldn’t find a button will help you spot patterns in clickthroughs, conversions, user engagement, and retention. 

Qualitative data uncovers the reasons behind these patterns. They’re opportunities to learn what your users really think and help you understand their needs more deeply.  

Remember: Hotjar’s tools combine behavioral and attitudinal research methods through a blend of quantitative and qualitative data. Use Hotjar Surveys and Feedback widgets to collect voice-of-customer (VoC) feedback, and Heatmaps and Session Recordings to round out the picture with behavioral insights.

3. Dive into discovery

Once you’ve set up research questions and UX analysis methods, the next step is to jump into the discovery phase, where the spotlight should be on speaking to your customers and understanding what they need to convert. 

Seek to develop a deep understanding of your users, the problems they experience, and what will help them with their jobs to be done. 

User interviews are a great way to start—video tools like UserInterview can really help when paired with Hotjar's brilliant interview tips .

Check out our in-depth guide to UX research tools that can help streamline the process.  

You should also: 

Observe customers using other similar sites (lab studies are great, but you can also use session recordings to see how users behave in their own environment)

Deploy Hotjar Feedback widgets to learn what users are thinking while they browse and understand blocks in navigation

Use surveys to ask users questions about their current and ideal experience

Run competitive analyses and conduct market research to understand the UX offered by other companies and identify areas of improvement and exploration

Make sure to ask customers open-ended questions about their experiences and what they’d like to see, as well as targeted questions around navigating particular product pages or features. For example, are they finding all the information they need to confidently complete the checkout process? You might discover that your users like to check out reviews before making a final decision, so making reviews more accessible could help UX and conversions alike.

4. Dig deeper and explore

Use the insights from the discovery phase as a starting point, then get more specific and home in on answering your specific UX research questions and really understanding your users at a granular level.  

Map out customer journeys and develop user personas and stories to clarify and communicate the information you’ve learned. 

You should also use your discoveries to inform preliminary idea development, design sketches, and wireframes and prototypes.

Maybe you’re losing customers at the checkout stage, and discovery phase feedback has suggested it could be because you don’t have a ‘guest checkout’ option, forcing users to sign up for a full account, which creates friction if they’re browsing your site on mobile.

Start by validating the guest checkout idea with your users, then design and test different iterations through prototypes, mockups, and card sorting experiments. 

5. Iterate and test

Once you have a working model of your website or product redesign, focus on testing the user experience to refine it. 

Here's how:

Start with usability testing to ensure that your website hierarchies, user flow, and search filters make sense. Run A/B and multivariate testing to see which designs users respond to best, and use heatmaps to see exactly where they're clicking and scrolling. 

Make sure you also evaluate accessibility: is the guest checkout option easy to find? Is it visible to users across different devices, and with different vision needs? 

Next, go deeper: seek to build a complete picture of the UX and how it facilitates and blocks users from getting their needs met.

Observe users in action. Use Hotjar Heatmaps to identify click and scroll patterns and Session Recordings to track the entire user journey. This helps the UX team see what their customers see, which is crucial at this testing stage when you’re often too close to the design to understand the experience from the outside. 

Look at the page elements customers are engaging with, and which ones they’re scrolling past. Filter session recordings by rage clicks to see where users may be clicking in frustration expecting a button or action. Pay special attention to dissatisfied customers or users who didn’t complete key conversion actions, and understand what their journey looks like.

Complement this understanding of user behavior with qualitative interviews and survey methods that will help you understand their motivations and product experience (PX). 

6. Evaluate and communicate research findings

By now, you’ve collected many research insights. Organize your data using categories and tags, focusing on user pain points . Look for key patterns and recurring issues—and once you’ve identified them, ask users more questions if needed.

Make your research insights searchable, manipulable, and easily accessible by everyone on the team.

Then, engage in cross-functional communication outside the core UX team. Make sure you keep different departments informed and involved with your UX research process. 

Create UX analysis reports and engage stakeholders with comprehensive UX and user storytelling and strong product narratives. But make sure you also share key nuggets of user data along the way, so your research insights filter throughout the whole organization.

Pro tip : use Hotjar Highlights to easily share user recording clips, screenshots, heatmap snippets, and VoC quotes throughout your company. You can also use the Slack integration to automatically keep different departments up to date!

7. Put your research into action

The UX research data you gather is a potential goldmine. It can help you prioritize brilliantly and boost user satisfaction, engagement, and retention. But only if you turn those insights into action . 

You need to put the data to work in making key UX design decisions. 

Use your UX research insights to prioritize fixes and product updates . Focus on urgent issues that are affecting key metrics and blocking users from meeting their needs. 

Heatmaps and session recordings can help you quickly spot low-hanging fruit. You might find you could drastically improve conversions by positioning your CTA differently or making your signup form more streamlined and intuitive. 

For larger design opportunities that will require significant resources, UX research data can help you to justify the cost to stakeholders.

I follow the process of finding patterns in the data, pulling at least one insight from each identified pattern, and then creating at least one design recommendation or design principle for each insight. When you are designing you can easily refer back to your identified design principles and requirements to help guide your decision making and have data-supported designs when it’s time for handoff.

Building the UX research process into your design culture

UX research isn’t a one-time activity to be forgotten about once you begin designing and developing. 

The UX research process should happen continuously, influencing all other aspects of UX design and product development. Ongoing research, testing, and user conversations are all part of confident, user-led design thinking. 

Prioritizing brilliant UX research will improve your design culture, boost conversions, and keep users engaged and delighted.  

FAQs on the UX research process:

Is ux research important.

UX research is hugely important in data-informed UX design. The UX research process acts as the foundation for all other stages of UX design and development.

Great UX research gives you confidence in your UX decisions, lets you test your assumptions and weed out unpromising ideas before you waste resources on them, and ensures your product is designed to delight users from the start. 

UX research is crucial to cultivating empathy for users throughout your organization . It helps you to problem-solve and continually optimize your platform or product to meet user needs, and gives you the evidence you need to get stakeholder buy-in on fixes and redesigns.

Should I do attitudinal or behavioral UX research?

Use both attitudinal and behavioral UX research methods.  

Behavioral research is about observing how users act. Heatmaps, A/B testing, user recordings, and eye-tracking are all important sources of user behavior data.

If you rely on only one of these, you’ll be missing a big part of the picture. Combining behavioral and attitudinal research methods fills in the gaps between what users say and what they actually do , which don’t always align.

What’s the best UX research process?

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to UX research. The best processes are flexible and tailored to the unique needs of your users, team, and business. 

We recommend a 7-step, adaptable UX research process: 

Clarify your goals

Define your research methods

Dive into discovery

Dig deeper and explore

Iterate and test

Evaluate and communicate your research findings

Put your research into action

UX research guide

Previous chapter

UX research questions

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How to Turn UX Research Into Results

We’ve all known researchers who “throw their results over the fence” and hope their recommendations will get implemented, with little result. Talk about futility! Luckily, with a little preparation, it’s a straightforward process to turn your research insights into real results.

To move from your research findings to product changes, you should set yourself two main goals.

First, to effectively communicate your findings to help you r audience process them and focus on next steps.

Secondly, to follow through by proactively working with stakeholders to decide which issues will be addressed and by who m, injecting yourself into the design process whenever possible. This follow-through is critical to your success.

Let’s look at an end-to-end process for embracing these two main goals.

Effectively communicating your findings

Finding focus.

When you have important study results, it’s exciting to share the results with your team and stakeholders . Most likely, you’ll be presenting a lot of information, which means it could take them a while to process it and figure out how to proceed. If your audience gets lost in details, there’s a high risk they’ll tune out.

The more you can help them focus and stay engaged, the more likely you are to get results. You might even consider having a designer or product owner work with you on the presentation to help ensure your results are presented effectively – especially if your associates were involved in the research process.

Engaging with your colleagues and stakeholders

You should plan to present your results in person – whether it’s a casual or formal setting – rather than simply writing up a report and sending it around. This way, your co-workers are more likely to absorb and address your findings.

You could present formally to your company’s leadership team if the research will inform a key business decision. Or gather around a computer with your agile teammates to share results that inform specific design iterations. Either way, if you’re presenting – especially if you allow for questions and discussion – you’re engaging with your audience. Your points are getting across and design decisions will be informed.

Why presentations matter

Here are a few ways your presentation can help your team focus on what to do with the findings:

• Prioritise your findings (Critical, High, Medium, Low) . This helps your audience focus on what’s most important and chunk what should be done first, second and so on. An issue that causes someone to fail at an important task, for example, would be rated as critical. On the other hand, a cosmetic issue or a spelling issue would be considered minor. Take both the severity and frequency of the issue into consideration when rating them. Remember to define your rating scale. Usability.gov has a good example . Other options are to use a three-question process diagram , a UX integration matrix (great for agile), or the simple but effective MoSCoW method.  
• Develop empathy by sharing stories. We love to hear stories, and admire those among us who can tell the best ones. In the sterile, fact-filled workplace, stories can inspire, illuminate and help us empathise with those we’re designing for. Share the journeys your participants experienced, the challenges they need to overcome. Use a sprinkling of drama to illustrate the stakes involved; understanding the implications will help moderate the conversations and support UX decisions moving forward.
• Illustrate consequences and benefits . Your leadership team will be interested if they know they will lose money, customers, or both if they don’t address certain design issues. Be as concrete as you can, using numbers from analytics and online studies when possible to make points. For example, you might be able to use analytics to show users getting to a key page, and then dropping off . This is even more effective if you can show via an online study that one version of a button, for example, is effective all the time, whereas the other one is not understood.
• Provide design recommendations . Try to strike a balance between too vague and too prescriptive. You want your recommendations to be specific and offer guidance about how an interaction should be designed, without actually designing it. For example, you could say “consider changing the link label to match users’ expectations” or “consider making the next step in the process more obvious from this screen.” These are specific enough to give direction and serve as a jumping off point for designers.
• Meet to review and prioritise the findings.
• Schedule the work to be done.
• Assign the work to designers.

