creating a user research plan

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Creating A User Research Plan (with Examples)

UX research helps to test hypothesis you have about users prior to design. Sadly, not every UX design project starts with user research, and that’s because it takes a lot of time to recruit participants, run UX research projects, and sumamrize findings.

Good research, nevertheless, ensures that your product team doesn’t build the wrong functionality that would cost you valuable resources and make you vulnerable to losing customers.

In this article, you’ll see how you can use UX research plan to get stakeholder’s buy-in and create research reports that’s full of valuable advice for product design. Let’s go.

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Designers can create a powerful prototypes, show them to product managers who can interact with the design instead of just looking at it. Then, they give the design to engineers who can get all the specs and some code to kickstart front-end design with.

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What is a UX Research Plan?

A UX research plan helps to set expectations and document the essentials you need to communicate to stakeholders and clients. Your company needs a strong business case for every user research session, complete with research objectives, goals, methods, and logistical needs for the study.

UX Research Plan Elements

Every UX research plan should start with a solid outline. That’s where templates come in handy. They help you structure your UX research project in a way that team members and stakeholders see value in completing research process.

Master templates are the best way to create a successful and effective UX research plan. Using a template as a starting point makes planning and writing easier and helps you and your team stay focused on the who, what, why, and when of research. Read on for tips and examples for how you can build a user research plan that works.

UX Research Plan Background

The background section should offer your clients and stakeholders a few sentences on why you are creating a user research plan and what it will accomplish. It should orient readers to the needs and expectations behind the purpose of the study. It should also include a problem statement, which is the primary question you’re setting out to answer with your research findings. 

Example Background

The purpose of this study is to understand the major pain points users experience in using our website/app and how these contribute to issues such as cart abandonment, returned items, and low customer loyalty. 

We will be using usability testing to follow the user’s experience of our website/app and the obstacles they encounter leading up to the point of purchase. We will also be using generative research techniques to better understand the customer’s experience of our brand and the challenges and needs they face in making a purchase. 

UX Research Plan Objectives

Before getting into the nitty-gritty of your user research plan, you first want to focus on your research objectives. This step outlines the reasons you are conducting a UX research plan in the first place. Why are you carrying out this research? What are the end goals you have after completing all the work?

Seeking out answers to these questions should be a collaborative effort between you and your stakeholders. It’s also helpful to consider discussions and learnings from past clients and projects to create metrics for your UX research plan. 

Objectives and Success Metrics

Research objectives will be different for every project, but they should always be actionable and specific. 

Example Objectives

• Understand how users currently go about tracking orders on our website
• Understand what actions customers take when they consider buying a new [product we offer]
• Learn about competitor websites/apps customers are using to buy [product we offer]
• Evaluate pain points customers are experiencing in using our website/app

And here are some examples to help you determine the success of your UX research plan.

Example Success Metrics

• What information are we trying to collect about users?
• What scales/documents/statistics do we intend to create?
• What decisions will these materials help to make? 

UX Research Plan Methodology

This step should be a short and sweet description of the research methods you will use to answer the research objectives. It should include both secondary and primary methods. Generative methods, such as user interviews and open-ended questions, help uncover motivations or more general insights, while UX testing helps to evaluate the usability and experience of your product. 

Research Scope & Focus Areas

Clearly outlining the research scope and focus areas helps to facilitate efficient user research planning. The more you’re able to hone in on the specifics of what information you are wanting to collect, the less overwhelmed you will be in the process. It also helps avoid inundating your clients with unnecessary information. 

To keep research-focused, this section should include:

• 3-6 question topics (e.g. How do users spend their time on a website?)
• Design Focus Components, including interface qualities (e.g. Usability, Training, Efficiency, Satisfaction)
• Primary User Scenarios (e.g. Scenarios in which pain points are most problematic; scenarios you have the least information about, etc.)

Example Methodology

For this study, we’re conducting a 30-minute usability test to evaluate our user’s experience of our app/website. A secondary method will be to conduct one-on-one generative research interviews to better understand our customers and empathize with their needs. 

UX Research Plan Participant Profiles

Once you’ve defined objectives methodology and focus areas, it’s time to outline the participants you’ll need to get the required insights. Participant profiles help you determine who you want to recruit, or an approximation of your users, to optimize recruiting efforts. Here are a few examples of how to ensure you’ll get the best participants for your study. 

Define your target user by collaborating with internal stakeholders, marketing, sales, and customer support. With their help, you can create approximations about who your users are. This is a great starting point for finding the right participants for your study. 

Compare yourself to your competitors and create participant profiles based on their audiences. Recruiting people who use a competitor’s product can be an excellent way to glean insights into how to further improve your product. 

Outline a screening process. Participant profiles should include any relevant information concerning your target audience, including behaviors, needs, demographics, geography, etc. Including the right criteria will help you evaluate whether or not to include certain individuals in your user research plan. 

This Nielsen Norman article offers some great information about defining and recruiting the right participants for your study. 

UX Research Plan Timeline

This is optional, but many UX research plans include a timeline that offers clients and stakeholders a general overview of how long the research will take. It helps to set expectations for the final results as well as allowing you to create a schedule for research sessions, debriefing, follow-up, and deliverables. 

Timeline Example: 

Approximately 6-8 weeks for identifying objectives, creating participant profiles, recruitment, in-person meetings, qualitative research, and analysis. 

Try an End-to-End Design Solution

UX research plan templates are essential tools for executing a successful project. Having a master template helps you to remember what the process entails, communicate essential information to the right people, and stay on track throughout the user research plan.

UXPin, besides being a great prototyping tool, makes creating such research templates fast and easy. Especially since each project will be a little different and plans will need tweaking in terms of structure and content. Try UXPin for free .

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What is UX Research: The Ultimate Guide for UX Researchers

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Essential elements of an effective UX research plan (examples + templates)

Conducting UX research without a plan is like moving to another country without knowing the language—confusing and exhausting.

To avoid wasting time and resources, it’s crucial to set achievable research goals and work on developing a research plan that’s clear, comprehensive, and aligned with your overarching business goals and research strategy.

A good UX research plan sets out the parameters for your research, and guides how you’ll gather insights to inform product development. In this chapter, we share a step-by-step guide to creating a research plan, including templates and tactics for you to try. You’ll also find expert tips from Paige Bennett, Senior User Research Manager at Affirm, and Sinéad Davis Cochrane, Research Manager at Workday.

What is a UX research plan?

A UX research plan—not to be confused with a UX research strategy or research design—is a plan to guide individual user experience (UX) research projects.

It's a living document that includes a detailed explanation of tactics, methods, timeline, scope, and task owners. It should be co-created and shared with key stakeholders, so everyone is familiar with the project plan, and product teams can meet strategic goals.

A UX research plan is different to a research strategy and research design in both its purpose and contents. Let’s take a look.

Research plan vs. research design vs. research strategy: What’s the difference?

While your UX research plan should be based on strategy, it’s not the same thing. Your UX strategy is a high-level document that contains goals, budget, vision, and expectations. Meanwhile, a plan is a detailed document explaining how the team will achieve those strategic goals. Research design is the form your research itself takes.

In short, a strategy is a guide, a plan is what drives action, and design is the action itself.

What are the benefits of using a UX research plan?

Conducting research without goals and parameters is aimless. A UX research plan is beneficial for your product, user, and business—by building a plan for conducting UX research, you can:

Streamline processes and add structure

Work toward specific, measurable goals, align and engage stakeholders, save time by avoiding rework.

The structure of a research plan allows you to set timelines, expectations, and task owners, so everyone on your team is aligned and empowered to make decisions. Since there’s no second guessing what to do next or which methods to use, you’ll find your process becomes simpler and more efficient. It’s also worth standardizing your process to turn your plan into a template that you can reuse for future projects.

When you set research goals based on strategy, you’ll find it easier to track your team’s progress and keep the project in scope, on time, and on budget. With a solid, strategy-based UX research plan you can also track metrics at different stages of the project and adjust future tactics to get better research findings.

“It’s important to make sure your stakeholders are on the same page with regards to scope, timeline, and goals before you start," explains Paige Bennett, Senior User Research Manager at Affirm. That's because, when stakeholders are aligned, they're much more likely to sign off on product changes that result from UX research.

A written plan is a collaborative way to involve stakeholders in your research and turn them into active participants rather than passive observers. As they get involved, they'll make useful contributions and get a better understanding of your goals.

A UX research plan helps you save time and money quite simply because it’s easier and less expensive to make design or prototype changes than it is to fix usability issues once the product is coded or fully launched. Additionally, having a plan gives your team direction, which means they won’t be conducting research and talking to users without motive, and you’ll be making better use of your resources. What’s more, when everyone is aligned on goals, they’re empowered to make informed decisions instead of waiting for their managers’ approval.

What should a UX research plan include?

In French cuisine, the concept of mise en place—putting in place—allows chefs to plan and set up their workspace with all the required ingredients before cooking. Think of your research plan like this—laying out the key steps you need to go through during research, to help you run a successful and more efficient study.

Here’s what you should include in a UX research plan:

• A brief reminder of the strategy and goals
• An outline of the research objectives
• The purpose of the plan and studies
• A short description of the target audience, sample size, scope, and demographics
• A detailed list of expectations including deliverables, timings, and type of results
• An overview of the test methods and a short explanation of why you chose them
• The test set up or guidelines to outline everything that needs to happen before the study: scenarios, screening questions, and duration of pilot tests
• Your test scripts, questions to ask, or samples to follow
• When and how you’ll present the results
• Cost estimations or requests to go over budget

Collect all UX research findings in one place

Use Maze to run quantitative and qualitative research, influence product design, and shape user-centered products.

How to create a UX research plan

Now we’ve talked through why you need a research plan, let’s get into the how. Here’s a short step-by-step guide on how to write a research plan that will drive results.

• Define the problem statement
• Get stakeholders’ buy-in
• Identify your objectives
• Choose the right research method
• Recruit participants
• Prepare the brief
• Establish the timeline
• Decide how you’ll present your findings

1. Define the problem statement

One of the most important purposes of a research plan is to identify what you’re trying to achieve with the research, and clarify the problem statement. For Paige Bennett , Senior User Research Manager at Affirm, this process begins by sitting together with stakeholders and looking at the problem space.

“We do an exercise called FOG, which stands for ‘Fact, Observation, Guess’, to identify large gaps in knowledge,” says Paige. “Evaluating what you know illuminates questions you still have, which then serves as the foundation of the UX research project.”

You can use different techniques to identify the problem statement, such as stakeholder interviews, team sessions, or analysis of customer feedback. The problem statement should explain what the project is about—helping to define the research scope with clear deliverables and objectives.

2. Identify your objectives

Research objectives need to align with the UX strategy and broader business goals, but you also need to define specific targets to achieve within the research itself—whether that’s understanding a specific problem, or measuring usability metrics . So, before you get into a room with your users and customers, “Think about the research objectives: what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and what you expect from the UX research process ,” explains Sinéad Davis Cochrane , Research Manager at Workday.

Examples of research objectives might be:

• Learn at what times users interact with your product
• Understand why users return (or not) to your website/app
• Discover what competitor products your users are using
• Uncover any pain points or challenges users find when navigating with your product
• Gauge user interest in and prioritize potential new features

A valuable purpose of setting objectives is ensuring your project doesn't suffer from scope creep. This can happen when stakeholders see your research as an opportunity to ask any question. As a researcher , Sinéad believes your objectives can guide the type of research questions you ask and give your research more focus. Otherwise, anything and everything becomes a research question—which will confuse your findings and be overwhelming to manage.

Sinéad shares a list of questions you should ask yourself and the research team to help set objectives:

• What are you going to do with this information?
• What decisions is it going to inform?
• How are you going to leverage these insights?

Another useful exercise to help identify research objectives is by asking questions that help you get to the core of a problem. Ask these types of questions before starting the planning process:

• Who are the users you’re designing this for?
• What problems and needs do they have?
• What are the pain points of using the product?
• Why are they not using a product like yours?

3. Get stakeholders buy-in

It’s good practice to involve stakeholders at early stages of plan creation to get everyone on board. Sharing your UX research plan with relevant stakeholders means you can gather context, adjust based on comments, and gauge what’s truly important to them. When you present the research plan to key stakeholders, remember to align on the scope of research, and how and when you’ll get back to them with results.

Stakeholders usually have a unique vision of the product, and it’s crucial that you’re able to capture it early on—this doesn’t mean saying yes to everything, but listening to their ideas and having a conversation. Seeing the UX research plan as a living document makes it much easier to edit based on team comments. Plus, the more you listen to other ideas, the easier it will be to evangelize research and get stakeholder buy-in by helping them see the value behind it.

I expect my stakeholders to be participants, and I outline how I expect that to happen. That includes observing interviews, participating in synthesis exercises, or co-presenting research recommendations.

Paige Bennett , Senior User Research Manager at Affirm

4. Choose the right research method

Choose between the different UX research methods to capture different insights from users.

To define the research methods you’ll use, circle back to your research objectives, what stage of the product development process you’re in, and the constraints, resources, and timeline of the project. It’s good research practice to use a mix of different methods to get a more complete perspective of users’ struggles.

For example, if you’re at the start of the design process, a generative research method such as user interviews or field studies will help you generate new insights about the target audience. Or, if you need to evaluate how a new design performs with users, you can run usability tests to get actionable feedback.

It’s also good practice to mix methods that drive quantitative and qualitative results so you can understand context, and catch the user sentiment behind a metric. For instance, if during a remote usability test, you hear a user go ‘Ugh! Where’s the sign up button?’ you’ll get a broader perspective than if you were just reviewing the number of clicks on the same test task.

Examples of UX research methods to consider include:

• Five-second testing
• User interviews
• Field studies
• Card sorting
• Tree testing
• Focus groups
• Usability testing
• Diary studies
• Live website testing

Check out our top UX research templates . Use them as a shortcut to get started on your research.

5. Determine how to recruit participants

Every research plan should include information about the participants you need for your study, and how you’ll recruit them. To identify your perfect candidate, revisit your goals and the questions that need answering, then build a target user persona including key demographics and use cases. Consider the resources you have available already, by asking yourself:

• Do you have a user base you can tap into to collect customer insights ?
• Do you need to hire external participants?
• What’s your budget to recruit users?
• How many users do you need to interact with?

When selecting participants, make sure they represent all your target personas. If different types of people will be using a certain product, you need to make sure that the people you research represent these personas. This means not just being inclusive in your recruitment, but considering secondary personas—the people who may not be your target user base, but interact with your product incidentally.

You should also consider recruiting research participants to test the product on different devices. Paige explains: “If prior research has shown that behavior differs greatly between those who use a product on their phone versus their tablet, I need to better understand those differences—so I’m going to make sure my participants include people who have used a product on both devices.”

During this step, make sure to include information about the required number of participants, how you’ll get them to participate, and how much time you need per user. The main ways to recruit testers are:

• Using an online participant recruitment tool like Maze Panel
• Putting out physical or digital adverts in spaces that are relevant to your product and user
• Reaching out to existing users
• Using participants from previous research
• Recruiting directly from your website or app with a tool like In-Product Prompts

5.1. Determine how you’ll pay them

You should always reward your test participants for their time and insights. Not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also because if they have an incentive they’re more likely to give you complete and insightful answers. If you’re hosting the studies in person, you’ll also need to cover your participants' travel expenses and secure a research space. Running remote moderated or unmoderated research is often considered to be less expensive and faster to complete.

