The Importance of User Research in Designing Exceptional User Experiences — (1)

At the heart of every successful product development, the experience a user gets when they come in contact with your product, application, system or service is very significant.

As Don Norman said,

“If you want to create a great product, you have to start by understanding the people who use it”.

Now, how exactly does one understand people or user needs? This is where User Research comes in.

What is User Research?

This is a critical aspect of gathering insights and data on users’ behaviour, preferences, patterns and pain points to meet the needs and expectations of users. UX Research focuses on understanding users through observation and feedback concerning a specific product to improve its overall experience.

Now, you may think, “Everyone will most likely interact with this product the same way I do” but that is just your cognitive bias speaking.

The danger of this is that you end up building and designing a product based on your ‘assumption’ that will only end up being misaligned with your users’ actual needs, thereby wasting time and resources. Who wants that? User Research bridges the gap between what you think the user needs and what they actually need.

UX Research is an iterative process that occurs during product development. The User Research that occurs before any designing begins is called Foundational Research also known as Generative Research. It answers the questions:

• What are we building?
• Who are the users?
• How do they engage this problem?
• How can we solve this problem for the users?

Foundational Research involves the use of mental models and studying user behavioural patterns. The importance of this is to inform the design and development of a new product to conceive a great user experience.

There is another kind of bias that needs to be considered which is the False Consensus Bias. This is the overestimation of the number of people who will agree with your idea/design/product. This is why Foundational Research also answers the question “Is this product or innovation truly needed or relevant?”.

For UX research to be very effective, the researcher must possess qualities like empathy, collaboration, pragmatism (which means having the ability to solve problems through practical approaches), active listening, good communication skills, research skills, a good sense of design, and attention to detail.

The extent and depth of knowledge of your users obtained from UX Research determines how well you build for your intending users and ultimately what your product becomes in peoples’ minds. It is the gateway to cracking the code for the perfect user experience.