You always begin the research process by organizing information into easy-to-retrieve or existing sources to identify gaps.
| Focus Areas | Description | Possible Sources/Vendors |
| Product Performance Historical KPIs | Performance KPIs Are the outcome of developing and executing a well-defined measurement plan to collect valuable information throughout the life cycle of a product. | -Site/App analytics
-Brand studies & NPS trackers -Prior custom Studies (Qualitative & Quantitative) |
| Continuous Competitive Analysis/Best Practices | Often a combination of syndicated research, journal reports, and publications to profile companies considered best in class in their industry. These companies aren’t always in direct competition and can be used for best-in-class examples for inspiration for UI, UX, or both. | -Crunchbase/Pitchbook
-Forrester/Gartner -Various journal publications -Site profiling |
| User testing & Feedback | It can be either moderated or unmoderated, where we can expose users to concepts, ask them to do tasks with our product, etc., and we follow up with questions on their experience. The advantage of moderation is that researchers can ask follow-up questions during sessions, but it can be time-consuming and costly. Traditionally done in person, companies now use teleconferencing vendors to reduce cost and turnaround time whenever possible. | -UserTesting
-UserZoom -Userlytics -Suzy |
| One-to-one Client interviews NPS High/Low | Collecting qualitative feedback from clients and end users from high and low NPS scores can help identify what is working, what users like, and where you can improve. Also, collecting feedback about their pain points in their own words can help you improve the overall user experience, increasing product engagement and growth. | -Qualtrics
-Getfeedback -Survey Monkey Enterprise -Appcues |