If you’re testing an international audience, remember to check your proposed payment system works worldwide—this might be an Amazon gift card or prepaid Visa cards.

6. Prepare the brief

The next component of a research plan is to create a brief or guide for your research sessions. The kind of brief you need will vary depending on your research method, but for moderated methods like user interviews, field studies, or focus groups, you’ll need a detailed guide and script. The brief is there to remind you which questions to ask and keep the sessions on track.

Your script should cover:

• Introduction: A short message you’ll say to participants before the session begins. This works as a starting point for conversations and helps set the tone for the meeting. If you’re testing without a moderator, you should also include an introductory message to explain what the research is about and the type of answers they should give (in terms of length and specificity).
• Interview questions: Include your list of questions you’ll ask participants during the sessions. These could be examples to help guide the interviews, specific pre-planned questions, or test tasks you’ll ask participants to perform during unmoderated sessions.
• Outro message: Outline what you'll say at the end of the session, including the next steps, asking participants if they are open to future research, and thanking them for their time. This can be a form you share at the end of asynchronous sessions.

It’s crucial you remember to ask participants for their consent. You should do this at the beginning of the test by asking if they’re okay with you recording the session. Use this space to lay out any compensation agreements as well. Then, ask again at the end of the session if they agree with you keeping the results and using the data for research purposes. If possible, explain exactly what you’ll do with their data. Double check and get your legal team’s sign-off on these forms.

7. Establish the timeline

Next in your plan, estimate how long the research project will take and when you should expect to review the findings. Even if not exact, determining an approximate timeline (e.g., two-three weeks) will enable you to manage stakeholders’ expectations of the process and results.

Many people believe UX research is a lengthy process, so they skip it. When you set up a timeline and get stakeholders aligned with it, you can debunk assumptions and put stakeholders’ minds at ease. Plus, if you’re using a product discovery tool like Maze, you can get answers to your tests within days.

8. Decide how you’ll present your findings

When it comes to sharing your findings with your team, presentation matters. You need to make a clear presentation and demonstrate how user insights will influence design and development. If you’ve conducted UX research in the past, share data that proves how implementing user insights has improved product adoption.

Examples of ways you can present your results include:

• A physical or digital PDF report with key statistics and takeaways
• An interactive online report of the individual research questions and their results
• A presentation explaining the results and your findings
• A digital whiteboard, like Miro, to display the results

In your plan, mention how you’ll share insights with the product team. For example, if you’re using Maze, you can start by emailing everyone the ready-to-share report and setting up a meeting with the team to identify how to bring those insights to life. This is key, because your research should be the guiding light for new products or updates, if you want to keep development user-centric. Taking care over how you present your findings will impact whether they’re taken seriously and implemented by other stakeholders.

Your UX research plan template: Free template + example

Whether you’re creating the plan yourself or delegating to your team, a clear UX research plan template cuts your prep time in half.

Find our customizable free UX research plan template here , and keep reading for a filled-in example.

Example: Improving user adoption of a project management tool called Flows

Now, let’s go through how to fill out this template and create a UX research plan with an example.

Executive summary:

Flows aims to increase user adoption and tool engagement by 30% within the next 12 months. Our B2B project management software has been on the market for 3 years and has 25,000 active users across various industries.

By researching the current product experience with existing users, we’ll learn what works and what doesn’t in order to make adjustments to the product and experience.

Research objectives:

Purpose of the plan and studies:.

The purpose is to gather actionable insights into user needs, behaviors, and challenges to inform updates that will drive increased adoption and engagement of 30% for the B2B project management tool within 12 months.

Target audience, sample size, scope, and demographics:

Expectations, deliverables, timings, and type of results:, research methodologies:.

*Some teams will take part in more than one research session.

Research analysis methods:

We are doing a mixed methods study.

User interviews are our primary method for gathering qualitative data, and will be analyzed using thematic analysis .

• Quantitative data will be pulled from usability tests to evaluate the effectiveness of our current design.
• Research set up and guidelines:
• Create baselines surveys to gauge current usage and pain points
• Develop interview/discussion guides and usability testing scenarios
• Pilot test materials with two teams
• User interviews: 60 mins, semi-structured; usability tests: 90 mins
• Findings will be presented in a research report for all stakeholders

Research scripts, questions, and samples:

User interview questions:

• What’s your experience with Flows?
• How does Flows fit into your workflow?
• What is your understanding of Flows’ features?
• What do you wish Flows could do that it currently doesn’t?

Usability test sample with Maze:

Cost estimations or budget requests/pricing:

Total estimated budget: $8,000

More free customizable templates for UX research

Whether you’re creating the plan yourself or are delegating this responsibility to your team, here are six research templates to get started:

• UX research plan template : This editable Miro research project plan example helps you brainstorm user and business-facing problems, objectives, and questions
• UX research brief : You need a clear brief before you conduct UX research—Milanote shares a template that will help you simplify the writing process
• User testing synthesis : Trello put together a sample board to organize user testing notes—you can use this as a guide, but change the titles to fit your UX research purposes
• Usability testing templates : At Maze, we’ve created multiple templates for conducting specific UX research methods—this list will help you create different remote usability tests
• Information architecture (IA) tests template : The way you organize the information in your website or app can improve or damage the user experience—use this template to run IA tests easily
• Feedback survey templates : Ask users anything through a survey, and use these templates to get creative and simplify creation

Everything you need to know about UX research plans

We all know that a robust plan is essential for conducting successful UX research. But, in case you want a quick refresher on what we’ve covered:

• Using a UX research strategy as a starting point will make your plan more likely to succeed
• Determine your research objectives before anything else
• Use a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods
• Come up with clear personas so you can recruit and test a group of individuals that’s representative of your real end users
• Involve stakeholders from the beginning to get buy-in
• Be vocal about timelines, budget, and expected research findings
• Use the insights to power your product decisions and wow your users; building the solution they genuinely want and need

UX research can happen at any stage of the development lifecycle. When you build products with and for users, you need to include them continuously at various stages of the process.

It’s helpful to explore the need for continuous discovery in your UX research plan and look for a tool like Maze that simplifies the process for you. We’ll cover more about the different research methods and UX research tools in the upcoming chapters—ready to go?

Elevate your UX research workflow

Discover how Maze can streamline and operationalize your research plans to drive real product innovation while saving on costs.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between a UX research plan and a UX research strategy?

The difference between a UX research plan and a UX research strategy is that they cover different levels of scope and detail. A UX research plan is a document that guides individual user experience (UX) research projects. UX research plans are shared documents that everyone on the product team can and should be familiar with. A UX research strategy, on the other hand, outlines the high-level goals, expectations, and demographics of the organization’s approach to research.

What should you include in a user research plan?

Here’s what to include in a user research plan:

• Problem statement
• Research objectives
• Research methods
• Participants' demographics
• Recruitment plan
• User research brief
• Expected timeline
• How to present findings

How do you write a research plan for UX design?

Creating a research plan for user experience (UX) requires a clear problem statement and objectives, choosing the right research method, recruiting participants and briefing them, and establishing a timeline for your project. You'll also need to plan how you'll analyze and present your findings.

How do you plan a UX research roadmap?

To plan a UX research roadmap, start by identifying key business goals and user needs. Align research activities with product milestones to ensure timely insights. Prioritize research methods—like surveys, interviews, and usability tests—based on the project phase and objectives. Set clear timelines and allocate resources accordingly. Regularly update stakeholders on progress and integrate feedback to refine the roadmap continuously.

Generative Research: Definition, Methods, and Examples

How to Create a Practical User Research Plan

A user research plan usually describes the written form of critical elements of an upcoming research project. The plan contains particular elements around the research subject and the project’s objectives and is often created at the beginning of a new project. But isn't this just paperwork that doesn't really add value? And is it only used to kick-off a new project? How do researchers actually use research plans in their practice?

We spoke with practitioners who plan or conduct research in different settings, from internal enterprise UX research to freelance research for cross-functional teams, to understand the role of research plans in the UXR practice. They shared their perspectives on user research plans and valuable tips to craft good plans. Additionally, you find a user research plan template for your next project in this article, that includes the crucial questions on what to put in a user research plan.

What is a user research plan?

Why write a user research plan at all, how to create the research plan (effectively), research plan template.

A research plan communicates the essential information: what, who, why, when, where - in a written format. A good research plan helps you keep the overarching research goals in mind as you work through how you want to answer your research question(s).

While the research plan is usually crafted at the beginning of a new project, the subsequent use differs: Sometimes, it is rarely used after creation. But in other cases, the plan gets used during research execution and analysis or gets transformed into a final research report.

Researchers describe the plans as a crucial point for their research practice. Cordula Hansen , who works as a UX Designer and Developer in the field of Virtual Reality sees it as a moment of focusing on how to get to valuable research output:

„I'm responsible for getting good information from our participants. So making the plan is a really good way of thinking about what we should be doing, what we should be asking, and if we need quantitative research. So obviously rather than having all that in my head, I want to have it on paper and in front of me.“

Research plans (or sometimes also called research designs) are standard research practice, so let’s take a closer look at the benefits of writing a research plan.

Based on our conversations with research practitioners and our own experiences in creating research plans, a UX research plan significantly enriches the project quality and outcomes. These are the main benefits:

Ensure research effectiveness

Creating a plan forces you to think deeply about a research goal and the required steps to learn about the questions you want to uncover successfully. Sometimes you are tempted to go too fast with the risk of overlooking difficulties or finding there is actually no value. A plan can help you anticipate those challenges early and avoid mistakes.

Remain focused

Plans help you to focus on research goals and the research scope during the whole process. We spoke with Srishti Mehrotra , UX Researcher at Airtel, a global telecommunications company. With research plans, she finds it easier to focus on the main topics of interest and describes them as their GPS while researching:

So the plan guides you towards answering the questions you set out to uncover. At the same time, it’s not written in stone, so be open to realigning the plan if needed.

Maximize value from time with participants

A plan helps you get the method, questions, and other administrative tasks ready before speaking to participants. As we all know, finding the right people for a user study is time-consuming and once they do make time for us we want to make the most out of it.

Strengthen team and stakeholder alignment

Research plans support team collaboration and communication. They keep the team informed about the current project. More importantly, a plan helps with expectation setting on research output and timeframe and brings everyone on the same page about the research subject, including your stakeholders.

Build trust in research

Additionally, a research plan can support you in promoting UX research as a discipline in your organization. Introducing a template for research plans makes it easier for everyone, especially non-research colleagues, to get familiar with the research, get into a conversation about it, and this can help gain trust around findings as well. In practice, a UX research plan "skeleton" affects the research perception:

„The more it's repeated, the more people start expecting that particular format. They find it easier to connect back to the same format again and again. So we fill in some of the details, and then we discuss what this is, where we want to plug in the results, and then co-create that plan.“

Every research plan looks different depending on the setting and goals. So instead of showing you what a plan should look like - because we don't know your project - here are some general principles from our research experts that help you develop your own.

Tip 1: Target the outcome (not the method)

When starting with a user research plan, focus on the outcomes. In practice, sometimes, it's easy to get fixated on the methods that need to be applied. But when designing the plan, a focus on the outcome will help you identify the required stepping stones (including the best methods) to get you the type of information you're looking for.

Tip 2: Always adapt the plan’s scope and format

A research plan can consist of some bullet points or a complete strategy document and it varies according to the study and intended use.

In ux research practice, most of the time, no extensive (academic-like) paper is needed. At best, aim for the extent you really need. This means:

What do you (as a researcher) need to come to a thorough research insight or design decision?

Who do you need to get involved in the project? And what information do they need to give their go, get onboard, or use the research insights afterward?

Stéphanie Walter , who works as a User Researcher at Maltem, a global digital transformation and innovation consultancy, describes how the plan’s scope and emphasis need to be adapted, depending on the recipient:

„Sometimes you have to present a research plan to people who don't have a lot of time. That can be tricky. When I was working for a university, it was like: the more detail the better. But if you have to present to stakeholders and need to get buy-in, then you might choose another format, like something short where you're giving the main points, and you have to understand the language of the stakeholders.“

Regarding the research plan format, the practitioners describe that this can be anything from a simple notes document, a presentation, an email to the stakeholders, a paragraph in a research repository tool , to any other format.

The suitable format depends strongly on the role of the plan during the subsequent process. Think of how you want to use the plan during and after the project. For example, using presentation slides eases adding insights and research evidence later on. Or a research analysis tool like Condens enables you to integrate the plan right where you analyze, store and share research findings.

Tip 4: Craft it collaboratively

The process of creating a ux research plan is an opportunity for collaboration with, e.g., product managers, designers, and developers. This will not only strengthen team cohesion but is also the chance to gather required information on research boundaries and dependencies right from the start. Going into that conversation with a draft from an idealistic perspective can be a good conversation starter that will show points that need to be adjusted.

Templates as a basic framework guide your process, create consistency, and ensure you don’t forget essential elements.

All of the researchers we spoke to have crafted their own templates over time. Even if this was not their intention, templates have slipped in as Péter Balázs Polgár , (former) Senior UX Manager at Trustpilot, a leading online review and collaboration platform, describes how their research plan team approach changed: at the beginning, there was a concern that templates would lead to less reflection on user research plans. But that has not proven to be correct, as he goes on:

„We had templates anyway as people were copying and pasting sections from one plan to the next one. So in a sense I think we always had some templates, but they were not like ‘official’ but as we were there, we created official templates.“

So the point of the research plan template is that you can build on existing expertise that will impact all upcoming plans. Some researchers see the plan template as a full shopping shelf that you can go to and pick everything you need for the current research project.

To bring it all together here’s a research plan template, ready to use for your next research plan.

User Research Plan Template

The listed questions will help you to get started by collecting the relevant information for your plan (and, therefore, your research project). Thinking through and entering this information will also help you identify areas to get feedback from your team and stakeholders before conducting the sessions.

Want to read more? Check out our articles about what a UX research repository can do for you and User interview analysis – turning raw data into insights effectively .

Sina is a UX Researcher and Content Strategist at Condens. With a background in social media strategy and digital transformation, she learned how to engage with people in developing products and services and why putting the users in the center will lead to more substantial outcomes and superior user experiences. Sina is excited to drive user research at Condens and to enable better user research for others at the same time by bringing their perspectives into the product development of Condens and by creating valuable content for UX Researchers.

How to create an effective UX research plan (2024)

Last updated

23 January 2024

Reviewed by

Miroslav Damyanov

Short on time? Get an AI generated summary of this article instead

You wouldn’t build a home without a solid architectural plan. The plan ensures what you create fits the brief and will delight future residents. The same level of planning is needed when it comes to research.

Think of your research plan as the building blocks of your UX research , helping to streamline the process, firm up your goals, and ensure the results are reliable and actionable.

Let’s take a look at what a UX research plan is, and how to create one.

• What is a UX research plan?

A UX research plan outlines the research problem, objectives, strategies, participant profiles, budget, timeline, and methodology. It serves as a guide for researchers, designers, and project managers to understand the scope of the project and carry it out efficiently.