Presentations are an important first step, but your job as a researcher doesn’t end there. Consider your presentation an introduction to the issues that were found, and a jumping-off point for informing design plans.

The proactive follow through

You’ve communicated the issues. Now it’s time to dig in and get results.

Getting your priorities straight

Start by scheduling a discussion with your product manager – and possibly a representative each from the development and design teams – to prioritise the results, and put them on the product roadmap. It can be useful to take your user research findings – especially from a larger study – and group them together into themes, or projects.

Next, rate the projects on a grid with two axes. For example:

• how much of a problem it is for customers could display vertically; and
• how much effort it would be to design or redesign it (small, medium and large) could display horizontally.

Placing cards or sticky notes that represent the projects along these axes helps you see which work would yield the most value

Then compare this mapping to what’s currently on the product roadmap and determine where your latest projects fit into the overall plans. Consider that it often makes more sense to fix what’s broken in the existing product – especially if there are big problems – than to work on building new features. Conducting this and additional planning efforts together will ensure everyone is on the same page.

Working with your design team

Once it’s time for design work, participate in workshops and other design activities to represent the product’s users and ensure their needs are understood. In addition to contributing to the activities at hand, your role is to keep users’ goals and design issues top of mind.

Since the focus of the workshop – or any design activity – early on is solving design problems, it could be useful to post the design problems and/or goals around the room, along with user quotes and stories. A few copies of complete study findings in the room, plus any persona descriptions, are useful references. The workshop to address design problems could be handled several ways – storyboarding solutions, drawing and discussing mockups, brainstorming. But the goal is to agree on problems you’re trying to solve, and come up with possible solutions to solve them.

As the design team comes up with solutions, remember to iteratively test them with users . It’s useful for designers to get regular feedback to determine whether they’re improving their designs, and to get answers to new design questions that arise throughout the process. All of this helps designers understand users and their issues and concerns.

Achieving your end game

One key to getting your results implemented is simply remembering to consider stakeholders’ goals and big picture success throughout the research and design process. The best way to do this is to include them in the research planning – and in the research observations – to make sure you’re addressing their concerns all along. When presenting, explain how the results you are suggesting will help them meet their design and business goals.

Always remember that as the researcher you hold knowledge about your users that others don’t. Representing them from the presentation through the next design iteration is one key to your product’s success.

How do you make sure your hard-won research insights makes it through to design? Leave a comment or share in our forums .

Catch up with more of our latest posts on UX research:

• Pivot or persevere? Find out using lean experiments
• Making an impact with UX research insights
• The researcher’s journey: leveling up as a user researcher

Cindy McCracken

Cindy McCracken – who has worked in user experience for more than 10 years – is an expert in planning studies, conducting research, and analyzing data. Currently a consultant with User-View, Inc., focused on UX in the medical industry, she has worked as a senior user researcher at Fidelity Investments, BB&T and iContact. Cindy earned a master’s degree in information science from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. When she’s not working, you can find her hanging out with her 9-year-old daughter, reading historical fiction, or winding down in a yoga class.

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Great article. It would be much easier to read it if the font size and line height were larger. Thanks!

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A Complete Guide to Primary and Secondary Research in UX Design

To succeed in UX design, you must know what UX research methods to use for your projects.

This impacts how you:

• Understand and meet user needs
• Execute strategic and business-driven solutions
• Differentiate yourself from other designers
• Be more efficient in your resources
• Innovate within your market

Primary and secondary research methods are crucial to uncovering this. The former is when you gather firsthand data directly from sources, while the latter synthesizes existing data and translates them into insights and recommendations.

Let's dive deep into each type of research method and its role in UX research.

If you are still hungry to learn more, specifically how to apply it practically in the real world, you should check out Michael Wong's UX research course . He teaches you  the exact process and tactics he used that helped him build a UX agency that generated over $10M+ million in revenue.

What is p rimary research in UX design

Primary UX research gathers data directly from the users to understand their needs, behaviors, and preferences.

It's done through interviews, surveys, and observing users as they interact with a product.

Primary research in UX: When and why to use it

Primary research typically starts at the start of a UX project. This is so that the design process is grounded in a deep understanding of user needs and behaviors.

By collecting firsthand information early on, teams can tailor their designs to address real user problems.

Here are the reasons why primary research is important in UX design: ‍

1. It fast-tracks your industry understanding

Your knowledge about the industry may be limited at the start of the project. Primary research helps you get up to speed because you interact directly with real customers. As a result, this allows you to work more effectively.

Example: Imagine you're designing an app for coffee lovers. But you're not a coffee drinker yourself. Through user interviews, you learn how they prefer to order their favorite drink, what they love or hate about existing coffee apps, and their "wishlist" features by talking directly to them.

This crucial information will guide you on what to focus on in later stages when you do the actual designing. ‍

2. You'll gain clarity and fill knowledge gaps

There are always areas we know less about than we'd like. Primary research helps fill these gaps by observing user preferences and needs directly.

Example: Let's say you're working on a website for online learning. You might assume that users prefer video lessons over written content, but your survey results show that many users prefer written material because they can learn at their own pace.

With that in mind, you'll prioritize creating user-friendly design layouts for written lessons. ‍

3. You get to test and validate any uncertainties

When unsure about a feature, design direction, or user preference, primary research allows you to test these elements with real users.

This validation process helps you confidently move forward since you have data backing your decisions.

Example: You're designing a fitness app and can't decide between a gamified experience (with points and levels) or a more straightforward tracking system.

By prototyping both options and testing them with a group of users, you discover that the gamified experience concept resonates more.

Users are more motivated when they gain points and progress levels. As a result, you pivot to designing a better-gamified experience.

Types of primary research methods in UX design

Here's a detailed look at common primary research methods in UX:

1. User interviews

• What is it: User interviews involve one-on-one conversations with users to gather detailed insights, opinions, and feedback about their experiences with a product or service.
• Best used for: Gathering qualitative insights on user needs, motivations, and pain points.
• Tools: Zoom and Google Meet for remote interviews; Calendly for scheduling; Otter.ai for transcription. ‍
• What is it: Surveys are structured questionnaires designed to collect quantitative data on user preferences, behaviors, and demographics.
• Best used for: Collecting data from many users to identify patterns and trends.
• Tools: Google Forms, SurveyMonkey, and Typeform for survey creation; Google Sheets and Notion for note taking. ‍

3. Usability testing

• What is it: Usability testing involves observing users interact with a prototype or the actual product to identify usability issues and areas for improvement.
• Best used for: Identifying and addressing usability problems.
• Tools: FigJam, Lookback.io , UserTesting, Hotjar for conducting and recording sessions; InVision, Figma for prototype testing; Google Sheets to log usability issues and track task completion rates. ‍

4. Contextual inquiry

• What is it: This method involves observing and interviewing users in their natural environment to understand how they use a product in real-life situations.
• Best used for: Gaining deep insights into user behavior and the context in which a product is used.
• Tools: GoPro or other wearable cameras for in-field recording; Evernote for note-taking; Miro for organizing insights. ‍

5. Card sorting

• What is it: Card sorting is when users organize and categorize content or information.
• Best used for: Designing or evaluating the information architecture of a website or application.
• Tools: FigJam, Optimal Workshop, UXPin, and Trello for digital card sorting; Mural for collaborative sorting sessions. ‍

6. Focus groups

• What is it: Group discussions with users that explore their perceptions, attitudes, and opinions about a product.
• Best used for: Gathering various user opinions and ideas in an interactive setting.
• Tools: Zoom, Microsoft Teams for remote focus groups; Menti or Slido for real-time polling and feedback. ‍

7. Diary studies

• What is it: A method where users record their experiences, thoughts, and frustrations while interacting with a product over a certain period of time.
• Best used for: Understanding long-term user behavior, habits, and needs.
• Tools: Dscout, ExperienceFellow for mobile diary entries; Google Docs for simple text entries. ‍

8. Prototype testing

• What is it: Prototype testing is when users evaluate the usability and design of early product prototypes with users.
• Best used for: Identifying usability issues and gathering feedback on design concepts
• Tools: Figma for creating and sharing prototypes; Maze for unmoderated testing and analytics. ‍

9. Eye-tracking

• What is it: A method that analyzes where and how long users look at different areas on a screen.
• Best used for: Understanding user attention, readability, and visual hierarchy effectiveness.
• Tools: Tobii, iMotions for hardware; Crazy Egg for website heatmaps as a simpler alternative. ‍

10. A/B testing

• What is it: A/B testing compares two or more versions of a webpage or app feature to determine which performs better in achieving specific goals.
• Best used for: Making data-driven decisions on design elements that impact user behavior.
• Tools: Optimizely, Google Optimize for web-based A/B testing; VWO for more in-depth analysis and segmentation. ‍

11. Field studies

• What is it: Research done in real-world settings to observe and analyze user behavior and interactions in their natural environment.
• Best used for: Gaining insights into how products are used in real-world contexts and identifying unmet user needs.
• Tools: Notability, OneNote for note-taking; Voice Memos for audio recording; Trello for organizing observations. ‍

12. Think-aloud protocols

• What is it: A method involves users verbalizing their thought process while interacting with a product. It helps uncover their decision-making process and pain points.
• Best used for: Understanding user reasoning, expectations, and experiences when using the product.
• Tools: UsabilityHub, Morae for recording think-aloud sessions; Zoom for remote testing with screen sharing.

