what to do after ux research

Skip navigation

World Leaders in Research-Based User Experience

UX Research Cheat Sheet

February 12, 2017 2017-02-12

• Email article
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on Twitter

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.

Free Downloads

Related courses, discovery: building the right thing.

Conduct successful discovery phases to ensure you build the best solution

User Research Methods: From Strategy to Requirements to Design

Pick the best UX research method for each stage in the design process

Personas: Turn User Data Into User-Centered Design

Successfully turn user data into user interfaces. Learn how to create, maintain and utilize personas throughout the UX design process.

Related Topics

• Research Methods Research Methods
• Design Process

Learn More:

Please accept marketing cookies to view the embedded video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_sFVYfatXY

Always Pilot Test User Research Studies

Kim Salazar · 3 min

Level Up Your Focus Groups

Therese Fessenden · 5 min

Inductively Analyzing Qualitative Data

Tanner Kohler · 3 min

Related Articles:

Project Management for User Research: The Plan

Susan Farrell · 7 min

Open-Ended vs. Closed Questions in User Research

Maria Rosala · 5 min

Formative vs. Summative Evaluations

Alita Joyce · 5 min

UX Research Methods: Glossary

Raluca Budiu · 12 min

What a UX Career Looks Like Today

Rachel Krause and Maria Rosala · 5 min

Pilot Testing: Getting It Right (Before) the First Time

Amy Schade · 5 min

• Reviews / Why join our community?
• For companies
• Frequently asked questions

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.

• Copyright holder: Unsplash. Copyright terms and license: CCO Public Domain. Link: https://pixabay.com/en/clay-hands-sculpting-art-69...
• Copyright holder: Unsplash. Copyright terms and license: CCO Public Domain. Link: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-in-black-shirt-an...
• Copyright holder: Indecent Proposer. Copyright terms and license: CC BY-NC 2.0 Link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/indecent_proposal/14...
• Copyright holder: Anna Langova. Copyright terms and license: CC0 1.0 Link: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php...
• Copyright holder: Conmongt. Copyright terms and license: CC0 Public Domain Link: https://pixabay.com/en/hourglass-time-time-lapse-clock-1623517/

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:

Design Thinking: The Ultimate Guide

Answer a Short Quiz to Earn a Gift

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.

Better luck next time!

Do you want to improve your UX / UI Design skills? Join us now

Congratulations! You did amazing

You earned your gift with a perfect score! Let us send it to you.

Check Your Inbox

We’ve emailed your gift to [email protected] .

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!

All open-source articles on UX Research

7 great, tried and tested ux research techniques.

• 1.2k shares
• 3 years ago

The Ultimate Guide to Understanding UX Roles and Which One You Should Go For

Shadowing in User Research - Do You See What They See?

Contextual Interviews and How to Handle Them

15 Guiding Principles for UX Researchers

Ethnography

Porter’s 5 Forces Model - Design in Context, Understand the Market

• 7 years ago

Ideas for Conducting UX Research with Children

Laddering Questions Drilling Down Deep and Moving Sideways in UX Research

Action Research

4 common pitfalls in usability testing and how to avoid them to get more honest feedback.

• 2 years ago

Confirmation Bias – It’s Not What We Think We Know That Counts

User Research Methods for Mobile UX

• 11 mths ago

The Top UX Design Books You Need to Read in 2024: Beginner to Expert

6 Tips for Better International UX Research

Collaborating with Your Team for Research

Adding Quality to Your Design Research with an SSQS Checklist

• 8 years ago

Common UX Research Interview Questions

How to Fit Quantitative Research into the Project Lifecycle

The Best Free UX Design Courses in 2024

Open Access—Link to us!

We believe in Open Access and the  democratization of knowledge . Unfortunately, world-class educational materials such as this page are normally hidden behind paywalls or in expensive textbooks.

If you want this to change , cite this page , link to us, or join us to help us democratize design knowledge !

Privacy Settings

Our digital services use necessary tracking technologies, including third-party cookies, for security, functionality, and to uphold user rights. Optional cookies offer enhanced features, and analytics.

Experience the full potential of our site that remembers your preferences and supports secure sign-in.

Governs the storage of data necessary for maintaining website security, user authentication, and fraud prevention mechanisms.

Enhanced Functionality

Saves your settings and preferences, like your location, for a more personalized experience.

Referral Program

We use cookies to enable our referral program, giving you and your friends discounts.

Error Reporting

We share user ID with Bugsnag and NewRelic to help us track errors and fix issues.

Optimize your experience by allowing us to monitor site usage. You’ll enjoy a smoother, more personalized journey without compromising your privacy.

Analytics Storage

Collects anonymous data on how you navigate and interact, helping us make informed improvements.

Differentiates real visitors from automated bots, ensuring accurate usage data and improving your website experience.

Lets us tailor your digital ads to match your interests, making them more relevant and useful to you.

Advertising Storage

Stores information for better-targeted advertising, enhancing your online ad experience.

Personalization Storage

Permits storing data to personalize content and ads across Google services based on user behavior, enhancing overall user experience.

Advertising Personalization

Allows for content and ad personalization across Google services based on user behavior. This consent enhances user experiences.

Enables personalizing ads based on user data and interactions, allowing for more relevant advertising experiences across Google services.

Receive more relevant advertisements by sharing your interests and behavior with our trusted advertising partners.

Enables better ad targeting and measurement on Meta platforms, making ads you see more relevant.

Allows for improved ad effectiveness and measurement through Meta’s Conversions API, ensuring privacy-compliant data sharing.

LinkedIn Insights

Tracks conversions, retargeting, and web analytics for LinkedIn ad campaigns, enhancing ad relevance and performance.

LinkedIn CAPI

Enhances LinkedIn advertising through server-side event tracking, offering more accurate measurement and personalization.

Google Ads Tag

Tracks ad performance and user engagement, helping deliver ads that are most useful to you.

Share Knowledge, Get Respect!

or copy link

Cite according to academic standards

Simply copy and paste the text below into your bibliographic reference list, onto your blog, or anywhere else. You can also just hyperlink to this page.

New to UX Design? We’re Giving You a Free ebook!

Download our free ebook The Basics of User Experience Design to learn about core concepts of UX design.

In 9 chapters, we’ll cover: conducting user interviews, design thinking, interaction design, mobile UX design, usability, UX research, and many more!

The Complete Guide to UX Research Methods

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

By Miklos Philips

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

PREVIOUSLY AT

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

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

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

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

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

What Is UX Research?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top UX Research Methods and When to Use Them

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reasons for Doing UX Research

Here are three great reasons for doing user research :

To create a product that is truly relevant to users

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

To create a product that is easy and pleasurable to use

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

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

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

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

What Results Can I Expect from UX Research?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Further Reading on the Toptal Blog:

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

Understanding the basics

How do you do user research in ux.

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

What are UX methods?

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

What is the best research methodology for user experience design?

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

What does a UX researcher do?

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

Why is UX research important?

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

• UserResearch

Miklos Philips

London, United Kingdom

Member since May 20, 2016

About the author

World-class articles, delivered weekly.

By entering your email, you are agreeing to our privacy policy .

Toptal Designers

• Adobe Creative Suite Experts
• Agile Designers
• AI Designers
• Art Direction Experts
• Augmented Reality Designers
• Axure Experts
• Brand Designers
• Creative Directors
• Dashboard Designers
• Digital Product Designers
• E-commerce Website Designers
• Full-Stack Designers
• Information Architecture Experts
• Interactive Designers
• Mobile App Designers
• Mockup Designers
• Presentation Designers
• Prototype Designers
• SaaS Designers
• Sketch Experts
• Squarespace Designers
• User Flow Designers
• User Research Designers
• Virtual Reality Designers
• Visual Designers
• Wireframing Experts
• View More Freelance Designers

Join the Toptal ® community.

Learn / Guides / UX research guide

Back to guides

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

Reading time.

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

Next chapter

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.

Table of contents

The design pulse.

New website, course and product updates - April 2024

Using Quantitative and Qualitative Research in UX Design

10 Best Free Fonts for UI Design (2024 Edition)

The Ultimate Guide to UX/UI Design in 2024

16 Best UX Research Tools in 2024: Gather Faster & Better Insights

15 Most Effective UX Research Methods: Pros and Cons

The Ultimate Guide to Figma for Beginners (Updated 2024)

The Ultimate Guide to UX Research (Updated 2024)

5 Reasons Why You Need UX Research in 2024

Join our newsletter.

Get 10% off on your first purchase

Product Design Bundle and save

User Research New

Content Design

UX Design Fundamentals

Software and Coding Fundamentals for UX

• UX training for teams
• Hire our alumni
• Student Stories
• State of UX Hiring Report 2024
• Our mission
• Advisory Council

Education for every phase of your UX career

Professional Diploma

Learn the full user experience (UX) process from research to interaction design to prototyping.

Combine the UX Diploma with the UI Certificate to pursue a career as a product designer.

Professional Certificates

Learn how to plan, execute, analyse and communicate user research effectively.

Master content design and UX writing principles, from tone and style to writing for interfaces.

Understand the fundamentals of UI elements and design systems, as well as the role of UI in UX.

Short Courses

Gain a solid foundation in the philosophy, principles and methods of user experience design.

