• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
QuestionPro

QuestionPro

questionpro logo
  • Products
    survey software iconSurvey softwareOur flagship survey solution. Sophisticated tools to get the answers you need.research edition iconResearch SuiteTuned for researchers. Get more insights. Response based pricing.CX iconCXExperiences change the world. Deliver the best with our CX management software.WF iconWorkforceEmpower your work leaders, make informed decisions and drive employee engagement.
  • Solutions
    IndustriesGamingAutomotiveSports and eventsEducationGovernment
    Travel & HospitalityFinancial ServicesHealthcareCannabisTechnology
    Use CaseNPS+CommunitiesAudienceContactless surveysMobile
    LivePollsMember ExperienceGDPRPositive People Science360 Feedback Surveys
  • Resources
    BlogeBooksSurvey TemplatesCase StudiesTrainingHelp center
  • Features
  • Pricing
Language
  • English
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Português (Portuguese (Brazil))
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
Call Us
+1 800 531 0228 +1 (647) 956-1242 +52 999 402 4079 +49 301 663 5782 +44 20 3650 3166 +81-3-6869-1954 +61 2 8074 5080 +971 529 852 540
Log In Log In
SIGN UP FREE

Home

User Experience Research: Definition, types, steps, uses, and benefits

UX research

What is User Experience research?

User Experience research or UX research is defined as users’ systematic study to discover behaviors, needs, motivations, and trends by observations, analysis, and other user feedback. UX researchers use different methods to understand problems and draw opportunities to stand out amongst their competition. Organizations conduct User Experience research to precisely understand how real customers react to the products or services in the real world. 

Types of UX research methods

We can divide UX research into two dimensions depending on the product type, its environment, the research size, and your timelines. Let’s look at both dimensions. 

  1. Quantitative vs. qualitative research: 

Quantitative research is the study of a population through the use of surveys and questionnaires. Quantitative research helps to generalize findings and understand what a specific population likes and dislikes. This data collection technique is generally mathematical in nature.  

Qualitative research helps researchers gather information by observing users in field studies or focus groups. Qualitative research brings sense to the motivations and reasons for consumer behavior. The users are generally in small numbers belonging to diverse backgrounds and help answer the ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions about consumer behavior. 

  1. Attitudinal vs. behavioral research:

“Attitudinal research” applies to what users say, while “behavioral” applies to what they really do. What users and customers usually say and what they do are sometimes pretty different. Researchers often conduct attitudinal research to measure customer’s needs and beliefs. However, researchers lean towards behavioral research for insights as data on what users tend to do is more relevant. Website A/B testing is an excellent example of behavioral research because it gives researchers critical insights into how users perceive and act to different versions of the same site. 

Steps to conduct User Experience research:

Here are the five steps to conducting User Experience research:

  1. Define objectives: Always define the goals of your research before you act. Understand what you want to discover about your customers and their requirements.
  2. Set hypothesis: Set a hypothesis on what you feel you know about the users.
  3. Choose a suitable method(s): Choose the best research approach based on factors like project type, research team size, and deadline.
  4. Apply the research method(s): Conduct research using the research method(s) you chose and start collecting user data about their preferences, likes, dislikes, and needs.
  5. Synthesize feedback: Collect and analyze the user-feedback data to fill in your knowledge gaps. Use this knowledge to improve and enhance your offering.

Uses of User Experience research 

Researchers use UX research for the following:

  • Discovery: Discovery means understanding what the users find relevant. Researchers either interview the user in their environment or ask them to maintain a record of their daily interaction with a design.
  • Exploring: During this phase, researchers look at possibilities to address the needs of all users. Card sorting is an interactive research technique to understand precisely what people like and dislike. 
  • Testing: Testing helps you evaluate the design thoroughly. Companies test products to ensure they’re easy to use and accessible by everyone.
  • Listening: Listening assists researchers to put issues in perspective. It helps them find unseen problems to fix quickly. Surveys and Questionnaires are useful tools that help researchers track user feelings.