There’s no one format for UX research plans––they may be compiled into a slideshow, a simple document, or a more comprehensive report. The important thing is not the format, but that the plan covers all the essential elements of the research your team will perform.

In some cases, a UX research plan could also be required to secure funding or approval for the project.

• What's the difference between a research plan and research design?

A research plan and research design are two related, but distinct concepts. A research plan includes a summary of the intended research design.

Research plan

This outlines the goals, methodology, and strategies of the research. The research plan is typically compiled into a document or slideshow.

A research plan outlines the goals of the project while providing an overall structure.

Research design

This is the specific method by which the research will be conducted. It includes the UX research methodologies and tools that will be used to conduct the research, the sampling size, and the data collection process .

The focus of research design is to decide which research techniques will be used, how the information will be gathered, and how the analysis will be conducted.

• What are the benefits of using a UX research plan?

Having a solid foundation, or specific outline, for any UX research you wish to conduct can make the process much faster, more accurate, and more specific.

The UX research plan helps teams to firm up their goals, set clear research questions , decide on the research methods they’ll use––ones that will be most effective––and consider how the results will be analyzed. This process allows teams to consider contingencies and differing methods, and to make adjustments accordingly.

An effective research plan can also save organizations money by providing a clear path to success, highlighting potential challenges, and helping a team gather all the elements for success.

Some key benefits of research plans include:

Problem definition: having a research plan helps you clarify the problem you’re solving. A well-defined problem statement can firm up the focus and direction of the research, outlining specific issues and challenges you’ll look to address.

Goal clarity: all research projects should begin with clear goals. This ensures your research is relevant, useful, and measurable for your team’s needs. Creating a UX research plan can help you not only create goals but also consider if they are feasible and relevant for the business and the user.

Stakeholder alignment: creating a detailed UX research plan can help align all key stakeholders. This guides everyone toward the same goal, provides clarity for objectives, ensures teams don’t work in silos, and helps the whole organization work together to improve the customers’ user experience . It can also be useful to collect questions and requirements from stakeholders to keep them engaged with the research.

Method choices: through the process of defining the UX research goals, strategies, and data-collection process, it can be simpler to see the right research method for your project. Potential issues or roadblocks will become clear, allowing your research to be conducted more effectively.

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Don’t leave money on the table. See how much you could save in lost revenue each year when you solve UX issues and deliver a better experience for your customers.

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x 0 abandoned users

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Lost revenue / year

• What should a UX research plan include?

While there is no one way to create a UX research plan, the most effective plans include a few core elements.

Some of the most essential aspects of a UX research plan include:

Challenges: identify challenges that users and the business may encounter. These may be fluctuations in revenue, friction in the user experience, insufficient information, or issues related to customer service. Addressing these challenges ensures the research aligns with the pertinent issues from user and business perspectives.

Research questions: pinpoint the specific questions that will be asked during the project to check they align with the overall project goals.

Methodology: note the UX research methods that will be used during the project. These should also be relevant to the overall goals and challenges.

Timeline: clarify timings so teams won’t complete research that’s too big for the budget or time available. Timings will impact what can be researched and even the results.

Participant selection : as part of UX research, usually participants are required to answer questions or complete exercises. Choosing the right number of relevant participants can be challenging. Having a plan in place for this can streamline that part of the process and prevent teams from getting bogged down by delays.

Data-collection methods: make sure your team knows how the data will be collected and analyzed. Having this as part of your plan can ensure the data collection aligns with the project goals and access to your team’s resources.

Budget: include your research budget to help you allocate resources, estimate overall costs, and prioritize activities. A clear budget will support the approval process, aid in risk management, and increase accountability for teams.

Ethical considerations : ethics are important in any research, whether or not it involves humans. UX studies typically involve participants, so it’s important to consider a range of critical factors. Personal privacy, potential for harm, and persuasion are just a few areas to be aware of.

Risk: all projects have the potential for risk. Considering what those risks are before the project starts can help the team consider potential contingencies.

• How to create a UX research plan

Creating a UX research plan doesn’t have to be intimidating. By following a framework and including essential elements, you’ll streamline the research process and reduce work down the line.

Let’s look at some best-practice steps.

1. Define the challenge 

UX research seeks to understand the pain points, wants, and needs of your customers so you can develop better products and services. Before beginning UX research, you need to understand what challenge you are looking to understand, and solve, for your business and customers. Here are three examples:

We seek to uncover the root causes behind the significant drop-off rates at the shopping cart, aiming to identify user behaviors and potential barriers to retention.

Our focus is on understanding and evaluating the factors influencing user behavior to transition from free to paying platform members, aiming to optimize our conversion rate.

Our current challenge is to identify functionalities and features for our B2B fitness coaching app that will drive conversion and revenue.

Before diving in, it’s important to know what the challenge is, and therefore, what the UX research will be focused on.

2. Set your goals 

Once the challenge is clear, it’s essential to set your specific goals for the research. The goals you set at the start will define the entire project, so this aspect is worth spending time on.

There may be several areas that your team would like to research, but, for the best results, keep things simple. Set a small number of goals that relate to the core challenge. You can order your goals by priority to select the most essential ones for your project.

An example of a goal could be:

To decrease shopping cart drop-off rates by 25% by identifying and solving the challenges our customers experience.

3. Select your research method 

Based on the goals you’ve set, choose a relevant research method. With many research methods to choose from–– customer interviews , focus groups , user testing , A/B testing, surveys , diary studies , analytics, and more––choosing the right method is important.

First, consider whether quantitative or qualitative research (or a mixed approach) will be most helpful for your project. Then select a method that aligns with your project objectives.

To discover why users are abandoning their shopping cart, for example, a range of methods may be relevant. These include:

User testing: users could be tasked with adding items to a shopping cart and completing a purchase while being observed by researchers. This may reveal moments of friction or difficulty in the checkout process.

Surveys: users could also be asked to provide feedback immediately after using the shopping cart. This would help researchers gain insights into customers’ feelings and frustrations directly after interacting with the product.

Heatmaps: some tools show where users are clicking and using their cursor. This can help identify areas where users pause, suggesting they are challenging or confusing.

A/B testing: presenting users with two different options for the shopping cart could help teams refine what elements, design features, and interfaces work better for conversion.

4. Identify participant sources

Once you’ve chosen your method or methods, determine how you’ll select participants. Don’t select them merely based on demographic factors; also focus on key behavioral patterns. This can be a challenging aspect of UX research, and it’s helpful to include it in your UX research plan to make the process more efficient.

Your current customers can be an ideal source of participants. Other ways to attract participants include reaching out to recruitment research agencies, putting a callout on social media, sending an email to customers, or using incentives. Pop-up surveys on your website and app could also prove useful.

5. Run a test

At this stage, it’s helpful to run a test of your plan methodology to check it works effectively. That could mean having a team member try out your survey or trialing a usability test within the team to spot any issues.

By running a test, and ironing out any issues that may arise, you’re more likely to have fewer challenges when conducting the actual research.

6. Analyze the data

Deciding how the data will be collected and analyzed––including how those results will be shared with the broader team, is an essential aspect of a UX research plan.

Keep in mind that the data you collect and analyze should link back to your goals and the overall challenge your team is looking to solve.

• Tips for your UX research plan

To save time and make your UX plan as effective as possible, here are some best-practice tips:

Set clear goals: to get the best results from your research and ensure your UX research plan is comprehensive and effective, insist on clarity in your goals. Clear goals lead to cohesion among stakeholders, useful results, and addressing of business and customer challenges.

Understand your target market: your UX research should speak to your target market, solving their problems. Deeply understanding your market will direct you to the right type of research to keep delivering better products and services.

Set out an accurate timeline: to keep your project on track and ensure you have the appropriate resources to complete it, an accurate timeline is essential. The timeline should be well thought out, taking into account potential roadblocks and challenges.

Allow for flexibility: as you conduct the research, you may discover unexpected data or new insights. Some degree of flexibility in a UX plan, and your timeline, can be useful to allow for these potential diversions.

• Examples of a good UX research plan

To help you get started with your UX research plan, we’ve created this UX research plan template for your next project.

Feel free to use this as a guide, adding or removing elements as you see fit.

This example covers a UX team wanting to boost resubscriptions for their dog-sitting app.

50% of users are not renewing their app subscription.

To understand why some users are not renewing their app subscriptions and use this information to increase app resubscribes by 20%.

Research questions

What areas of the app are causing friction for users?

What aspects of the app provide the most value?

How can the app be streamlined for a boosted user experience?

How do user preferences and expectations align with the current offerings of the app, and are there opportunities for adjustments to better meet user needs?

How does the app compare to competitors in terms of subscription models, features, and overall user satisfaction ?

Methodology

Surveys: conduct surveys with a relevant number of participants [the number you survey will depend on the population size, confidence level, and margin of error you are willing to have] who have just failed to renew their app subscription. Understand from these users what areas of the app caused the most friction and where more value could be added.

Usability testing: perform usability testing with a representative user sample to identify any usability issues that might be contributing to the drop in subscription renewals. Observe users interacting with the app and gather feedback on the user interface , navigation, and overall user experience.

Analytics: assess the analytics of customers who decide not to renew their subscriptions against those who do. Look for any differences in demographics, the way they use the app, and more.

Participants

[Choose existing or recent customers as participants so their insights are relevant to the project.]

Week 1: establish participants

Week 2–3: perform surveys and usability tests

Week 4: gather key analytics

Week 5: perform analysis

Week 6: collate and share results

Stakeholders and responsibilities

[Identify key stakeholders including project managers, product owner, vice president (VP) of product, researchers, UX managers, designers, data engineers, and more.]

Risks and mitigation

Some potential risks include:

Low participant turnout: ensure a sufficient number of participants complete the survey so that the results are valid. The use of incentives may be necessary to boost completion rates.

Data challenges: there may be challenges when collating customer analytics. To ensure this is seamless, use a platform where all data can be housed in one place. And use an experienced engineer who can solve challenges if they arise.

Success metrics

Deeply understand what customers value in the app and what areas cause friction

Use the information gathered to make changes to the app to provide more value and less friction

Increase app resubscriptions by 20%

• What's next after your user research plan?

Rather than diving straight into the research once your plan is in place, make sure your team validates your research plan. This will help you yield the results you are hoping for.

The plan should engage the relevant stakeholders to get them on board. Some research plans may also need to be approved by a funding body before further steps are taken.

Once all relevant parties are in agreement, the next step is to get started in line with the agreed timeline.

• An effective UX research plan

Good pre-planning helps your UX research meet your goals and pleases your customers.

While it might be tempting to jump into UX research, having a solid plan in place will ensure you take the necessary steps at the right time, you won’t overlook key aspects of research, and all stakeholders are aligned before the research begins.

Ultimately, a good plan can help your team perform effective UX research that benefits those who matter the most––your customers.

What are the key questions for UX research?

The questions you ask in UX research will be unique to your project goals and objectives. Some example UX research questions include:

User questions:  

What are our user’s demographics?

What problems do people seek to solve with our app?

What are our user’s key pain points ?

Satisfaction:

How satisfied are our users with our product offering?

Would our users recommend us to a friend?

Efficiency:

Are our products providing efficiency?

Are our products giving a streamlined user experience?

What is a good UX research process?

A beneficial UX research process is one that ultimately improves the product experience for users. Typically, the process includes:

A specific challenge: rather than researching too generally, understand the challenge or challenges the research is looking to understand better.

Clear goals: have clarity in your UX research goals, otherwise the data will not necessarily benefit the end user.

Relevant methodology: the right research method, which aligns with the goals and overall challenge, will ensure you gather relevant data.

Deep analysis: once you have amassed your data, analyze it to ensure insights can be found and acted upon.

What are the 5 stages of UX research?

There are five core steps in UX research:

Setting goals

Selecting participants

Choosing a relevant research method

Data analysis

Reporting on and sharing the results with stakeholders

How do you plan a UX research roadmap?

A UX research roadmap helps to keep a team on track when working toward the overarching goals and objectives.

When creating a UX research roadmap, it’s helpful to:

Establish the strategy: that’s the challenge you’re looking to solve and the goals you’ve set.

Choose an effective tool: a tool for tracking the entire project—not just timings, but all the key steps—can save time and act as a source of truth for all parties to reference.

Define key check-in points: to keep a team on track and working toward the key goals, it’s essential to have check-ins. This will help establish progress across different members of the team and provide a chance to change tack if needed.

Should you be using a customer insights hub?

Do you want to discover previous user research faster?

Do you share your user research findings with others?

Do you analyze user research data?

Start for free today, add your research, and get to key insights faster

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UX Research Plan Template

Create a strong business case for UX research and streamline your process with the UX research plan template.

About the UX Research Plan Template

A UX research plan, also known as a user research plan, is a brief reference document that outlines your research project’s goals, key contributors, important dates, and timelines.

Think of your research plan as a UX-focused  kick-off document  for your project. The plan offers an overview of the research initiative, encourages well-defined and agreed-upon goals, and acts as a written guarantee that the research will meet these goals.

What is a UX research plan?

When conducting usability testing or user research with a goal in mind, researchers need to plan. UX researchers often present their findings to stakeholders, like product managers, developers, marketers, and executives, to act on those results.

You should present your UX research plan in plain language with a single document. Keep your findings clear, collaborative, easily accessed, and digestible to get buy-in for your research and your team’s next steps.

A user research plan typically has up to seven segments:

Project background: Reasons for the study and internal stakeholders involved.

Research goals and objectives: What your teams want to learn, or their ideal research outcome.

Research participants: Who they are and how they’ll be recruited.

Method: How you conducted research, and any other information about how the research will be conducted.

Guides: An interview guide or cheat sheet of instructions and questions to follow during the session.

Duration: A rough timeline of how long the research will take and when the team can review the report.

Other helpful information: Additional resources for your team, such as previous studies, scripts, or results, can inform this new round of research.

Research plans keep your team focused on outcomes rather than getting lost in the details or changing the research goal midway through the project. By the end of the project, UX researchers should feel confident that their questions were answered and presented in both the plan and actual research.

When to use UX research plans

UX research plans are useful for teams who need to decide on  questions such as:

What do our customers need? Who is our target persona?

Does the proposed or current design work well for our customers? How can we make it better?

Planning UX research also gives researchers an opportunity to:

Decide what works for your stakeholders, especially the questions they’re trying to answer.

Engage stakeholders and keep them invested in your research results.

Clarify your ideas, problems to be solved, and research approaches.

Treat your research plan as a blueprint for aligning expectations, asking for feedback, or generating enthusiasm and support for increasing the value of user research in your organization.

Create your own UX research plan template

Making your own UX research plans is easy, and Miro is the perfect tool to create and share them. Get started by selecting the UX research plan template, then take the following steps to make one of your own.

Give your team or stakeholders a quick project introduction.  You can hop on a video chat with up to 25 team members and remind everyone what you’re trying to achieve. Remember that research proves its value when it satisfies a single objective rather than many. If you seem to have lots of different goals or objectives, avoid overreaching and start fresh: what’s the one customer problem and business problem you’re trying to solve?