Learn the essentials of software development so you can work more effectively with developers.

Give your team the skills, knowledge and mindset to create great digital products.

Join our hiring programme and access our list of certified professionals.

Learn about our mission to set the global standard in UX education.

Meet our leadership team with UX and education expertise.

Members of the council connect us to the wider UX industry.

Our team are available to answer any of your questions.

Fresh insights from experts, alumni and the wider design community.

Success stories from our course alumni building thriving careers.

Discover a wealth of UX expertise on our YouTube channel.

Latest industry insights. A practical guide to landing a job in UX.

A complete guide to presenting UX research findings

In this complete guide to presenting UX research findings, we’ll cover what you should include in a UX research report, how to present UX research findings and tips for presenting your UX research.

Free course: Introduction to UX Design

What is UX? Why has it become so important? Could it be a career for you? Learn the answers, and more, with a free 7-lesson video course.

User experience research sets out to identify the problem that a product or service needs to solve and finds a way to do just that. Research is the first and most important step to optimising user experience.

UX researchers do this through interviews, surveys, focus groups, data analysis and reports. Reports are how UX researchers present their work to other stakeholders in a company, such as designers, developers and executives.

In this guide, we’ll cover what you should include in a UX research report, how to present UX research findings and tips for presenting your UX research.

Components of a UX research report

How to write a ux research report, 5 tips on presenting ux research findings.

Ready to present your research findings? Let’s dive in.

[GET CERTIFIED IN USER RESEARCH]

There are six key components to a UX research report.

Introduction

The introduction should give an overview of your UX research . Then, relate any company goals or pain points to your research. Lastly, your introduction should briefly touch on how your research could affect the business.

Research goals

Simply put, your next slide or paragraph should outline the top decisions you need to make, the search questions you used, as well as your hypothesis and expectations.

Business value

In this section, you can tell your stakeholders why your research matters. If you base this research on team-level or product development goals, briefly touch on those.

Methodology

Share the research methods you used and why you chose those methods. Keep it concise and tailored to your audience. Your stakeholders probably don’t need to hear everything that went into your process.

Key learnings

This section will be the most substantial part of your report or presentation. Present your findings clearly and concisely. Share as much context as possible while keeping your target audience – your stakeholders – in mind.

Recommendations

In the last section of your report, make actionable recommendations for your stakeholders. Share possible solutions or answers to your research questions. Make your suggestions clear and consider any future research studies that you think would be helpful.

1. Define your audience

Most likely, you’ll already have conducted stakeholder interviews when you were planning your research. Taking those interviews into account, you should be able to glean what they’re expecting from your presentation.

Tailor your presentation to the types of findings that are most relevant, how those findings might affect their work and how they prefer to receive information. Only include information they will care about the most in a medium that’s easy for them to understand.

Do they have a technical understanding of what you’re doing or should you keep it a non-technical presentation? Make sure you keep the terminology and data on a level they can understand.

What part of the business do they work in? Executives will want to know about how it affects their business, while developers will want to know what technological changes they need to make.

2. Summarise

As briefly as possible, summarise your research goals, business value and methodology. You don’t need to go into too much detail for any of these items. Simply share the what, why and how of your research.

Answer these questions:

• What research questions did you use, and what was your hypothesis?
• What business decision will your research assist with?
• What methodology did you use?

You can briefly explain your methods to recruit participants, conduct interviews and analyse results. If you’d like more depth, link to interview plans, surveys, prototypes, etc.

3. Show key learnings

Your stakeholders will probably be pressed for time. They won’t be able to process raw data and they usually don’t want to see all of the work you’ve done. What they’re looking for are key insights that matter the most to them specifically. This is why it’s important to know your audience.

Summarise a few key points at the beginning of your report. The first thing they want to see are atomic research nuggets. Create condensed, high-priority bullet points that get immediate attention. This allows people to reference it quickly. Then, share relevant data or artefacts to illustrate your key learnings further.

Relevant data:

• Recurring trends and themes
• Relevant quotes that illustrate important findings
• Data visualisations

Relevant aspects of artefacts:

• Quotes from interviews
• User journey maps
• Affinity diagrams
• Storyboards

For most people you’ll present to, a summary of key insights will be enough. But, you can link to a searchable repository where they can dig deeper. You can include artefacts and tagged data for them to reference.

[GET CERTIFIED IN UX]

4. Share insights and recommendations

Offer actionable recommendations, not opinions. Share clear next steps that solve pain points or answer pending decisions. If you have any in mind, suggest future research options too. If users made specific recommendations, share direct quotes.

5. Choose a format

There are two ways you could share your findings in a presentation or a report. Let’s look at these two categories and see which might be the best fit for you.

Usually, a presentation is best for sharing data with a large group and when presenting to non-technical stakeholders. Presentations should be used for visual communication and when you only need to include relevant information in a brief summary.

A presentation is usually formatted in a:

• Case studies
• Atomic research nuggets
• Pre-recorded video

If you’re presenting to a smaller group, technical stakeholder or other researchers, you might want to use a report. This gives you the capacity to create a comprehensive record. Further, reports could be categorised based on their purpose as usability, analytics or market research reports.

A report is typically formatted in a:

• Notion or Confluence page
• Slack update

You might choose to write a report first, then create a presentation. After the presentation, you can share a more in-depth report. The report could also be used for records later.

1. Keep it engaging

When you’re presenting your findings, find ways to engage those you’re presenting to. You can ask them questions about their assumptions or what you’re presenting to get them more involved.

For example, “What do you predict were our findings when we asked users to test the usability of the menu?” or “What suggestions do you think users had for [a design problem]?”

If you don’t want to engage them with questions, try including alternative formats like videos, audio clips, visualisations or high-fidelity prototypes. Anything that’s interactive or different will help keep their engagement. They might engage with these items during or after your presentation.

Another way to keep it engaging is to tell a story throughout your presentation. Some UX researchers structure their presentations in the form of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey . Start in the middle with your research findings and then zoom out to your summary, insights and recommendations.

2. Combine qualitative and quantitative data

When possible, use qualitative data to back up quantitative data. For example, include a visualisation of poll results with a direct quote about that pain point.

Use this opportunity to show the value of the work you do and build empathy for your users. Translate your findings into a format that your stakeholders – designers, developers or executives – will be able to understand and act upon.

3. Make it actionable

Actionable presentations are engaging and they should have some business value . That means they need to solve a problem or at least move toward a solution to a problem. They might intend to optimise usability, find out more about the market or analyse user data.

Here are a few ways to make it actionable:

• Include a to-do list at the end
• Share your deck and repository files for future reference
• Recommend solutions for product or business decisions
• Suggest what kind of research should happen next (if any)
• Share answers to posed research questions

4. Keep it concise and effective

Make it easy for stakeholders to dive deeper if they want to but make it optional. Yes, this means including links to an easily searchable repository and keeping your report brief.

Humans tend to focus best on just 3-4 things at a time. So, limit your report to three or four major insights. Additionally, try to keep your presentation down to 20-30 minutes.

Remember, you don’t need to share everything you learned. In your presentation, you just need to show your stakeholders what they are looking for. Anything else can be sent later in your repository or a more detailed PDF report.

5. Admit the shortcomings of UX research

If you get pushback from stakeholders during your presentation, it’s okay to share your constraints.

Your stakeholders might not understand that your sample size is big enough or how you chose the users in your study or why you did something the way you did. While qualitative research might not be statistically significant, it’s usually representative of your larger audience and it’s okay to point that out.

Because they aren’t researchers, it’s your job to explain your methodology to them but also be upfront about the limitations UX research can pose. When all of your cards are on the table, stakeholders are more likely to trust you.

When it comes to presenting your UX research findings, keep it brief and engaging. Provide depth with external resources after your presentation. This is how you get stakeholders to find empathy for your users. This is how you master the art of UX.

Need to go back to the basics and learn more about UX research? Dive into these articles:

What is UX research? The 9 best UX research tools to use in 2022

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get the best UX insights and career advice direct to your inbox each month.

Thanks for subscribing to our newsletter

You'll now get the best career advice, industry insights and UX community content, direct to your inbox every month.

Upcoming courses

Professional diploma in ux design.

Learn the full UX process, from research to design to prototyping.

Professional Certificate in UI Design

Master key concepts and techniques of UI design.

Certificate in Software and Coding Fundamentals for UX

Collaborate effectively with software developers.

Certificate in UX Design Fundamentals

Get a comprehensive introduction to UX design.

Professional Certificate in Content Design

Learn the skills you need to start a career in content design.

Professional Certificate in User Research

Master the research skills that make UX professionals so valuable.

Upcoming course

Build your UX career with a globally-recognised, industry-approved certification. Get the mindset, the skills and the confidence of UX designers.

You may also like

What is Gemini AI (formerly known as Bard AI) and how can you use it to become a better UX designer?

What are the laws of UX? All 21 laws explained

The 10 best user interface (UI) design tools to try in 2024

Build your UX career with a globally recognised, industry-approved qualification. Get the mindset, the confidence and the skills that make UX designers so valuable.