Benefits of UX research

Here are the benefits of UX research:

  1. Better products: Involving your potential customers directly helps you gain a lot of knowledge on what the customers prefer, what their pain points are, and what will help the overall improvement of the product.
  2. Happy users: UX research helps you collect unbiased feedback directly from your customers – your most reliable feedback source. Because it is not influenced by company leaders, investors, or other outsiders, it is the best actionable feedback source.
  3. Business growth: Understanding what your customers seek help organizations spend less money and time correcting flawed designs. It helps to speed up product development and boosts customer satisfaction.

Looking to deliver an exceptional customer experience? Discover more about how to delight your customer at every touchpoint and turn them into brand advocates.

Gather CX insights

SHARE THIS ARTICLE:

About the author
Dan Fleetwood
View all posts by Dan Fleetwood

Primary Sidebar

Gain insights with 80+ features for free

Create, Send and Analyze Your Online Survey in under 5 mins!

Create a Free Account

RELATED ARTICLES

HubSpot - QuestionPro Integration

Survey Methodology: How to reach your Audience

May 27,2022

HubSpot - QuestionPro Integration

What’s Coming Up in June 2022?

May 27,2022

HubSpot - QuestionPro Integration

12 Employee Strengths That Make A Company Stronger

Oct 20,2022

BROWSE BY CATEGORY

  • Academic
  • Academic Research
  • Academic Research
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Assessments
  • Audience
  • Brand Awareness
  • Brand Awareness
  • Branding
  • Business
  • Business
  • Case Studies
  • Communities
  • Consumer Insights
  • Consumer Insights
  • Customer effort score
  • Customer Engagement
  • Customer Experience
  • Customer Experience IN
  • Customer Loyalty
  • Customer Loyalty
  • Customer Research
  • Customer Satisfaction
  • Customer Satisfaction
  • CX
  • Decision Making
  • Employee Benefits
  • Employee Engagement
  • Employee Engagement
  • Employee Engagement
  • Employee Retention
  • Employee Retention
  • Employee Retention
  • Employee Retention
  • Enterprise
  • Events
  • Forms
  • Friday Five
  • General Data Protection Regulation
  • Guest Post
  • Insights Hub
  • Intercept
  • Life@QuestionPro
  • LivePolls
  • Market Research
  • Market Research
  • Marketing
  • Marketing
  • Marktonderzoek
  • medewerkersonderzoek
  • Mobile
  • Mobile
  • Mobile App
  • Mobile diaries
  • Mobile Surveys
  • New Features
  • non-profit
  • NPS
  • Online Communities
  • Polls
  • Question Types
  • Questionnaire
  • QuestionPro
  • QuestionPro Products
  • QuestionPro Products
  • Release Notes
  • Research
  • Research Tools and Apps
  • Revenue at Risk
  • Startups
  • Survey Templates
  • Surveys
  • Surveys
  • Tech News
  • Tips
  • Training
  • Training Tips
  • Trending
  • Uncategorized
  • Video Learning Series
  • VOC
  • Webinar
  • Webinars
  • What’s Coming Up
  • Workforce
  • Workforce
  • Workforce
  • Workforce Intelligence
  • Workforce Intelligence
  • Workforce Intelligence

Footer

MORE LIKE THIS

Find out how the Service Profit Chain increases profits by giving great customer service and keeping workers interested.

Service Profit Chain: What it Is + Step-by-Step Guide

Jun 2, 2023

When it comes to research, ethics is a crucial component that guides how we conduct our studies. Learn everything about it.

Ethics in Research: Understanding its Importance + Best Practices

Jun 1, 2023

Unleash Servqual power: Recognize this model for evaluating service excellence and providing excellent customer experiences. Learn how now!

Servqual: What it Is + How To Understand the Model

May 31, 2023

Understanding customer behavior can drive remarkable experiences and foster long-term customer loyalty.

