What is User Research?
User research is a term that has a direct connection with the psyche, behavior, needs, and thoughts of a user. On a large scale, it refers to the studying and understanding of all these facets so that product managers and brands may improve the usability of their products or services by redesigning their business models to fit the user's needs.
How is User Research used?
Zippia reviewed thousands of resumes to understand how user research is used in different jobs. Explore the list of common job responsibilities related to user research below:
- Developed process for user-centered design service delivery, and established importance of user research activities.
- Prepare usability and user research reports and presentations.
- Conducted competitive analysis and user research that was used as part of the foundation for creating a new SMB product offering.
- Focus Group User Researcher: Supported and conducted Focus group Studies involved premature product prototypes, design concepts, etc.
- Provided user research, design analysis, design development & design validation supporting projects and products throughout Intel.
- Helped to plan and facilitate end-user research and testing - both in the field and in the lab.
Are User Research skills in demand?
Yes, user research skills are in demand today. Currently, 1,716 job openings list user research skills as a requirement. The job descriptions that most frequently include user research skills are human factors specialist, product design manager, and user experience researcher.
How hard is it to learn User Research?
Based on the average complexity level of the jobs that use user research the most: human factors specialist, product design manager, and user experience researcher. The complexity level of these jobs is challenging.
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What jobs can you get with User Research skills?
You can get a job as a human factors specialist, product design manager, and user experience researcher with user research skills. After analyzing resumes and job postings, we identified these as the most common job titles for candidates with user research skills.
Human Factors Specialist
Job description:
A human factors specialist may also be known as an ergonomist. They work with organizations that train staff, as well as with aeronautical engineers and civil aviation regulators. They are responsible for conducting studies, carrying out evaluations and tests, and researching important information about a product or service. They must be skilled in the art of studying human behavior in different contexts and apply that skill to design objects and facilities that better human well-being and overall system performance.
- User Research
- User Interface
- Industrial Design
- Human Factors Research
- I-9
- Personnel Policies
Product Design Manager
Job description:
A product design manager typically works with engineers and specialists in the joint effort to develop high-quality standard products. As a product design manager, they are responsible for managing product design teams, understanding and identifying a project's needs, performing research and analysis, setting objectives and guidelines, liaising with external parties, and presenting prototypes for client approval. Moreover, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage staff to reach product goals while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
- Product Design
- User Research
- Sketch
- Product Management
- Visual Design
User Experience Researcher
Job description:
A user experience (UX) researcher is an individual who is responsible for analyzing actual consumer behavior and needs to design products and services that may have an impact on business companies. User experience researchers provide informed insights and then work with product managers to turn these insights into consumer-centric results that resonate with customers. They are required to conduct in-depth and advanced research both in qualitative and quantitative methods to identify user needs and goals and provide recommendations for improvement. User experience researchers are also required to participate in the recruitment activities for user research.
- User Research
- User Experience
- Research Methods
- Research Findings
- Quantitative Research
- Design Research
Senior Product Designer
Job description:
A senior product designer is responsible for coordinating with clients to identify their requirements and specifications for the development of new products and services that also comply with the company's regulations and functions. Senior product designers work with a whole project management team to identify opportunities that would generate more revenue resources by analyzing public demands on industry trends. They handle the allocation of materials and must be able to utilize digital tools and equipment to create content for brand awareness on different media platforms. A senior product designer reviews consumers' reviews to facilitate any adjustments with the product's features.
- Sketch
- User Research
- User Experience
- Interaction Design
- Prototyping
- UI
Senior User Experience Designer
Job description:
A Senior User Experience Designer is responsible for creating a friendly and intuitive user experience architecture. They collaborate with designers, product managers, and product engineers.
- Sketch
- User Experience
- User Research
- UI
- Visual Design
- Interaction Design
User Experience Manager
Job description:
A user experience manager's role is to oversee the processes and the workforce involved in creating and designing web-based platforms or applications, ensuring all aspects are user-friendly and easy to navigate. Moreover, most of the user experience manager's responsibilities revolve around crafting strategies and systems, coordinating all personnel involved in web development, recommending guidelines and improvements to make platforms more user-friendly, and producing progress reports. Furthermore, as a manager, it is vital to lead and encourage the team, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
- User Experience
- Sketch
- User Research
- UI
- Customer Service
- Wireframes
User Experience Designer
Job description:
A User Experience (UX) designer is an individual who measures and optimizes applications to improve the experience of end-users. His/Her or her duties and responsibilities include considering a design's human-computer interaction element, defining interaction models, and working with creative directors and designers. The key skills for UX designers include strong mathematical and problem-solving skills and excellent information technology and programming skills. Having a bachelor's degree in a design or computing-related subject is an advantage to qualify for the UX designer position.