4 June 2024

• Top Courses
• Online Degrees
• Find your New Career
• Join for Free

Conduct UX Research and Test Early Concepts

This course is part of Google UX Design Professional Certificate

Taught in English

Some content may not be translated

Instructor: Google Career Certificates

Top Instructor

Financial aid available

230,629 already enrolled

(5,038 reviews)

What you'll learn

Plan and conduct moderated and unmoderated usability studies.

Synthesize observations from usability studies and come up with insights.

Share research methodology and insights using persuasive presentation skills.

Modify low-fidelity designs based on research insights.

Skills you'll gain

• Usability Testing
• User Experience (UX)
• User Experience Design (UXD)
• UX Research

Details to know

Add to your LinkedIn profile

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

Build your Design and Product expertise

• Learn new concepts from industry experts
• Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
• Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
• Earn a shareable career certificate from Google

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV

Share it on social media and in your performance review

There are 4 modules in this course

Conduct UX Research and Test Early Concepts is the fourth course in a certificate program that will equip you with the skills you need to apply to entry-level jobs in user experience (UX) design. In this course, you will learn how to plan and conduct a usability study to gather feedback about designs. Then, you will modify your low-fidelity designs based on insights from your research.

Current UX designers and researchers at Google will serve as your instructors, and you will complete hands-on activities that simulate real-world UX design scenarios. Learners who complete the seven courses in this certificate program should be equipped to apply for entry-level jobs as UX designers. By the end of this course, you will be able to: - Plan a UX research study, including the project background, research goals, research questions, Key Performance Indicators, methodology, participants, and script. - Explain the importance of respecting privacy and user data. - Conduct a moderated and unmoderated usability study. - Take notes during a usability study. - Create affinity diagrams to group and analyze data. - Synthesize observations from research and come up with insights. - Develop persuasive presentation skills to share research insights. - Modify low-fidelity designs based on research insights. - Continue to design a mobile app to include in your professional portfolio. To be successful in this course, you should complete the previous three courses in the certificate program. Or, you need to have an ability to conduct user research to inform the creation of empathy maps, personas, user stories, user journey maps, problem statements, and value propositions; as well as an ability to create wireframes and low-fidelity prototypes on paper and in Figma.

Planning UX research studies

Learn how to plan a UX research study! There are seven elements that your plan should include: the project background, research goals, research questions, key performance indicators, methodology, participants, and the script or questions you’ll ask participants. You'll explore each of these elements in detail, and you'll create your own research plan to test the designs you developed in the previous course of the certificate program. You'll also learn how to respect user privacy and data when conducting UX research.

What's included

14 videos 14 readings 5 quizzes 1 plugin

14 videos • Total 57 minutes

• Introduction to Course 4: Conduct UX Research and Test Early Concepts • 1 minute • Preview module
• Samar - Working as a self- taught UX Researcher • 5 minutes
• Jason - My journey to UX • 4 minutes
• Understand the UX research process • 4 minutes
• Get to know the seven elements of a research plan • 5 minutes
• Start building a research plan: project background, research goals, and research questions • 7 minutes
• Continue building a research plan: KPIs • 4 minutes
• Continue building a research plan: Methodology • 1 minute
• Continue building a research plan: Participants • 3 minutes
• Finish building a research plan: Script • 6 minutes
• Make privacy a part of UX practices • 4 minutes
• Understand privacy issues • 4 minutes
• Vanessa - Ethics, privacy, and data in the real world • 3 minutes
• Wrap-up: Planning UX research studies • 0 minutes

14 readings • Total 210 minutes

• Welcome to Course 4 • 20 minutes
• Research is Part of the Test Phase • 10 minutes
• Language and communication in UX research • 20 minutes
• UX research plan template • 10 minutes
• Example research plan: Project background, research goals, and research questions • 10 minutes
• Learn more about KPIs • 20 minutes
• Example research plan: KPIs • 10 minutes
• Learn more about methodology • 20 minutes
• Recruit a diverse participant pool • 20 minutes
• Example research plan: Methodology and participants • 10 minutes
• Assistive technology for participants with disabilities • 20 minutes
• Example research plan: Script • 10 minutes
• Example UX research plans • 20 minutes
• Glossary terms from course 4, module 1 • 10 minutes

5 quizzes • Total 142 minutes

• Module 1 challenge • 60 minutes
• Test your knowledge on UX research plans • 8 minutes
• Test your knowledge on UX research participants and scripts • 6 minutes
• Test your knowledge on user data and privacy • 8 minutes
• Activity: Build a research plan for your portfolio project • 60 minutes

1 plugin • Total 30 minutes

• Identify stages of UX research • 30 minutes

Conducting research with usability studies

Conducting research with participants to get feedback about your designs is critical. In this part of the course, you'll conduct a usability study, which is a research method that assesses how easy it is for participants to complete core tasks in a design. You'll also explore how to reduce bias and be inclusive when conducting usability studies. And, you'll take notes while observing participants in a usability study.

18 videos 6 readings 7 quizzes 2 discussion prompts

18 videos • Total 68 minutes

• Welcome to module 2 • 1 minute • Preview module
• Introduction to usability studies • 3 minutes
• Conduct moderated and unmoderated usability studies • 4 minutes
• Introduction to a mock unmoderated usability study • 1 minute
• Participant A - Mock usability study • 5 minutes
• Participant B - Mock usability study • 4 minutes
• Participant C - Mock usability study • 4 minutes
• Participant D - Mock usability study • 4 minutes
• Participant E - Mock usability study • 3 minutes
• Explore usability study best practices: Before the study begins • 4 minutes
• Explore usability study best practices: During the study • 2 minutes
• Deana - My job as a UX researcher • 2 minutes
• Identify biases when interviewing usability study participants • 3 minutes
• Reduce bias in interviews • 4 minutes
• Introduction to note-taking methods during usability studies • 6 minutes
• Use a spreadsheet to take notes • 7 minutes
• Chikezie - My journey to UX • 1 minute
• Wrap-up: Conducting research with usability studies • 0 minutes

6 readings • Total 110 minutes

• Learn more about usability studies • 20 minutes
• Explore the advantages and disadvantages of usability studies • 20 minutes
• Learn more about usability study best practices • 20 minutes
• Learn more about reducing bias in interviews • 20 minutes
• Review: Take notes during a mock usability study for the Gmail labels feature • 20 minutes
• Glossary terms from course 4, module 2 • 10 minutes

7 quizzes • Total 124 minutes

• Module 2 challenge • 60 minutes
• Test your knowledge on the importance of usability studies • 6 minutes
• Test your knowledge on usability study best practices • 6 minutes
• Test your knowledge on potential biases during interview moderation • 6 minutes
• Self-Reflection: Reduce bias in your interviews • 10 minutes
• Test your knowledge on bias during interviews • 6 minutes
• Activity: Conduct a usability study for your portfolio project • 30 minutes

2 discussion prompts • Total 20 minutes

• Share your observations from the mock usability study • 10 minutes
• Reflect on the Gmail labels mock usability study • 10 minutes

Analyzing and synthesizing research results

After you conduct a usability study, you'll have a ton of feedback from participants. In this part of the course, you'll analyze and synthesize all of the feedback from your research. You'll gather data and observations in one place, organize the data using an affinity diagram, find themes, and come up with actionable insights.

8 videos 5 readings 4 quizzes

8 videos • Total 23 minutes

• From observations to insights • 1 minute • Preview module
• Case study: Improving design at Google • 4 minutes
• Developing insights • 2 minutes
• Gather and organize data • 4 minutes
• Patterns and themes in research data • 3 minutes
• Qualities of strong insights • 3 minutes
• Utkarsh - Develop insights from usability studies • 2 minutes
• Wrap-up: Analyzing and synthesizing research results • 0 minutes

5 readings • Total 60 minutes

• Learn more about creating affinity diagrams • 20 minutes
• Review: Create an affinity diagram for the Gmail labels feature project • 10 minutes
• Review: Identify patterns and themes for the Gmail labels feature project • 10 minutes
• Review: Form insights from data for the Gmail labels feature project • 10 minutes
• Glossary terms from course 4, module 3 • 10 minutes

4 quizzes • Total 98 minutes

• Module 3 challenge • 60 minutes
• Test your knowledge on synthesizing data into insights • 4 minutes
• Test your knowledge on strong insights • 4 minutes
• Activity: Turn observations into insights for your portfolio project • 30 minutes

Sharing research insights for better designs

It's time to let your hard work shine in the spotlight! You’re ready to share and promote the insights from your research. In this part of the course, you’ll learn techniques for presenting insights to various audiences, and you'll improve your presentation skills to grab your audience's attention. In addition, you'll iterate on your designs, which means making revisions to create new-and-improved designs, based on insights from your research.