Behavior Science: The Delight of CX Management — Tuesday CX

May 30, 2023

Other categories

  • Academic
  • Academic Research
  • Academic Research
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Assessments
  • Audience
  • Brand Awareness
  • Brand Awareness
  • Branding
  • Business
  • Business
  • Case Studies
  • Communities
  • Consumer Insights
  • Consumer Insights
  • Customer effort score
  • Customer Engagement
  • Customer Experience
  • Customer Experience IN
  • Customer Loyalty
  • Customer Loyalty
  • Customer Research
  • Customer Satisfaction
  • Customer Satisfaction
  • CX
  • Decision Making
  • Employee Benefits
  • Employee Engagement
  • Employee Engagement
  • Employee Engagement
  • Employee Retention
  • Employee Retention
  • Employee Retention
  • Employee Retention
  • Enterprise
  • Events
  • Forms
  • Friday Five
  • General Data Protection Regulation
  • Guest Post
  • Insights Hub
  • Intercept
  • Life@QuestionPro
  • LivePolls
  • Market Research
  • Market Research
  • Marketing
  • Marketing
  • Marktonderzoek
  • medewerkersonderzoek
  • Mobile
  • Mobile
  • Mobile App
  • Mobile diaries
  • Mobile Surveys
  • New Features
  • non-profit
  • NPS
  • Online Communities
  • Polls
  • Question Types
  • Questionnaire
  • QuestionPro
  • QuestionPro Products
  • QuestionPro Products
  • Release Notes
  • Research
  • Research Tools and Apps
  • Revenue at Risk
  • Startups
  • Survey Templates
  • Surveys
  • Surveys
  • Tech News
  • Tips
  • Training
  • Training Tips
  • Trending
  • Uncategorized
  • Video Learning Series
  • VOC
  • Webinar
  • Webinars
  • What’s Coming Up
  • Workforce
  • Workforce
  • Workforce
  • Workforce Intelligence
  • Workforce Intelligence
  • Workforce Intelligence

questionpro-logo-nw
Help center Live Chat SIGN UP FREE
  • Sample questions
  • Sample reports
  • Survey logic
  • Branding
  • Integrations
  • Professional services
  • Security
  • Survey Software
  • Customer Experience
  • Workforce
  • Communities
  • Audience
  • Polls Explore the QuestionPro Poll Software - The World's leading Online Poll Maker & Creator. Create online polls, distribute them using email and multiple other options and start analyzing poll results.
  • Research Edition
  • LivePolls
  • InsightsHub
  • Blog
  • Articles
  • eBooks
  • Survey Templates
  • Case Studies
  • Training
  • Webinars
  • Coronavirus Resources
  • All Plans
  • Nonprofit
  • Academic
  • Qualtrics Alternative Explore the list of features that QuestionPro has compared to Qualtrics and learn how you can get more, for less.
  • SurveyMonkey Alternative
  • VisionCritical Alternative
  • Medallia Alternative
  • Likert Scale Complete Likert Scale Questions, Examples and Surveys for 5, 7 and 9 point scales. Learn everything about Likert Scale with corresponding example for each question and survey demonstrations.
  • Conjoint Analysis
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS) Learn everything about Net Promoter Score (NPS) and the Net Promoter Question. Get a clear view on the universal Net Promoter Score Formula, how to undertake Net Promoter Score Calculation followed by a simple Net Promoter Score Example.
  • Offline Surveys
  • Customer Satisfaction Surveys
  • Employee Survey Software Employee survey software & tool to create, send and analyze employee surveys. Get real-time analysis for employee satisfaction, engagement, work culture and map your employee experience from onboarding to exit!
  • Market Research Survey Software Real-time, automated and advanced market research survey software & tool to create surveys, collect data and analyze results for actionable market insights.
  • GDPR & EU Compliance
  • Employee Experience
  • Customer Journey
  • About us
  • Executive Team
  • In the news
  • Testimonials
  • Advisory Board
  • Careers
  • Brand
  • Media Kit
  • Contact Us

QuestionPro in your language

  • English
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Português (Portuguese (Brazil))
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • Svenska (Swedish)

Awards & certificates

  • survey-leader-asia-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-asiapacific-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-enterprise-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-europe-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-latinamerica-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-middleeast-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-mid-market-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-small-business-leader-2023
  • survey-leader-unitedkingdom-leader-2023
  • survey-momentumleader-leader-2023
  • bbb-acredited
The Experience Journal

Find innovative ideas about Experience Management from the experts

  • © 2022 QuestionPro Survey Software | +1 (800) 531 0228
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Use