Define the user and business problems your research needs to solve.  The default sticky notes are simply for inspiration — feel free to edit each of these to fix your own context. If you want your team to focus on this area instead of skipping ahead, you can select the “problem” frame and  click the “hide frame” (closed eye) icon  that appears in the frame’s menu.

Define your research goals.  Ask your team to brainstorm their top three research goals or priorities. Remember that the best research sessions are chasing a single objective, so out of the two to three you note down, ask your team to vote for their preferences. Try  Miro’s Voting Plugin  to help your team reach a decision.

Draft your research questions.  Pick three to five questions with your team or stakeholders that are most important to your research. Aim for no more than 10. The more focused your questions, the more focused your research will be.

Link to useful supporting information as needed.  Keep this plan to the point in order to get buy-in. For stakeholders who need more detail, there may be other useful data to link to. If you have previous UX research results or relevant studies, link to them on your Miro Board. You can also import survey data, embed  tables and charts , or link sticky notes  to external sources .

Dive even deeper into how to conduct UX research – and see examples – in our expert guide to  user research .

Why should you use the UX Research Template?

Centralized planning: Centralize your UX research plans in one shared space. This ensures that all relevant information, including research objectives, methodologies, and timelines, is easily accessible in one place, reducing the risk of scattered or lost documentation.

Collaborative research: Multiple stakeholders, including designers, researchers, and product managers, can collaborate on your UX research plan template simultaneously, fostering a more inclusive and collaborative approach to research planning.

Visual representation of research steps: Create diagrams, flowcharts, and visual representations of the research process. This visual mapping helps teams better understand the sequence of research activities, identify dependencies, and effectively communicate the overall research strategy.

Iterative refinement: Provide feedback, comments, and suggestions directly on the UX research plan template. Promote continuous improvement, allowing the team to refine the research plan based on insights and changing project requirements.

Integration with user flows and personas: Integrate with other templates, such as user flows and persona maps. By connecting these elements, teams can create a holistic view of the user experience journey. This integration helps align research activities with the overall UX strategy and ensures a more cohesive and user-centric product design.

How can I ensure that a UX Research Plan remains effective?

Regularly review and update the research plan as project requirements evolve. It's crucial to stay flexible and adapt the plan based on the findings and changing project needs.

Get started with this template right now.

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Pique their curiosity. Get them excited. Inspire them to keep reading, diving further into your proposal details. That’s what a good executive summary has the power to do—and why it’s a crucial opening statement for business plans, project plans, investment proposals, and more. Use this template to create an executive summary that starts building belief, by answering high-level questions that include: What is your project? What are the goals? How will you bring your skills and resources to the project? And who can expect to benefit?

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For entrepreneurs, so much comes down to new users—how to attract them, impress them, and convert them to loyal customers. This template, designed by the authors of Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant, will help you maximize value for you and your customers alike. Using the template’s four steps (divided into easy columns), you’ll easily evaluate your products in more innovative ways and make sure money is being spent in areas that really matter.

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Reverse brainstorming is a technique that prompts a group to think of problems, rather than solutions. Because we naturally think of problems, it’s a great way to get a group to anticipate problems that may occur during a project. To engage in reverse brainstorming, start by identifying the problem, and then think of things that might exacerbate it. Ask your team to generate ideas around ways in which the problem could get worse. Reverse the problems into solutions again, and then evaluate your ideas.

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Developed by Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter, Porter’s Five Forces has become one of the most popular and highly regarded business strategy tools available for teams. Use Porter’s Five Forces to measure the strength of your current competition and decide which markets you might be able to move into. Porter’s Five Forces include: supplier power, buyer power, rivalry among existing competitors, the threat of substitute products or services, the threat of substitute products and services, and the threat of new entrants.

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Plans and Pricing

How to create the best user research plan?

January 13, 2023 3 min read

A user research plan is a detailed and comprehensive document that outlines the strategy and methods for conducting research to gain a deep understanding of the target users of a product or service. It s an essential part of the product development process, as it helps to understand target users’ needs, behaviors, and preferences.

A well-crafted user research plan can provide valuable insights that inform product design and development, ultimately leading to more successful products. It serves as a roadmap for the research process and helps ensure that the research is conducted systematically and effectively.

It’s essential to ensure that the final product meets the needs of its intended users. Creating a user research plan demands a lot of attention, clarity, and smart work. Before we jump to the details, let’s take a look at the benefits of creating a user research plan.

A research strategy will keep your attention on your objective.

It’s absolutely acceptable if your UX research’s objective is ‘to understand your customers better’. However, you’ll need to be more clear about what you want to know about them to know that your study is effective.

Creating a user research plan fosters consensus and gains support.

A solid UX research strategy is a great way to gain stakeholder buy-in and set reasonable expectations for the research process and results. It should meet their goals, connect research to business objectives, and concisely summarize the methods and logistics involved.

You can avoid common research hazards by using a research strategy.

No-show participants, an excessive number of participants who don’t meet your criteria, an insufficient number of participants — overall, technical issues, overbooked schedules, mountains of badly structured data, problems delivering incentives, and unread research reports can be avoided with a well-crafted user research plan.

If you have read so far, I’m assuming you have all the right reasons to continue reading until the end. User research plans are not hard to create; take an extra bit of focus and honest answers. So let’s discuss the steps and best practices for creating a user research plan.

Define the goals and objectives of the research

The objectives, in essence, drive the entire project. Your research objectives should address all that you want to learn from the project and how you will study the problem statement. This step helps to ensure that the research is focused and aligned with the overall product development goals. The research goals and objectives should be specific, measurable, and attainable.

Identify the target audience

This step involves determining who the research will be conducted with, including demographic information and user characteristics. It is important to ensure that the target audience is representative of the intended user base for the product. It’s also important to consider the diversity of the target audience, for example, age, gender, culture, disability, etc.

Choose research methods

There are various research methods that can be used, such as interviews, surveys, usability testing, and diary studies. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, and it is important to choose the most appropriate method for the research goals and objectives.

Develop a recruitment plan

Once the research methods have been selected, the next step is to develop a recruitment plan. This step involves determining how participants will be recruited for the research. It is important to ensure that the recruitment process is ethical and that participants fully understand the nature of the research and what is expected of them.

Create a research guide

Writing an interview guide ensures that everyone on the team has a place to enter their questions, even if you don’t actively refer to it. Additionally, if you’re planning questions or prompts for unmoderated research, making them accessible to the public for reference enables your team to let you know if anything is unclear. The research guide should also include instructions for conducting the research and any necessary materials, such as consent forms.

Build a research plan timeline

No matter how you look at a project, it is very important that a rough schedule of when the research will be conducted and when a report can be anticipated. It allows you to plan research sessions, debriefings, follow-ups, and deliverables and helps you set expectations for the end results.

Test and refine the plan

This step involves conducting a pilot test of the research plan to ensure that it is effective and to make any necessary adjustments. This step also helps to identify any potential issues that may arise during the research, such as unclear instructions or questions that are too difficult to understand.

Schedule and execute the research

This step involves coordinating the logistics of the research and conducting the study with participants. It is important to ensure that the research is conducted professionally and ethically.

Analyze and report the findings

This step involves carefully reviewing and analyzing the data collected and creating a report that clearly communicates the key findings and recommendations. The report should be presented in a way that is easy to understand and actionable for the product development team .

Incorporate findings into product development

The final step is to incorporate the findings from the user research into the product development process. It is important to ensure that the research findings are communicated clearly and effectively to the relevant stakeholders and actions are taken to address any issues identified during the research.

Creating a user research plan is basically creating a research project in miniature — it can be one of the simplest ways to demand feedback, expectations, and support for your project. A solid research plan can go a long way toward guaranteeing a solid research project.

Creating a user research plan involves:

• Defining the goals and objectives of the research
• Identifying the target audience
• Choosing research methods
• Developing a recruitment plan
• Creating a research guide
• Building a research plan timeline
• Testing and refining the plan
• Scheduling and executing the research
• Analyzing and reporting the findings
• Incorporating findings into product development

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How to Create a UX Research Plan [Free Template Inside]

Benjamin Franklin once said, “If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail”. While Benjamin Franklin wasn’t talking about UX research, the statement applies. 

Many researchers fail to plan because they assume they understand user research well enough to create a budget, timeline, process, and more. They conveniently forget that planning is the cornerstone of a successful project and expertise is never enough to see anything through. 

Creating a UX research plan allows you to leverage multiple perspectives from project stakeholders and teammates.  Stakeholders can help you understand where techniques might not work, timelines may be too tight, or budget insufficient to execute a research project. 

Research planning prevents surprises that may come up along the way. It reduces cost and helps you determine how each step of the UX research will be executed to ensure success.

In this guide, we’ll lead you through the steps of creating a UX research plan. You’ll also get a free template so you can create your first research plan immediately.

What Is UX Research?

UX research is the study of user interaction to obtain insights that improve the design process. UX researchers study a group of target users to collect and analyze data that leads to user-friendly products. 

The primary goal of UX research is to build products for the end-user based on real data not what you think the user wants. When you conduct UX research, you can give your audience the best solutions because you know what they need.

As a UX researcher, you could begin with qualitative research methods to collect data and understand the user’s needs and motivation. Next, you use quantitative measures such as usability testing to test your hypothesis and results.

What Is a UX Research Plan?

A UX research plan is a document that sets expectations and highlights the most important information you need to communicate with stakeholders in a research project. It is usually a collaboration between all stakeholders to ensure it meets the goals and objectives you’ve laid out.

A user research plan acts as a starting point to help you write easily and keep your team focused on the who, what, why, and when of a UX research project.

What Are the Benefits of Planning User Research?

Show Project Sponsors and Senior Executives the ROI of Your Research

In most scenarios, project sponsors do not care about the process or the user research techniques you choose. They want to know what your research will achieve and how much it will cost to execute. A brief research plan lays out the objective of the research and how it will benefit product design.

Engage Stakeholders

A written research plan is also a great way to engage stakeholders and ensure they’re involved with the research project and the results. You’ll also be leveraging the experience of team members who’ve conducted similar research in the past.

Keeps You Accountable

When you write something down, it looks different from what you pictured in your head. It eliminates the risk of missing steps in the process, going above budget, or losing sight of your research objectives. Think of a research plan as a list of checkpoints to make sure you’ve achieved each goal in your research.

Easier to Plug Holes in Your Process

A research plan helps you to learn what works or doesn’t work and questions you need to be asking. As you write down your plan and process, you can find holes and improve your research plan. It makes it easier to focus and prepare for the study.

How to Create a User Research Plan? 

1. Write the Background of the Research

The background section should be brief. Tell stakeholders and clients about the recent history of the project, why you’re conducting the research, and what you’re going to accomplish. In a few sentences (no more than five lines of text), everyone should understand the purpose of the study.

The background section should also include the problem statement. A few ways to identify the problem statement include interviews with stakeholders, a deep analysis of the current data, or team sessions to brainstorm.

2. What Are the Objectives of the Research?

You must have an objective before getting in a room with users. The research objective drives all the research questions you’ll be asking participants during the user interview process.

Why are you conducting user research? What problems do you hope to solve? What is the end goal after completing the research?

Getting answers to these questions should be a collaborative effort between stakeholders and team members involved in the project.

3. Define Stakeholders

Who are the stakeholders that will benefit from the results? Research project stakeholders could be employees in sales, customer support, C-level executives, or product teams.

When you’ve listed everyone you think should be involved, set up a meeting to brainstorm ideas and collect input. It’s easier to deliver the right insights when you’re involving the right stakeholders in your project.

4 . Study Existing Solutions

Have any studies been done on this topic in the past? Perhaps your competitors or in-house teammates have published previous findings that will work as the basis of your research? The answers will help you determine where to begin.

If your team uses Aurelius as a research repository , you’ll be able to easily search through past research projects to quickly find information and make Cross-Project Insights and recommendations from past research with your current project.

5. Recruit Participants

After defining the problem and objectives, it’s time to create a participant profile. Choosing the right participants is one of the most crucial parts of a project. 

When creating participant profiles start with characteristics such as occupation, age group, geography, and level of engagement with the product. Next, determine the number of participants to recruit for each UX research method. 

We advise internal collaboration with all stakeholders such as sales, marketing, and customer support teams to brainstorm a hypothesis on who your ideal user is. Analyze your competitors to see what type of users they have in their audience.

If you have a database, consider looking inwards to customers who already know your product. If you don’t, use a research recruitment platform to find participants. 

When recruiting externally, use a screener to hone in on your ideal participant. Is there a particular behavior you’re looking for? A qualifying action they must have taken within a specific timeframe? Do they need to be a certain age? Screeners ensure you’re bringing in the right users for your research.

6. Establish KPIs and Metrics of Success

How will success be determined?  What criteria will you use to check milestone achievements? Examples of success metrics include:

• Time on task
• Specific information about the user 
• Decisions that the collected data will help you make 
• Statistics you intend to create

7. Outline Scope and Focus of Research

Outlining the focus areas leads to efficient research planning. The deeper you’re able to hone in on the specific information you want to collect from the research, the more clarity you’ll have. 

8. Write Research Questions

This is the section where you’ll write down the research questions to ask during user interviews. Start by examining what you already know about the problem such as insights from previous research . Find the knowledge gaps and create questions to answer them.

When brainstorming research questions, it’s important to determine if the goal is to create a new design or to fix an existing design. 

If your objective is to build the right design, then your questions will focus on observing user behavior and leveraging mental models.

If the goal is to fix an existing design, then you’ll ask questions about usability to improve the current design. Whatever the goal is, aim for open-ended questions.

Here’s a comprehensive list of questions to ask when conducting UX research interviews

9. Determine Your Budget 

Budget plays a role in the amount of data you gather and how you conduct research. More budget equals flexibility to outsource to a dedicated recruitment service, run paid campaigns to attract more people, or even increase the incentives for participants.

More money also makes it easier to choose the right UX research methods that translate into quality insight. Conversely, with a small budget, you have to think of ways to stretch your funds such as using zoom over in-person meetings, limiting the number of research participants, or choosing inexpensive research techniques.

10. Establish Project Timeline

Having a timeline for executing the research plan lets stakeholders and clients know how long the research will take. There might be different expectations between what you think the timeline should be versus the client’s expectation. 

When establishing a timeline consider the following:

• The scale of the project
• The time needed to collect data for research analysis
• Time for recruiting research participants
• Number of teammates to engage in research activities
• Unforeseen circumstances such as participants showing up late or needing to reschedule for another day

11. Develop Research Protocols

The research protocol is a list of questions and tasks you’ll cover during in-person sessions. It also includes a list of research methods you’ve chosen. 

A common practice is to write down the opening and closing statement of your UX interview. It begins with an explanation of the product, research objectives, and how long each interview session will take. In the end, you thank the participant for their time and answer any questions they might have.

Make sure you get feedback from stakeholders on the research questions as well as the following:

• The duration of each session
• Tasks each research participant will complete during usability testing
• A script to guide each session
• How to record interviews and protect participant data

12. Determine the Research Methods

In this section, you’ll discuss the UX research methods you’ll use during the research and explain why you’ve chosen these techniques.

