The UX Toolbox - User Research

22 October 2018 - Emma Kirk

Tools on a bench demonstrating the UX toolbox

Understand what makes your users tick

Simply acting on a business’ intuition carries a great risk of creating solutions that baffle users, eventually deterring them from your organisation or business.

Understanding your users and the tasks they perform (or want to perform) is the essential first step to creating user-centred designs and great user experiences. Many businesses apply web analytics or market research to gain some idea of how users interact with them, however getting deeper insights and empirical evidence from researching users in context gives the most accurate picture.

How do we help?

User needs research is the best way to start a project. It provides valuable insights that can be combined with our understanding of your business goals to create a set of user experience success criteria.

User Vision applies several methods including task analysis, ethnographic research, surveys and qualitative research to fully understand user goals and experiences. We analyse the findings and describe the results through reports and personas that capture their knowledge, motivation, experience and demographic factors.

What next?

To learn more about how User Research can help you, contact us to discuss your specific requirements.

The Unintended Consequences of Making Things Easier

7 September 2026

Making things easier sounds like an obvious good thing, but when we remove effort from an experience, we don’t always know what else we’re removing with it. As AI and automation reshape how people interact with services, we need to understand not just whether the technology works, but how it changes behaviour, what information or human judgement might be lost, and whether the experience is actually better.

Read the article: The Unintended Consequences of Making Things Easier

Designing the Journey to Change

5 August 2026

The ScotRail app problems are a reminder that a digital launch is only part of the story. This article explores why smooth transitions, realistic testing and accessible design are essential when people rely on a service under pressure.

Read the article: Designing the Journey to Change

Why positionality matters in UX research

29 July 2026

Positionality is the lens every UX researcher brings to their work. This article explores how who is asking the questions shapes what users share, how insights are interpreted, and why recognising our own perspective leads to better, more inclusive research.

Read the article: Why positionality matters in UX research

Explore all thoughts

Do you have a project in mind? Let’s chat about what we can do for you. Get in touch