- Sketch
- UI
- User Research
- Visual Design
- Invision
- Interaction Design
Human Factors Engineer
Job description:
A human factors engineer is responsible for designing system technologies that would help people perform their duties efficiently and accurately. These engineers conduct an in-depth investigation of the human's needs and conceptualize in applying these theories to create technology solutions that adhere to the business requirements and budget limitations. They also perform data and statistical analysis through interviews and surveys to determine the best interface and feasibility. A human factors engineer runs diagnostic tests to ensure the stability and usability of the product with safe optimization and quality.
- User Research
- Human Centered Design
- User Experience
- FDA
- Medical Devices
- Data Collection
Usability Engineer
Job description:
A usability engineer conducts studies to ensure a user can easily access all features of a product. They design questionnaires, interview-based studies, and tests. They also design and prototype user interfaces in HTML. They usually have a narrow area of specialization.
- User Experience
- UI
- User Research
- Interaction Design
- Web Application
- Usability Tests
Consultant-User Experience
Job description:
A User Experience Consultant focuses on ensuring customers are satisfied with the company's product or service. User experience is essential in developing products and services that companies lose due to slight user experience and satisfaction problems. The user-experience consultant works on gathering feedback from customers, analyzing this feedback, and drawing conclusions, suggestions, and recommendations on improving the product or service.
- UI
- Wireframes
- User Research
- Sketch
- Trouble Shoot Issues
- JavaScript
Product Designer
Job description:
A product designer's key responsibilities are to perform design research, selecting the best materials, and develop user storyboards for the client and users' best interest. Product designers usually work with a whole design team, documenting suggestions to deliver high-quality outputs or improve existing products to match the market trends. They must also communicate with other skilled professionals to enhance their ideas and consult clients for any necessary adjustments that would affect the total user experience. A product designer should also have extensive knowledge of the consumer's preference to make the design more appealing and engaging.
- Sketch
- Visual Design
- UI
- User Research
- User Experience
- Interaction Design
Product Design Internship
Job description:
Product design interns are students who are doing their on-the-job training under the product design department of an organization. They are usually assigned administrative tasks. However, they must also be exposed to the activities done by product designers. As such, product design interns may join team meetings, ideation activities, and product presentations. They learn about the necessary skills in product designing. They learn about different materials needed for the product or different programs related to the software. They learn about user behavior and how important understanding the customers is when designing a product. They may also help the team by giving user experience feedback.
- Design Intern
- Sketch
- Product Design
- Visual Design
- User Research
- User Experience
Director Of User Experience
Job description:
A user experience director is responsible for evaluating and studying reports of the users' experience regarding the organizations' products and services. User experience directors facilitate surveys and address the users' concerns by reviewing the operational processes and procedures, ensuring that the team provides the best user experience and customer satisfaction. They also coordinate with the clients for progress updates, as well as informing them of adjustments as needed to improve the outputs. A user experience director must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially on analyzing the current industry trends to meet client demands and public interests.
- User Experience
- Sketch
- Human Centered Design
- UI
- User Research
- Customer Service
User Experience Architect
Job description:
A user experience architect is responsible for monitoring the stability and efficiency of system outputs to support business functions and ensure customer satisfaction. User experience architects improve the network infrastructure and conduct system configuration for optimal performance and smooth navigation. They also assist the end-users in resolving network issues, identifying discrepancy sources, and adjust codes as needed to prevent the reoccurrence of technical problems. A user experience architect must have excellent technical and communication skills, especially in helping the technology team in designing systems according to business requirements and feasibility.
- Sketch
- UI
- Html Css
- User Research
- JavaScript
- Prototyping
Lead User Experience Designer
Job description:
Lead User Experience Designers are responsible for providing strategy and direction in designing a user's experience for a digital product or service. They work with cross-functional teams such as user researchers, product design teams, and project managers to deliver a specified timeline. Their duties include developing information architecture, designing wireframes, prototyping, creating content, and performing usability testing of system interaction. Lead user experience designers must know Adobe Suites and specialist wireframing and prototyping design tools such as Axure, Marvel, Invision to translate the design to product. They also liaise with clients regularly to ensure the design meets the business goal.