While there are dozens of research methods to choose from, your choices should be informed by your research questions. Some, like A/B tests and surveys, are suited for quantitative research while others like user interviews and contextual inquiries work best for qualitative research . 

Learn more about how to choose a UX research method plus options to choose from during user research

13. Choose UX Research Tools 

Similar to research protocols, the research tools you choose should be based on your research objectives and questions.

When choosing UX research tools, consider the following:

• Are you recruiting participants internally from your database or externally?
• Is it going to be a usability test?
• Will you conduct interviews via video conferencing?
• How will you store and analyze research data ?
• Are you going to A/B test certain elements for conversion?
• Will you conduct surveys to collect mass feedback?

There are different tools that fulfill each of these objectives. For example, you can recruit participants from platforms like User Interviews and Userbrain . You can build a research repository to store data and get insights with Aurelius . Tools like Optimizely and Crazy Egg are great for A/B testing.

Get a comprehensive list of UX research tools to complete each stage of the research process in this article

14. Draw Insights and Present your Research Findings

This is the final stage when creating a UX research plan. The insights will be determined by the goals of the research. Is the goal to improve an existing product or create a new product? Which stakeholders will need access to the result?

Make sure you document your process and include details about setbacks you faced along the way, methodologies used, and session materials. This way, your team can have an overview to look back on when conducting the next research project.

To get insight from your research data, use Aurelius to analyze dozens of notes, audio/video recordings as well as spreadsheets.

Create a new project in Aurelius, import your data from anywhere, find information quickly with Tags, search for patterns with Keywords, highlight major findings with Key Insights and make suggestions with Recommendations.

Aurelius turns your recommendations and key insights into shareable reports that you can customize as you like. You can share or present your research findings via email, a PDF, or a live link to your report.

Learn More About How Aurelius Can Help You Improve the Research Process 

Asides from having a plan of action for research issues, you must have a plan for working with research participants. 

A few things to do during the first interaction with research participants include:

• Inform users about the background of the research and what they’re signing up for
• Tell them how you plan to store their data
• Ask for permission to record the process
• Ask for permission to use their data for research purposes only
• Share details about the UX research process
• Tell them the methods you’re using to collect data 

If you feel like it’s too much information, remember that it’s better to overshare than to not give sufficient information.

Use a Template to Streamline UX Research Planning

Templates help you create research plans quickly. Think of it as a starting point for your research project. It includes all the essential elements you need to conduct research and communicate your findings.

Go ahead and download our free UX research plan template. Then, use the tips above to fill out the template.

Download our free UX research plan template

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How to Create a UX Research Plan? (w/Example)

In this guide, you are going to learn how to create a good ux research plan, what it includes and why you should consider having (and following) one..

Last update 11.10.2023

UX research by itself, involves gathering information about target users and their needs in order to provide realistic contexts and insights into design processes. UX researchers apply a range of methods to uncover important facts that can be included in the design process in order to identify challenges and design opportunities. 

According to the Interaction Design Foundation (IDF) , UX Research is about discovering insights that will guide effective designs. And, in order to carry out this method efficiently and provide appropriate results, you need a well-thought-out plan.

Table of Contents

What is a ux research plan, why do you need a ux research plan.

• What are the benefits of having a user research plan?

User research plan template

What should your ux research plan include, tips for your ux research plan, examples of a good user research plan, what’s next after your user research plan, ready to get started.

Note: While there are nuances between UX (user experience) research and user research, in this article we will be using UX research and user research interchangeably.

A UX research plan is a document that contains all the important information regarding your planned UX research in one place. It serves as a roadmap for all UX research in your project. It explains the methodology of how the research will be carried out, the types of studies, information about respondents, timing etc.

The goal of creating a plan for UX research is to facilitate the process of managing your UX studies, make it easy for you to keep track of results as well as create a clear research strategy that you can follow. 

The amount of information you obtain and analyze during UX research studies may sometimes be overwhelming, so it’s very easy to overlook and even forget important details during the process. Don’t lose track of the bigger picture. A well-maintained UX research plan will store all the key information for you, meaning you can refer to it anytime you need it.

Aside from just saving your memory, there are a number of other advantages to creating a UX research strategy.

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What are the benefits of having a UX research plan?

Aside from saving you from keeping everything in your head, a user research plan also has some other significant benefits, such as: 

1. Helping you stay focused on the goals

Without a clear plan, it may be difficult to make sure that your user research collects the right type of data at the right moment in time. All information about users may seem important, so it’s easy to get distracted. A crucial part of your plan is defining clear goals that will help everybody involved in the research stay focused and work towards the bigger picture. It assures everybody stays on the same page and helps to avoid going into unnecessary details. 

2. Engaging stakeholders in the process

Another big benefit of having a UX research plan at hand is the ability to engage stakeholders in the project . With all the information being stored in one document, it’s easy to update them on the progress, insights, and completed goals. 

Describing the objectives of your study in your plan is also an excellent way to demonstrate the value of UX research and keep stakeholders invested in the process. A stakeholder with a focus on specific areas of the project who isn’t up-to-date on all the details will appreciate it if you can point them to past findings relevant to their inquiries or future parts of the roadmap, so they know their concerns are already accounted for.

3. Keeping track of the results

Your UX research plan will function as the roadmap for all the UX research in your project , providing a handy overview of what has already been done, as well as what is yet to be researched. UX research produces a quantum of data, so as time passes it becomes essential to be able to refer to your previous findings and monitor your progress.

Most importantly, a UX plan allows researchers (or whoever else is conducting the research) to concentrate and ensure that they meet the research plan’s objectives in the most effective manner possible .  

To save you some time, we created a simple User Research Plan Template which you can copy and adapt to your own research.

It contains everything a user research plan should include. Read the next section, where we will explain in detail what your one-page plan should contain and why.

According to the Interaction Design Foundation, it’s good to start your research from a one-page plan . This way, you’ll be able to keep your plan short, simple, and easy to understand to stakeholders, even if they are people who aren’t completely involved with your study. 

• Title –  Every good project needs a name. Include the title of the project you’re working on in order for it to be identified.
• Author – Add the name and contact of the person in charge of executing the plan. You may also include names of other persons to whom readers can send their feedback and inputs about the contents of the document.
• Stakeholders information – Everybody involved in the study and all the people you’ll be sharing your research with. Include their roles and contact details. 
• Date – When the project has started. It’s also important to include revision dates so that everybody is aware of all the updates.
• Project’s background – This should be a short summary paragraph where you explain your motivation – the reason why the research is being conducted, what are the problems that need to be resolved, and any other important background information to provide the reader with the required context.  
• The main goal – Explain your main objective in 1 sentence. What are you trying to achieve with your research? Keep it short and clear, try to choose a single most important goal instead of a number of small ones. 
• Research questions – What are the questions that you’re looking to get answered in your research? Writing them down will assist you in determining the research method you will use, what questions you’ll ask participants during the research, and what you’ll want to focus on while analyzing results. Planning your research questions helps you make sure you don’t forget anything important and that your UX research design corresponds well with your goals. Learn How to ask good questions in usability testing .
• Research methods – There are tons of qualitative and quantitative methods to choose from . Include the ones you’re going to use in your studies, specify if it’s going to be moderated or unmoderated and how long it will take. 
• Information about the participants – In this part of your plan, define the target audience of your research (age, gender, potential customers/existing customers…) and specify where you’re going to recruit them. How many participants do you need? Is there one group or multiple segments?
• Schedule – Make a schedule of when each study is going to be conducted as well as an estimation of how long the whole research process is going to take. It’s good to also add milestones to indicate the progress and see when each activity is due.
• Supporting information – if there is any other relevant data that can influence the research project, don’t forget to mention it as well.

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A UX research plan that you and your stakeholders prepare together is key to a successful start of a UX research project. Here are a few things to consider to make you and your stakeholders come to an agreement.

• Gather all your common knowledge, agreements, and understanding of what will occur, why, with whom, and when in a couple of sentences that will represent your main objective.
• Set the right expectations for all stakeholders, and make sure your research plan is focused on the main goal.
• Keep the plan short and simple so that all of your stakeholders can understand it. You can work from a more detailed plan, but for your stakeholders, the Interaction Design Foundation recommends a One Page User Research Plan .
• Make the UX research plan a team effort by incorporating all team members so that everyone understands it.
• The list of questions you’re aiming to answer is at the heart of the user research, choose the appropriate ones and avoid bias.

To give you a better picture of what your plan should look like, we found a great user research plan example on the web. It’s a research study conducted by user researcher Shivang Patwa for the company called “InstaCar”.

This document perfectly describes every step of the research process and provides all the needed information for everybody involved in the study.

Once you’re done with the user research plan consider how you’ll deliver the results of your study to your stakeholders and team. During the session, tell an engaging story and include quotations and videos from your participants to help stakeholders understand the effect of your research. After all is said and done, store your insights in a way that anybody can access and understand at any time. This will guarantee that your research leaves a lasting effect on your team and project.

Now that you’ve finished your user research plan, you can rest comfortably with a strategy for getting information from your users that will help you design your projects. 

To get started with your user research, UXtweak is a user research tool that can help you with everything from recruiting participants to running your study. We even have resources to help you get started, such as how to motivate people to attend your research . Create an account today and get ahead of your competitors with quality user research!

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People also ask (FAQ)

When writing a user research plan begin with defining a clear goal. According to the goals, your needs and the budget chose methods and tools that you will use and write down the timeline. Prepare the tasks and questions for the testing. define your target audience and decide on the tester recruitment process.

UX research plan should always include:

• Stakeholders information 
• Project’s background 
• The main goal 
• Research questions
• UX Research methods 
• Information about the participants

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• 07. UX Research Strategy
• 08. UX Research Process
• 09. UX Research Report
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What is a User Research Plan?

Benefits of creating a ux research plan, adhering to the goal, validating ideas, obtaining valuable insights, getting everyone involved, step-by-step ux research plan, collect the background information, determine research goals.

• Why do users leave your product?
• What motivates the customers to use/not to use your app?
• At which stage do users decide to leave the app?
• Why do users prefer the competitors' products?
• What are the users' pain points?
• Do the users recognize your product's value?
• What is the complete user journey?
• How do the users think and behave when interacting with your product?

Choose Methodology

Find participants, schedule meetings, example of ux research plan.

• What is the product?
• What is the product's core value?
• Who are the target users, and what do you expect them to do?
• How can we make the users happier?
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You’re on a business trip in Oakland, CA. You've been working late in downtown and now you're looking for a place nearby to grab a late dinner. You decided to check Zomato to try and find somewhere to eat. (Don't begin searching yet).

• Look around on the home page. Does anything seem interesting to you?
• How would you go about finding a place to eat near you in Downtown Oakland? You want something kind of quick, open late, not too expensive, and with a good rating.
• What do the reviews say about the restaurant you've chosen?
• What was the most important factor for you in choosing this spot?
• You're currently close to the 19th St Bart station, and it's 9PM. How would you get to this restaurant? Do you think you'll be able to make it before closing time?
• Your friend recommended you to check out a place called Belly while you're in Oakland. Try to find where it is, when it's open, and what kind of food options they have.
• Now go to any restaurant's page and try to leave a review (don't actually submit it).

What was the worst thing about your experience?

It was hard to find the bart station. The collections not being able to be sorted was a bit of a bummer

What other aspects of the experience could be improved?

Feedback from the owners would be nice

What did you like about the website?

The flow was good, lots of bright photos

What other comments do you have for the owner of the website?

I like that you can sort by what you are looking for and i like the idea of collections

You're going on a vacation to Italy next month, and you want to learn some basic Italian for getting around while there. You decided to try Duolingo.

• Please begin by downloading the app to your device.
• Choose Italian and get started with the first lesson (stop once you reach the first question).
• Now go all the way through the rest of the first lesson, describing your thoughts as you go.
• Get your profile set up, then view your account page. What information and options are there? Do you feel that these are useful? Why or why not?
• After a week in Italy, you're going to spend a few days in Austria. How would you take German lessons on Duolingo?
• What other languages does the app offer? Do any of them interest you?

I felt like there could have been a little more of an instructional component to the lesson.

It would be cool if there were some feature that could allow two learners studying the same language to take lessons together. I imagine that their screens would be synced and they could go through lessons together and chat along the way.

Overall, the app was very intuitive to use and visually appealing. I also liked the option to connect with others.

Overall, the app seemed very helpful and easy to use. I feel like it makes learning a new language fun and almost like a game. It would be nice, however, if it contained more of an instructional portion.

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Defining your user research plan: A step-by-step guide

What is the first thing you do when designing a product? You talk to your users.

User research  should be an integral part of any design process, but it’s often overlooked.

This page will walk you through creating a user research plan so that you can start collecting data and validating assumptions about your product or service.

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User Research Plan: An Overview

User research is the key to understanding your users and their needs.

It helps you identify what problem you are solving for them, understand how they currently solve the problem and assess whether your solution is feasible and valuable to them.

A user research plan document describes all of your planned user research activities in detail. This includes the who, what, when, where, why, and how of each activity.

A user research plan is typically created at the  beginning of a product development project . It helps you define each research activity, estimate the time and resources required to conduct them, identify what materials are needed for them, etc.

Creating your user research plan can help avoid last-minute decisions that might prove costly or ineffective in the long run. A well-defined user research plan will ensure that you have an accurate understanding of users’ needs before designing your final solution.

Importance of a user research plan

A well-executed user research plan can help you achieve the following:

• An efficient plan to understand your users and their needs.
• Increase your chances of success for product development. A plan to increase the chances of success is easier when you create a user research plan. It will help you.
• Build better products with greater value. An easy way to build better products is by using a well-thought-out research plan that can be executed on time and within budget.
• Creating an effective  user research  plan allows you to make important decisions regarding your designs, schedules, more effectively. By creating a great user experience from the very beginning it helps ensure long-term engagement as well as customer satisfaction which leads to brand loyalty in the run.
• Validate or invalidate your assumptions about your users. By regularly conducting research, you can validate or invalidate your assumptions about how users behave. This will ensure that the product is being built in a way that truly benefits its target audience.
• Predict user behavior more accurately. By understanding what motivates people and predicting their actions better, researchers can design products with optimized resources. It helps create successful tools for businesses.

When creating a user research plan, there are a few key steps you need to take into account. Here is a detailed guide on how to create one.

Step-by-step guide on creating a user research plan

Step one: define your research goals.

The first step in creating any research plan is your goals. What do you hope to achieve from the research? This should be a very focused and concise sentence, ideally with three to four goals.

Keep in mind that if your motivations for conducting user research aren’t clear or specific enough, it will make planning much more difficult later on. Because you won’t know what  questions to ask  or how to measure success.

Step two: Define your user personas

Now that we’ve defined our goals (the ‘why’), let’s talk about who we want to do this research for/with (‘who’). In short – define personas.

To start, think of all the different types of people who interact with your product(s). If there are multiple audiences, list them out so they’re easily accessible down the line. For each persona, try to answer the following:

• Who are they?
• What do they need/want from your product(s)?
• How do they interact with your product(s)?
• Are there any other demographics you should consider (location, age, gender, etc.)?

Personas help us keep our research focused and relevant. They also make it easier to come up with questions later on because we have a specific target in mind. It’s important not to get too caught up in creating perfect personas.