9 videos 8 readings 3 quizzes 1 discussion prompt 1 plugin

9 videos • Total 30 minutes

• Organize insights for sharing • 1 minute • Preview module
• Choose a format for sharing insights • 1 minute
• Create a strong presentation • 9 minutes
• Presentation tips • 2 minutes
• Heather - Deliver research insights • 3 minutes
• Modify low-fidelity designs based on insights • 6 minutes
• How to make research-based design changes • 3 minutes
• Wrap-up: Sharing research insights for better designs • 0 minutes
• Congratulations on completing Course 4: Conduct UX Research and Test Early Concepts • 1 minute

8 readings • Total 110 minutes

• Tips for creating a strong presentation • 20 minutes
• Review: How to create and deliver a presentation for your portfolio project research • 10 minutes
• Overcome stage fright • 10 minutes
• Tips for giving an effective presentation • 20 minutes
• Examples of great public speakers • 20 minutes
• Glossary terms from course 4, module 4 • 10 minutes
• Course 4 glossary • 10 minutes
• Start the next course • 10 minutes

3 quizzes • Total 96 minutes

• Module 4 challenge • 60 minutes
• Test your knowledge on presenting research insights • 6 minutes
• Activity: Update your portfolio project research presentation • 30 minutes

1 discussion prompt • Total 10 minutes

• Share your course experience • 10 minutes
• Present research findings • 30 minutes

Instructor ratings

We asked all learners to give feedback on our instructors based on the quality of their teaching style.

Grow with Google is an initiative that draws on Google's decades-long history of building products, platforms, and services that help people and businesses grow. We aim to help everyone – those who make up the workforce of today and the students who will drive the workforce of tomorrow – access the best of Google’s training and tools to grow their skills, careers, and businesses.

Recommended if you're interested in Design and Product

Create High-Fidelity Designs and Prototypes in Figma

Build Dynamic User Interfaces (UI) for Websites

Design a User Experience for Social Good & Prepare for Jobs

Crear prototipos y diseños de alta fidelidad en figma, why people choose coursera for their career.

Learner reviews

Showing 3 of 5038

5,038 reviews

Reviewed on Jul 30, 2022

It was nice course describing how to conduct UX research and test early concepts. Some parts of it were jsut text heavy and would have worked better it was an interactive activity (team work).

Reviewed on Sep 14, 2023

As usual, an exceptional course curated by the expert team of Coursera and Google, Again I want to express my gratitude for giving me this opportunity to learn and develop this crucial skill.

Reviewed on Jul 24, 2023

Amazing course!.... It has provided me the knowledge and skills I need to succeed in my chosen field. I'm confident that this course will help me reach my goals. Thanks for making this available!

New to Design and Product? Start here.

Open new doors with Coursera Plus

Unlimited access to 7,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs - all included in your subscription

Advance your career with an online degree

Earn a degree from world-class universities - 100% online

Join over 3,400 global companies that choose Coursera for Business

Upskill your employees to excel in the digital economy

Frequently asked questions

What is a ux designer.

User experience (UX) designers focus on the experience that users have while using products like websites, apps, and physical objects. UX designers make those everyday interactions useful, enjoyable, and accessible. The role of an entry-level UX designer might include coming up with ideas to address user problems, conducting research with users, and designing wireframes, mockups, and prototypes.

If you enjoy talking to and empathizing with people, drawing, thinking creatively, or paying attention to details, a job as a UX designer might be a good fit for you!

What background is required?

This course is the fourth of seven courses that will equip you with the skills you need to apply to entry-level jobs in user experience design. We recommend that you complete the first course of the Google UX Design Certificate ( Foundations of User Experience (UX) Design Opens in a new tab ), the second course ( Start the UX Design Process: Empathize, Define, and Ideate Opens in a new tab ), and the third course ( Build Wireframes and Low-Fidelity Prototypes Opens in a new tab ) before completing this fourth course of the program.

Alternatively, you should have experience conducting user research in order to empathize with user needs and determine specific user pain points. You also need to have the ability to create personas, user stories, and user journey maps, as well as draft problem statements and value propositions. You need to know how to create wireframes and low-fidelity prototypes on paper and in the design tool Figma. If you are unfamiliar with any of these topics, they are covered in earlier courses of the Google UX Design Certificate.

What tools or platforms are included in the curriculum?

Figma and Adobe XD are the design tools taught in this certificate program. Spreadsheets, word processing applications, and presentation applications will also be used. Throughout the program, you will create a professional portfolio, using the platform of your choice, to showcase your UX design work.

Which jobs will this certificate help me prepare for?

One of the most exciting parts about joining the field of user experience is the large number of job opportunities available. Nearly every company needs UX designers to help create their digital and physical products. While the need for UX designers continues to grow, there is currently a shortage of UX design professionals to fill those roles. 

A career in UX design allows you the opportunity to work as a generalist, finding a role as a UX designer, UI designer, or UX researcher, or as a specialist, like a visual designer or interaction designer. Upon completion of this certificate program, you will be able to search for jobs with all of these titles, and find the role that best suits you.

Do I need to take the course in a certain order?

This is the fourth of seven courses in the Google UX Design Certificate. We highly recommend completing the seven courses in this certificate program in the order presented, because the content and applications in each course build on information presented and practiced in earlier courses.

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?

Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:

The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.

The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

What will I get if I subscribe to this Certificate?

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Certificate, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.

What is the refund policy?

If you subscribed, you get a 7-day free trial during which you can cancel at no penalty. After that, we don’t give refunds, but you can cancel your subscription at any time. See our full refund policy Opens in a new tab .

More questions

How To Do A UX Research Project (A 5-Point Roadmap)

Research is an excellent way to understand more about users’ interactions with a product. While research can be highly formalized or guerrilla-style, following some core principles will help you get the information you need on any project.

In my previous career I was a librarian, which means I spent most of my time helping people plan and do research with secondary sources. Now in UX design, I apply the same approach to planning and conducting primary research directly with users . If you’re just starting out in UX research, I really recommend checking out this set of seven introductory UX research tutorials , as well as the following two guides for beginners.

• What is user research, and what’s its purpose?
• How to conduct user experience research like a professional?

This article gives you five principles you can use to structure and conduct any research project, regardless of how formal or quick-and-dirty it is.

• Figure out what you’re doing and why
• Look into it in the right way
• Hone your plan of attack
• Results first, then interpretation
• Update what you know, and what you don’t

Let’s get started!

1. Figure Out What You’re Doing And Why

Don’t just do research, do research into something . This might sound obvious, but before you start, you need to be clear on the research question(s) you want to answer. A research question is the unanswered question that’s driving you to do research in the first place. It’s not the questions you ask research participants on a survey or in an interview, though those should all help you gather information that answers the larger research question. Depending on what stage of your project you’re in, your research question might be really general or very specific.

So how do you write a strong research question? Good question. Research typically seeks to understand a problem, either something people struggle with in life or a difficulty they experience when using your product. So start by defining the problem you want to explore. Then ask questions about the problem—maybe why it exists, how users feel about it, or how widespread it is. Any of these might be good research questions to guide your project.

2. Look Into It The Right Way

Once you figure out what questions you want to explore, you can think about how you’ll find your answers. It’s important to choose a research method that will get the right kind of data to answer your research question. Using the wrong research method is like bringing cotton candy to a gunfight, which sounds delicious but unwise.

A great starting point is deciding whether you need qualitative or quantitative data. Qualitative methods, like research and observation, are great for exploratory research early on, when you want to understand the basic problem. They’re open-ended and help you gather a wide range of information, so they tend to be great for answering questions like why the problem exists or what it looks like. Quantitative methods, like surveys and analytics, are close-ended and specific. They’re really good for answering questions of scale, like how common a problem is or how large its effects are.

Another thing to think about is whether you’re trying to understand users’ behavior or their attitudes and preferences. If you’ve ever watched a cop show and thought “I have no idea where I was on the night of April 9!” you know that self-reporting your behavior is tricky. As a general rule, it’s better to observe behavior and ask about preferences. For more on choosing the most appropriate approach, check out the video below in which Korina, our Student Team Lead, talks you through some of the most common research methods .

3. Hone Your Plan Of Attack

Once you’ve chosen a method, you need to create your research documents that’ll guide you and your participants through the research activities. Research activities should be as brief and as focused as possible while still gathering the information you need. The content of your script, survey, or instructions should all lead back to your research question. If you find yourself asking about unrelated things, you might want to move these questions to a separate list of things to explore in future research.

To make sure your documents are setting you up for success, pilot your methods with a few preliminary people prior to your official research. Run a couple interviews to see if your questions make sense. Send out your survey to a small sample to make sure people don’t give up before they finish. Run a sample usability test to make sure there’s no confusion about the instructions. However you do it, these early trials will help you validate that your research procedure does what it’s supposed to do, which is crucial for trusting your results.

4. Results First, Then Interpretation

If you’ve ever read an academic research paper, you’ve likely noticed that there’s always a Results section, followed by a Discussion section. This is one idea that’s really easy to overlook, but it’s so important to understanding your research findings. Just as it’s essential to keep bias out of the research procedure, it’s crucial to keep bias out of research reporting. Your initial research report should present users’ behaviors, comments, and concerns as objectively as possible. Not only will this help you avoid bias in your conclusions, but it’ll invite other people on your team (or you in the future) to notice different things and draw new conclusions. Audio or video recording your research sessions (with consent, of course) is a great way to capture this data for later review.

Once you’ve organized your results, it’s time to interpret them. You’ve probably seen UX-themed pictures of people standing in front of a colorful wall of Post-Its looking overly pensive. The pensive looks are usually followed by grouping related findings into categories to create an Affinity Map . It’s a great way to make connections between user responses or observed behavior. You might also use spreadsheets, charts, or visualizations to identify patterns in your data. This step of organizing and interpreting your research is an important bridge between your raw research data and the steps you take afterwards.

