User Research
Systematic investigation of user needs, behaviors, and motivations to inform product design decisions.
Definition
User research employs various methods—interviews, surveys, usability testing, analytics analysis—to understand how people think, what they need, and how they behave. It provides evidence for design decisions rather than relying on assumptions.
Research happens throughout product development: discovery research identifies opportunities, evaluative research tests solutions, and continuous research monitors ongoing experience.
Why It Matters
Building products without user research means building on assumptions. Sometimes assumptions are right; often they're wrong. Research reduces expensive mistakes by validating ideas before full investment.
Research also reveals opportunities invisible from inside an organization. Users experience products differently than creators expect, and research surfaces these differences before they become problems.
Examples in Practice
User research reveals that customers abandon checkout at a specific step, and observation shows why—a confusing form field that internal testing never caught.
Discovery research for a new product identifies that the assumed use case is secondary to how people would actually use it, fundamentally reshaping the roadmap.
Continuous research catches a growing pain point before it becomes a retention crisis, enabling proactive improvement.