The goal is simply to create a general idea of who we’re researching for. As always,  feedback from stakeholders and team members is essential!

Step three: Determine research methods

Now that we know who our target users are, it’s time to decide on the  research methods  we’ll be using. There are a variety of different techniques that can be used, so it’s important to tailor the selection to the specific needs of the project. Some common user research methods include interviews, focus groups, surveys, usability tests, and diary studies.

It’s also important to consider how much time and resources we have for this phase of the project. If there isn’t enough time for in-depth research, we may need to limit ourselves to less expensive or time-consuming methods like surveys or usability tests.

Step four: Draft questions

Once we’ve decided on our methods, it’s time to draft questions. The questions we ask during user research will help us understand our users and their needs.

Some things to keep in mind when drafting questions:

• The questions should be relevant to the project goals
• The questions should be clear and easy to understand
• The questions should be unbiased and not leading

Step five: recruit participants

Now that we have a plan, it’s time to start recruiting participants. We’ll need a mix of people who fit our target audience and people who don’t.

This is done so that we can get a broad understanding of how users interact with our product. We’ll also need enough participants for each method we’re using.

It’s important to note that not everyone is comfortable participating in user research, and that’s okay. Just let us know if someone is not comfortable.

Step six: conduct user research

This step can take anywhere from a few hours to a couple of months depending on the research methods you choose and how much data you need. To make sure we get accurate results, all participants need to follow the same procedure before they begin using our product (or website).

We’ll want them to complete any tasks related to what they’re trying to accomplish so that their first impression isn’t tainted by something else happening in the background or other people around them influencing their behavior without knowing it.

This also helps ensure users can do things like form an opinion about various features within reason. Otherwise, it could be a sign that those features aren’t easy enough to use for everyone.

Step seven: Analyzing the issues and keeping track of data

If we’re going to be talking about actions users take and what they say, then we must find a way for this information to inform us. We’ll want to look at the big picture as well as each user so that we can see how people use the product (or website) compared to others.

For example, if one  person experiences  an issue with uploading photos but no other participant does – maybe there is something up with their network or photo app? On the flip side though, if everyone has issues uploading photos then perhaps there is something wrong on our end.

This could mean anything from bugs in specific features within reason, permissions allowing access when they shouldn’t, and so on.

Keeping in mind these two extremes will help us figure out where the product stands concerning our users’ needs.

Final thoughts

A user research plan is very important for your website or application.

It can help you to understand your users and their needs, which will help you create a better product.

To create a user research plan, you need to first understand the basics of user research.

Once you have a basic understanding of user research, you can begin creating your specific plan.

Related reading:

• What is UX Research?
• How To Develop a UX Research Plan?
• Your guide for UX research: Importance, types, and best practices
• A user research plan: Components and methodology
• How to design a UX research survey?

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• How to develop a UX research plan
• Qualitative interviews: Pitfalls to avoid
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• Comparative usability testing: Why it matters for your business
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How to Create a Solid UX Research Plan in 7 Steps

The importance of user experience is pivotal for your brand’s perception. Hence it is pretty evident that you seek a well-defined UX research plan before starting a project. The plan would ensure everyone is on the same page and clearly define the goals of your project. The idea behind user research is to examine how a system, service, or product is utilized by its users to learn more about their needs, behaviors, and goals. The research is helpful in designing and developing the product to improve its usability and user satisfaction. The plan will clarify that the design choices are based on user insights, resulting in services and products that meet user expectations. So objectives and deliverables should be sorted out before initiation. UX research also lets you learn about your target audience's preferences, requirements, and behaviors. This article will tell you how a well-defined research plan will benefit in better designing a project and what are the essential tips to create a solid user research plan. Let's dig in!

What is a UX Research Plan?

A research plan could be in document or spreadsheet form that serves as an overview and aids in initiating a project. It should be co-created and shared with essential stakeholders to ascertain that everyone on the product team knows what to expect. This means it shouldn't exist in just one person’s head but should be mutually constructed. Being employed at the research project's beginning means that such plans provide a clear-cut summary of the who, when, what, and why. This guarantees that your research remains connected to addressing the initial primary research questions.

What Benefits Can a User Research Plan Bring to Your Team?

The biggest question that arises while making UX research plans is considering perspectives. After all, how can you anticipate what users might require, say or desire? It's crucial to make an effort because random activity rarely results in progress toward your goals. Also, making changes as you proceed with your plan is okay.

Let's pinpoint some of the benefits a UX research plan provides

• Encourages Alignment Such plans are mutually orchestrated. The same objective is defined, and all stakeholders agree to follow procedures leading up to that objective. The plan also sorts issues related to conflicts of interest that could develop later during the project.
• Stakeholders involvement If the plan is unclear, stakeholders are more likely to lack motivation and behave as observers rather than engaged participants in the research. Hence an effective UX research plan can make stakeholders connect properly with the study and its findings.
• UX Goals Set are the Goals achieved A carefully crafted UX research plan will specify the desired results and the milestones that will be used to gauge progress. These serve as a benchmark for evaluating how the plan is developing and determining whether revisions are necessary to keep the plan on track.
• Increased Effectiveness A research plan will aid you in streamlining the procedure for conducting research and eliminate pointless or redundant efforts. This is done by keeping the precise research methodologies and activities to be carried out in check.

Now that you have checked out how an effective UX research plan has many benefits. Let us highlight the components that every UX research plan should have.

How can you tell when to begin a user research project?

Before indulging ourselves, get into the mechanics of making a plan for user research. It's crucial to think about when user research is most beneficial. Ensure you're devoting time to research where it will be most helpful. ‍ Let's discuss the conditions when UX research becomes a priority. It may be time to give UX research priority.

• You need more innovative concepts for features or other projects that address user needs.
• You recently launched a highly successful or unsuccessful product effort. Now you're still determining what lessons may be drawn from the event for further development.
• Your team is divided or needs more information regarding the most pressing user needs.
• When developing a new flow or feature, you might wonder what the perfect user experience would be

It might not be the time for UX research.

• You need more time to refine whatever product aspect you want to study.
• Your existing inquiries about your users are driven more by curiosity than desire.

Conducting user research makes sense if you have a valuable justification to complete the study and establish actionable insights. Let's assume you've given this some thought and are now prepared to begin. Here is the step-by-step guide to creating a solid UX research plan.

What Every UX Research Plan Should Include

“A problem well stated is the problem half solved.”

Highlighting the Problem statement at the beginning of your research plan would deem highly influential during the study. Along with the problem statement, the details of your objectives, technique, brief, and reporting should all be included in your strategy. In addition to assisting you as a researcher, a research plan helps stakeholders align and ensures everyone knows the project's timeframe, objectives, and scope. ‍ Researchers are ensured that they have an established path and structure for their investigations by including these crucial components in a UX research plan. The strategy acts as a road map, directing the research procedure and assisting in generating insightful data.

How to Write a UX Research Plan

There are only so many best ways to develop a UX research plan, as every company is unique. The teams performing in the company could be in charge of achieving various business objectives. ‍ We'll outline the steps to consider when designing your plan in this section.

• Presenting the problem statement.
• Objectives behind the study
• Research Techniques
• List of Participants
• Test Strategy
• Timeline of the procedures
• How will you be presenting your research?

Let's understand all these one by one.

Step 1: Presenting the Problem Statement

As with most plans, you should begin by stating the issue you're trying to tackle in as much detail as possible. The same applies to a UX research plan. Your problem statement must be precise, clear, and provide enough information to the stakeholders. In this way, they can comprehend the study's core issue. ‍ Problem statements do not appear out of thin air. Your customer service team, often dealing with client issues, your customer service team is an excellent place to seek inspiration. Building a solid UX research plan begins with knowing what data is available and what information is still needed. Once you are done presenting your problem statement, It's time to specify your objectives.

Step 2: Objectives behind the study

You will represent a much clearer picture if you define your objectives via

• What you’re doing
• Why you're doing
• What you hope to learn

Every task you give and question you pose to research participants should be motivated by your established objectives. This implies that “being specific” is crucial. You can specify the project scope and the questions you must pose to participants to gather the data you need by setting explicit objectives. Anything and everything becomes a research question if the scope is narrow enough, which is challenging to manage. Begin with a problem statement, and specify your objectives to achieve the goals. Then develop tasks and questions that will ask participants the right questions to elicit the correct information.

Step 3: Research Techniques

Based on the pre-determined objectives, the next step is to select the research methodology to help you reach your stated goals. Broad issues must be addressed before delving into particular research techniques or UX research strategies. What types of UX research are there, then? Although we won't go into great detail here, the following methods are widely used and accepted in research studies.

• Qualitative research methodology
• Quantitative research methodology

Brief difference between qualitative and quantitive research Although qualitative vs. quantitative research may seem intimidating, the ideas are simple. Whether you call it research or something else, most business professionals desire to learn about their customers. First and foremost, it is false to imply that qualitative and quantitative research are incompatible. Even though quantitative research is the approach that receives the most credit, the two complement one another. Together they can provide a more comprehensive understanding of a situation or problem. Both are important for gauging your customers' experiences.

Quantitative Study The process of gathering and interpreting numerical data is known as quantitative research. Presenting data as numbers seeks to identify trends and averages, make forecasts, examine causality, and extrapolate findings to larger groups. Crucially, quantitative research differs from qualitative research in that it uses numbers. This is thus because numbers and statistics are the results of quantitative studies.

Qualitative Study Qualitative data differs from quantitative data in that it focuses on the why and how of human behavior in a particular scenario. It is obtained by examining participants in their natural surroundings. It works particularly well for learning about people's beliefs, attitudes, and actions. At UserTesting, contributor observation and interviews are used to get qualitative data.

Step 4: List of Participants

The correct participants (and the appropriate number of them) are one of the most crucial components of a successful UX research plan. The number of participants you should include in your UX study is a topic of discussion. The best answer will depend on the questions you're seeking to answer. You'll require a larger sample size if you're looking for user trend information. This will assist you in establishing quantitative data so you can make a stronger argument to your stakeholders. In addition to participant count, you should consider how closely study participants should resemble your target audience. There are two schools of thought about selecting your participants. Either get super specific or go for a wider reach and general audience. There are, of course, instances in which one will be better suited to your research needs than the other. Hence, You must revisit your established objectives and unanswered questions to determine who your participants should be.

Step 5: Test Strategy

Making a fantastic test strategy requires a certain level of skill. Yes, it can take some getting used to. Test plans can come in various forms, from moderated user interviews to unmoderated usability tests to prototyping. You're in luck since our team has created a user-friendly course for creating test strategies. Benefits of Usability testing For the majority of businesses, user testing is always an essential phase. Following random ideas is preferable to having a solid usability test plan. With a project plan, you can save time and money on practical endeavors. You run the additional risk of releasing a product that needs to meet client demands or expectations. The benefits of developing a usability testing plan are as follows:

• It makes it simpler to incorporate UX testing. Your project team may benefit most from UX research if you know how and when to do it.
• It enables you to get the most out of user research. With thoughtfully organized UX testing, you will obtain the high-quality information required for the success of your project.
• It facilitates and expedites the analysis of UX data. You will find it simpler to analyze the data you gather if you are clear about the objectives you want to pursue.

Step 6: Timeline of the Procedures

Scheduling is essential to negate delays. Yes, making a UX research plan requires determining your study's schedule. Any project must consider the research project's duration and the anticipated release date of the results. Even if it isn't accurate, establishing an approximate schedule will help you control stakeholders' expectations of the procedure and the outcome. A timetable should be easy to create if study techniques and participant numbers have been chosen. How long ought should UX research last? The size of each project determines the duration. Our experience has shown that research often takes between one and five weeks. Think about the following elements while estimating:

• Time required for data collection and analysis
• the number of team members you can have participated in user interviews and other research activities
• time for recruitment
• Considering the human element. People might cancel or show up late for an interview.

Many researchers avoid setting deadlines or scheduling as it can become tricky. But developing a timeline to get a fist of things is always stressed upon.

Step 7: How will you be presenting your research?

The findings of your project will be compelling and implemented throughout the organization if you plan how you'll present them from the beginning. If you establish this understanding immediately, you will successfully engage stakeholders. Ultimately, it's crucial to pick a presentation format appropriate for your main stakeholders for the sake of your UX research plan. It doesn't matter if you communicate the information to stakeholders through a report, a slide deck, or a PowerPoint presentation. You would want to do it in a way that makes them feel at ease and encourages their openness.

Appendix in research plan (Optional)

In this section, you can list any other resources pertinent to your UX study. It might consist of the following:

• Exclusive document links
• Meeting summaries
• Stakeholder feedback

You can record anything that has been discussed before or throughout the UX research study in this section to preserve it all in one easily searchable location.

UX Research Plan should be Ethical

One thing that is integral to any UX research plan is ethical considerations. However, it is much too frequently forgotten in user research plans. When we ask specific individuals to interact with an app and share their experiences, should we pay extra attention to ethics? Whatever your stance, it is always preferable to go overboard regarding ethical considerations than not go far enough. Ethical considerations need to be kept in mind when conceiving the research plan.

• Obtain approval to record or film the procedure.
• Obtain consent to use the data for research (specifically stating if it is required for publication is required)
• Explain the entire UX research process to the participants.

It can be annoying, and many researchers believe it is unnecessary to explain the history of the study, the methodologies, and the study's objective to every participant. However, people must be aware of what they give and receive. Create a Research Participation Agreement (RPA) to secure the ethical issues and save time on justifications. The document is optional to be lengthy or written short.

Key Takeaways

Following these steps will ensure you in creating an effective UX research method. It's well worth your time, even though it may seem tedious. A significant accomplishment that will be recognized and valued by everyone involved. A robust research plan can ensure a solid research project, whether it actively directs your interviews or provides an active framework for organizing your thoughts. So, orchestrate an excellent research plan by signing up for UX courses today.

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Create a user research plan with these steps

A great user experience (UX) is one of the largest drivers of growth and revenue through user satisfaction. However, when budgets get tight, or there is a squeeze on timelines, user research is one of the first things to go. Often at the cost of user satisfaction.  

This short sighted view can mean project managers are preoccupied with achieving milestones and short term goals. And UX teams get stuck researching products they weren’t actually involved with developing. As a result no one has the space and understanding to really develop a product that speaks to users needs, desires and wants. There must  be a better way to produce a product that is user-driven.  Thankfully there is.

What is user research and why should project managers care about it? 👨🏻💻

User research is an important part of the product development process. Primarily, user research involves using different research methods to gather information about your end users. 

Essentially it aims to create the best possible experience for your users by listening and learning directly from those that already or potentially will use your product. You might conduct interviews to help you understand a particular problem, carry out a tree test to identify bottlenecks or problems in your navigation, or do some usability testing to directly observe your users as they perform different tasks on your website or in your app. Or a combination of these to understand what users really want.

To a project manager and team, this likely sounds fairly familiar, that any project can’t be managed in a silo. Regular check-ins and feedback are essential to making smart decisions. The same with UX research. It can make the whole process quicker and more efficient. By taking a step back, digging into your users’ minds, and gaining a fuller understanding of what they want upfront, it can curtail short-term views and decisions.

