User Research Basics

While the ultimate utility of UX research lies in creating user-centered products and solutions, it also has a number of other benefits:

• Aids decision-making. What product features should be highlighted prominently? What should the navigation look like? Should your product be designed for both Android and iOS platforms? Finding answers to these questions might be possible based on a wild assumption or a quick internet search, but nothing will yield more accurate and data-backed answers than systematic UX research.
• Removes biases. The development of a product goes through the hands of multiple stakeholders and team members who each have their own beliefs and opinions. With UX research, you have data to back up your decisions, and it becomes easy to eliminate any reasoning that is not 100% objective.
• Allows usability testing. You can test anything from low-fidelity mockups to high-fidelity prototypes with your users and gather their feedback before developing your product's final version to save time and money.
• Helps identify solutions. UX research can also be a great way to find solutions for your product's problems that could be anything from high bounce rates to low conversion rates.
• Enhances marketing efforts. Since UX research reveals early on from the product design process what your users’ needs, goals, and behaviors are like, it becomes easy to identify how to target these users in your marketing efforts.

Building products without understanding users wastes time and resources. UX research prevents this by studying user needs, motivations, pain points, and behaviors before committing to solutions. This research provides data that teams need to make informed decisions at every stage. UX research occurs throughout product development:

• Early research focuses on user needs and goals, determining how the product can help users achieve what they want. Teams collect data using qualitative or quantitative methods tailored to goals.
• Mid-stage research tests assumptions as design progresses. A team might assume users prefer single-page checkout, then test this through prototype testing or A/B experiments.
• Later research evaluates usability and user perceptions. Does the interface make sense? Can users complete tasks efficiently? These questions guide refinement.
• Post-launch research helps solve specific problems. If a web page shows high bounce rates, a targeted study examines why users leave and what changes might keep them engaged.

Research continues throughout the product lifecycle, adapting to new challenges and keeping products aligned with evolving user needs.^[1]

Not all organizations allocate enough resources to UX research. Some teams skip research entirely, assuming they already know their users. Without data to validate understanding, teams build products based on guesses rather than evidence. Skipping research leads to predictable problems:

• Products that miss the mark. Teams might build features users don't need or solutions that fail to address actual pain points. A team might assume users want faster checkout when they struggle with unclear shipping costs.
• Products that create unintended harm. Without understanding user contexts, designs can exclude certain groups. An interface optimized for speed might become unusable for people with motor impairments.
• Products that frustrate users. Even well-intentioned designs can be difficult without testing. Navigation that seems logical to designers might confuse users who think differently.
• Products that bury their value. A product might solve real problems but present solutions users don't understand. Great functionality becomes useless if users can't figure out how to access it.

Research turns assumptions into validated understanding, helping teams build products that work for real users.^[2]

UX research provides data, but data alone doesn't improve products. Teams must interpret findings and translate them into actionable decisions. The value lies in understanding what data means for your product. Research requires interpretation to be useful:

• Data reveals patterns, not solutions. If users don't use a "Share" feature, the data shows what's happening but not why. Teams must determine whether users don't need the feature or can't find it. Each explanation leads to different solutions.
• Research tests assumptions. Teams can form hypotheses and use research to validate them. If you assume users notice your homepage banner first, an eye-tracking study reveals whether that holds true.
• Context matters for interpretation. Low feature usage might signal a design problem in a mature product but represent expected behavior in a newly launched feature that users haven't discovered yet.

Without analysis, research becomes expensive data collection that sits unused. Teams that interpret findings and connect them to product decisions get full value from their research efforts.

The best way to approach UX research is as a methodical process with specific goals that give rise to actionable insights:

• Set specific goals. UX research can be time and resource-consuming if you don't know what you’re looking for. At each stage of the design process, identify what information you’re seeking from your users. Are you looking to learn their tastes and preferences? Perhaps, you’d like to know their greatest pain points?
• Identify available resources. People are often intimidated by the term UX research, believing it to be too expensive and time-consuming. However, several research methodologies are available to fit various budgets and time frames. Determine the number of resources available at your end and then seek a methodology that suits you.
• Select a methodology. Selecting a methodology for your study will depend on many factors such as your goals, budget, and time frame. You will also need to determine who your test sample will be and how you will select them. There are multiple random and non-random sample selection methods to choose from.^[3]
• Collect data. Once you’ve determined your test sample, you can administer the tests in either users’ real environments or artificial environments such as a lab. You can then collect the data using your chosen methodology, such as focus group interviews, surveys, field studies, card sorting, etc.
• Analyze your findings. The most vital part of UX research is using the data you’ve collected to answer questions and meet the goals that you initially set.

The most effective UX research incorporates empathy at every stage. This means putting users' needs at the forefront and genuinely understanding their perspectives, not just collecting data about their behaviors. Empathy transforms research from observation into insight.

3 questions ensure research stays user-centered:

Why do users want to achieve a specific goal? Understanding motivation reveals what drives behavior. A user wanting quick checkout might feel time pressure from shopping during a work break. The "why" uncovers emotional factors that raw data can't capture.

How can they achieve this goal? This explores the paths users take and the obstacles they encounter. Users might achieve checkout through workarounds that indicate design problems. A user copying their address into notes before checkout suggests the form doesn't save information reliably.

What is the outcome after achieving this goal? Understanding outcomes reveals whether the solution actually solves the problem. A user might successfully complete checkout but feel uncertain whether their order went through. Technical success doesn't equal user satisfaction.

These questions, based on The Golden Circle theory, shift research from "what users do" to "what users experience and why it matters to them." This perspective helps teams build products that align with actual user needs rather than assumed ones.^[4]