The American airline United Airlines conducted a UX study and redesigned its website based on the results. Ticket sales increased by 200% . You can achieve similar results - just analyze the user experience and adjust the site in time.
UX research (User Experience Research) is a process by which companies analyze how consumers interact with their product or service. The goal of UX research is to understand how users perceive the product, what problems they encounter, and how their experience can be improved.
In this article, we will talk about the main goals, types and methods of UX research, and also show in which cases they are necessary.
What tasks does UX research solve?
There are several of them:
Helps to better understand needs and expectations. After UX research, it is easier to determine which product features and capabilities are most important to users. For example, it may show that instagram data customers on an airline website really want a monthly price calendar that allows them to compare prices on different days on one screen, rather than having to search for each specific date.
Identify problems and barriers to using the product. Research helps identify problems that users face. For example, the complexity of the interface, errors in the operation of the site / application, or insufficient information content. Probably, many have encountered such online stores, where before paying for the order, you need to click on several countries with additional options.
They give recommendations on how to improve the user experience and the product: its interface design, functionality, and ease of use. For example, they suggest moving the product search filter that the seller company considers insignificant to a prominent place on the main page — after all, this is what customers often search for.
Helps evaluate the effectiveness of changes in the product. It happens that users who have become accustomed to a certain design over the years are hostile to changes, especially significant ones - and some even stop trusting the site altogether, believing that it is fraudulent.
Allows to reduce the costs of developing and updating the site/application in the future. After all, if there are ready results of UX research, developers already understand which options will be most in demand, and what does not make sense to add to the new version of the site.
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When UX Research Is Needed
UX research is required in various situations related to the development and improvement of products or services. Here are some of them:
During the product planning stage or when updating a product: Before starting product development, it is important to understand the needs and expectations of users in order to create a product that will meet their requirements. UX research helps to determine which features and capabilities will be most in demand in a new product or what needs to be changed in an existing one.
After the product launch: UX research can help identify problems and barriers that prevent users from using the product effectively. This could be due to a clunky interface, difficult-to-use features, or other factors.
In case of changes in the competitive field: when the market changes and new competitors appear, UX research allows the company to remain in a leading position and offer products that meet new user requirements, as well as compare its product with the competitor's, identify its strengths and weaknesses.
Before launching a new product or service: to understand what user needs are not met by existing products or services and what aspects of them are most important to users.