Why Conducting Quality UXR is Critical to Business Success

Published on 31 May 2025 | Author Stevie Vanderwiel, Brand Marketing Manager at Dscout

For UX researchers and designers, getting business leaders to understand the value of their work may feel like half the battle. But even research with buy-in can easily become a box to check during the product development process.

Simply conducting research isn’t enough. The quality of those insights is a huge and often overlooked factor for product success.

For example, if you fill a study with 100 participants, use those findings and insights to eventually build and launch a new product, and it turns out that over 50% of those participants weren’t in your target audience (or maybe not even human!)…you’ve just spent a lot of time and money building a product that may be completely irrelevant to your audience.

Plus, now you have to allocate even more time and resources to course correcting and building the right thing.

In short, it pays to do research right the first time.

But what are the financial impacts of cutting corners? What makes research “quality”? And what is preventing companies from conducting quality research every time? At Dscout, we wanted to find out.

The financial impact of low-quality UX research

Our team at Dscout recently ran a study to uncover the financial repercussions of poor or misleading insights. We surveyed ~140 folks across research, design, and product and compiled data from Forrester, PWC, IBM, and more in our full report, The Business Case for Investing in Quality UX Research.

The report digs into four key areas where research quality directly affects the business. To quickly highlight them…

1. Reducing risk

73% of participants in our survey said that low-quality UX research leads to incorrect or misinformed product decisions. Using low-quality insights can lead to low-quality or misaligned products, and the repercussions of launching a product that doesn’t work for your end users directly impact support teams, conversion rates, churn, and more. High-quality UXR can help ensure you’re building products that customers will actually enjoy using.

2. Reducing development costs

87% of participants in our survey said low-quality UX research wastes time and resources on ineffective solutions. Allocating the time and resources to conducting quality UX research may seem costly up front, but failing to do so can cost exponentially more across design, development, marketing, and, of course, research rework.

Translating Data into Insights: Working with Data Scientists and Data Engineers

  Published on 12 Nov 2024

This is the third article in the series "UX Researchers and XFN Collaboration." Catch up on earlier articles: Building Bridges: The Role of a UX Researcher in a Cross-Functional Team and Navigating Product Development: Collaborating with Product Managers for User-Driven Decisions.

In today’s data-rich world, UX Researchers (UXRs) can collaborate with Data Scientists (DS) and Data Engineers (DE) to turn raw data into actionable insights that deepen understanding of user behavior and preferences. By combining UXR's qualitative insights with DS's quantitative data, teams can make well-rounded decisions that align with real-world user needs. In this article, we’ll explore the unique contributions of UXRs, DS, and DEs across different product phases, discuss best practices for working together, and look at how UXRs can drive research even in the absence of data experts.

Roles of UXRs, Data Scientists, and Data Engineers

1. UX Researchers (UXRs) focus on understanding user needs, pain points, and motivations through qualitative methods like interviews, usability tests, and ethnographic studies. They provide the context and “why” behind user behaviors.

2. Data Scientists (DS) analyze and interpret large datasets, generating insights about user behavior patterns, feature usage, and engagement. DSs support UXRs by offering quantitative evidence and trend analysis to reinforce qualitative insights.

3. Data Engineers (DE) create and maintain the data infrastructure, ensuring clean, accessible, and reliable data. They manage data pipelines and integrate tracking systems, making it easier for UXRs and DSs to access and analyze user data.

What is Contextual Inquiry?

 

What is Contextual Inquiry? 

A contextual interview, or contextual inquiry, is a user research method specifically designed to provide insight into the environment or context in which a design will be used. A contextual interview session typically consists of a mix between a traditional user interview and observations of how the research participants use a product or service in the relevant context. 

Contextual inquiry is a user-centered research technique used in user experience (UX) design and product development. It involves observing and interviewing users in their natural environment, while they are using a product or performing a task related to the product, in order to understand their needs, goals, and behaviors. 

