What is User Research?

User research is the act of interviewing prospective and actual users of your products to gain clarity on a number of objectives. You might use it to figure out why people aren’t adding recommended products to a cart, why they’re not clicking through your emails on mobile phone, or why adoption of your application has fallen significantly.

You may also be developing a new product or redesigning a website and know you want to do it differently this time around. All of these are great reasons to let your users tell you how they feel about your product.

“UX isn’t UX without research.”

Conducting user research is just one part of the equation.

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Afterwards, you have to act on that feedback to make new product decisions or enhancements. Depending on your role in the project, you may not agree with some of the feedback. If this is the case, remember that you’re not the end user.

Your day is likely consumed with interacting with the website or application, which isn’t representative of a typical user’s usage. Check your ego and accept that changes need to be made. It’s not bad—it just is.

Research-Driven Product Model

The goal should be to engage users to drive business and digital product decisions and strategy. You shouldn’t wait to engage them post-launch in a reactive, defensive mode when adoption is low, abandon rates are high, and revenue is disappearing.

Buy why? Business has been conducted this way for decades. Companies tell users and consumers why they need to buy their product. They’ve been told what they should eat, what car they should buy, and even which deodorant to use. Companies should have conversations with their consumers and users.