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When is the best time to do user research?

Author's avatar By Robert Jones 30 Jan, 2018
Essential Essential topic

Chart of the day: Most user experience (UX) research is conducted during the design and prototyping phase

76% do UX research during the design and prototyping phase, whilst 72% do user research before design and development.

Just over half (52%) also do user research after launching. It isn't recommended to only do testing after launch, though doing user testing at all is better than not doing it at all. It just makes it harder to make changes after launch. It's certainly best to get the feedback early, to make changes early. It might take more time to test before launch and at various stages, but it certainly saves time in the long run. Those surveyed certainly seem to think the same as the vast majority test before launch. Some of those testing after launch will also be testing at other stages before launch too. The important thing to note here is that it's best to launch at various stages and most certainly not just after launch.

And how much resource do companies have, when it comes to UX?

Most companies surveyed have at least 2 people tho work on user experience. A few years ago this would have been much lower, UX is now a key part of marketing and technology teams and is becoming heavily advocated in businesses.

Author's avatar

By Robert Jones

Robert Jones is a specialist in CRO, UX Research, insight and digital Marketing. He is CRO Analyst at Enjoy Digital. He has a Psychology Masters of Research, has run large digital marketing campaigns to build research panels and worked in insight roles for Vision Critical, ASDA and WhatUsersDo. He also managed all of Smart Insights member resources and published several guides including "How to conduct Persona Research" as well as contributing over 100 blog posts to the Smart Insights blog. When he isn’t working on marketing campaigns he is most likely eating authentic Italian food or planning his next short trip. You can connect with Robert on LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter.

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user experienceUser experience (UX)

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