During a contextual inquiry, the researcher may ask questions about the user's thought process and decision-making, observe how the user interacts with the product or the environment, and take note of any challenges or pain points the user encounters. The goal of contextual inquiry is to gain a deep understanding of the user's experience with the product or task, in order to identify areas for improvement and develop solutions that better meet the user's needs. Contextual inquiry is often used in conjunction with other UX research methods, such as surveys, usability testing, and focus groups, to gain a comprehensive understanding of the user experience. It is particularly useful for designing products that are intuitive and easy to use, as well as for identifying new opportunities for innovation.

The Four Principles of Contextual Inquiry 

As mentioned by Interaction Design Foundation in an article "Contextual Interviews and How to Handle Them" below are the four principles of CI:

Context – as you might expect, the interview must take place in the context of use. Typically this has been in a workplace or home environment but with the advent of mobile internet – contextual interviews may now take place in a wider range of settings and scenarios. The research observes the use of the product and talks to the user about what has happened in the observed session. They may also explore previous interactions which are not observed at the time. 

Partnership – there is a need for the user and researcher to form a collaborative partnership to understand what the user is doing and why. In general a contextual interview will shift from observing to discussing what happened in rapid shifts throughout the interview. 

Mutual interpretation – the researcher will explain their conclusions and interpretations with the user throughout the interview. The user is free to correct or expand on the researchers interpretations. 

Focus – the researcher must keep the interview focused on the topics which need to be explored to provide useful data for the improvement project’s scope. They may ask the user to perform specific tasks if they are to be examined specifically in the project brief.

Benefits of Contextual Inquiry: 

Contextual inquiry is a beneficial research technique in UX design because it provides rich, detailed insights into the user's behavior, needs, and motivations. By observing users in their natural environment, designers can gain a more complete understanding of how the product fits into their daily lives, and what they really need from it. Here are some specific benefits of using contextual inquiry in UX design: 

1. Identifying user needs: By observing users in their natural environment, designers can identify the users' pain points, challenges, and unmet needs. This can help designers to create a product that better meets the user's needs, rather than just assuming what those needs are. 

2. Testing assumptions: Designers may have assumptions about how users interact with the product, but by observing them in their natural environment, they can test those assumptions and refine their understanding of the user's behavior. 

3. Understanding context: Contextual inquiry allows designers to gain a deeper understanding of the user's environment and how the product fits into it. This can help designers to design a product that is more intuitive and fits seamlessly into the user's life. 

4. Developing empathy: By observing users and understanding their challenges and needs, designers can develop empathy for the user, which can help them to design a product that truly meets the user's needs and enhances their experience. 

Closing thoughts, Contextual inquiry is a valuable tool in the UX designer's toolkit, helping to create products that are more intuitive, usable, and enjoyable for the user.

Further reads: 

Contextual interview, or contextual inquiry by Interaction Design Foundation 

Contextual Interviews and How to Handle Them by Interaction Design Foundation 

Contextual Interview by Usability.gov 

Why Are Contextual Inquiries So Difficult? by UX Matters

Tags: UX Research, User Research, Research Methods, Contextual Inquiry

Card sorting data analysis - Qualitative & quantitative ways

Card sorting is a method used to help design or evaluate the information architecture of a site. In a card sorting session, participants organize topics into categories that make sense to them and they may also help you label these groups. To conduct a card sort, you can use actual cards, pieces of paper, or one of several online card-sorting software tools. Card sorting helps us gain valuable insight about the structure of data. Know more 

There are some ways which UX researchers or designers can use to analyse the card sorting data and bring clear insights which helps in decision making. 

Card Sorting Data Analysis

Qualitative analysis

While conducting the card sorting activity in-person or remotely using moderated sessions, the notes & observation is considered as qualitative data. Qualitative analysis is helpful in understanding the schema of target participants and their thinking process. This gives high level idea about the trends & themes emerging from the sessions, which should be supported with quantitive data to bring clear insights. Hot picks in this kind of analysis is the new categories created by participants, top confusing cards, terminology issues, similar groups or card categories etc.

Quantitative analysis

1. Using spreadsheet (frequency & percentage)

Create a spreadsheet, listing the cards in the rows and the categories in the columns. From card sort’s results, determine how participants grouped the cards into the categories, then add the raw counts to the spreadsheet. Later replace the raw counts with percentages. Each percentage is the number of participants who sorted certain cards into a particular group divided by the total number of participants. Once you’ve calculated the percentages, keep only the percentages that are substantial enough to take into serious consideration. 