- Sketch
- User Experience
- UI
- User Research
- Human Centered Design
- XD
How much can you earn with User Research skills?
You can earn up to $80,877 a year with user research skills if you become a human factors specialist, the highest-paying job that requires user research skills. Product design managers can earn the second-highest salary among jobs that use Python, $133,190 a year.
| Job title | Average salary | Hourly rate |
|---|---|---|
| Human Factors Specialist | $80,877 | $39 |
| Product Design Manager | $133,190 | $64 |
| User Experience Researcher | $99,849 | $48 |
| Senior Product Designer | $120,587 | $58 |
| Senior User Experience Designer | $111,933 | $54 |
Companies using User Research in 2025
The top companies that look for employees with user research skills are Meta, Ford Motor, and SMX Convention Center. In the millions of job postings we reviewed, these companies mention user research skills most frequently.
| Rank | Company | % of all skills | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meta | 26% | 10,993 |
| 2 | Ford Motor | 11% | 2,765 |
| 3 | SMX Convention Center | 9% | 538 |
| 4 | Humana | 6% | 9,796 |
| 5 | Renaissance Acquisition Holdings | 6% | 389 |
Departments using User Research
| Department | Average salary |
|---|---|
| Research & Development | $111,639 |
| Art/Design | $88,187 |
15 courses for User Research skills
1. User Research and Design
In this course you will learn and practice techniques of user research and early UI design exploration. First, you will learn and practice several techniques for user research, including in-person research and survey and log-analysis techniques. Then, you will learn to analyze and deliver user research in forms that support UI design, including personas, use cases, tasks, and scenarios. Finally, you will learn and practice ideation techniques that start from user research and broadly generate potential design ideas...
2. User Experience Research and Design
Integrate UX Research and UX Design to create great products through understanding user needs, rapidly generating prototypes, and evaluating design concepts. Learners will gain hands-on experience with taking a product from initial concept, through user research, ideation and refinement, formal analysis, prototyping, and user testing, applying perspectives and methods to ensure a great user experience at every step...
3. User Research For Design
When you design a product you make a lot of assumptions. And a major reason that product designs fail is because of these assumptions. The assumptions that will get you into the most trouble are the assumptions you make about your target audience - who they are, what they want to do, and how they want to do it. In this course you will learn all the different types of user research, from personas, scenarios, and task analyses, to field studies, card sorts, tree tests and journey maps. About This Course: Unconditional 30 day money back guarantee All future upgrades and lectures are included for FREEClick on the Purchase button at the top of this page and get started now. Some examples of what's in the course: User research to do throughout the entire design processHow to create a user group tableHow to create personas that your team will actually useHow to document what your target audience wants to do with scenariosHow to decide what to do a task analysis onThe difference between current and optimized task analysesHow to decide whether to do a blue-sky analysis or one with constraintsThe how and why of journey mapsHow to plan and conduct an effective interviewDiary studies, Day in the Life studies, and Field StudiesOpen card sorts, closed card sorts and tree testingUser testingand more! Become an expert at user research. Click the button at the top right of this page now and get started right away. Over 50,000 people have taken our online video courses...
4. Intro to UX Research: Creating a User Research Plan
Do you want to find out what your customers really want and need from your product?...
5. User Research for UX Writing – Part 1: Exploratory Research
Yes there are many examples of good and bad UX Writing out there – and no doubt these are helpful for every beginner and advanced UX Writer. But is this really all we need to know in order to write great microcopy for our users?...
6. User Research Basics: How to plan a UX research project
You want to create meaningful products or services that solve real-world problems or you are designing the next generation user experience. At the beginning of all you have to do research. In this class you learn the basics for preparing your first user research project...
7. Intro to UX: Conducting Smart User Research
Join UserTestings Janelle Estes for a straightforward look at how to gain smart useful feedback about how users experience your product service or business. What: Understanding your users experience — behaviors attitudes and perceptions — helps you gain gain user empathy see new opportunities for change and prioritize product improvements. But: how do you gain that understanding? This 45-minute gives you an approach for 4 popular research methods so that you can truly understand your products user experience. Key lessons include: defining user experience research...