5. Update What You Know, And What You Don’t

Now that you’ve gathered your main insights, update your understanding of the original problem that prompted your research question. Artifacts like user personas , user stories, and journey maps can help you capture your users’ challenges, while task flows, paper sketches, and wireframes are a great way to design solutions. If you already have these artifacts, update them to reflect your latest findings.

As important as stating what you know is stating what you still need to learn. Can you confidently answer your original research question? Did your research raise any new questions? Whether you’re ready to tackle the next research question immediately or you need to table it for the future, identifying what’s left to explore is an important part of wrapping up any research project.

If you’d like to learn more about UX research, check out these guides:

• How to conduct inclusive UX research
• Beginner’s guide to qualitative UX research
• Introduction to quantitative UX research

Along with Stanford news and stories, show me:

• Student information
• Faculty/Staff information

We want to provide announcements, events, leadership messages and resources that are relevant to you. Your selection is stored in a browser cookie which you can remove at any time using “Clear all personalization” below.

Go to the web site to view the video.

Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned Coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and sans serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But 10 years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backward 10 years later.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents’ garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4,000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down — that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world’s first computer animated feature film,  Toy Story , and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called  The Whole Earth Catalog , which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: It was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of  The Whole Earth Catalog , and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Integrations

What's new?

Prototype Testing

Live Website Testing

Feedback Surveys

Interview Studies

Card Sorting

Tree Testing

In-Product Prompts

Participant Management

Automated Reports

Templates Gallery

Choose from our library of pre-built mazes to copy, customize, and share with your own users

Browse all templates

Financial Services

Tech & Software

Product Designers

Product Managers

User Researchers

By use case

Concept & Idea Validation

Wireframe & Usability Test

Content & Copy Testing

Feedback & Satisfaction

Content Hub

Educational resources for product, research and design teams

Explore all resources

Question Bank

Research Maturity Model

Guides & Reports

Help Center

Future of User Research Report

The Optimal Path Podcast

Maze Guides | Resources Hub

What is UX Research: The Ultimate Guide for UX Researchers

0% complete

Essential elements of an effective UX research plan (examples + templates)

Conducting UX research without a plan is like moving to another country without knowing the language—confusing and exhausting.

To avoid wasting time and resources, it’s crucial to set achievable research goals and work on developing a research plan that’s clear, comprehensive, and aligned with your overarching business goals and research strategy.

A good UX research plan sets out the parameters for your research, and guides how you’ll gather insights to inform product development. In this chapter, we share a step-by-step guide to creating a research plan, including templates and tactics for you to try. You’ll also find expert tips from Paige Bennett, Senior User Research Manager at Affirm, and Sinéad Davis Cochrane, Research Manager at Workday.

What is a UX research plan?

A UX research plan—not to be confused with a UX research strategy or research design—is a plan to guide individual user experience (UX) research projects.

It's a living document that includes a detailed explanation of tactics, methods, timeline, scope, and task owners. It should be co-created and shared with key stakeholders, so everyone is familiar with the project plan, and product teams can meet strategic goals.

A UX research plan is different to a research strategy and research design in both its purpose and contents. Let’s take a look.

Research plan vs. research design vs. research strategy: What’s the difference?

While your UX research plan should be based on strategy, it’s not the same thing. Your UX strategy is a high-level document that contains goals, budget, vision, and expectations. Meanwhile, a plan is a detailed document explaining how the team will achieve those strategic goals. Research design is the form your research itself takes.

In short, a strategy is a guide, a plan is what drives action, and design is the action itself.

What are the benefits of using a UX research plan?

Conducting research without goals and parameters is aimless. A UX research plan is beneficial for your product, user, and business—by building a plan for conducting UX research, you can:

Streamline processes and add structure

Work toward specific, measurable goals, align and engage stakeholders, save time by avoiding rework.

The structure of a research plan allows you to set timelines, expectations, and task owners, so everyone on your team is aligned and empowered to make decisions. Since there’s no second guessing what to do next or which methods to use, you’ll find your process becomes simpler and more efficient. It’s also worth standardizing your process to turn your plan into a template that you can reuse for future projects.

When you set research goals based on strategy, you’ll find it easier to track your team’s progress and keep the project in scope, on time, and on budget. With a solid, strategy-based UX research plan you can also track metrics at different stages of the project and adjust future tactics to get better research findings.

“It’s important to make sure your stakeholders are on the same page with regards to scope, timeline, and goals before you start," explains Paige Bennett, Senior User Research Manager at Affirm. That's because, when stakeholders are aligned, they're much more likely to sign off on product changes that result from UX research.

A written plan is a collaborative way to involve stakeholders in your research and turn them into active participants rather than passive observers. As they get involved, they'll make useful contributions and get a better understanding of your goals.

A UX research plan helps you save time and money quite simply because it’s easier and less expensive to make design or prototype changes than it is to fix usability issues once the product is coded or fully launched. Additionally, having a plan gives your team direction, which means they won’t be conducting research and talking to users without motive, and you’ll be making better use of your resources. What’s more, when everyone is aligned on goals, they’re empowered to make informed decisions instead of waiting for their managers’ approval.

What should a UX research plan include?

In French cuisine, the concept of mise en place—putting in place—allows chefs to plan and set up their workspace with all the required ingredients before cooking. Think of your research plan like this—laying out the key steps you need to go through during research, to help you run a successful and more efficient study.

Here’s what you should include in a UX research plan:

• A brief reminder of the strategy and goals
• An outline of the research objectives
• The purpose of the plan and studies
• A short description of the target audience, sample size, scope, and demographics
• A detailed list of expectations including deliverables, timings, and type of results
• An overview of the test methods and a short explanation of why you chose them
• The test set up or guidelines to outline everything that needs to happen before the study: scenarios, screening questions, and duration of pilot tests
• Your test scripts, questions to ask, or samples to follow
• When and how you’ll present the results
• Cost estimations or requests to go over budget

Collect all UX research findings in one place

Use Maze to run quantitative and qualitative research, influence product design, and shape user-centered products.

How to create a UX research plan

Now we’ve talked through why you need a research plan, let’s get into the how. Here’s a short step-by-step guide on how to write a research plan that will drive results.

• Define the problem statement
• Get stakeholders’ buy-in
• Identify your objectives
• Choose the right research method
• Recruit participants
• Prepare the brief
• Establish the timeline
• Decide how you’ll present your findings

1. Define the problem statement

One of the most important purposes of a research plan is to identify what you’re trying to achieve with the research, and clarify the problem statement. For Paige Bennett , Senior User Research Manager at Affirm, this process begins by sitting together with stakeholders and looking at the problem space.

“We do an exercise called FOG, which stands for ‘Fact, Observation, Guess’, to identify large gaps in knowledge,” says Paige. “Evaluating what you know illuminates questions you still have, which then serves as the foundation of the UX research project.”

You can use different techniques to identify the problem statement, such as stakeholder interviews, team sessions, or analysis of customer feedback. The problem statement should explain what the project is about—helping to define the research scope with clear deliverables and objectives.

2. Identify your objectives

Research objectives need to align with the UX strategy and broader business goals, but you also need to define specific targets to achieve within the research itself—whether that’s understanding a specific problem, or measuring usability metrics . So, before you get into a room with your users and customers, “Think about the research objectives: what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and what you expect from the UX research process ,” explains Sinéad Davis Cochrane , Research Manager at Workday.

Examples of research objectives might be:

• Learn at what times users interact with your product
• Understand why users return (or not) to your website/app
• Discover what competitor products your users are using
• Uncover any pain points or challenges users find when navigating with your product
• Gauge user interest in and prioritize potential new features

A valuable purpose of setting objectives is ensuring your project doesn't suffer from scope creep. This can happen when stakeholders see your research as an opportunity to ask any question. As a researcher , Sinéad believes your objectives can guide the type of research questions you ask and give your research more focus. Otherwise, anything and everything becomes a research question—which will confuse your findings and be overwhelming to manage.

Sinéad shares a list of questions you should ask yourself and the research team to help set objectives:

• What are you going to do with this information?
• What decisions is it going to inform?
• How are you going to leverage these insights?

Another useful exercise to help identify research objectives is by asking questions that help you get to the core of a problem. Ask these types of questions before starting the planning process:

• Who are the users you’re designing this for?
• What problems and needs do they have?
• What are the pain points of using the product?
• Why are they not using a product like yours?

3. Get stakeholders buy-in

It’s good practice to involve stakeholders at early stages of plan creation to get everyone on board. Sharing your UX research plan with relevant stakeholders means you can gather context, adjust based on comments, and gauge what’s truly important to them. When you present the research plan to key stakeholders, remember to align on the scope of research, and how and when you’ll get back to them with results.

Stakeholders usually have a unique vision of the product, and it’s crucial that you’re able to capture it early on—this doesn’t mean saying yes to everything, but listening to their ideas and having a conversation. Seeing the UX research plan as a living document makes it much easier to edit based on team comments. Plus, the more you listen to other ideas, the easier it will be to evangelize research and get stakeholder buy-in by helping them see the value behind it.

I expect my stakeholders to be participants, and I outline how I expect that to happen. That includes observing interviews, participating in synthesis exercises, or co-presenting research recommendations.