Challenges of primary research in UX

Here are the obstacles that UX professionals may face with primary research:

• Time-consuming : Primary research requires significant planning, conducting, and analyzing. This is particularly relevant for methods that involve a lot of user interaction.
• Resource intensive : A considerable amount of resources is needed, including specialized tools or skills for data collection and analysis.
• Recruitment difficulties : Finding and recruiting suitable participants willing to put in the effort can be challenging and costly.
• Bias and validity : The risk of bias in collecting and interpreting data highlights the importance of carefully designing the research strategy. This is so that the findings are accurate and reliable. ‍

What is secondary research in UX design

Once primary research is conducted, secondary research analyzes and converts this data into insights. They may also find common themes and ideas and convert them into meaningful recommendations.

Using journey maps, personas, and affinity diagrams can help them better understand the problem.

Secondary research also involves reviewing existing research, published books, articles, studies, and online information. This includes competitor websites and online analytics to support design ideas and concepts. ‍

Secondary research in UX: Knowing when and why to use it

Secondary research is a flexible method in the design process. It fits in both before and after primary research.

At the project's start, looking at existing research and what's already known can help shape your design strategy. This groundwork helps you understand the design project in a broader context.

After completing your primary research, secondary research comes into play again. This time, it's about synthesizing your findings and forming insights or recommendations for your stakeholders.

Here's why it's important in your design projects:

1. It gives you a deeper understanding of your existing research

Secondary research gathers your primary research findings to identify common themes and patterns. This allows for a more informed approach and uncovers opportunities in your design process.

Example: When creating personas or proto-personas for a fitness app, you might find common desires for personalized workout plans and motivational features.

This data shapes personas like "Fitness-focused Fiona," a detailed profile that embodies a segment of your audience with her own set of demographics, fitness objectives, challenges, and likes. ‍

2. Learn more about competitors

Secondary research in UX is also about leveraging existing data in the user landscape and competitors.

This may include conducting a competitor or SWOT analysis so that your design decisions are not just based on isolated findings but are guided by a comprehensive overview. This highlights opportunities for differentiation and innovation.

Example: Suppose you're designing a budgeting app for a startup. You can check Crunchbase, an online database of startup information, to learn about your competitors' strengths and weaknesses.

If your competitor analysis reveals that all major budgeting apps lack personalized advice features, this shows an opportunity for yours to stand out by offering customized budgeting tips and financial guidance. ‍

Types of secondary research methods in UX

1. competitive analysis.

• What is it: Competitive analysis involves systematically comparing your product with its competitors in the market. It's a strategic tool that helps identify where your product stands about the competition and what unique value proposition it can offer.
• Best used for: Identifying gaps in the market that your product can fill, understanding user expectations by analyzing what works well in existing products, and pinpointing areas for improvement in your own product.
• Tools: Google Sheets to organize and visualize your findings; Crunchbase and SimilarWeb to look into competitor performance and market positioning; and UserVoice to get insights into what users say about your competitors.

2. Affinity mapping

• What is it: A collaborative sorting technique used to organize large sets of information into groups based on their natural relationships.
• Best used for: Grouping insights from user research, brainstorming sessions, or feedback to identify patterns, themes, and priorities. It helps make sense of qualitative data, such as user interview transcripts, survey responses, or usability test observations.
• Tools: Miro and FigJam for remote affinity mapping sessions.

3. Customer journey mapping

• What is it: The process of creating a visual representation of the customer's experience with a product or service over time and across different touchpoints.
• Best used for: Visualizing the user's path from initial engagement through various interactions to the final goal.
• Tools: FigJam and Google Sheets for collaborative journey mapping efforts.

4. Literature and academic review

• What is it: This involves examining existing scholarly articles, books, and other academic publications relevant to your design project. The goal is to deeply understand your project's theoretical foundations, past research findings, and emerging trends.
• Best used for: Establishing a solid theoretical framework for your design decisions. A literature review can uncover insights into user behavior and design principles that inform your design strategy.
• Tools: Academic databases like Google Scholar, JSTOR, and specific UX/UI research databases. Reference management tools like Zotero and Mendeley can help organize your sources and streamline the review process.

Challenges of secondary research in UX design

These are the challenges that UX professionals might encounter when carrying out secondary research:

• Outdated information : In a world where technology changes fast, the information you use must be current, or it might not be helpful.
• Challenges with pre-existing data : Using data you didn't collect yourself can be tricky because you have less control over its quality. Always review how it was gathered to avoid mistakes.
• Data isn't just yours : Since secondary data is available to everyone, you won't be the only one using it. This means your competitors can access similar findings or insights.
• Trustworthiness : Look into where your information comes from so that it's reliable. Watch out for any bias in the data as well. ‍

The mixed-method approach: How primary and secondary research work together

Primary research lays the groundwork, while secondary research weaves a cohesive story and connects the findings to create a concrete design strategy.

Here's how this mixed-method approach works in a sample UX project for a health tech app:

Phase 1: Groundwork and contextualization

• User interviews and surveys (Primary research) : The team started their project by interviewing patients and healthcare providers. The objective was to uncover the main issues with current health apps and what features could enhance patient care.
• Industry and academic literature review (Secondary research) : The team also reviewed existing literature on digital health interventions, industry reports on health app trends, and case studies on successful health apps. ‍

Phase 2: Analysis and strategy formulation

• Affinity mapping (Secondary research) : Insights from the interviews and surveys were organized using affinity mapping. It revealed key pain points like needing more personalized and interactive care plans.
• Competitive benchmarking (Secondary research) : The team also analyzed competitors’ apps through secondary research to identify common functionalities and gaps. They noticed a lack of personalized patient engagement and, therefore, positioned their app to fill this void in the market. ‍

Phase 3: Design and validation

• Prototyping (Secondary research) : With a good grasp of what users need and the opportunities in the market, the startup created prototypes. These prototypes include AI-powered personalized care plans, reminders for medications, and interactive tools to track health.
• Usability testing (Primary research) : The prototypes were tested with a sample of the target user group, including patients and healthcare providers. Feedback was mostly positive, especially for the personalized care plans. This shows that the app has the potential to help patients get more involved in their health. ‍

Phase 4: Refinement and market alignment

• Improving design through iterations: The team continuously refined the app's design based on feedback from ongoing usability testing.
• Ongoing market review (Secondary research) : The team watched for new studies, healthcare reports, and competitors' actions. This helped them make sure their app stayed ahead in digital health innovation. ‍

Amplify your design impact and impress your stakeholders in 10+ hours

Primary and secondary research methods are part of a much larger puzzle in UX research.

However, understanding the theoretical part is not enough to make it as a UX designer nowadays.

The reason?

UX design is highly practical and constantly evolving. To succeed in the field, UX designers must do more than just design.

They understand the bigger picture and know how to deliver business-driven design solutions rather than designs that look pretty.

Sometimes, the best knowledge comes from those who have been there themselves. That's why finding the right mentor with experience and who can give practical advice is crucial.

In just 10+ hours, the Practical UX Research & Strategy Course dives deep into strategic problem-solving. By the end, you'll know exactly how to make data-backed solutions your stakeholders will get on board with.

Master the end-to-end UX research workflow, from formulating the right user questions to executing your research strategy and effectively presenting your findings to stakeholders.

Learn straight from Mizko—a seasoned industry leader with a track record as a successful designer, $10M+ former agency owner, and advisor for tech startups.

This course equips you with the skills to:

• Derive actionable insights through objective-driven questions.
• Conduct unbiased, structured interviews.
• Select ideal participants for quality data.
• Create affinity maps from research insights.
• Execute competitor analysis with expertise.
• Analyze large data sets and user insights systematically.
• Transform research and data into actionable frameworks and customer journey maps.
• Communicate findings effectively and prioritize tasks for your team.
• Present metrics and objectives that resonate with stakeholders.

Designed for flexible and independent learning, this course allows you to progress independently.

With 4000+ designers from top tech companies like Google, Meta, and Squarespace among its alumni, this course empowers UX designers to integrate research skills into their design practices.

Here's what students have to say about the 4.9/5 rated course:

"I'm 100% more confident when talking to stakeholders about User Research & Strategy and the importance of why it needs to be included in the process. I also have gained such a beautiful new understanding of my users that greatly influences my designs. All of the "guesswork" that I was doing is now real, meaningful work that has stats and research behind it." - Booking.com Product Designer Alyssa Durante

"I had no proper clarity of how to conduct a research in a systematically form which actually aligns to the project. Now I have a Step by Step approach from ground 0 to final synthesis." - UX/UI Designer Kaustav Das Biswas

"The most impactful element has been the direct application of the learnings in my recent projects at Amazon. Integrating the insights gained from the course into two significant projects yielded outstanding results, significantly influencing both my career and personal growth. This hands-on experience not only enhanced my proficiency in implementing UX strategies but also bolstered my confidence in guiding, coaching, mentoring, and leading design teams." - Amazon.com UX designer Zohdi Rizvi

Gain expert UX research skills and outshine your competitors.