Bringing more user research into your development process has major benefits for the team, and the ultimately the quality of that final product. There are three key benefits:

• Saves your development team time and effort. Ensuring the team is working on what users want, not wasting time on features that don’t measure up.
• Gives your users a better experience by meeting their requirements.
• Helps your team innovate quickly by understanding what users really want.

As a project manager, making space and planning for user research can be one of the best ways to ensure the team is creating a product that truly is user-driven.

How to bring research into your product development process 🤔

There are a couple of ways you can bring UX research into your product development process . 

• Start with a dedicated research project.
• Integrate UX research throughout the development project.

It can be more difficult to integrate UX research throughout the process, as it means planning the project with various stages of research built in to check the development of features. But ultimately this approach is likely to turn out the best product. One that has been considered, checked and well thought out through the whole product development process. To help you on the way we have laid out 6 key steps to help you integrate UX research into your product development process.

6 key steps to integrate UX research 👟

Step 1: define your research questions.

Take a step back, look at your product and define your research questions . 

It may be tempting just to ask, ‘do users like our latest release?’ This however does not get to why or what your users like or don’t like. Try instead:

• What do our users really want from our product?
• Where are they currently struggling while using our website?
• How can we design a better product for our users?

These questions help to form the basis of specific questions about your product and specific areas of research to explore which in turn help shape the type of research you undertake.

Step 2: Create your research plan

With a few key research questions to focus on, it’s time to create your research plan.

A great research plan covers your project’s goals, scope, timing, and deliverables. It’s essential for keeping yourself organized but also for getting key stakeholder signoff.

Step 3: Prepare any research logistics

Every project plan requires attention to detail including a user research project . And with any good project there are a set of steps to help make sense of it.

• Method: Based on your questions, what is the best user research method to use? 
• Schedule: When will the research take place? How long will it go on for? If this is ongoing research, plan how it will be implemented and how often.
• Location: Where will the research take place? 
• Resources: What resources do you need? This could be technical support or team members.
• Participants: Define who you want to research. Who is eligible to take part in this research? How will you find the right people?
• Data: How will you capture the research data? Where will it be stored? How will you analyze the data and create insights and reports that can be used?
• Deliverables: What is the ultimate goal for your research project?

Step 4: Decide which method will be used

Many user research methods benefit from an observational style of testing. Particularly if you are looking into why users undertake a specific task or struggle.

Typically, there are two approaches to testing:

• Moderated testing is when a moderator is present during the test to answer questions, guide the participant, or dig deeper with further questions.
• Unmoderated testing is when a participant is left on their own to carry out the task. Often this is done remotely and with very specific instructions.Your key questions will determine which method will works best for your research.  Find our more about the differences .

Step 5: Run your research session

It’s time to gather insights and data. The questions you are asking will influence how you run your research sessions and the methods you’ve chosen. 

If you are running surveys you will be asking users through a banner or invitation to fill out your survey. Unmoderated and very specific questions. Gathering qualitative data and analyzing patterns.

If you’re using something qualitative like interviews or heat mapping, you’ll want to implement software and gather as much information as possible.

Step 6: Prepare a research findings report and share with stakeholders

Analyze your findings, interrogate your data and find those insights that dive into the way your users think. How do they love your product? But how do they also struggle?

Pull together your findings and insights into an easy to understand report. And get socializing. Bring your key stakeholders together and share your findings. Bringing everyone across the findings together can bring everyone on the journey. And for the development process can mean decisions can be user-driven. 

Part of any project, UX research should be essential to developing a product that is user-driven. Integrating user research into your development process can be challenging. But with planning and strategy it can be hugely beneficial to saving time and money in the long run. 

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The Age of the Customer is well and truly here. In every industry and vertical across the globe, UX professionals now dictate the terms, placing customers at the heart of every design decision. Or at least, this is the new reality that’s unfolding in the organizations and businesses that don’t want to be left behind.

Make no mistake; simply claiming to be the best is no longer enough. To survive and thrive, people need to be placed at the heart. The golden key that will allow organizations to pivot to this new reality lies with that of the user researcher.

But it’s not enough to simply “do user research”. Sure, some customer insight is obviously better than none at all, but to really be useful it needs to be effective research. That’s what this article is all about.

Get comfortable, because this is going to be a long one – for good reason.

Why (effective) user research is so important

You are not your user. As much as you may like to think that you are, you’re not. It can be a tricky proposition to get your head around, especially when we regularly assume that everyone thinks like us. There are 8 billion people out there who have a vastly different set of experiences and perspectives than you. With that in mind, when we start to generalize based on our own personal experiences, this is what’s known as availability bias .

Unfortunately, solving this is issue not as easy as getting into a room with customers and having a chat. People don’t always tell the truth! This isn’t to say that the participant in your last user interview was flat out lying to you, but the things that people say are different from the things that people do. It;’s your job (as a user researcher) to intuit the actual behaviors and actions, and identify their needs based on this data.

When you’re doing your job correctly, you’ve given your organization the best possible chance of success. Everything  – and I mean everything – starts with a solid understanding of your users. Doors will open, paths will reveal themselves – you get the idea.

The qualities of an effective user researcher

Let me preface this section by saying that you don’t have to have all of these qualities in spades, the list below is really just a way for you to better understand some of the traits of an effective user researcher, to get you thinking and on the right path.

• Curious: User research can be quite repetitive, especially when you get to the 6th user interview and need to ask the same questions. A genuine curiosity about people, the challenges they face and their behaviors will go a long way in helping you to push through.
• Pragmatic: Being an idealist has its uses, but it’s also important to be pragmatic. As a researcher, you need to operate on a fine line and balance your capacity to do research with business goals, finances and the desires of your stakeholders. Do the most with what you’ve got.
• Organized: It takes a lot to plan a research project, from scheduling testing sessions to assembling large slide decks for presentations. You’ve got to manage a large number of complex components, so it’s important that you can organize and prioritize.
• Collaborative: User research is most effective when it’s carried out collaboratively. This means working with your team, with the organization and with other disciplines. Think outside the box: Who stands to benefit from your research and how can you involve them?
• Empathetic: Real, natural empathy is a rare trait, but adopting an empathetic mindset is something everyone can (and should) learn. Beyond just uncovering insights from your participants, consider what these insights mean and how they all connect. This will truly enable you to understand your users.
• Sociable: You don’t have to suddenly adopt an extroverted persona, but being actively interested in other people will help you build relationships both inside your organization and with customers.
• Perceptive: User research means listening and observing. During a user interview or usability test, you need to be able to filter all of the data entering your mind and extract the most relevant insights.
• Analytical: In a similar vein to perceptiveness, being analytical is also key if you want to understand all of the data that your research will produce. Filter, examine, extract and move on.

How to run user research effectively (and at a low cost)

There are innumerable methods for user research, but many are resource- and time-intensive. What’s more, certain research methods come attached with significant costs.

But, research doesn’t have to be the time and money sink that it can often first appear to be. Certain actions before you ever step into the room with a participant can make a world of difference.

Conduct research at the start

User research is obviously valuable whenever you do it, but you’ll see the biggest impact when you carry it out right the start of a project. Conduct research to get the lay of the land; to learn how and why customers make certain decisions, and where the biggest opportunities lie.

Note: Don’t research in a silo, involve your team, stakeholders and other interested parties.

Have clear goals – and a plan

Every research project needs a clear objective, and that comes from a detailed UX research plan , which includes well-formulated research questions. Every project will have a different question, but they’re the best starting point to ensure research success.

Choose the right methods

There’s no shortage of research methods to choose from, but being an effective user researcher is all about being able to pick the right methods for each project, and use them correctly. Nearly every research project will benefit from using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods in order to generate the most useful insights.

To understand which method to use, it’s a good idea to view them using the following framework:

Involve stakeholders

Bring stakeholders into your research project as early as possible. These are the people that will end up utilizing the results of your work, and chances are they’re the ones who’ll have the most questions at the end. Involve them through consultation, regular updates, the all-too-important presentation at the end of the project and by letting them take notes for you during research sessions.

It’s not enough to simply run a card sort now (although that’s still a very useful exercise). You need to think cohesively about the role of your research in your organization and make sure that you’re as aware of your bias as you are of the various methods and tools available to you. Happy researching!

We all know that robust user research is key when it comes to creating human-centred, intuitive products that deliver outstanding user experiences.

But we also know that many of us (especially those in marketing and design) are guilty of not doing research as often as we should – or even not at all. Often, it’s considered expensive and time consuming. However, with the right user research tools, research can start almost immediately, and we can analyze data in days, not weeks).

All of this to say, you can work with insights that are up to date and can help you inform strong product design at any stage of the product life cycle.

Why is UX research important? 🤳 🎯

Right up front, it’s worth stating that you are not your user . 

With all the will in the world your product (or website or mobile app) may work perfectly and be as intuitive as possible. But, if it is only built on information from your internal organizational perspective and applied with all of your knowledge and experience, it may not measure up in the eye of your user. Often, organizations make major design decisions without fully considering their users. User research backs up decisions with data, helping to make sure that design decisions are smart decisions. 

User experience (UX) research focuses your design on understanding your user expectations, behaviors, needs and motivations. This is done through methodical and investigative approaches. Through data analysis, insights can be used to ensure that all product design decisions benefit the user. It’s all about helping you to gain insights and knowledge that may not be as apparent from the inside. 

User research is an essential part of creating, building and maintaining great products. Providing invaluable insights that inform from the ground up. Helping to structure the information architecture and the underlying performance of your product.

User research throughout design, development and further into the lifecycle of your product will mean less uncertainty and risk. All good things when creating a product that ultimately is intended to generate conversions. UX is at the heart of all we design and create. User research is crucial to creating human-centred design. Creating and developing digital solutions that answer users' needs.

Building better products means a better user experience and ultimately higher retention and conversion rates.  What’s better than a single user experience? A customer that comes back again and again. 

This can sound like a lot of work, but with the right type of user research it can take days, not weeks, to draw out useful and actionable insights.

Getting started with user research needn’t be expensive, time consuming or only done at the start of a project. Let’s look at when research may be of most benefit. If you need a little help selling user research to your broader stakeholders, check out our article. 

Discover navigation issues on your website 📍🗺️ 😡

One type of research that should be done regularly is testing how users navigate your website. Navigation issues on your website can lead to missed opportunities and lower conversion rates. 

Using a tree testing tool like Treejack , at any point in your website lifecycle, allows you to work ‘backwards’ and gain a clearer understanding of where users are getting lost, or uncertain of the next step. Invaluable insights into how your website is working currently and where updates and repairs or reorganising can lead to an overall better product and UX.

This type of research can be done at any point and can be particularly useful to identify how users interact with your homepage. Over 80% of users will know within seconds if they will stay on your website, they need to be easily guided to complete tasks. Don’t lose them at the first look.

Build a new and effective mobile app 📲 🎉

A mobile app answers something that a website can’t or can’t do as efficiently. This could be booking hair appointments, updating membership loyalty points, or checking the weather.

By downloading an app a user wants quick, simple and easy interaction and access to information. While all of this information may be available on your website it may not be as readily found or easily personalized. In some cases, with personalized information (membership numbers or credit card details) this can not be held safely on websites or easily stored and accessed.

User research through first-click testing with a tool like Chalkmark can inform the usability of the mobile app interface. First-click testing on mobile apps allows you to rapidly test ideas and ensure your design supports user goals before you invest time and money in further design work and development.

Continued user research throughout the life of the app and making updates that improve the interaction will mean a long term life of your app.

Learn how people use your product 💎 👀

Undertaking usability testing at any stage can benchmark how your product is currently being used. Providing insights into how it can be improved, reordered or information sorted better. 

Here are a few key user research tools that can be picked up and used quickly and with a small investment, meaning they can be done regularly.

• Card sorting is a great tool for investigating how users intuitively sort information. Find out how they would like to see information sorted that would make the experience easier and more intuitively. You can get started with OptimalSort now and have data and insights back in days, not weeks.
• Tree testing is an investigative tool which follows where users go when they arrive at your website. Highlighting where they get lost and where they get stuck. All valuable information when relying on responsiveness and conversion. Getting started with Treejack is simple and quick, allowing data driven results to inform decisions for a new or existing website.
• First-click testing looks at where users go first. Where do they click on your website or your mobile app? This information will highlight how users view the interface and what they are drawn to first. Allowing your design to be influenced by intuitive behaviour and ultimately driving usability. Chalkmark is a tool which you can quickly and easily get started with, allowing your product to be intuitive from the start, or enhanced with data driven insights.

Build better products 🧱

Learning how your product usability, backed with data and insights means that product design can be more intuitive, human-centred and ensure a more positive end user experience. Working with data driven insights also helps stakeholders to understand why design may be challenged, updated or changed.

All of this needn’t be at the high cost of time, energy and delay. These tools are all readily available and can be implemented in days, not weeks. They are easy to use, and data can be easily digested and transformed into real changes.

In-person user testing is an important part of any research project, helping you to see first-hand how your users interact with your prototypes and products – but what are you supposed to do when it’s not a viable option?

The recent outbreak of coronavirus is forcing user researchers and designers to rethink traditional testing approaches, especially in-person testing. So what’s the solution? Enter unmoderated user testing. This approach circumvents the need to meet your participants face-to-face as it’s done entirely over the internet. As you can probably guess, this also means there are a few considerable benefits.

Here, we'll take a look at 5 reasons to consider this testing approach. But first, let's explore what unmoderated user testing is.

What is unmoderated user testing?

In the most basic sense, unmoderated user testing removes the ‘moderated’ part of the equation. Instead of having a facilitator guide participants through the test, participants complete the testing activity by themselves and in their own time. For the most part, everything else stays the same.

The key differences are that:

• You’re unable to ask follow-up questions
• You can’t use low-fidelity prototypes
• You can’t support participants (beyond the initial instructions you send them).

However, there are a number of upsides to unmoderated user testing, which we’ll cover below.

1. You can access participants from all over the globe

There’s a good chance that your organization’s customers don’t exist solely in your city, or even just in your country, so why limit yourself to testing local individuals? Moderated user testing requires you to either bring in people who can visit your office or for you to actually travel to another physical location and host testing sessions there.

With unmoderated user testing, you can use a variety of participant recruitment services to access large groups of participants from all over the globe. Making these services even more useful is the fact many allow you to recruit the exact participants you need. For example, drivers of Toyota hybrid vehicles who live in Calgary.

2. Unmoderated user testing is cheaper

Have a think for a moment about all of the typical costs that go along with a hosted user testing session. There’s the cost of a location if you’re traveling to another city, the remuneration for the people you’re testing and the cost of equipment (that you may not typically have access to). Sure, moderated testing can be made much more affordable if you’re hosting a session in your own office and you have all of the required gear, but that’s not the case for everyone doing research.

Unmoderated user testing really only requires you to choose the tool with which you want to run your user test (variable cost), set up your study and then send out the link to your participants.

3. It’s easier to manage

Unmoderated user testing means you can set aside the difficult task of managing participants in person, from scheduling through to finding notetakers and people to help you with the recording equipment. As we noted in the above section about cost, all you have to do is select the tool and then set up and run your study.

