5 ideas for user research when you can't talk to users - Pixel Fridge

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses 5 ideas for conducting user research when direct access to users is not possible, such as when there are time or budget constraints, or the target audience is difficult to reach.

🙋 Q&A

[01] 5 ideas for user research when you can't talk to users

1. What are the 5 ideas for user research when you can't talk to users directly?

• Trawl online forums to understand what people are saying about your product or competitors
• Read user reviews, especially for apps and digital services, to identify pain points and recurring issues
• Speak to customer-facing staff like customer support, who have direct insight into user problems and feedback
• Analyze website analytics data to understand user behavior and pain points
• Use tools like HotJar to record user sessions and see how they interact with your website or app

2. Why is user research important, even when it's difficult to access users directly?

• Without user research, product design is just guesswork, even if it's based on experience
• Skipping user research can lead to creating a product that is unusable or doesn't meet user needs
• Many organizations are skeptical about user research due to perceived high cost and time commitment

3. How can these alternative research methods help when you can't access users directly?

• They provide valuable insights into user attitudes, pain points, and behaviors
• They can uncover unexpected user needs or ways the product is being used
• They can help adjust the product's language and messaging to better match user terminology
• They can act as a "gateway" to convince stakeholders of the value of more intensive user research

[02] Trawling forums and reading reviews

1. How can trawling online forums provide user insights?

• Forums are where people openly discuss and rant about products and services
• Reviewing forum discussions can reveal unmet needs, pain points, and how users feel about your product or competitors
• It can also help you understand the language and terminology your users employ

2. What can user reviews, especially for apps and digital services, reveal?

• Reviews from the most emotionally invested users can highlight specific usability issues or bugs
• Recurring problems mentioned in reviews should be the focus, rather than addressing every single piece of feedback

[03] Speaking to customer-facing staff and analyzing analytics data

1. Why is it valuable to speak to customer-facing staff like customer support?

• They have direct, daily interaction with customers and users
• They often have the best understanding of customer pain points and common issues
• Their insights can provide valuable direction for product improvements

2. How can website analytics data be used for user research?

• Analytics tools like Google Analytics can reveal a lot about user behavior and pain points
• But it's important to have specific research goals in mind, rather than just browsing the data aimlessly
• Questions to answer could include which sections are most visited, what people are searching for, and how mobile vs. desktop behavior differs

[04] Using remote session recordings and heatmaps

1. What insights can tools like HotJar provide that traditional analytics can't?

• They allow you to see actual user sessions and how people interact with your website or app
• This can reveal specific usability issues and pain points that analytics data alone can't uncover
• Features like on-page surveys can also provide additional qualitative user feedback

2. How do these remote research methods compare to in-person user testing?

• In-person testing is ideal, but these remote methods can provide valuable insights when direct user access is not possible
• They act as a "gateway" to convince stakeholders of the value of more intensive user research in the future