Mizko, also known as Michael Wong, brings a 14-year track record as a Founder, Educator, Investor, and Designer. His career evolved from lead designer to freelancer, and ultimately to the owner of a successful agency, generating over $10M in revenue from Product (UX/UI) Design, Web Design, and No-code Development. His leadership at the agency contributed to the strategy and design for over 50 high-growth startups, aiding them in raising a combined total of over $400M+ in venture capital.

Notable projects include: Autotrader (Acquired. by eBay), PhoneWagon (Acquired by CallRails), Spaceship ($1B in managed funds), Archistar ($15M+ raised) and many more.

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What is UX Research: The Ultimate Guide for UX Researchers

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How to establish a strategic UX research process—and common mistakes to avoid

Your platform’s user experience (UX) plays a major part in adoption and growth rates—but to maximize user-centricity and minimize wasted resources, you need a systematic approach to conducting UX research.

In this chapter we’ll cover key steps to refine your UX research process and establish it within your organization. We’ll also explore the benefits of introducing a streamlined research process—and common mistakes to avoid, with top tips from industry pros.

Why you need a research process in UX design and development

If research allows you to gather insights to inform UX design and development decisions , having a tailor-made UX research process ultimately streamlines your research practices , and elevates the way you build products as a whole. Without a robust process in place, you can end up making decisions in the dark or conducting research only when your team has the spare capacity—which is likely a rare occasion.

“Skipping research causes you to miss out on opportunities to change directions or adjust your design to make the most impact. You should make sure you’ve taken the necessary steps to clarify and validate your direction,” warns Nick Simpson , Head of UX at Airteam.

A UX research process also helps you make better use of your resources as you can anticipate potential design flaws and avoid redesigns. It’s also valuable in getting stakeholders involved early on and reinforcing the role of research throughout your organization.

Test your UX design early and often

Use Maze to run product-shaping research like usability tests, A/B tests, and card sorting—and receive a summarized, ready-to-share insights report.

Key steps in the UX research process

Each company’s UX research process is like a fingerprint: personal and distinctive. While there are similarities across the board, there is no one way to do UX research. Individual UX research stages will vary, depending on the methods you use, your objectives, and the phase of product development you’re in. However, here’s a broad list of steps to bear in mind when you conduct UX research:

1. Set research goals: Determine what you want to achieve and the types of questions you need answering, then identify your research objectives—e.g. evaluate how easy the sign-up process is.

2. Choose research methods: How are you going to reach your objectives? What type of tests do you need to conduct? What usability metrics will inform your research? Choose a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods that answer your questions—e.g. to test your SUS, you need to conduct usability tests.

3. Pick a testing tool: Simplify your team’s work by using an intuitive UX research platform . The ideal tool should let you perform multiple research methods and give you an automated report with key highlights. For example, researchers love Maze because it covers multiple types of UX testing, has a shallow learning curve, and comes with a broad bank of testing templates.

4. Write a testing script: List all the different scenarios, tasks, or questions you want your participants to complete. For example, if you’re conducting a usability test, plan the usability tasks, accompanying instructions, and any follow-up questions.

5. Recruit participants: Who’s going to complete your tests? Look for research participants that fit your target audience and user personas , then conduct your screening process to ensure their answers will add value. You could also use a recruitment tool like the Maze Panel to simplify this process.

6. Conduct the research: Now’s the moment you’ve been working towards—whether you’re hopping on a call, sending a link, or watching live website testing, dive into the research and speak to and observe your participants.

7. Analyze the results: Analysis will vary depending on your method and tool, but remember to look out for trends and unexpectedly low or high metrics. Synthesize the data and build a report or download your research tool’s automated summary.

8. Share findings: Keep product and design teams up to date with research findings, whether it’s through Slack updates or a meeting to assign follow-up actions. Share the report and next steps with all relevant stakeholders, and decide if you need to conduct any further research.

9. Implement takeaways: It’s time to use the insights you’ve collected to make design and usability improvements, or inform your next feature, new product or update. Remember to report back to relevant teams and stakeholders with any follow-up performance analytics and updates.

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

For more info on how to use specific research techniques, check out previous chapters to learn more about conducting different UX research methods and how to prepare individual UX research plans .

How to establish a UX research process at your organization

Mapping the steps of your UX research process is only the beginning. The next challenge is actually getting that process established within your team and getting buy-in across the organization.

Without this, you may find it difficult to allocate the resources you need to make the process work—or get sign off on decisions that arise from your research. Here’s how to fully establish your UX research process at your organization.

1. Understand how your organization works

Spend time learning about your organizational culture, the different departments, and where the decision-making power lies. This will help you grasp how research can provide value and play a significant role in your company.

Learning what user experience research you’re currently doing lets you identify any gaps, and build a process around the current dynamics, instead of changing your workflows unnecessarily. Pay close attention to these two business aspects:

1.1. Learn and outline your company’s decision-making process

Internal discussions with stakeholders will help you learn the needs of your organization and how research can contribute to decisions being made. To implement a successful UX research cycle, sit down with stakeholders and ask:

• How do we actually make decisions?
• What areas do you feel you are lacking context when making decisions?
• What kind of decisions are different parts of the company making?
• What decisions can the design team make and which ones do they run by the executive team?
• What evidence do you need to sign off or make decisions? What types of research data would build evidence?

1.2. Find out people’s prior experience with research

Asking stakeholders about their experience with research gives you insight into their perspective, and context for their decision-making process. It also helps you notice warning signs when they arise and determine which stakeholders you should engage with.

Christina Janzer , Senior Vice President of Research and Analytics at Slack explains that this understanding will help you to recognize an opportunity when you see it, and equip you to successfully implement a research practice across the organization: "If people across your organization understand the value of research, it’s easier to get buy-in for different research projects when opportunities come up.".

It also helps to know what people don’t know about research—so you can evangelize research and its benefits. Ask your stakeholders if they’ve been exposed to the research team’s work to understand how familiar they are with the value of user insights. Use that to determine how much effort you’ll need to put into showing them the benefits behind it.

Everyone should have access to information that helps them make better decisions. Information should take the path of least resistance and should go where people already are.

Gregg Bernstein , UX Researcher at Signal

2. Know what you’re trying to decide

UX research is all about answering a question or hypothesis the design or product teams may have. Learning what kind of research to do, why, and how you should do it are important steps to establishing a research practice.

If you’re building user-centric products, you already know why data should inform your decisions . However, to determine when to collect it and what kind of insights you need to get from research, you should start by answering: “What’s the decision I need to make? What are my research goals?”. Behzod Sirjani , Founder of Yet Another Studio and Research Advisor at Maze, says: “Research should always be oriented around a decision, because knowing what you’re trying to decide is going to help you understand what you’re trying to look at—and how you’re actually going to do it.”

As research is the foundation of user-centric design , you should do it during the entire product development process —at the early stages and even after the product is live. However, the ability to conduct user research depends on your bandwidth and resources, as well as the research maturity level of your organization. Starting with the goal and overarching question in mind helps you invest time and money in research that directly impacts the project.

3. Scope the research project properly

“To properly scope user research , you need to understand and balance long-term organizational goals against the impact of each project,” says Gregg Bernstein , Director of User Research at Hearst Magazines. “This means asking my research team, product manager, and organizational leadership, questions to grasp the big picture.” Then, you can contextualize where a given project fits in—and start to scope your research.

During this UX research step, you should ask questions specifically about the project, instead of the organization's work and culture. It's impossible to set a single defined process because it’ll change every time you try to answer a different question—but you can standardize the process.

To enable your researchers and designers to scope the project without being blocked by a bureaucratic loop, you should install a flexible approach to research. Gregg explains: “I don’t necessarily adhere to a framework so much as a devotion to providing information that helps everyone make better decisions, using whatever user research methods support our mission of gathering information.”

Tanya Nativ , Design Researcher at Sketch, also echoes the sentiment that properly scoping and planning your research is essential: “One of the processes that we set up early on was making sure every project starts with research goals and assumptions. It’s incredibly important to know why we are doing this research, and what we believe we already know about the user behavior.”

3.1. Pick your UX research methods

The UX research cycle also changes depending on the methodology you use. You should choose between:

• Qualitative or quantitative research: Sentiment-focused or number-focused insights. For example, user interviews are a form of qualitative research, whereas A/B tests are quantitative. Some research methods can offer both kinds of data, depending on the tasks you set or metrics you track. It’s best practice to have a mix of both data types, though.
• Evaluative or generative research: Assessing vs. creating. For instance, usability testing can be used to evaluate and rate how intuitive and usable your design is, while card sorting or focus groups with users can generate ideas.
• Attitudinal or behavioral research: What users say vs. what they do. For example, you can hear a user’s attitude or opinion in surveys or user interviews, but see if that correlates with the way they behave in diary studies , prototype testing , or live website testing .
• Remote or in-person studies: Online vs. face-to-face. This means users can complete remote studies via a link or by having a video call with you. In-person studies require you to invite them to a physical location for tests, incurring things like travel and accommodation expenses. For example, you can do tree testing and 5-second testing remotely using templates from a tool like Maze.
• Moderated or unmoderated tests: With supervision from a moderator vs. no moderator. When observing participants in a moderated study, you have the flexibility to ask questions based on their actions or ask contextual follow-up questions. However, unmoderated sessions are popular as they lead to more organic behavior and minimize things like social desirability bias .

4. Get stakeholder buy-in

“Your job as a researcher isn’t to have all the answers, but to help your company learn and make better decisions,” says Behzod. Getting stakeholder buy-in means getting the approval to find those answers. But, to get it, you must communicate its undebatable benefits to stakeholders, in the context of what matters to them.