Paige Bennett , Senior User Research Manager at Affirm

4. Choose the right research method

Choose between the different UX research methods to capture different insights from users.

To define the research methods you’ll use, circle back to your research objectives, what stage of the product development process you’re in, and the constraints, resources, and timeline of the project. It’s good research practice to use a mix of different methods to get a more complete perspective of users’ struggles.

For example, if you’re at the start of the design process, a generative research method such as user interviews or field studies will help you generate new insights about the target audience. Or, if you need to evaluate how a new design performs with users, you can run usability tests to get actionable feedback.

It’s also good practice to mix methods that drive quantitative and qualitative results so you can understand context, and catch the user sentiment behind a metric. For instance, if during a remote usability test, you hear a user go ‘Ugh! Where’s the sign up button?’ you’ll get a broader perspective than if you were just reviewing the number of clicks on the same test task.

Examples of UX research methods to consider include:

• Five-second testing
• User interviews
• Field studies
• Card sorting
• Tree testing
• Focus groups
• Usability testing
• Diary studies
• Live website testing

Check out our top UX research templates . Use them as a shortcut to get started on your research.

5. Determine how to recruit participants

Every research plan should include information about the participants you need for your study, and how you’ll recruit them. To identify your perfect candidate, revisit your goals and the questions that need answering, then build a target user persona including key demographics and use cases. Consider the resources you have available already, by asking yourself:

• Do you have a user base you can tap into to collect customer insights ?
• Do you need to hire external participants?
• What’s your budget to recruit users?
• How many users do you need to interact with?

When selecting participants, make sure they represent all your target personas. If different types of people will be using a certain product, you need to make sure that the people you research represent these personas. This means not just being inclusive in your recruitment, but considering secondary personas—the people who may not be your target user base, but interact with your product incidentally.

You should also consider recruiting research participants to test the product on different devices. Paige explains: “If prior research has shown that behavior differs greatly between those who use a product on their phone versus their tablet, I need to better understand those differences—so I’m going to make sure my participants include people who have used a product on both devices.”

During this step, make sure to include information about the required number of participants, how you’ll get them to participate, and how much time you need per user. The main ways to recruit testers are:

• Using an online participant recruitment tool like Maze Panel
• Putting out physical or digital adverts in spaces that are relevant to your product and user
• Reaching out to existing users
• Using participants from previous research
• Recruiting directly from your website or app with a tool like In-Product Prompts

5.1. Determine how you’ll pay them

You should always reward your test participants for their time and insights. Not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also because if they have an incentive they’re more likely to give you complete and insightful answers. If you’re hosting the studies in person, you’ll also need to cover your participants' travel expenses and secure a research space. Running remote moderated or unmoderated research is often considered to be less expensive and faster to complete.

If you’re testing an international audience, remember to check your proposed payment system works worldwide—this might be an Amazon gift card or prepaid Visa cards.

6. Prepare the brief

The next component of a research plan is to create a brief or guide for your research sessions. The kind of brief you need will vary depending on your research method, but for moderated methods like user interviews, field studies, or focus groups, you’ll need a detailed guide and script. The brief is there to remind you which questions to ask and keep the sessions on track.

Your script should cover:

• Introduction: A short message you’ll say to participants before the session begins. This works as a starting point for conversations and helps set the tone for the meeting. If you’re testing without a moderator, you should also include an introductory message to explain what the research is about and the type of answers they should give (in terms of length and specificity).
• Interview questions: Include your list of questions you’ll ask participants during the sessions. These could be examples to help guide the interviews, specific pre-planned questions, or test tasks you’ll ask participants to perform during unmoderated sessions.
• Outro message: Outline what you'll say at the end of the session, including the next steps, asking participants if they are open to future research, and thanking them for their time. This can be a form you share at the end of asynchronous sessions.

It’s crucial you remember to ask participants for their consent. You should do this at the beginning of the test by asking if they’re okay with you recording the session. Use this space to lay out any compensation agreements as well. Then, ask again at the end of the session if they agree with you keeping the results and using the data for research purposes. If possible, explain exactly what you’ll do with their data. Double check and get your legal team’s sign-off on these forms.

7. Establish the timeline

Next in your plan, estimate how long the research project will take and when you should expect to review the findings. Even if not exact, determining an approximate timeline (e.g., two-three weeks) will enable you to manage stakeholders’ expectations of the process and results.

Many people believe UX research is a lengthy process, so they skip it. When you set up a timeline and get stakeholders aligned with it, you can debunk assumptions and put stakeholders’ minds at ease. Plus, if you’re using a product discovery tool like Maze, you can get answers to your tests within days.

8. Decide how you’ll present your findings

When it comes to sharing your findings with your team, presentation matters. You need to make a clear presentation and demonstrate how user insights will influence design and development. If you’ve conducted UX research in the past, share data that proves how implementing user insights has improved product adoption.

Examples of ways you can present your results include:

• A physical or digital PDF report with key statistics and takeaways
• An interactive online report of the individual research questions and their results
• A presentation explaining the results and your findings
• A digital whiteboard, like Miro, to display the results

In your plan, mention how you’ll share insights with the product team. For example, if you’re using Maze, you can start by emailing everyone the ready-to-share report and setting up a meeting with the team to identify how to bring those insights to life. This is key, because your research should be the guiding light for new products or updates, if you want to keep development user-centric. Taking care over how you present your findings will impact whether they’re taken seriously and implemented by other stakeholders.

Your UX research plan template: Free template + example

Whether you’re creating the plan yourself or delegating to your team, a clear UX research plan template cuts your prep time in half.

Find our customizable free UX research plan template here , and keep reading for a filled-in example.

Example: Improving user adoption of a project management tool called Flows

Now, let’s go through how to fill out this template and create a UX research plan with an example.

Executive summary:

Flows aims to increase user adoption and tool engagement by 30% within the next 12 months. Our B2B project management software has been on the market for 3 years and has 25,000 active users across various industries.

By researching the current product experience with existing users, we’ll learn what works and what doesn’t in order to make adjustments to the product and experience.

Research objectives:

Purpose of the plan and studies:.

The purpose is to gather actionable insights into user needs, behaviors, and challenges to inform updates that will drive increased adoption and engagement of 30% for the B2B project management tool within 12 months.

Target audience, sample size, scope, and demographics:

Expectations, deliverables, timings, and type of results:, research methodologies:.

*Some teams will take part in more than one research session.

Research analysis methods:

We are doing a mixed methods study.

User interviews are our primary method for gathering qualitative data, and will be analyzed using thematic analysis .

• Quantitative data will be pulled from usability tests to evaluate the effectiveness of our current design.
• Research set up and guidelines:
• Create baselines surveys to gauge current usage and pain points
• Develop interview/discussion guides and usability testing scenarios
• Pilot test materials with two teams
• User interviews: 60 mins, semi-structured; usability tests: 90 mins
• Findings will be presented in a research report for all stakeholders

Research scripts, questions, and samples:

User interview questions:

• What’s your experience with Flows?
• How does Flows fit into your workflow?
• What is your understanding of Flows’ features?
• What do you wish Flows could do that it currently doesn’t?

Usability test sample with Maze:

Cost estimations or budget requests/pricing:

Total estimated budget: $8,000

More free customizable templates for UX research

Whether you’re creating the plan yourself or are delegating this responsibility to your team, here are six research templates to get started:

• UX research plan template : This editable Miro research project plan example helps you brainstorm user and business-facing problems, objectives, and questions
• UX research brief : You need a clear brief before you conduct UX research—Milanote shares a template that will help you simplify the writing process
• User testing synthesis : Trello put together a sample board to organize user testing notes—you can use this as a guide, but change the titles to fit your UX research purposes
• Usability testing templates : At Maze, we’ve created multiple templates for conducting specific UX research methods—this list will help you create different remote usability tests
• Information architecture (IA) tests template : The way you organize the information in your website or app can improve or damage the user experience—use this template to run IA tests easily
• Feedback survey templates : Ask users anything through a survey, and use these templates to get creative and simplify creation

Everything you need to know about UX research plans

We all know that a robust plan is essential for conducting successful UX research. But, in case you want a quick refresher on what we’ve covered:

• Using a UX research strategy as a starting point will make your plan more likely to succeed
• Determine your research objectives before anything else
• Use a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods
• Come up with clear personas so you can recruit and test a group of individuals that’s representative of your real end users
• Involve stakeholders from the beginning to get buy-in
• Be vocal about timelines, budget, and expected research findings
• Use the insights to power your product decisions and wow your users; building the solution they genuinely want and need

UX research can happen at any stage of the development lifecycle. When you build products with and for users, you need to include them continuously at various stages of the process.

It’s helpful to explore the need for continuous discovery in your UX research plan and look for a tool like Maze that simplifies the process for you. We’ll cover more about the different research methods and UX research tools in the upcoming chapters—ready to go?

Elevate your UX research workflow

Discover how Maze can streamline and operationalize your research plans to drive real product innovation while saving on costs.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between a UX research plan and a UX research strategy?

The difference between a UX research plan and a UX research strategy is that they cover different levels of scope and detail. A UX research plan is a document that guides individual user experience (UX) research projects. UX research plans are shared documents that everyone on the product team can and should be familiar with. A UX research strategy, on the other hand, outlines the high-level goals, expectations, and demographics of the organization’s approach to research.

