UX Research

UX Research is the systematic collection and analysis of data on user behaviour, needs and pain points. The aim is to design products, services or websites that truly meet users’ needs. Rather than guessing what works, you base your design choices on concrete insights from interviews, observations, tests and data analysis. For small and medium-sized companies, this means fewer costly redesign cycles and higher conversion rates, as your website or product meets the actual needs of your target audience right from the start.

How UX Research works in practice

UX Research combines qualitative and quantitative methods. In qualitative research, you conduct in-depth interviews, observe users whilst they are working with your product, or organise focus groups. You discover why people make certain choices and what challenges they face. Quantitative research collects measurable data via surveys, analytics or A/B testing. For example, an online shop with 500 products can use heatmaps to see where visitors drop out of the ordering process, and then validate this with user interviews. This combination gives you both the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ behind user behaviour. In practice, we see with SME clients that even a single two-week research cycle often yields three to five concrete areas for improvement that have an immediate impact on conversion.

Why UX Research came about and why it matters now

UX Research emerged in the 1990s from the fields of human-computer interaction and cognitive psychology. Companies discovered that technically perfect products failed if users did not understand them. In the United Kingdom, the discipline only really became mainstream in the 2010s, when online shops and SaaS companies realised that price-based competition alone no longer worked. Today, UX Research is crucial because users decide within three seconds whether to stay on your site. The W3C emphasises that accessible and understandable design starts with understanding your user. For small and medium-sized companies, the difference is measurable: a well-designed checkout process can mean the difference between a 2% and a 5% conversion rate.

What UX Research delivers for small and medium-sized companies

UX Research prevents you from investing in functionality that nobody uses. A B2B service provider with twelve employees discovered through user research that customers found their quote request form too long, not too technical. By shortening the form from eight to three fields, the number of submissions increased by 40 per cent. UX Research also helps prioritise improvements: you know which changes will have the greatest impact. As part of our web design process, we always include a short research phase in which we test with real users. This provides concrete insights into navigation, language use and calls to action. The result is a website that is not only attractive but also works effectively for your target audience.

UX Research can be applied at virtually any stage of product or web development – from validating an initial idea to optimising an existing service. Below are four specific applications that deliver the most value for small and medium-sized companies, plus an overview of when UX Research is – or isn’t – the right choice.

Validating new product ideas or services

Before investing in development, check whether your idea meets a genuine need. You do this by interviewing potential users about their current working methods, frustrations and wishes. A Nijmegen-based software company wanted to build a planning tool for self-employed professionals. Interviews revealed that the target group struggled mainly with invoicing, not with planning. By adapting their approach based on these insights, they built a tool that was actually used. This type of research is called exploratory research. It takes little time – usually two to three weeks – but prevents you from spending months building something nobody needs. You save on development costs and increase the likelihood of achieving product-market fit.

Optimising conversion and user experience

If your website or online shop is already live, you’ll use UX Research to identify pain points. Through heatmaps, session recordings and user tests, you’ll see where visitors drop off. A building materials wholesaler discovered that customers did not understand the product filters: too much technical jargon, too little visual feedback. Following adjustments, the number of product page visits rose by 30 per cent. This type of research is known as evaluative research. You test an existing design and improve it step by step. Combine this with SEO and you’ll end up with a site that’s both easy to find and converts well. At Monkey Vision , we link UX insights to analytics data to get a complete picture of user behaviour.

Improving accessibility and inclusivity

UX Research helps you discover whether your site works for all users, including people with disabilities. Think of visually impaired people using a screen reader, or older people who struggle with small buttons. By carrying out accessibility tests with real users, you’ll uncover issues that you’d miss in a standard QA test. A healthcare organisation in Greater London tested its patient portal with older people and discovered that the contrast was too low and the font size too small. After making adjustments, the number of support enquiries fell by half. Accessibility is not only an ethical choice, but also a business one: you expand your target audience and comply with legal requirements such as the European Accessibility Act.

Substantiating internal decisions and budget requests

UX Research provides objective data that helps to convince stakeholders or prioritise projects. If your marketing manager wants to invest in a new checkout process, but senior management has reservations, you can use user research to demonstrate that 60 per cent of visitors drop out at step three. That makes the business case concrete. A law firm used UX Research to demonstrate that their initial consultation form was too legalistic for private clients. With these insights, they secured funding for a redesign. This type of research is known as strategic research. It helps you set priorities and deploy resources effectively. This is particularly valuable for larger companies with multiple departments.

When UX Research is the right choice and when it isn’t

UX Research is worthwhile if you have a complex product, serve a diverse target audience, or are investing heavily in development. It is less useful if you serve a very niche market where you yourself are the user, or if your budget and time are extremely limited. For a simple landing page with a single clear call-to-action, a quick A/B test is often more effective than weeks of research. But for an online shop with hundreds of products, a SaaS platform or a complex service offering, UX Research is an investment that pays for itself through higher conversion rates and reduced support costs.