For example, if you’re talking to the CEO, explain how building user-centric products will increase the ROI. If you’re talking to the Head of Product, present an example of research leading to improved SUS. While both are real and important benefits, the case for research can be tailored for each stakeholder.

To support your case, you can explain how the research affects your team, your user group, and the company as whole. You may need to modify the allocated budget and time spent on each piece of research, depending on how great this impact is.

Getting stakeholders involved in the research process is a key to getting their buy-in. Make sure you communicate your plans clearly and provide space for their insights and questions.

5. Engage the entire team in your UX research process

Research impacts the whole company; it gives marketers an inside look into user motivations, sales reps can identify unique selling points, and product managers and designers can build based on real user insights. “The more you make research a learning tool for everyone, the more you help people recognize its value,” explains Tanya.

Some ways to make research a collaborative discipline include:

• Inviting stakeholders to user interviews and preparing them in advance
• Documenting research findings in an accessible format
• Making sure product teams have information they need to make effective decisions
• Having a shared repository of insights where everyone can contribute
• Hosting cross-functional ideation sessions
• Sharing the research plan with your team and making sure they understand what you’re trying to answer
• Collaborating on questions and discussion guides to ensure you’re asking the right questions
• Hosting org-wide post-research sessions to discuss observations and learnings
• Asking for feedback across the UX research process and ensuring your team can see you’re implementing their ideas

“Your role is to shepherd your team to understand that you’re not doing research to have all the answers. Instead, you’re facilitating a way for everyone to learn so you can all make the important decisions that address real user needs,” says Behzod. So whether you implement one of the above changes or all of them, you’ll be on your way to cultivating a company-wide culture that sees research as a team sport .

At Shopify, I encouraged my product team to get involved in research by providing feedback on the plan, facilitating alignment workshops like assumption slams, inviting others to facilitate research sessions and take notes, and be part of the synthesis process.

Melanie Buset , Insights Manager at Spotify, previously Senior UX Researcher at Shopify

6. Share your findings with your team

Having discussions around findings makes it easier for teams to know exactly what they need to do, instead of guessing or trying to understand what some insights mean for their team. “It’s important to go over the final results after all your sessions, discuss the research outcome, and decide what you’re going to implement,” says Tanya.

To ensure your findings are implemented, avoid research silos happening through confusing information or closed feedback loops. One way to do this is to create an organization-wide library or repository that contains all the insights you’ve discovered.

“Everyone should have access to information that helps them make better decisions,” says Greg. Conducting research is just one part of the equation, making the data digestible and actionable for your teams is the other half.

Determining the most effective format and medium to share your research findings will depend on the preferred communication channels your company already uses. For example, if your team is most receptive to live discussions, you can organize an all-hands presentation, but if they’d rather read a report, you can make it available on a shared repository.

For example, Behzod explains that during his tenure at Slack, part of the researchers’ job was building knowledge for the company via one or two-page documents, similar to Wikipedia articles, that included links to different studies and data points, and then sharing them with the team. “I encourage people to start the sharing process before the project starts,” he says. “You want your team bought in about the fact that you’re doing this work because you want it to impact their decisions and so you need their voice represented in the plan—you want them participating all along the way.”

The advantage of including your team in the UX research process is that when the time comes to discuss the findings and next steps, everyone is on the same page.

7. Measure the effectiveness of research

“As researchers, we’re just as responsible for the outcomes of the products we work on as everyone else,” explains Melanie. “Remember to keep the conversation going after sharing the results and follow up to see how the team is progressing on implementation,” concludes Melanie.

Last but not least, a key part of advocating for research and its value is making sure that the findings you shared are implemented and actively worked on. That is, ensuring the research has been effective in improving the product and informing the decision-making process.

Here’s some questions to consider when measuring the effectiveness of research:

• Will the insights produced still be valid in a year? What is their shelf life?
• How many team members have seen and reacted to findings?
• Have the insights been retranslated into actual deliverables for new or updated features?
• Has this development solved a user’s pain point?
• Are the insights influencing current or future product design?

More than that, the decisions made based on key findings should benefit your target audience or the team, and make things better for your users. To do this, you have to define what ‘better’ means by knowing who your users are and if your decision will have an irreversible impact. The research questions that can guide your assessment include:

• Are you doing the right things for your end users?
• Are you doing things that are in service of your business?

Ultimately, the value of research comes down to building a successful product based on insight and new learnings, so it’s key to measure how the changes and decisions taken due to research perform over time.

Your job as a researcher is not to have all the answers, but to help your company learn and make better decisions.

Behzod Sirjani , Founder of Yet Another Studio

Mistakes to avoid in the UX research cycle

Conducting research and building out a UX research process comes with a lot of moving parts. This means there are many opportunities for product-shaping discoveries, but there are also many potential roadblocks or challenges you may face on the way.

Some common mistakes to look out for include:

• Not conducting research before launching a new feature or product: The worst UX research mistake you can make is not doing it at all. You’ll just end up making decisions based on assumptions rather than the user, which could set your products up to fail.
• Not testing a large sample or using a mix of methods: Teams with limited resources or time may be tempted to reduce the pool of test participants or only conduct either quantitative or qualitative research (rather than a mix of both). With this approach, you risk getting biased results or misinterpreting your insights.
• Working in silos: If you don’t regularly share your insights with other teams, you could compromise all that hard work you did to get buy-in. You need co-operation from these important stakeholders to make the most of your research and get backing to make user-centric decisions.
• Wanting to please stakeholders at all costs: While stakeholder involvement is important, that doesn’t mean you should act on their every whim. Aligning your goals with the business strategy and clearly communicating those goals early will give you something to refer back to if a stakeholder request could derail your research goals.

Getting others to see the value behind research and building intentional ways of learning with a structured process across the organization makes UX research a highly beneficial company-wide practice. Partner up with an easy-to-use UX research platform like Maze to conduct continuous research, and use results to inform every design decision with user insights.

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How to write and present effective UX research reports

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How to build a UX research role & practice from scratch

A UXinsight by Ori Dar (he/him)

• Operationalising research
• Research process

Becoming the first UX researcher in an organization can be challenging. In order to be successful, we need to properly define our role, and implement research practices from scratch, while understanding what to do and how to do it. The challenge becomes even bigger if that’s also your first UX research role .

In this article, I’d like to share the methodology and techniques I used in order to become the first UX researcher at my company, and how I implemented them. These tools can help you define your research role from scratch and build research processes by utilizing a research mindset that can be shared with those you work with. In the end you will find a list of the templates discussed in the article.

Apply a research mindset to your practice

As the first UX researcher, you may be wondering: Where do I start? You might be eager to run your first research project with users. Yet you might consider starting off with another research project. Apply your research mindset to define your role and share this mindset with your teams to establish the practice.

Research mindset for me includes three main things:

• Think like a researcher – challenge your assumptions, be methodical and organized
• Be aware of your initial intuition but also be critical of it
• Look for measurable proof of your ideas to help test your hypotheses

Your first UX research project: define your role

Treat this like any other research project. Taking advantage of our research mindset helps organize our goals, workflows, and desired outcomes.

Setting goals and planning ahead

Good research starts with planning and asking questions. It’s a way of inserting order into an otherwise unclear situation. And also, it’s what we do best.

• Define your goals. For me, it was to understand why am I doing this, and what value my UX research role can bring to the company. Understanding the value helps to communicate with stakeholders later on.
• Create your research plan. Start with your research questions: What are the main responsibilities of this role? Where does research fit in company workflows? How to promote user-centered and research-based deliverables? Don’t forget to outline your hypotheses.
• Consider what you’ll do next. For example, what you learn, and the findings you’ll collect can, later on, be translated into the specific job requirements and responsibilities that will help you get started as the first UX researcher.

Conducting research

While I used several methods, I would like to share two methods that, for me, provided the most valuable insights:

• Job description analysis. See what companies want, what they look for, and what skills or experience they ask for. Think broadly and try to find different companies from different domains that offer a wide range of products, both B2B and B2C. This can help see the bigger picture. I used a ‘Rainbow spreadsheet’ to organize my learnings 🌈. In it, each row represents a responsibility, skill , or requirement, and each column represents a company. This way, I ended up with a colored heatmap that highlighted key topics and recurring themes.
• In-depth interviews . Find people who you can learn from and ask them to share their experiences. What do they like or dislike, what’s hard to do vs. what’s easy to achieve, what a day in the life looks like, etc. I interviewed several UX researchers I contacted via social media to learn more about how they perceive the role, what they do, and what suggestions they have for me. It was a great experience and I learned a lot.

An unexpected outcome of my interviews was learning that I’m not alone and that everyone deals with similar issues.

Synthesizing

I placed everything I learned on the Miro board and identified the main themes that came up. These themes became my responsibilities and job description that I shared with the relevant stakeholders when I started my role. They include things such as:

• Creating diverse thinking using different research techniques
• Engage employees from all fields and on all levels by sharing research and key insights, in order to build consensus regarding our users’ voices
• Standardize a research protocol and contribute to a repository of user research tools
• Conduct research throughout all of the product phases – formative, iterative, and evaluative

Strengthen the research mindset in your teams

After defining your UX research role and aligning it with the relevant stakeholders , focus your next steps as the first UX researcher on building the practice itself. Create research workflows, enablement, and awareness.

Standardize your research process

Being the sole researcher meant I had to share knowledge and delegate responsibilities since I couldn’t be hands-on in every step of each project. This meant acting more as a research facilitator who empowers and helps others do more research more accurately .