What should you include in a user research plan?

Here’s what to include in a user research plan:

• Problem statement
• Research objectives
• Research methods
• Participants' demographics
• Recruitment plan
• User research brief
• Expected timeline
• How to present findings

How do you write a research plan for UX design?

Creating a research plan for user experience (UX) requires a clear problem statement and objectives, choosing the right research method, recruiting participants and briefing them, and establishing a timeline for your project. You'll also need to plan how you'll analyze and present your findings.

How do you plan a UX research roadmap?

To plan a UX research roadmap, start by identifying key business goals and user needs. Align research activities with product milestones to ensure timely insights. Prioritize research methods—like surveys, interviews, and usability tests—based on the project phase and objectives. Set clear timelines and allocate resources accordingly. Regularly update stakeholders on progress and integrate feedback to refine the roadmap continuously.

Generative Research: Definition, Methods, and Examples

• Vitaly Friedman
• May 7, 2024

How To Run UX Research Without Access To Users

• UX Research , User Experience , Design
• Share on Twitter ,  LinkedIn

About The Author

Vitaly Friedman loves beautiful content and doesn’t like to give in easily. When he is not writing, he’s most probably running front-end & UX … More about Vitaly ↬

Email Newsletter

Weekly tips on front-end & UX . Trusted by 200,000+ folks.

UX research without users isn’t research . We can shape design ideas with bias, assumptions, guesstimates, and even synthetic users , but it’s anything but UX research. Yet some of us might find ourselves in situations where we literally don’t have access to users — because of legal constraints, high costs, or perhaps users just don’t exist yet. What do we do then?

Luckily, there are some workarounds that help us better understand pain points and issues that users might have when using our products. This holds true even when stakeholders can’t give us time or resources to run actual research, or strict NDAs or privacy regulations prevent us from speaking to users.

Let’s explore how we can make UX research work when there is no or only limited access to users — and what we can do to make a strong case for UX research .

This article is part of our ongoing series on design patterns . It’s also an upcoming part of the 10h-video library on Smart Interface Design Patterns  🍣 and the upcoming live UX training as well. Use code BIRDIE to save 15% off.

Find Colleagues Who Are The Closest To Your Customers

When you don’t have access to users, I always try to establish a connection with colleagues who are the closest to our customers . Connect with people in the organization who speak with customers regularly, especially people in sales, customer success , support, and QA. Ultimately, you could convey your questions indirectly via them.

As Paul Adams noted , there has never been more overlap between designers and salespeople than today. Since many products are subscription-based, sales teams need to maintain relationships with customers over time. This requires a profound understanding of user needs — and meeting these needs well over time to keep retention and increase loyalty.

That’s where research comes in — and that’s exactly where the overlap between UX and sales comes in. In fact, it’s not surprising to find UX researchers sitting within marketing teams under the disguise of Customer Success teams, so whenever you can befriend colleagues from sales and Customer Success teams.

Gaining Insights Without Direct Access To Users

If you can’t get users to come to you, perhaps you could go where they are. You could ask to silently observe and shadow them at their workplace. You could listen in to customer calls and interview call center staff to uncover pain points that users have when interacting with your product. Analytics , CRM reports, and call center logs are also a great opportunity to gain valuable insights, and Google Trends can help you find product-related search queries .

To learn more about potential issues and user frustrations, also turn to search logs, Jira backlogs, and support tickets. Study reviews, discussions, and comments for your or your competitor’s product, and take a look at TrustPilot and app stores to map key themes and user sentiment. Or get active yourself and recruit users via tools like UserTesting, Maze, or UserInterviews.

These techniques won’t always work, but they can help you get off the ground. Beware of drawing big conclusions from very little research, though. You need multiple sources to reduce the impact of assumptions and biases — at a very minimum, you need five users to discover patterns .

Making A Strong Case For UX Research

Ironically, as H Locke noted , the stakeholders who can’t give you time or resources to talk to users often are the first to demand evidence to support your design work. Tap into it and explain what you need. Research doesn’t have to be time-consuming or expensive; ask for a small but steady commitment to gather evidence. Explain that you don’t need much to get started: 5 users × 30 minutes once a month might already be enough to make a positive change.

Sometimes, the reason why companies are reluctant to grant access to users is simply the lack of trust . They don’t want to disturb relationships with big clients, which are carefully maintained by the customer success team. They might feel that research is merely a technical detail that clients shouldn’t be bothered with.

Typically, if you work in B2B or enterprise, you won’t have direct access to users. This might be due to strict NDAs or privacy regulations , or perhaps the user group is very difficult to recruit (e.g., lawyers or doctors).

Show that you care about that relationship. Show the value that your work brings. Explain that design without research is merely guesswork and that designing without enough research is inherently flawed.

Once your impact becomes visible, it will be so much easier to gain access to users that seemed almost impossible initially.

Key Takeaways

• Ask for reasons for no access to users: there might be none.
• Find colleagues who are the closest to your customers.
• Make friends with sales , customer success, support, QA.
• Convey your questions indirectly via your colleagues.
• If you can’t get users to come to you, go where they are.
• Ask to observe or shadow customers at their workplace.
• Listen in to customer calls and interview call center staff .
• Gather insights from search logs, Jira backlog, and support tickets .
• Map key themes and user sentiment on TrustPilot, AppStore, etc.
• Recruit users via UserTesting, Maze, UserInterviews , etc.
• Ask for small but steady commitments: 5 users × 30 mins, 1× month .
• Avoid ad-hoc research: set up regular check-ins and timelines .

Useful Resources

• The End Of Navel Gazing , by Paul Adams
• UX Research Cheat Sheet , by Susan Farrell
• Overcoming Limited Access To Users in UX Research , by Debbie Levitt
• What Can You Do When You Have No Access To Users? , by H Locke
• UX Research When You Can’t Talk To Users , by Chris Myhill
• How To Conduct UX Research Without Users , by Mariia Kasym
• User Research When You Can’t Talk to Your Users , by Jon Peterson

Meet Smart Interface Design Patterns

If you are interested in similar insights around UX, take a look at Smart Interface Design Patterns , our 10h-video course with 100s of practical examples from real-life projects — with a live UX training later this year. Everything from mega-dropdowns to complex enterprise tables — with 5 new segments added every year. Jump to a free preview .

100 design patterns & real-life examples. 10h-video course + live UX training. Free preview .

Smashing Newsletter

Tips on front-end & UX, delivered weekly in your inbox. Just the things you can actually use.

Front-End & UX Workshops, Online

With practical takeaways, live sessions, video recordings and a friendly Q&A.

TypeScript in 50 Lessons

Everything TypeScript, with code walkthroughs and examples. And other printed books.

Does sex get better with age? A sexologist explains how to improve your sex life as you get older

Lots of people would rather not think about what sex will be like later in life.

Partly because younger people might struggle with the idea that older people, in fact, do have sex and partly because there's a myth that sex is only enjoyable when you're young and beautiful. 

Linda Kirkman is a Bendigo-based sexologist and works with clients of all ages.

Dr Kirkman says while there are no absolutes, sex can certainly get better as you age.

"[My PhD] research shows … that people in their 50s and 60s were having the best sex of their lives," Dr Kirkman says.

She says part of the reason is a shift in social pressure and what's expected in relationships.

"If people start out in relationships where they're both committed to prioritising positive sexuality and willing to be adventurous and explore and prioritise pleasure, then [sex] in a long-term relationship tends to just get better and better with age," Dr Kirkman says.

She says sex often didn't improve with age when it's seen as a duty or chore. 

"Part of the issue is really poor sexuality education, understanding about what pleasure is possible, and how to communicate about it."

'I have just as much desire as I had when I was younger'

Phil, who wants to use just his first name to protect his privacy, is a 67-year-old from the Goulburn Valley who says, in many ways, sex does get better with age.

"You become more aware, more unselfish in your action, and unhurried in the whole thing and that's just wonderful," he says.

Phil had been married for 25 years and then had a long-term partner for another seven years, but now is searching for "that magical connection".

He says his biggest misconception growing up was that as you got older you wouldn't bother with sex.

"I thought desire would fall off [but] I have just as much desire as I had when I was younger," Phil says.

He says he thinks men's interests change in sex as they grow older.

"You realise that when you're a young bloke … you're looking to satisfy yourself, it can be very selfish. But when you grow older, you become much more generous," Phil says.

Phil says he enjoys non-sexual foreplay, whether it's cooking a meal, watching a movie, or sitting and talking. 

"Sex is just the icing on the cake as far as I'm concerned. I think sometimes guys look at sex as being the be all and end all and I think that's quite wrong. I think it's the culmination of intimacy."

He says while his physical capabilities have changed over time, he feels like there's more to it.

"I can remember making love to someone about five times in an afternoon as a young man. There's no way in the world I could do that now. But I can still satisfy the partner that I have … in different ways," he says.

Sex is not only for the young and beautiful

Dr Kirkman says there is certainly a trope that old people having sex is somehow "icky", which can influence how people feel about themselves.

She says people can fall into the trap that sex is only for young and beautiful people.

"The most important sex organ is between your ears … it's your brain, how you think about sex, and what it means doing pleasure," she says.