4. Automatic analysis

Running in-person, qualitative usability testing sessions can deliver some truly useful insights. There’s really nothing like sitting down in front of a participant and seeing how they interact with the product you’re working on, hearing their frustrations and learning about how they work. But any insights you gain from these sessions you’ll have to derive yourself. There’s no magic button that can generate useful qualitative analysis for you.

With unmoderated user testing, and especially with the right set of tools , you can run your tests and then have analysis generated automatically from your data. Take our IA tool Treejack as just one example. The functionality built into the tool means you can send out text-based versions of your website structure and then see how people make their way through the website to find what they’re looking for. At the end of your test, Treejack will present you with an array of useful, detailed visualizations like this one:

5. There’s less chance of bias

Ever heard of the observer effect? It’s a theory that basically states that the observation of a phenomenon will inevitably change that phenomenon, commonly due to the instruments used in the measurement. The observer effect and other biases often come into play during moderated research sessions specifically as a result of having a moderator in the room – typically with their own biases. Removing the moderator from the equation means you’ll get more reliable data from your study.

And the best place to get started?

Unmoderated user research requires unmoderated testing tools. With health concerns like coronavirus and influenza leading to reduced travel and in turn making in-person testing more difficult, there’s never been a better time to start using unmoderated testing tools. If you haven’t already, take our full set of 5 tools for a spin for free (no credit card required).

Want to do great user research? Maybe you already have tonnes of quantitative research done through testing, surveys and checking. Data galore! Now you really want to get under the skin of your users, understand the why behind their decisions. Getting human-centric with products can mean creating better performing, stronger and more intuitive products that provide an awesome user experience (UX). An in-depth understanding of your users and how they tick can mean the difference between designing products that just work and products that intuitively speak your users language, make them happy, engaged and keep them coming back.

This is where qualitative research comes into play. Understanding how your users tick becomes clearer through user interviews. Interviewing users will provide human insights that make all the difference, the nuance that pulls your product or interface out of the fray and into the light. 

How do you interview confidently? Whether this is your first foray into the world of user interviewing or wanting to step up your game, there are a few common pitfalls along the way. We cover off 7 of the most common mistakes, and how to avoid them, helping you avoid these on your way to interview greatness! 

How do you conduct a user research interview?

There are several ways of doing qualitative user research .  Here we will talk about in-person user interviews. Great user interviewing is a skill in itself. And relies on great prep, quality participants and excellent analysis of the results. But don’t be put off, all of this can be learned, and with the right environment and tools can be simple to implement.  Want to find out more in detail about how to conduct an interview? Take a look here .

Even if you’re an old hand we’re not all gifted interviewing experts, it’s okay if you lack expertise. In fact, totally nailing interview technique is almost impossible thanks to a ton of different factors. It's your job to keep what you can under control, and record the interview well in the moment for later analysis. Keeping safe all those lovely human centric insights you unearth. 

Here are seven practical user research interview mistakes you could be making, and how to fix them:

1. Not having enough participants

It can be intimidating doing any sort of user research. Particularly when you need to find participants. And a random selection, not just those down the hall in the next office (though sometimes they can be great). And getting a large enough pool of participants that make the data meaningful, and the insights impactful.

Not to worry, there are ways to find a giant pool of reliable interview participants. Either dive into existing users that you are familiar with, and they with you. Or get in touch with us to recruit a small or large sample of participants . 

2. Not knowing enough about your interview participants

Interviews are two-way streets, so if you’re hoping to encourage anyone to be open and honest in an interview setting you’ll need to do your homework on the person you’re interviewing. This may not always be applicable if you’re looking for a truly random sample of people. Understanding a little more about your participants should help the conversation flow, and when you do go off-script, it is natural and curiosity driven.

3. Not creating an open interview environment

Everything about your user interview environment affects the outcome of the interview. Your participants need to feel confident and comfortable. The space needs to remove as many distractions as possible. A comfortable workstation, laptop that works, and even the air conditioning at a good temperature can all play a part in providing a relaxed environment. So when it comes to the interview they are able to demonstrate and explain their behaviour or decisions on their own terms.

Of course, in this modern day, the availability of remote and virtual interviewing has changed the game slightly. Allowing your participants to be in their own environment can be beneficial. Be careful to take note of what you can see about their space. Is it crowded, dim, busy or noisy? If you don’t have full control over the environment be sure to note this in a factual way.

4. Not having a note-taker in the room

Good note-taking is a skill in its own right and it’s important to have someone skilled at it. Bringing a dedicated note-taker into the user interviews also frees you up to focus on your participant and your interviewing. Allowing the conversation to flow. Leaving the note-taker to focus on marking down all of the relevant points of interest. 

5. Using a bad recording setup

Deciding to audio (and/or video) record the interview is a great option. When choosing this option, recording can be  possibly the most important aspect of the interview setup process. Being able to focus on the interview without worrying about your recording equipment is key. Make sure that your recording equipment is high quality and in a central position to pick up everything you discuss - don’t trip at the first hurdle and be left with unusable data. 

A dedicated note-taker can still be of value in the room, they can monitor the recording and note any environmental or contextual elements of the interview process. Taking the stress off of you for the recording set up, and any adjustments.

Another option is Reframer . It’s a great recording tool that can free you up to focus on your participant and the interview. Reframer will audio record your interview,auto time-stamp and provide a standardized format for recording all of your interviews. Post analysis becomes simple and quick. And even quicker to share the data and insights.

6 . Not taking the time to prepare your interview questions

Lack of preparation can be a fatal error for any user research and user interviews are no different. Interviews are a qualitative research method, and your questions don’t need to be as strict as those in a quantitative questionnaire, for example. However, you will still need a standardised script to regulate your user interviews and make sure all of your participants are asked the same set of questions. Always leaving plenty of room to go off script to get under the skin of why your participant interacts with your product in a particular way!

7. Not having a plan of action for organizing your data

Qualitative data is unstructured, which can make it hard to organize and analyze. Recording and including all of your interviews on one platform so you can analyze the insights and conclusions together makes it easier to review.  Reframer can do all of this in one place allowing all of your organizational stakeholders access to the data. 

Don’t miss anything in your interviews, you put in the time, the effort and the investment into doing them. Make sure that they are recorded, available and analyzed in one place. For the team to see, use and report against.

User interviews can be intimidating, to organise, to prep for and even finding your participants can be hard. But user interviews needn’t be too much of a headache. With the Optimal Workshop platform, we take the pain out of the process with participant selection, recording, analyzing and reporting.

If you want a single platform to record, analyze and store your data, take a look at Optimal Workshop and Reframer . And get interviewing!

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How to write a research proposal?

Devika rani duggappa.

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Address for correspondence: Dr. Devika Rani Duggappa, 314/2/5, Durganjali Nilaya, 1 st H Cross, 7 th Main, Subbanna Garden, Vijayanagar, Bengaluru - 560 040, Karnataka, India. E-mail: [email protected]

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

Writing the proposal of a research work in the present era is a challenging task due to the constantly evolving trends in the qualitative research design and the need to incorporate medical advances into the methodology. The proposal is a detailed plan or ‘blueprint’ for the intended study, and once it is completed, the research project should flow smoothly. Even today, many of the proposals at post-graduate evaluation committees and application proposals for funding are substandard. A search was conducted with keywords such as research proposal, writing proposal and qualitative using search engines, namely, PubMed and Google Scholar, and an attempt has been made to provide broad guidelines for writing a scientifically appropriate research proposal.

Key words: Guidelines, proposal, qualitative, research

INTRODUCTION

A clean, well-thought-out proposal forms the backbone for the research itself and hence becomes the most important step in the process of conduct of research.[ 1 ] The objective of preparing a research proposal would be to obtain approvals from various committees including ethics committee [details under ‘Research methodology II’ section [ Table 1 ] in this issue of IJA) and to request for grants. However, there are very few universally accepted guidelines for preparation of a good quality research proposal. A search was performed with keywords such as research proposal, funding, qualitative and writing proposals using search engines, namely, PubMed, Google Scholar and Scopus.

Five ‘C’s while writing a literature review

BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

A proposal needs to show how your work fits into what is already known about the topic and what new paradigm will it add to the literature, while specifying the question that the research will answer, establishing its significance, and the implications of the answer.[ 2 ] The proposal must be capable of convincing the evaluation committee about the credibility, achievability, practicality and reproducibility (repeatability) of the research design.[ 3 ] Four categories of audience with different expectations may be present in the evaluation committees, namely academic colleagues, policy-makers, practitioners and lay audiences who evaluate the research proposal. Tips for preparation of a good research proposal include; ‘be practical, be persuasive, make broader links, aim for crystal clarity and plan before you write’. A researcher must be balanced, with a realistic understanding of what can be achieved. Being persuasive implies that researcher must be able to convince other researchers, research funding agencies, educational institutions and supervisors that the research is worth getting approval. The aim of the researcher should be clearly stated in simple language that describes the research in a way that non-specialists can comprehend, without use of jargons. The proposal must not only demonstrate that it is based on an intelligent understanding of the existing literature but also show that the writer has thought about the time needed to conduct each stage of the research.[ 4 , 5 ]

CONTENTS OF A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

The contents or formats of a research proposal vary depending on the requirements of evaluation committee and are generally provided by the evaluation committee or the institution.

In general, a cover page should contain the (i) title of the proposal, (ii) name and affiliation of the researcher (principal investigator) and co-investigators, (iii) institutional affiliation (degree of the investigator and the name of institution where the study will be performed), details of contact such as phone numbers, E-mail id's and lines for signatures of investigators.

The main contents of the proposal may be presented under the following headings: (i) introduction, (ii) review of literature, (iii) aims and objectives, (iv) research design and methods, (v) ethical considerations, (vi) budget, (vii) appendices and (viii) citations.[ 4 ]

Introduction

It is also sometimes termed as ‘need for study’ or ‘abstract’. Introduction is an initial pitch of an idea; it sets the scene and puts the research in context.[ 6 ] The introduction should be designed to create interest in the reader about the topic and proposal. It should convey to the reader, what you want to do, what necessitates the study and your passion for the topic.[ 7 ] Some questions that can be used to assess the significance of the study are: (i) Who has an interest in the domain of inquiry? (ii) What do we already know about the topic? (iii) What has not been answered adequately in previous research and practice? (iv) How will this research add to knowledge, practice and policy in this area? Some of the evaluation committees, expect the last two questions, elaborated under a separate heading of ‘background and significance’.[ 8 ] Introduction should also contain the hypothesis behind the research design. If hypothesis cannot be constructed, the line of inquiry to be used in the research must be indicated.

Review of literature

It refers to all sources of scientific evidence pertaining to the topic in interest. In the present era of digitalisation and easy accessibility, there is an enormous amount of relevant data available, making it a challenge for the researcher to include all of it in his/her review.[ 9 ] It is crucial to structure this section intelligently so that the reader can grasp the argument related to your study in relation to that of other researchers, while still demonstrating to your readers that your work is original and innovative. It is preferable to summarise each article in a paragraph, highlighting the details pertinent to the topic of interest. The progression of review can move from the more general to the more focused studies, or a historical progression can be used to develop the story, without making it exhaustive.[ 1 ] Literature should include supporting data, disagreements and controversies. Five ‘C's may be kept in mind while writing a literature review[ 10 ] [ Table 1 ].

Aims and objectives

The research purpose (or goal or aim) gives a broad indication of what the researcher wishes to achieve in the research. The hypothesis to be tested can be the aim of the study. The objectives related to parameters or tools used to achieve the aim are generally categorised as primary and secondary objectives.

Research design and method

The objective here is to convince the reader that the overall research design and methods of analysis will correctly address the research problem and to impress upon the reader that the methodology/sources chosen are appropriate for the specific topic. It should be unmistakably tied to the specific aims of your study.

In this section, the methods and sources used to conduct the research must be discussed, including specific references to sites, databases, key texts or authors that will be indispensable to the project. There should be specific mention about the methodological approaches to be undertaken to gather information, about the techniques to be used to analyse it and about the tests of external validity to which researcher is committed.[ 10 , 11 ]

The components of this section include the following:[ 4 ]

Population and sample

Population refers to all the elements (individuals, objects or substances) that meet certain criteria for inclusion in a given universe,[ 12 ] and sample refers to subset of population which meets the inclusion criteria for enrolment into the study. The inclusion and exclusion criteria should be clearly defined. The details pertaining to sample size are discussed in the article “Sample size calculation: Basic priniciples” published in this issue of IJA.

Data collection

The researcher is expected to give a detailed account of the methodology adopted for collection of data, which include the time frame required for the research. The methodology should be tested for its validity and ensure that, in pursuit of achieving the results, the participant's life is not jeopardised. The author should anticipate and acknowledge any potential barrier and pitfall in carrying out the research design and explain plans to address them, thereby avoiding lacunae due to incomplete data collection. If the researcher is planning to acquire data through interviews or questionnaires, copy of the questions used for the same should be attached as an annexure with the proposal.

Rigor (soundness of the research)

This addresses the strength of the research with respect to its neutrality, consistency and applicability. Rigor must be reflected throughout the proposal.

It refers to the robustness of a research method against bias. The author should convey the measures taken to avoid bias, viz. blinding and randomisation, in an elaborate way, thus ensuring that the result obtained from the adopted method is purely as chance and not influenced by other confounding variables.

Consistency

Consistency considers whether the findings will be consistent if the inquiry was replicated with the same participants and in a similar context. This can be achieved by adopting standard and universally accepted methods and scales.

Applicability

Applicability refers to the degree to which the findings can be applied to different contexts and groups.[ 13 ]

Data analysis

This section deals with the reduction and reconstruction of data and its analysis including sample size calculation. The researcher is expected to explain the steps adopted for coding and sorting the data obtained. Various tests to be used to analyse the data for its robustness, significance should be clearly stated. Author should also mention the names of statistician and suitable software which will be used in due course of data analysis and their contribution to data analysis and sample calculation.[ 9 ]

Ethical considerations

Medical research introduces special moral and ethical problems that are not usually encountered by other researchers during data collection, and hence, the researcher should take special care in ensuring that ethical standards are met. Ethical considerations refer to the protection of the participants' rights (right to self-determination, right to privacy, right to autonomy and confidentiality, right to fair treatment and right to protection from discomfort and harm), obtaining informed consent and the institutional review process (ethical approval). The researcher needs to provide adequate information on each of these aspects.

Informed consent needs to be obtained from the participants (details discussed in further chapters), as well as the research site and the relevant authorities.

When the researcher prepares a research budget, he/she should predict and cost all aspects of the research and then add an additional allowance for unpredictable disasters, delays and rising costs. All items in the budget should be justified.

Appendices are documents that support the proposal and application. The appendices will be specific for each proposal but documents that are usually required include informed consent form, supporting documents, questionnaires, measurement tools and patient information of the study in layman's language.

As with any scholarly research paper, you must cite the sources you used in composing your proposal. Although the words ‘references and bibliography’ are different, they are used interchangeably. It refers to all references cited in the research proposal.

Successful, qualitative research proposals should communicate the researcher's knowledge of the field and method and convey the emergent nature of the qualitative design. The proposal should follow a discernible logic from the introduction to presentation of the appendices.

Financial support and sponsorship

Conflicts of interest.

There are no conflicts of interest.

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