A good starting point here is to invest in templates.

Be critical about what you find online (research mindset, remember?). Tweak it to make it your own, and act as a curator of knowledge to facilitate the right workflows. I created a Miro research template that covers all steps of the research, starting from research questions, hypotheses, choosing the appropriate methods , collecting data, and synthesizing it into insights and conclusions. It was built together with the team and we amend it according to usage and feedback.

If the steps of the research are laid out clearly, it’s easier to remember to think critically. And if the tools are right in front of us, it’s easier to use them and be more user-centered.

Align your teams around measurement goals

When we at Imperva started using the analytics tool Fullstory it created a huge spike in the amount of data we collect. In order to make sense of all of it and help the teams get aligned on their desired (user-centered) outcomes we had to organize it. To do that, I utilized Google’s HEART framework to create a predefined structure to define relevant metrics for each product in my organization, and a consistent language that everyone knows and understands.

Together with the designer, we created a dashboard for each product to track the relevant metrics for it (defined with HEART). This framework helped us organize our analytics data and create a place to track, analyze and investigate user patterns and behaviors to see how new features are accepted by our users and how they use existing ones.

Make research data accessible

Research can be done by different people on different products. This makes the data distributed and easily misplaced. Also, it’s hard to know if someone has insights on an issue close to or relevant to the one you are working on. Documentation is the way to preserve data and make it more accessible. You can document data from different perspectives:

• User feedback repository . I created the repository based on Tomer Sharon’s ‘Nuggets’ framework . A nugget is the atomic unit of research insight and consists of evidence, observation, and tags . This repository helped us group all the data together in a single place and made it easy to find user feedback that is either product-related or specific research question related. I built the repository using an Airtable template and adjusted it according to our needs. It helps prioritize research by surfacing issues that arise often. It also makes it easy to find previous insights that can be related to the current project at hand.

• Research projects repository. The second angle of documentation is documenting the projects themselves. Having a single place that stores all research projects increases visibility of research and also allows others to see if previous research can be applicable to the one they are currently conducting. The repository I created is a simple spreadsheet that includes the research topic, when it was done, key questions and findings, and links to the relevant assets such as findings, presentations, recordings, and more.

Final thoughts

By utilizing a research mindset I was able to manage being the first UX researcher at my company and handle the new responsibilities. It allowed me to increase the amount of research done, and be an advocate for user research. Being critical and methodical is what helps us perform our research role better and offer the best outcomes we can. Here are a few things that helped me during my journey:

• Work together. While doing it alone is completely possible, if you can, sync and brainstorm with others. Ask for help and feedback. Ask the community. This will help you focus your ideas and make sure they are the right ones for your problems.
• Start doing. Even if you’re not 100% sure, start doing and iterate as you go. It’s a lot easier to fine-tune something we have than to stare at a blank page.
• Start small. Work towards creating a simple habit that becomes automatic as time goes by and that helps increase the research mindset.

Here is an overview of the templates shared in this article that I created or modified with my team:

• Rainbow spreadsheet (in Google Sheets) for job description analysis
• Research planning and executing (in Miro)
• User feedback repository (in Airtable)
• Research projects repository (in Google Sheets)

Images in the article created with the help of Moshe Sabach and Sher Agami.

Cover photo by Silvia Brazzoduro on Unsplash

Get latest articles and templates from UXinsight in our monthly updates.

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About the author

Ori Dar (he/him)

Ori is a UX researcher and designer. Coming from the field of psychology, with an M.Sc. in cognitive psychology and human factors engineering, Ori believes that anything can be researched, including research itself.

Ori designed experiences for different products for a wide range of domains including banks, retail, cyber security, and more. For the past three years, Ori has been building and advancing the UX research function at Imperva. By working alongside a team of 10 amazing designers, he aims to make all design decisions more user-based.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ori-dar/

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UX Research Methods and the Path to User Empathy

How can designers move beyond personal insights to understand the problems users face? We introduce time-tested UX research methods that inspire user empathy and lead to better user experiences.

By Micah Bowers

Micah helps businesses craft meaningful engagement through branding, illustration, and design.

In 1941, a baby boy named Ken was born in Oakland, CA. Ken’s dad, Candido, was an Italian immigrant and inventor who, along with his brothers, supplied the United States with lightweight airplane propellers during the First World War.

Unfortunately, baby Ken suffered from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, a potentially fatal condition that can cause severe deformities. Doctors recommended hydrotherapy, but at the time, the only option was soaking in large tanks located in spas or hospitals.

Moved to ease his son’s suffering, Candido drew on his background in design and engineering to create a submersible pump capable of turning a home bathtub into a hydrotherapy tank. Lo and behold, it worked.

In fact, it worked so well that the family business shifted gears and began selling a portable version of the pump to health clubs and schools. A few years later, a self-contained pump/tub combo was marketed to homeowners under the family name—the Jacuzzi whirlpool bath.

And, Ken? Thanks to ongoing treatment in Jacuzzi tubs, his pain became manageable, and he spent the next 75 years of his life serving as a prominent advocate for people with disabilities.

Why Does User Empathy Matter in UX Design?

Candido Jacuzzi didn’t sit down one day to solve a theoretical design problem for a vague and faceless target customer. He observed his son’s struggle firsthand—heard his cries, saw his labored movements, and intimately understood the obstacles of his illness.

For today’s UX designers , there’s a lesson to be learned: The goal of our work is greater than gaining profitable advantages. Yes, profitability is important, but UX designers should strive for more by seeking to see problems through the eyes of the people they’re designing for.

To do this well, to move beyond rhetorical aspirations and deliver life-improving design solutions, requires a disciplined approach to UX research. In this article, we’ll introduce time-tested UX research methods that inspire user empathy and ultimately lead to better user experiences.

UX Research Types: A Bird’s-Eye View

Before diving in, we need to step way back and take a broad look at the different types of UX research. Doing so will provide context to the more specific methods examined later.

A word of caution: Without knowing how to classify the UX research you’re performing , you’re likely to misinterpret findings and arrive at design solutions that hinder users rather than help them.

Primary vs. Secondary Research

Primary research is original research that is completed by you or your design team. The tasks performed and insights gained during primary research relate back to the design problem you are attempting to solve.

Primary research typically takes place after secondary research has helped shed light on why the problem exists and what’s been done to address it in the past.

Secondary research is any research that was done by someone else, and it’s a great way for designers to familiarize themselves with the history of different design problems.

That said, the areas explored during secondary research needn’t relate directly to the design problem. Sometimes, seemingly unconnected topics can bring clarity and innovation.

Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research

Quantitative research produces results with numerical values and answers questions like “How much, how often, and how many?”

The variables measured by quantitative research may be quite granular, and the findings can be powerfully illustrated with statistics and data visualizations. However, it’s important to understand that for all its numerical precision, quantitative research can’t explain why something is happening.

• Qualitative research (a.k.a. empirical research) yields insights that aren’t numerical and instead come in the form of people’s comments, preferences, observations, and feelings. This type of research is valuable because human behavior is rarely based on patterns of pure logic and reason.

Generative vs. Evaluative Research

Generative research is conducted during the beginning of the investigative process. It helps UX researchers clearly define a problem and generate a hypothesis for its solution.

Generative research includes both primary and secondary research, and it can be quantitative and qualitative.

The generative design process works much like a funnel: It’s broad in the beginning, using secondary research to understand a wide range of information.

Then, as the problem becomes clearer and the research objectives are established, the focus becomes narrower, using more primary research tools that are both quantitative and qualitative in nature.

Evaluative research is executed near the end of the research process, and it’s used to test and refine ideas until the best solution is reached. For digital products, evaluative research is a vital part of the development cycle, and it should be introduced during the early phases of the design process (i.e., concept sketching and prototyping).

UX Research Methods That Lead to User Empathy

Now that we understand the different types of research, we’re ready to inspect five UX research methods and show how they inspire empathetic insights into the lives of users.

Here, it’s important to restate that the aim of these methods is seeing problems through the eyes of users in order to deliver life-improving design solutions.

If this is lost and research becomes little more than a perfunctory checklist, valuable (and potentially profitable) insights will be overlooked.

1. User Interviews

What are they?

• In user interviews, a UX researcher questions people that use a product and records their answers. The nature of the questions depends on the intent of the research, but the main goal is to extract user insights that can be used for product ideation and improvement.

How do they lead to user empathy?

• UX designers may be tempted to draw design conclusions from personal insights and experiences. User interviews are an affordable resource that helps designers avoid this tendency and maintain an important mindset: “I’m designing for the user. The user is not me.”

2. Ethnography

What is it?

• Want to know how users behave in their natural environment? Watch them. Ethnography is the firsthand observation of users as they interact with things in the world around them, and it’s an effective way for UX researchers to learn if a product is actually useful or hindered by design flaws.

How does it lead to user empathy?

• Testing a product in a controlled environment has its place, but the real world presents all manner of unforeseeable obstacles. Ethnography allows UX researchers to witness how everyday hurdles impact a product’s user experience. Then, researchers can pass their findings along to be included in the design problem-solving process.

3. User Surveys

A survey is a set of questions that evaluate users’ preferences, opinions, and attitudes about a product. Surveys are given to a sample audience that is representative of a larger population, and two types of questions are asked: closed and open.

Closed questions provide users with a fixed set of responses (i.e., yes/no, multiple choice, numerical scale, etc.), whereas open questions allow users to answer however they’d like.

• Surveys are a great way to get unfiltered feedback from users. By examining survey responses, UX designers can learn who users are, the problems they face, and what they honestly think about a product.

