User Research Checklist

Preparing a research study is as important as doing the research itself.

The most important aspect of this checklist is the ‘why’ questions. Sometimes one must ask several consecutive ‘why’s’ to concretely visualize the path. If you haven't answered these questions earlier, the first time will be quite similar to a design thinking session, with lots of ‘aha’ moments.

Do let us know in the comments if you think any other question is crucial or would provide concrete value to research.

a) Who is the target audience? Why was this audience chosen?
(Try to answer the ‘why’ part, as honestly as possible. Understand why have you segmented these consumers in a certain way. Probe if this is still the best way to segment.)

b) What is the aim of this project? Why?
(A research should only have 1 objective. This is what you seek and craft your methodology for. During research you will most definitely gather insights for other topics. Let these insights lead to other research projects.)

c) What are the current KPIs? …And why?
(Understand what will concretely make this project successful. Envision the outputs.)

d) How will you measure the outputs?
(What gets measured, gets managed! How will you measure the success of the research?)

e) What does your brand stand for? What is the vision of the brand?
(It is essential to keep the brand equity in mind while understanding consumers' relationship with the brand. You must also keep in mind, where the brand is heading to.)

f) Current data, known problems/bottlenecks, stakeholder feedback
(It simply doesn’t make sense to reinvent the wheel. Use every single reliable data that you can gather.)

g) What would be an ideal output?
(When every stakeholder agrees on the same outputs, it is way easier to manage stakeholders and their expectations.)

h) How should consumers act, according to the brand?
(What is the brand's ideal user flow?)

i) How flexible are we?
(Considering budget, technical capabilities, deadlines, etc.)

j)What are the main trends in the market?
(Understand macro-trends to have a better grasp of your audience)

*We also recommend netnography and pilot tests before crafting the question-sets.

After answering the above-mentioned questions, you will be ready to create a research strategy!

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