---
watermark: ORIRO
name: ux-research-tools
provider: ORIRO.ai
copyright: Copyright (c) 2026 ORIRO.ai
description: >
  UX research methods and tools — user interviews, usability testing, surveys,
  analytics, heatmaps, and synthesis frameworks. Sources: Nielsen Norman Group
  (free articles), IDEO Design Thinking (free), UX Collective (free).
---

# UX Research Methods and Tools

## Research methods by phase

### Discovery (understand the problem)

**User interviews:** 5-8 participants per persona. Semi-structured. "Tell me about..." not "Do you...?"
**Contextual inquiry:** Observe users in their environment. What people do vs what they say.
**Diary studies:** Participants log experiences over days/weeks. For infrequent behaviors.
**Surveys:** Large scale. Quant data. Low depth. SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, Typeform.

### Evaluation (test solutions)

**Usability testing:** 5 users find 80% of usability problems (Nielsen's rule).
Moderated: Facilitator observes. Rich data. Expensive.
Unmoderated: Remote, automated. Larger sample. Less rich.
**A/B testing:** Live traffic split. Statistical significance needed. Minimum 100-1000 users per variant.
**First-click testing:** Test navigation by asking users to click where they'd go first.

### Free/low-cost tools

**Maze:** Unmoderated testing. Prototype testing. Free tier.
**Hotjar:** Heatmaps + session recordings. Free tier.
**Google Analytics 4:** Free. Behavioral analytics.
**Lookback.io:** Moderated testing. More expensive.
**Miro:** Online whiteboard. Research synthesis. Free tier.

## Research synthesis

**Affinity mapping:** Group observations into themes. Post-it notes on wall (or digital).
**Jobs to be Done (JTBD):** "When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome]."
**How Might We (HMW):** Convert problems into design opportunities.
**User journey map:** Stages × actions × thoughts × emotions × pain points.

## Key metrics

**SUS (System Usability Scale):** 10 questions. Score 0-100. >70 = acceptable. >85 = excellent.
**CSAT:** Customer Satisfaction. Single question 1-5 or 1-10.
**NPS (Net Promoter Score):** "How likely to recommend?" 0-10. Promoters minus Detractors.
**Task completion rate:** % users completing defined task. Target >78% for critical tasks.

Sources: Nielsen Norman Group (nngroup.com — free articles), UX Collective (free),
IDEO Design Thinking methodology (free), Google UX Design Certificate (Coursera)