4. Contextual Inquiry

• A contextual inquiry is a hybrid UX research method where users are interviewed and observed while performing a task in its natural setting. However, it is the user (not the researcher) who takes on the role of expert and does most of the talking, explaining the steps of a process as it occurs.
• When people interact with something a lot, they develop an intimate knowledge of its strengths and weaknesses. Contextual inquiry helps researchers adopt a learning posture and allow users to explain how products are actually used day-to-day, workarounds and shortcomings included.

5. Card Sorting

Card sorting is a relatively simple technique that provides insight into how users structure data in their minds.

In an open card sort, people are given a deck of randomly shuffled cards and asked to organize them in whatever way they deem sensible. Once the cards are sorted, they are then asked to explain the reasoning behind their arrangement.

During a closed card sort, participants are asked to place cards from a deck into pre-existing groups, and their word associations are documented by researchers.

How does this UX research method lead to user empathy?

People with extensive product knowledge (e.g., designers, marketers, executives) tend to organize product information in ways that flow logically from their own in-depth understanding.

However, users are not privy to this insider knowledge and are likely to search for word associations that they can make sense of. Card sorting identifies what these associations are and reveals UX patterns that emerge from them.

Plan Before Embarking on Research Projects

Though we’ve primarily focused on the link between UX research methods and user empathy, we owe a word of acknowledgment to an overlooked aspect of the research process—planning.

In one respect, research is no different than any other design discipline: To do it well requires planning.

With planning, the goals and methodology of a UX research project are made crystal clear, and project stakeholders become much more likely to support any time and resources that are requested.

Without planning, UX research will lack focus and may intimidate or frustrate stakeholders, which can lead to unnecessary pushback and second-guessing.

Thankfully, research plans don’t need to be long. Aim for one page , and limit yourself to brief summaries of essential details like:

• Project Title
• Author Information
• Stakeholder Information
• Project Overview
• Research Objectives
• Research Methods
• Important Research Questions
• Target User Profile
• Relevant Supporting Data

If needed, you can expand this format, but a one-page plan is a useful tool that will help keep stakeholders on the same page as research progresses.

Commit to UX Research

UX design problems are complicated. Why? Because they involve the unpredictable phenomenon of human behavior. As designers, we’re always in search of order, always seeking simplicity. When it comes to digital products, order and simplicity are virtues, but they aren’t a starting point. If we think we can fully anticipate the needs of users based on past design solutions, we will miss opportunities to create products and experiences that truly delight.

The only way to avoid this is a commitment to research. Without research, or with a shallow commitment to research, designers are essentially saying to users, “We know what’s best for you. Keep quiet, and take what you’re given.”

While it seems obvious that no one wants to be treated this way, obstacles to UX research are abundant. Whether it be budgets, dubious stakeholders, or bull-headed designers, empathy-centric research often gets marginalized. The fallout almost always has a negative impact on users, and ultimately, a product’s profitability.

With this in mind, let us remain vigilant in our quest to see and synthesize problems through eyes that are not our own. We won’t create perfect products, but we will make progress and our designs will begin to improve the lives of the people we’re entrusted to help.

Further Reading on the Toptal Blog:

• Design Problem Statements: What They Are and How to Frame Them
• Know Your User: UX Statistics and Insights (With Infographic)
• Who, What, and Why: A Guide to User Testing Methods
• The Complete Guide to UX Research Methods
• Why Design Teams Need Psychological Safety
• The Value of User Research

Understanding the basics

What is ux research.

UX research is an investigation into the problems, needs, and experiences of users (people). A range of research types and methods exist, but the main goal is uncovering insights that can be passed along to UX designers and used to create more helpful/delightful user experiences.

What is user empathy?

User empathy is about seeing problems and experiences through the eyes of users. For UX researchers and designers, this means going beyond personal experiences. User empathy is important because UX designers must make decisions that are representative of and beneficial to the people they’re designing for.

What is key in user research?

The key to user research is an open, investigative mind that is free (as much as possible) of preconceived notions. If researchers and designers conduct (or interpret) research with the goal of supporting existing conclusions, they miss the opportunity to glean powerful empathetic insights.

What is empathy in design thinking?

Design thinking is a process of iteration and problem solving that helps designers better relate to users. The very first step in design thinking is to empathize. This means that researchers and designers must seek to study and understand user problems firsthand, in the environments in which they occur.

What is an empathy map?

An empathy map is a tool for visualizing and documenting what is known about a certain type of user. Empathy maps come in a variety of formats, but the standard format places the user information in the center of four quadrants: Says, Does, Thinks, Feels.

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Micah Bowers

Vancouver, WA, United States

Member since January 3, 2016

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What to look for in a UX research course in 2024

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User research skills are in high demand—and that demand is steadily growing. 

Global job site Indeed reports that there’s now one UX researcher job posted for every three UX design jobs, compared to just one UX researcher role for every ten UX jobs a decade ago. 

And it’s not only specialist UX researchers who need research skills. With the rise of AI and an increasing focus on human-centred design, designers must hone their ability to strategize, problem-solve, and make research-driven decisions. 

A UX research course is a great way to update your skill set and navigate the twists and turns of the design industry—but with more and more courses popping up on the market, it’s important to make sure you’re spending your time and money wisely.

In this guide, we show you what to look for in a UX research course. By the end, you’ll know how to separate the good courses from the great ones—and identify the courses that make sense for you. 

Why take a UX research course?

Whether you’re an aspiring UX researcher looking to specialise, or a designer wanting to improve your research skills—a UX/user research course can help you advance in your career and keep your skill set up-to-date. 

Before we show you what to look for when choosing a UX research course, let’s first consider why you’d want to take one in the first place. 

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Learn in-demand, industry-relevant skills 

UX research is fast becoming one of the most in-demand skills within the design industry. If you consider the top UX design trends shaping the field right now, you’ll find that research and strategy are repeatedly named the hottest UX skills for the future. 

In their State of UX in 2024 report, Fabricio Teixeira and Caio Braga of the UX Collective state that “while UI processes tend to become more automated, skills such as UX research and UX strategy will become more critical than ever.”

As AI increasingly highlights the difference between automatable tasks and inherently human skills, the importance of user research will only grow. 

Both designers and specialist researchers alike will need to be more confident than ever in their ability to think strategically, cultivate empathy, and problem-solve for the user—all of which you’ll learn with a UX research course.

Keep your skills up-to-date

You might already be well-versed in user research, especially if you’ve been working in the UX industry for a while. But, just like any other design discipline, UX research is continuously changing and evolving. 

Especially with the rise of AI, designers and researchers must consider new challenges—such as how to leverage AI tools within the research process while continuing to safeguard research participants and comply with user research ethics .

A UX research course will help you update your skills and knowledge, making sure you’re well-versed in the latest tools, methodologies, and best practices. 

Stand out in the job market 

Honing your UX research skills and obtaining a professional certification may give you a competitive edge in the job market. 

In a survey of over 500 industry professionals and hiring managers , the UX Design Institute found that the majority of UX hiring managers (77%) look for a UX-specific qualification when hiring entry-level candidates. Just over half (52%) would look for a certificate or diploma—as obtained through a credible UX research course. 

Even if you’re not an entry-level candidate, a UX research course demonstrates your commitment to continuous learning—and that’s something that employers value highly. 

Benefit from a structured, expert-led curriculum 

A professional UX research course gives you a clear structure to follow, ensuring that you learn the most relevant techniques, methodologies, and skills in a logical order. 

At the same time, the best courses will connect you with industry experts who can guide you along the way and make sure you’re getting the most out of the curriculum. 

If you’re serious about honing your UX research skills, a course offers many benefits—but not all UX research courses are created equal. Before you sign up, you want to make sure that the curriculum is up-to-date and covers all the most relevant skills. 

With that, let’s outline the key topics and concepts you’ll want to look for when choosing a UX research course. 

What should you expect to learn on a UX research course?

A good UX research course teaches a mixture of hard and soft skills, with a combination of theory and hands-on practice. The curriculum should cover:

• The role of a UX researcher and where research fits into the overall product design process
• How to plan effective research studies—from collaborating with stakeholders and choosing appropriate methodologies, to recruiting participants and managing research data
• The difference between quantitative and qualitative user research
• Specific research methods such as how to conduct effective user interviews , user surveys, and ethnography (to name a few)
• How to analyse your research data, communicate your findings with key stakeholders, and turn them into actionable insights that can inform the design process
• The role of AI, including how to use AI-powered tools for UX research and how to navigate the ethical challenges of AI 
• A practical component such as hands-on tasks, exercises, and/or projects

What to look for in a UX research course in 2024: The 7 most important factors

Search for UX research courses and you’ll find countless options. So how do you know which ones are actually worth your time and money? 

Here are the most important factors to look for when choosing a UX research course. 

1. A practical component

There’s a huge difference between simply absorbing theoretical content and actually practising what you learn. In a hands-on field like UX research, it’s absolutely essential that you’re able to apply your skills in a practical manner. 

When choosing a UX research course, make sure the curriculum includes a practical component. Interactive quizzes, short exercises at the end of each module, or a full-blown portfolio project—anything that has you applying what you’ve learned.

This is not only essential for building your confidence to conduct user research in a real-world setting. This hands-on experience will also help you to create your UX research portfolio and demonstrate your skills to employers. 

2. A good balance between flexibility and structure 

There’s no need to be in a classroom or online at specific times, and nor do you need to commit to a full-time schedule. The most effective UX research courses balance flexibility and structure, giving you the best of both worlds. 

