What Is UX Research?

UX Research brings your customers and users into the service and product development process. The purpose is to ensure that the product or service being developed meets the user’s known and unknown needs, is intuitive, and delivers an effective and consistent user experience.

When Does UX Research Take Place?

There are four stages that UX research takes place, as illustrated by the following graphic.

Discovery Research

The first stage is discovery research (can also be referred to as foundation research). It is used to identify the problem space and opportunity. For those familiar with the Design Council double-diamond approach, this mirrors the divergent stage of the first diamond.

The key is that at this stage we are casting our net as wide as possible. Preconceived ideas about how the product or service will work are not welcome here. Research should focus on uncovering the user’s unmet, possibly unknown needs; their mental models; their “jobs to be done”. Only by keeping this stage wide can we truly create valuable and differentiated products and services.

Generative Research

When it is clear that we have a proposition that can address the needs of our customers, we will then need to establish the building blocks of the experience. Generative is a key stage that translates the outcomes from discovery research into tangible artifacts that guide the design. Where discovery research defines the need, generative research defines the experience.

To be clear, generative research should not limit the design team. It should help to open up possibilities and to avoid dead ends. Good generative research that underpins the design will save time and money as the design is created.

Evaluative Research

When designs for the product or service are available, we provide evaluative research. This is often where usability testing comes in, which is one of the most commonly adopted methodologies in user experience research, but can take other forms.

Assuming discovery research has been followwed by generative research, the designs under evaluation will have very little guess work in them. The evaluation can therefore focus on the design alternatives the team has come up with rather than trying to work out if they thing is of value at all. It is very common for companies to skip the first two stages and see their product or services unravel under evaluation.

Optimisation Research

Finally, when the product or service is live, we support the client’s optimisation approach with qualitative research. This provides the “why” to the “what” that is delivered by tech measurement.