Introduction
UX research tools are a foundational part of any UX research program. When it comes to finding the best tools for their needs, UX researchers should focus their attention on platforms that unearth actionable insights and facilitate collaboration. With budgets getting cut, it’s also important to consider a platform that supports multiple methodologies.
Finding the right UX research tools
Teams should capitalize on platforms that are built with multiple methods in mind. Your UX research tests are only as good as your tool suite, and teams often find themselves constrained by the tools they use. With a growing need for actionable user insights, many companies are feeling the push to find the best tools for the job.
Now could be the time to assess the foundation of your user research, which demands an audit of your current toolkit. The best UX research tools align with the UX research process and support teams as they discover, explore, test, and listen. It is key to remember that UX research is most effective when it builds off of other tests in your repository.
When conducting user research, it is important that your UX research tools give you the option to use different methods to produce well-rounded and varied insights. For example, a company may want to see how their delivery service performs on mobile in a simple task-based user test, while in a later test, they may want to utilize a diary study to understand the learnability and discoverability of new features over a set period of time.
In an economic downturn, finding a UX research tool that allows you to quickly conduct deep and insightful tests is paramount to keeping your product and company afloat. With more companies curtailing projects and cutting back on resources, it can be easy to make concessions on tools. However, finding the right tools is essential to generating insights that keep your company moving toward innovation rather than stagnation by relying on past findings. Now is a great time to tap into UX research so your team can align with the changing needs of consumers and allocate budget more impactfully.
Understanding how to evaluate UX research tools
With so many platforms popping up, finding a tool that will allow research teams to run the most insightful tests can be difficult. The methodology is a major factor when it comes to deciding on various research tools. Some platforms are built for only certain studies in mind, while other platforms have built-out flows that allow for more in-depth methods like diary studies and remote field studies.
For most companies and products, it is important that past and current studies can be easily found and organized. Organizational and collaborative features like tagging, sharing, and sorting allow remote teams to work effectively and reach findings quickly. When looking for a dynamic and robust platform, features matter. Look for things like automated transcriptions, video recordings, and post-task probing to dive deeply into the contexts of users. For example, transcription software can be extremely valuable when quoting users and digging deeper into the contextual impacts that a product or service has on users’ daily lives.
Flexibility and customization are essential things to consider when evaluating tools. Teams should be able to conduct a variety of different methods depending on testing objectives, and they should be able to gather a range of qualitative insights that allow researchers to generate findings that are truly reflective of the user’s experience.
The best remote UX research tools
EthOS
EthOS is an Experience Research Platform (XRP) popular with UX research teams for its ability to uncover unique insights across a number of methodologies. EthOS facilitates the capture of contextually rich data since users complete tasks in their natural environment as they go about their everyday lives. Most platforms create a “lab environment” and rely on participants to recall past experiences, while EthOS brings researchers into the moments and lives of the people they’re studying. The platform’s flexibility means UX teams can cut down on the number of tools they need as it supports methods through all phases of the UXR process: discovery, exploration, testing, and listening.
Methods:
- Diary Studies
- Mobile ethnography
- Mobile user testing
- Generative research
- Journey mapping
- Needs assessments
- Contextual inquiry
- Remote field studies
User Interviews
User Interviews is a self-service qualitative recruitment platform that helps researchers source participants for diary studies, user interviews, and usability tests. Researchers can recruit from a panel of over 1 million participants across several geographies, including the US, UK, France, and Germany. User Interviews offers participant scheduling and payment options as part of the platform. It’s a great resource for UX researchers to find, schedule, and pay participants for qualitative research.
Methods:
- Participant recruiting
Lookback
Lookback is a screen recording tool for researchers to capture users’ interactions with applications. These recorded interactions might be either live sessions or self-recordings. Researchers often use Lookbook to gather feedback on digital products, such as websites, apps, and prototypes. Lookbook also offers an integration with User Interviews to streamline the recruitment of participants.
Methods:
- Live interviews
- Usability testing
- Screen recordings
Optimal Workshop
Optimal Workshop is a platform that provides researchers with a set of tools for conducting UX research, including tree testing, card sorting, surveys, remote usability testing, and first-click testing. Optimal Workshop offers real-time analytics and collaboration tools along with participant recruitment services.
Methods:
- Card sorting
- Tree Testing
- First-click testing
- Online surveys
- Participant Recruitment
Qualtrics
Qualtrics is a quantitative, cloud-based survey platform. It’s a leader in the space that provides a range of tools for collecting and analyzing data, including surveys and polls. The platform also offers advanced analytics capabilities, such as cross-tabulation, charting, text analytics, predictive analytics, and statistical modeling.
Methods:
- Quantitative Research, such as surveys and polling
- Quantitative Reporting & Analysis