Look for a course that offers flexible or self-paced learning while also holding you accountable through regular deadlines. This gives you the freedom to learn at your own pace without leaving you completely to your own devices. A recipe for success!

3. Industry-relevant, up-to-date content 

You want to be sure that your chosen course is teaching skills and practices that make sense in the current job market, so look for signs that the course has been written or updated recently—and that it’s created in collaboration with industry experts. 

AI is a great example of this. If a UX research course doesn’t explore the role of AI, it’s either very out of date or it’s neglecting a hugely relevant topic—neither of which bodes well for the quality and relevance of the curriculum. 

Credit ratings can also be a good indicator that a UX research course is up to date. If a course is university credit-rated, it’s subject to regular reviews conducted by an external body. So, if the credit rating is current, you know the curriculum has been recently vetted and approved. 

4. Expert guidance and support 

Most UX research courses are offered online, but that doesn’t mean you have to forego human support. Having access to mentors, tutors, career advisors, and other industry experts can make all the difference to your learning experience. 

Look for a course that contains a human element, whether it’s regular calls with a mentor, personalised feedback from an industry expert, or optional check-ins. You want to make sure that you can ask for support and guidance when you need it—and that you’re not relying solely on the course materials to learn about the field. 

5. A strong community 

The quality of your learning experience doesn’t just depend on the curriculum. If a UX research course comes with a strong community of fellow learners, this is a great sign that you’re onto a good thing. 

Look for a UX research course that fosters a sense of community and connection, even if most of the actual learning takes place independently. Many course providers host workshops or networking events, for example, or run a student Slack channel. 

A large and active community of students and alumni offers opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, knowledge exchange, camaraderie, and networking . This serves as a great source of motivation throughout the course—and may open doors for your career in the future. 

6. Positive reviews and legitimate alumni testimonials 

You probably wouldn’t make a big purchase without reading some reviews first, and the same goes for choosing a UX research course. Even if all the signs are pointing in the right direction, make sure the course is regarded highly among previous students. 

Look for genuine alumni reviews, testimonials, and success stories—especially recent ones that can speak to the relevance of the course right now. You want to see evidence that the course does what it promises, and that it’s proven valuable for people in a similar position to you. 

7. An industry-recognised provider 

We mentioned earlier that many UX hiring managers look for a relevant qualification—and it’s better if that qualification comes from a well-respected institution. 

When choosing a UX research course, look for signs that the course provider is credible and recognised within the industry. 

Do they publish expert insights and demonstrate thought leadership beyond the course? Are they well-connected in terms of industry partnerships and collaborations? Are they a specialised UX provider rather than a generic tech bootcamp?

All of these things—in combination with the other factors we’ve outlined—point to a reputable institution and a quality learning experience. 

[GET CERTIFIED IN UX]

How to choose the right UX research course for you 

We know what makes for a good UX research course—but, once you’ve narrowed it down to only the top-quality options, how do you choose the right course for you? Follow these steps. 

1. Identify your goals and objectives

First and foremost, define your personal goals and objectives. Why are you taking a UX research course? What are your desired outcomes?

If you’re looking to specialise in the field and land your first job as a UX researcher, you’ll want to find a course that includes job market support. If you’re already working in the design industry and just want to add another string to your bow, career guidance might not be such an important factor. 

Think about what the course should help you to achieve and identify the most suitable options accordingly. 

2. Factor in your experience level and starting point

Some UX research courses are beginner-friendly, designed for industry newcomers who want to break into the field. Others are created with professionals in mind, assuming a certain degree of existing knowledge. 

As such, you want to choose a course that matches your current experience and skill level. 

If you’re new to UX, prioritise courses that cover the fundamentals. If you’re already an experienced designer, look for a more advanced course that can take you straight to the specifics of UX research. 

3. Consider your preferred learning format 

UX research courses can vary greatly in terms of how they’re taught. From live, interactive classes to on-demand video, from text-only content to discussion forums—no two courses are the same.

When choosing a UX research course, think about how you like to learn and which formats you find most engaging and effective. Do you prefer to study independently and read in your own time? Or do you thrive in a collaborative classroom environment?

Explore how different providers approach the learning experience, and prioritise those courses that most closely align with your preferred format. 

4. Determine your budget 

Money is inevitably an important factor when choosing a UX research course, and setting your budget will help you narrow down your options.

Determine how much you’re willing and able to spend on a UX research course, and look into what kind of payment plans and financing options are available. Some course providers allow you to pay in monthly instalments, for example. 

5. Think about your schedule 

Last but not least, consider the practical matter of when and how often you’ll study. 

If you’re working and juggling other commitments, you’ll want a flexible course that fits around your schedule. If you’ve got more time on your hands, you might prefer a more intensive, full-time course. 

It’s all about finding a UX research course that aligns with your goals, fits within your budget, and feels realistic in terms of the time and effort required. With all of those factors together, you should hopefully be one step closer to finding the right course for you. 

Obtain your Professional Certificate in User Research with the UX Design Institute 

If you’re looking for a flexible, industry-relevant UX research course, consider the Professional Certificate in User Research taught by the UX Design Institute. 

Spanning 16 weeks (with 3 hours of study per week), the course is delivered entirely online. You’ll learn flexibly at your own pace, with monthly deadlines to keep you on track.

Here’s what you can expect from the course at a glance:

• An industry-relevant, up-to-date curriculum that reflects the current demands of the job market—including a dedicated module on AI for user research
• A university credit-rated qualification, with all course content vetted and approved by Glasgow Caledonian University
• Hands-on projects to help you practise what you’ve learned
• Live support from expert mentors, career advisors, and an active student community
• An official certification in user research, issued by a reputable and specialised UX education provider 

If you’d like to learn more about what it’s like to study with the UX Design Institute, read what former students have to say: UX Design Institute reviews: Hear from our students . 

Takeaways and next steps 

User research skills are in high demand, and a good quality UX research course will help you keep your skills up-to-date, excel in your current role, and stand out in the UX job market . It will also equip you to navigate the latest industry trends, including the rise of AI. 

When choosing a UX research course, look for a recent and relevant curriculum, a mixture of theory and hands-on practice, expert guidance and support, and a strong student community. At the same time, make sure that your chosen course aligns with your personal goals, learning preferences, budget, and schedule. 

Not quite ready to sign up for a course? Learn more about the industry with these guides:

• How to find UX researcher jobs in 2024
• 3 Real-world UX case studies from Google, Airbnb, and Spotify—and what we can learn from them
• A day in the life of a UX Research Manager with Google’s Dr. Stephen Hassard
• Advice for Career Switchers
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• ux research
• ux researcher

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3 September 2024

How to help your child with back to school anxiety

Parents think their children have it easier, but youngsters will feel the pressure this month

• 11:37, 27 AUG 2024

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Children across the UK are set to return to school but as new term apprehension will be building for kids, new research from Amazon finds that seven in ten parents think their children have it easier at school now than they did when they were pupils. Amazon’s Chatterbox series reveals that parents say the availability of smartphones and tablets means their kids have it easier.

Other reasons include less strict teachers and easier homework. Children also get a lift to school on average three out of five days a week, with 38% getting driven to school every single day. Parenting expert Kirsty Ketley said: “I understand where parents are coming from, but you could argue kids today have it harder, it’s just a different type of hard. People think smartphones are making life easier for today’s children, but I actually think it’s the opposite.

“Of course, in some ways there is an advantage as they have all this knowledge at their fingertips, but I think they bring a pressure we didn’t have growing up, because they can never switch off. Unfortunately, bullying still happens a lot in schools, and some kids can never escape it as they can be accessed beyond school hours via social media and messaging apps.”

New term top tips

Kirsty shares her top tips for parents to support their children as they return to school:

1 – Show understanding - if your child is making a big transition, like primary to secondary school, or starting their GCSEs, my advice would be to have a lot of understanding and empathy towards them, because it is a big change. In Amazon’s Chatterbox research, 14% of people thought that teachers are less strict today, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. I think there's a lot more pressure on kids these days to achieve.

2 – Speak to the school - your kids will be going through a lot and if you feel out of the loop, reach out to the school so you can work out what problems your child might be facing. Of course you don’t want to be bombarding the school with emails, but if there is something you’re worried about then don’t feel afraid to get in touch, as that’s what they’re there for.

3 – Communicate with your child - as we approach the new term, go through things with your child to get them prepared, such as checking if they know their walking route to school. If your child is going into a new class or school they might be worried about new friendships, so chat this through with them, and suggest icebreakers to try.

4 – Remember it’s not your experience - being a parent is like going through school all over again. You'll remember your own time at school, and might have some useful tips from this time, but it's really important to remember that how you experienced something isn't necessarily how your child is going to experience it. 69% of parents in Amazon’s Chatterbox research thought that kids have it easier today at school than they did, but this doesn’t take away from difficulties children today are dealing with. Parents should listen without projecting in order to best support them.

Amazon Worker, Peter, 33, says heading back to school is always a stress for parents, no matter how much you prepare: “My step children are total opposites, so getting them ready for school after the summer break is definitely not the easiest of tasks – particularly when it comes to getting their school gear together.

“My stepdaughter, eight, has autism and prefers to have all the practical things that she might need – her wellies, for example, in case it rains. Her school takes care of all the learning materials.

“However, my stepson, 14, just cares about being kitted out with all the latest brands. I used to take a bag full of pens, paper, books - but he just puts a pen in his pocket! Either way, the back to school period definitely causes a dent in the wallet every year.”

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