Dreaming up a new product is one thing, but without proper real world context, insights and feedback, it is unlikely to be very successful. This is where UX research comes in: It helps us identify product opportunities, develop features based on actual user requirements, and verify that our designs and flows solve problems by basing it on validated insights and data collected by UX researchers.
UX research is an important step in many project phases and should be used throughout the project's lifecycle. It is important, though, to choose the right research method at the right time so that we get the answers that are most helpful for us at each stage.
During the initial discovery phase, it is important for us to validate our core assumptions and understand the problem that we are aiming to solve. We try to answer if it makes sense to invest time and resources into a given project idea, to learn if there are new opportunities and audiences, and to see who the people are that might be struggling with certain problems that we are equipped to solve.
When we enter the development phase, our research focus shifts: We are now interested in validating the solutions that we set out to build. Through qualitative testing methods – like User Tests – and quantitative methods – like A/B Testing – we are able to make sure that what we are building fits the users requirements and is accepted as a solution to their problem.
In the Decode phase, we aim to analyze what we have build through surveys and analytic reviews. We look out for new, unforeseen problems that have arisen because of the solutions that we have implemented.
In each phase research should also always consider three major viewpoints: Users (who has the problem?), product (does my solution solve that problem?), and business (does my solution make economical sense?).
With the right research for the current project phase selected and the three viewpoints in mind, we are ready to reap the benefits of UX research:
- For product this means better informed decisions, a streamlined development process thanks to upfront research, and features that hit user requirements dead center.
- For users it means increased satisfaction, based on what we have learned about our audiences.
- And lastly for the business it means increased revenue, loyalty and lifetime value from satisfied customers.
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