How do you plan UX research?

Direct answer

What a strong answer covers

How it works

A research plan begins with the decision the team needs to make and the uncertainty blocking it, because that determines everything else. The method follows the question: interviews for motivations, contextual observation for real workflows, usability tests for whether a design works, diary studies for behaviour over time, surveys for prevalence. Participants are recruited to match the users the decision concerns, with screeners that exclude people who would skew the result. The protocol is neutral, avoiding leading questions and demonstrations of the intended answer. Consent and recording are handled properly. Synthesis looks for patterns and for the exceptions that break them, and the report states what the study cannot tell you.

Example

To decide whether to redesign a scheduling feature, the plan targeted the uncertainty of why 40 percent of users abandon after opening it. Method: six contextual sessions watching clinic staff schedule real appointments, plus a survey of 200 users on frequency of use. Screener excluded admins who never scheduled. The sessions revealed that abandonment came from missing provider availability, not the interface; the report recommended an integration before any redesign and noted that non-clinic segments were not studied.

Common mistakes

• Choosing the method before knowing the question.
• Recruiting friends, colleagues, or power users for a study about new users.
• Asking would you use this and treating polite agreement as evidence.

A useful answer structure

Answer from your own work.

Do not memorise a script: use only examples you can explain honestly in follow-up questions.