UX research is the foundation of successful design and development. It provides insights into user behavior, preferences, and pain points. Designers can then use these insights to create better, more effective products.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the role of UX research in product design and development, and how it can help designers create products that meet user needs and drive business success.
Understanding UX Research: What Does It Tell You?
The primary goal of UX research is to gather information about the market, target audience, and competition. It explores the user’s needs and pains by tracking behaviors, asking questions, and analyzing data. It’s a detailed process that aids both the design of a product and its development.
UX research provides answers to fundamental questions, like:
- Who will use the product and how?
- Who is the competition? What do they offer and what’s the user response?
- What are the needs, expectations, and pains of the user?
- Which features does my product need to meet the expectations and needs of said users?
In other words: UX research is a tool that gives you the data you need to prove your hypothesis and set your work up for success.
Why is Research Important in the UX Design Process?
Without UX research data, you run the risk of creating a misaligned product that’s difficult to use and sell.
This might happen in a few different ways:
First, you might develop a product that doesn’t really solve the problems of the users. Even if your design attracts them, your product won’t be able to retain users—or merit positive reviews—because it doesn’t cater to the user’s needs.
Or, you might create a product that doesn’t stand out when compared to competitors.
Or, you might create a product that there’s simply no demand for in your market.
How to Incorporate UX Research Throughout the Design Process
Let’s take a deeper look at how UX research is used throughout each phase of the product design process.
Step 1: Incorporating UX research in the discovery phase
The discovery phase of product development is the first stage of the process. Also referred to as the analysis or research phase, its goal is to help you better understand the needs and requirements of the market, the brand, and its audience.
At this point, UX research will help you see if your product holds promise. You’ll collect the data you need to decide whether this particular product idea is worth the time and financial investment.
Unless you conduct thorough research at this point, you’ll rely on hunches and guesses. No matter how confident you are about your idea, eventually, you can find that users don’t want the same thing.
The goals of this initial research should include:
- Understanding the user’s mental models and pain points
- Forming empathy for the user
- Validating user personas and forming a lifecycle funnel
- Understanding any barriers or problems that users will experience when using the product
- Identifying the good and bad features of your product
To gather this information, you can use strategies such as UX mapping, product audits, and user interviews.
Step 2: Incorporating UX research in the design/prototyping phase
After the discovery phase comes the design and prototyping of the product. At this point, UX research should be conducted to ensure that your product is optimized for the customers and that they are happy when using it.
At this stage, UX research methods might include:
- Conducting usability tests
- Testing user flows
- Analyzing your content and how well users understand it
- Prototype validation