Dr Kirkman says some media are changing perceptions around sex and ageing like Grace and Frankie — a show about 70-year-old women looking for love and sex.

"I think [the stigma around sex and age] is improving and people are being more open to positive relationships across their life span and changing partners or finding a new partner," she says.

Not limitations but possibilities

Dr Kirkman says people's sexual preferences and abilities change over time.

"When you were in your 20s, what car did you drive and what music did you listen to? And then in your 40s, and what about in your 60s?" Dr Kirkman says.

"You're not driving the same car. The car you drive now will have very different kinds of capacities and options from the car you drove when you were 20 — so don't expect your body or the way that you engage with it to be the same.

"It's just being open to work[ing] differently with what you've got."

"There's still nerve endings and the potential for connection and pleasure and sensation.

"And devices that are specifically designed to induce and maintain an erection without using injections or other drugs."

Similarly, your music taste changes over time as do your sexual interests. 

Some people realise when they get older that their sexuality or gender identity might not be as rigid as they thought.

"Some people are transitioning in their 60s or coming out as same-sex attracted or bisexual when they're older," Dr Kirkman says. 

"With age and also a sense of running out of time — if you're not going to do it now, when are you going to try this?"

Sex in aged care 

Council on the Ageing Victoria's education manager Frankie Freeman says people's sexuality is sometimes ignored or denied in aged care facilities.

"There's probably a tendency for those settings to be a little bit restrictive … [and not acknowledge that adults] are entitled to take some level of risk and have some autonomy [over] how they run their life," Ms Freeman says.

She says older people may find it difficult to have conversations with medical professionals on things like lubrication and erectile dysfunction. 

"While they are absolutely [a] natural [part of ageing], unfortunately, they're seen as inevitable … when actually there are interventions that can be put in place to respond or prevent some of those symptoms that impact on people's sex lives."

Celebrating Ageing director Catherine Barrett has co-edited a book about the sexual rights of older people.

"There's stigma [about sex] in aged care, and that the stigma comes from service providers, it comes from other residents, but it also comes from family members," Dr Barrett says.

Dr Barrett says a lack of sex education for older people is part of the reason there are high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in these demographics. 

"They haven't been given information on sexual rights, they haven't been given sexuality education, as we have with young people," she says.

Dr Barrett says ageism underpins the stigma older people face about sex. 

"That's why we've taken the rights-based framework because we want to say to people: this is a really fundamental human right that older people have to be sexual," she says.

She says while some providers are taking this on board there is still a way to go. 

"Intimate relationships [are] incredibly important for older people and that can be a real bright spot."

• X (formerly Twitter)

Related Stories

Jo is 42 and has never had sex. she regrets that no-one has enjoyed her body.

Australia is world's second-most promiscuous country, studies find, but the urge is waning

• Older People
• Relationships
• Sexual Health

trending now in US News

Man stabbed multiple times after wild, caught-on-camera tussle...

78-year-old suspect in deadly Fla. boat crash that killed...

Florida man stunned to learn he's not a US citizen after voting,...

Michael Cohen admits he sent lawyer fake legal decisions, sought...

NYC BLM founder arrested after berating officer during...

Florida boater suspected in fatal hit-and-run of teen ballerina...

Karen Read rolls her eyes, snaps at her own defense team as she...

Son of Sam killer looks to Anne Frank for inspiration, views...

Hhs halts grants for nonprofit ecohealth that funded gain-of-function research in wuhan.

• View Author Archive
• Get author RSS feed

Thanks for contacting us. We've received your submission.

The Department of Health and Human Services suspended all federal grants Tuesday to the controversial Manhattan nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance, which funded gain-of-function virus research in Wuhan, China in advance of the COVID-19 pandemic.

HHS deputy assistant secretary for acquisitions Katrina Brisbon informed EcoHealth President Dr. Peter Daszak in a Wednesday letter released by a House subcommittee investigating the outbreak that there was “adequate evidence” to recommend the nonprofit be cut off from future government contracts, writing “immediate action is necessary to protect the public interest.”

“Debarment is generally for a period not to exceed three years; however, regardless of whether EHA contests this action or responds to this Notice, I may impose debarment for a longer period or shorter period as the circumstances warrant,” Brisbon added.

In an accompanying memo, Brisbon said that EcoHealth had been “more than two years late” with one of its reviews of a grant proposal for its Wuhan project, which had for a time operated around a government-wide moratorium on the practice .

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), which permitted the grant, gave EcoHealth several opportunities to disprove that its experiments constituted gain-of-function research — but the group “failed to do so,” according to Brisbon.

That research also “likely violated protocols of the NIH regarding biosafety,” she added, with experiments conducted at biosafety level 2 — which according to Rutgers University molecular biologist Dr. Richard Ebright is comparable to the standards of safety at a typical dentist’s office .

Alarmingly, Brisbon revealed that NIH has yet to receive several materials from EcoHealth about its novel bat coronavirus research at the now-notorious Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) or from the Chinese lab itself.

Daszak, in sworn congressional testimony earlier this month, said he had not even asked Wuhan researchers — including longtime collaborator and WIV deputy director Shi Zhengli — for viral sequences since before the pandemic began.

Brisbon’s memo also referenced an internal probe of “allegations that WIV released the coronavirus that was responsible for the COVID-19 global pandemic,” though no EcoHealth or other US-funded grant has been tied yet to the outbreak.

“EcoHealth Alliance is disappointed by HHS’ decision today and we will be contesting the proposed debarment,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We disagree strongly with the decision and will present evidence to refute each of these allegations and to show that NIH’s continued support of EcoHealth Alliance is in the public interest.”

“EcoHealth Alliance provably defrauded the US government, provably breached contractual terns of US-government grants, and, through the reckless gain-of-function research it conducted in Wuhan, probably caused the COVID-19 pandemic, killing 20 million and costing $25 trillion,” Ebright told The Post.

“Nevertheless, EcoHealth Alliance was awarded more than $50 million in new US-government funding since the start of the pandemic with most of that funding earmarked for the same kinds of reckless virus discovery and virus enhancement research that likely caused pandemic.”

The memo attached to the letter notes EcoHealth received a grant of more than $4 million from the NIH titled “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence.”

More than half a million dollars of that funding flowed to the WIV between 2014 and 2021, a Government Accountability Office report found last year, to conduct “genetic experiments to combine naturally occurring bat coronaviruses with SARS and MERS viruses, resulting in hybridized (also known as chimeric) coronavirus strains.”

The grant was initially suspended in April 2020, with NIH’s then-principal deputy director Lawrence Tabak revealing in October 2021 that EcoHealth had violated the terms of its grant by performing the gain-of-function research.

Keep up with today's most important news

Stay up on the very latest with Evening Update.

Thanks for signing up!

Please provide a valid email address.

By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy .

Never miss a story.

The project had modified novel bat coronaviruses and made them 10,000 times more infectious for research on lab mice — but EcoHealth “failed to report” that to NIH.

Tabak stressed that the bat coronaviruses studied on the taxpayers’ dime in Wuhan could not have caused the COVID-19 pandemic because the “sequences of the viruses are genetically very distant.”

But other EcoHealth grant proposals have since come under scrutiny from experts like Ebright, who said “the evidence provided by the genome sequence” from another 2018 grant proposal project submitted to US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency was a “ smoking gun .”

Appearing before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on May 1, Daszak repeatedly denied that his group helped fund the gain-of-function experiments.

“EcoHealth Alliance and Dr. Peter Daszak should never again receive a single penny from the US taxpayer,” said COVID subcommittee chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), who had recommended a criminal investigation of Daszak before the hearing.

“Only two weeks after the Select Subcommittee released an extensive report detailing EcoHealth’s wrongdoing and recommending the formal debarment of EcoHealth and its president, HHS has begun efforts to cut off all US funding to this corrupt organization,” Wenstrup added.

“EcoHealth facilitated gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China without proper oversight, willingly violated multiple requirements of its multimillion-dollar National Institutes of Health grant, and apparently made false statements to the NIH,” he went on.

“EcoHealth’s immediate funding suspension and future debarment is not only a victory for the US taxpayer, but also for American national security and the safety of citizens worldwide.”

The HHS letter to Daszak also drew attention to other NIH grants it received to study viruses in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations, all of which are “uniquely focused on either emerging infectious disease, highly transmissible pathogens, or novel viruses.”

The Wuhan Institute of Virology was barred for 10 years from receiving any HHS grants in July 2023, months after both the FBI and US Energy Department determined a lab leak was the most likely cause of the COVID pandemic.

Wenstrup in his statement added that his subcommittee’s “investigation into EcoHealth and the origins of COVID-19 is far from over,” with high-profile public hearings planned in the coming weeks to question Tabak and former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci.

“There must be full accountability, both civil and criminal, for EcoHealth and EcoHealth’s officers — particularly its president, Peter Daszak,” Ebright declared.

“And there must be full accountability for the US-government officials who enabled, abetted, and covered up EcoHealth’s misdeeds and who obstructed investigation of EcoHealth’s misdeeds.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that EcoHealth Alliance was restricted from receiving HHS grants for 10 years in July 2023. In fact, the Wuhan Institute of Virology was barred from access to the grants.

Share this article:

Advertisement