The new UX research tech stack ??
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The Wireframe:
How Tools Are Shaping UX Research in 2024
When I was coming up in the design world, I felt like everyone was doing robust research…while I was relying on the scrappiest methods to cobble together insights.
Turns out? Behind closed doors, some of the biggest design teams were skipping out on user tests altogether. Research was considered “too expensive to do properly” and fell to the bottom of designers’ priority lists.
But in 2024, UX research is changing. As new human-computer interactions surface, a research resurgence is on the rise. There are more UX research tools than ever—and with the help of AI, designers are conducting research at unprecedented speed and scale.
Today, we’re talking about the evolving UX research tech stack →
In September 2023, User Interviews surveyed 900+ researchers on the current state of UX research. It’s a goldmine of info for understanding today’s UXR toolkit—let’s dig in.
At the base of the stack are general-purpose tools. The survey revealed three standouts: Google Workspace (57% of respondents), Microsoft Suite (51%), and Miro (51%).
So where does AI come in?
77.1% of UX researchers surveyed were using AI in at least some of their work (by now, I’d guess that’s up to at least 85%). In other words? AI is rapidly becoming an integral part of the UX research toolkit—and for more reasons than you might think.
Let’s get something straight: Using AI tools for UXR isn’t (and never has been) about simulating a user. Instead, the survey revealed, AI is all about helping us leverage our interactions with real interviewees—synthesizing our findings, cataloging our insights, and improving our knowledge management.
Some of the most popular UXR tools with AI features include HotJar , Dscout , Glassbox , Dovetail , and Notion :
The biggest benefit of using AI-powered UXR tools? Increased efficiency and productivity, per designers surveyed, followed by improved analysis and synthesis. AI makes research faster and more thorough—a sentiment that research leader Noam Segal echoed in the latest Dive Club episode:
“Up until now, we’ve had to make a pretty crappy choice between understanding people at scale using quantitative methods, or running qualitative research with a very limited number of users,” Noam shared. “We could only gather rich data at a very small scale. But [with AI], you can gather both qualitative and quantitative data at any scale you wish.”
And the survey data agrees: Over 40% of researchers used AI tools for qualitative coding—the most popular use case for AI in the study.
How I’m conducting research in 2024
As today’s UXR tech stack evolves, I’m changing my own research processes. Here’s what’s been working for me:
There are two other UXR tools on my radar:
The bottom line: In 2024, there’s no excuse for skipping research. Today’s tools make research accessible to anyone and help us gather richer, more comprehensive insights. As new modalities rapidly surface, we’ll need research more than ever before. Today’s tools will get us there.
领英推荐
The Right Research Tools Can Free Up Your Time By 50%
AI is changing user research at an accelerated pace. But what does that actually look like in practice?
You could be delivering 2-3x more research instead of spending hours doing tasks that AI could automate. Your boss will love you for this one.
?? Say hello to Marvin. UX researchers and designers can now cut their research time in half by:
Want to improve your workflow so you can conduct customer research faster and more effectively?
News, Tools, and Resources: The future of research
Got a great tool, podcast episode, idea, or something else? Comment and tell me what’s up.
How to Storytell in UX Research
It’s clear: AI can seriously streamline the UXR process. But that doesn’t mean the job of UX researchers is going away. Why? Because storytelling is UXR’s secret weapon—the difference between collecting research and implementing it.
Here are four tips for becoming a research storytelling pro:
1) Begin with a hook. Give your audience a reason to care right off the bat—something that, according to Noam, YouTuber MrBeast does uniquely well. “When you watch the first 30 seconds of his videos, you immediately understand what’s going on and why you should care,” said Noam.
How to: In the first few sentences of your research deliverable, answer the question, “What will this research mean for my audience?”
2) Group your findings. Karuna Harishanker, a Senior UX Researcher at Lyft, shared one of the most common UX research mistakes: presenting your findings in the chronological order of the research study. That only shows how you conducted the study—but you want to show what your audience cares about.
A quick fix? Group the different findings by coherent and distinct themes.
3) Consider the pain-insight equilibrium. According to Noam, your insights become a lot more compelling when the pain that led to them is clear. It’s a fine balance—but your product team will internalize insights better (and be more compelled to act) when they know the problem they’re solving.
How to: Instead of skipping straight to the TL;DR, share how you got that insight.
4) Use a structure. The truth is: No matter what story you are telling, and no matter what context you’re telling it within, the quality and resonance of all stories depends largely on the structure . I personally love the Pixar Story Spine, South Park Story Spine, and Hero’s Journey:
The UX Tools Job Board
Thanks for reading! Do you think UXR is back in full swing? Comment and let me know.
See you next week!
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