2. Using online tool

If you are using any online card sorting tools, they provide initial level analysis which are helpful in looking the data from a different perspective. Some of the most common type of analysis are as below:

DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission.

Similarity Matrix: The similarity matrix is a simple representation of pair combinations, intended to give you a quick insight into the cards your participants paired together in the same group the most often.  Ref

OptimalSort’s Similarity Matrix 

Dendograms: A dendrogram is a diagram that shows the hierarchical relationship between objects. It is most commonly created as an output from hierarchical clustering.  Ref

AAM Dendrogram in OptimalSort

Check top Card sorting tools 

References:

Card Sorting - Interaction Design foundation 

Dancing with the Cards: Quick-and-Dirty Analysis of Card-Sorting Data

The Pros and Cons of Card Sorting in UX Research

What is Information Architecture

7 best card sorting tool

How to Conduct User Research Yourself?

Have you ever wondered how giant companies like Amazon, Facebook, Google are so successful?

"Customer Satisfaction"

Yes, but have you wondered what drives customer satisfaction?

"It's an amazing user experience backed by wonderful user research."

USER RESEARCH!

In a business focused on the people who use your products or services, user research is vital. However, there are various misconceptions/ myths about user research:

Myth 1: UX research is a time-consuming process & expensive.

Myth 2: User research is not essential/ optional.

Myth 3: User research provides accurate and specific guidance on how to design

Myth 4: UX research is just carried out to gather users' general information.

If you are also one of them who believes these are true, let me tell you one of the pitfalls in UX design is when end users are excluded from the design process, which hampers business sooner or later.

To avoid this, let's first understand:

What User (UX) Research & why is it important?

User Research is a process that helps businesses know about their targeted user's needs, preferences, behavior, goals, problems and help them in designing appropriate design solutions.

In simple words,

"User Research, also known as design research, is a user investigation process conducted to discover or study user insights that guide in creating a successful design."- Ungrammary

Here are some of the UX Research benefits:

User research serves many purposes across the design process:

• It helps to prove or eliminate unwarranted assumptions in design.

• Understand how users navigate your site/ app and identify design loopholes that hamper their navigation journey.

• Helps in building brand loyalty among users.

• Speed up product development.

• Eliminate/ reduce time & cost that incurs in UX fixation or redesigning of site/app at a later stage.

• Track return on investment (ROI) on UX.

When to conduct User Research?

User experience (UX) research needs to be done at all stages of the design process like defining, ideating, prototyping, testing. Why?

The answer is simple. Design is subjective by nature, and research helps you gain more information every time you conduct it, which will lead to a more profound and user-centered design.

When not to do user research?

• When key stakeholders of the company are not ready to participate in the UX research.
• When you are not clear about who should be the appropriate person to ask questions to.
• When you are unsure what you want to know & how you would implement the solutions derived from UX research findings.
• When you conduct user research to validate your idea.

So far, you must have got answers to what, why, and when of user research. Now let's dive in to understand:

How to conduct User (UX) Research?

Step 1: Recruitment

Recruitment is the crucial step in the user research process; it helps locate the right people who provide valuable design insights. It's important to have participants criteria ready before recruiting.

However, there are different ways of recruitment:

a) Internal Recruitment:

Employees are people who are more familiar with the product/service, and hence it's good to have them in user research to gain important insights. However, it's advisable to choose them wisely as being a part of a company; their insights can be biased & chances are they only speak affirmatively about the product/ service under question. In such cases, the research will not deliver the result & can fail.

Pros:- It saves time & money- Familiarity- Increase employee engagement
Cons:- Biased- Limited participants- Resentment among team members

b) External/Virtual Recruitment:

External recruitment is the obvious next step in recruitment. You can find relevant participants yourself by posting on social media, creating a screener survey, giving away some incentive to attract participants, etc.
Pros:- Diverse range- Flexible recruiting

Cons:- Time-consuming- Mixed qualities people