6 reasons why UX research matters

To create compelling interfaces for an optimized user experience, you need to consider many factors and pay attention to every little detail. However, before starting the design process, you need to conduct UX research. In this article, we will explain UX research and convince you why it matters. UX research plays a significant role at every stage of product development, but in this article, we will focus more on the pre-development stage.

What’s UX research

UX research involves understanding the purpose behind the product you’re designing. While that’s a simplified explanation, let’s look deeper into it: UX research delves into various aspects of a product’s usability. It enables you to pinpoint the questions you need to answer and the decisions you aim to facilitate. Without it, you’d risk investing time in designing ineffective products.

Here are the areas UX research help you to understand:

• Target users
• Broader environment or context
• Key terminology and concepts
• User goals
• User pain points
• Usability
• First impression
• Design workflow assessment
• Overall experience journey
• Accessibility
• Productivity and efficiency

Why UX research matters

UX is essential for creating a smooth user experience when using the product designed. It reduces confusion and uncertainty for both the design team and the end-user. Here are six reasons why UX research matters:

1. UX research helps you understand the persona of end-users: In the process of designing optimized interfaces, end-users are the ones who matter most. To create tailored products, you need to understand who will use them and why they need to use this product. Your product should address their questions through its design. Confusion needs to be minimized, and this can only be achieved by knowing who will use the product and understanding user behavior.

2. UX helps the design team: In terms of both efficiency and time, when you have a detailed document outlining the audience you are designing a product for, their needs, their understanding of the industry, and some of their relevant characteristics, it will be easier for you to design a product that takes into consideration all the points previously mentioned. This will also shorten the design process, as you will not spend time guessing how the product should be designed, avoiding the creation of ineffective products, receiving negative feedback, and then being forced to redesign from scratch.

3. UX research helps you identify key features for the product: The process of conceptualizing a product is not easy. You may end up with plenty of irrelevant features that your end-users do not need. When conducting UX research, you gain a better understanding of the end-users and their needs in terms of features, which helps craft pertinent products.

4. UX research helps you stay updated on the latest trends: In every field, trends are constantly being created. If you identify new market opportunities, your product will always be relevant in your field. Conducting UX research does not stop at understanding the end-user but also involves staying informed about the latest trends in your industry.

5. UX research helps make data-driven decisions: changing a design or starting a new one can be a challenging task. You cannot possibly be subjective and guess what will work or what will not work; you need to be objective and possess information that will support the changes you are making. This is when UX research intervenes and helps you make data-driven decisions by tracking user behavior.

6. UX research helps you make business decisions: when you evaluate the usability and functionality of a product, you can determine the Return on Investment of your UX design. The ROI achieved can be:

• More generated sales because of a change made in the design.
• A larger number of new customers after implementing a well-designed feature.

Following new trends and staying updated is a must for all industries. With the increased number of innovative software and well-developed new technologies, marking your territory in the market is challenging. That is why you need to understand the importance of continuous research for a customized and optimized user experience.