8. User Research And Testing For UX Writing
There are many examples of good and bad UX Writing out there - and no doubt, these examples are helpful for every junior and advanced UX Writer. But is this really all we need to know in order to write great microcopy for our users?The answer is short and simple: no. Great copy and microcopy are always perfectly custom-tailored to the skills, needs, preferences, habits, fears, and values of our very specific target audience. This is why the classic good and bad practice examples of UX Writing are very limited in their informative value. And this is also why UX Writers - just like designers - more and more rely on proper user research and user testing, as it helps us to make target audience-specific, well-informed decisions about which emotions to address, which information to include, and which words to use. However, especially for UX Writers who are new to the field, many things about user research and user testing in UX Writing remain obscure: How can user research actually improve my UX Writing?What parts of our copy can be tested?What kinds of different methods for exploring and testing are actually helpful for UX Writers?How do we choose the right method?What do we need to keep in mind when setting up our user research and user testing?If you ask yourself these and other questions and have not yet found an answer to them, this course is the right choice for you! Who should joinThis course is the perfect choice for all UX Writers and for everybody who works with UX Writing. It may also be interesting for designers, project managers, product owners, and developers who want to include UX Writing into their product development process and are interested in how to make information-based writing decisions. For user researchers who are very familiar with general user research techniques but have only little experience with using these techniques in the context of UX Writing, this course also provides some new knowledge - not much, but some. What you will learnIn the first part of this class, you will learnwhat user research is and how it goes together with UX Writinghow to properly prepare your user research for UX Writingabout different forms of exploratory user researchhow different forms of user research support UX Writing decisionsabout real-life examples of how to apply exploratory user research methodsIn the second part of this class, you will learnabout the different quality criteria you can test your copy forhow to properly prepare your user testingabout different forms of validating user research and when to use themabout real-life examples of how to apply validating user research methods and toolsSounds good? Then join this class and learn how to conduct user research and user testing for your UX Writing! If you want to take all of my UX Writing courses, here is the order recommend:1 Introduction To UX Writing2 Transitioning To UX Writing3 Accessible UX Writing4 UX Writing: Finding Your Voice and Tone5 UX Writing in Practice: Documentation & Processes6 User Research And Testing For UX Writing7 Inclusive UX Writing: Physical Abilities & Neurodivergence8 Inclusive UX Writing: Gender, Race & Age9 Culture-Based UX Writing10 Localization in UX Writing11 Fighting „Dark" UX Writing: How To Write Kind UX Copy12 Building Your UX Writing Portfolio13 Freelancing in UX WritingPlease note that all courses stand for themselves and that you don't need to take any course as a prerequisite for taking another one. You don't have to follow this order. This is only my very own suggestion, which is especially helpful when you need guidance on which course to pick next...
9. The User Researcher's guide to UX discoveries
The discovery phase is the starting point for any agile User Experience (UX) project. More and more organisations are adopting agile project management when designing products and services and UX research is vital in supporting this. But what does this mean for the User Researcher? In this class we'll explore what the discovery phase looks like, including: What discovery really meansThe reasons to conduct a discoveryWhat the discovery team looks likeWhere to recruit usersThe common research methods... and how to bring it all together and present back to the teamAt the end of the class, you'll be able to confidently guide your organisation or client through their first discovery. Some questions you might have:01 - Do I need to be a user experience expert to take this course?Definitely not. You will need a basic understanding of user research, but I try to provide a simple guide to all the things that make up a discovery and the tasks you'll likely perform. Think of it as a tour of the flow of a discovery phase, with real-world ideas for getting it done and examples from my own experiences. I'll give you a list of avenues for recruiting users, a checklist of research techniques you can perform and a set of downloadable templates to get you going. My aim is to give you a blueprint for your own discovery phase.02 - I'm not a user researcher so is this relevant to me?Absolutely! Service design is rarely a 1-person event. This is for anyone wanting to understand what a UX discovery is. If you're a Product Owner, Project Manager, Business Analyst, Content Designer, UX Designer, Developer or similar, then you'll likely work on a discovery at some point. Anyone looking to build or redesign products and services will get something from this course. I've put this course together from the User Researchers point of view as that's the hat I wear but, ultimately, the same processes and end goals apply to all the team on a discovery. 03 - Why have I never heard of a discovery phase?In the private sector, a discovery phase can be seen as a waste of time and money and are often avoided. I 100% believe this is a mistake and is exactly why I created this course. All UK government projects follow the government digital service standard. As part of that standard, teams are expected to follow the agile delivery approach. That starts with a discovery phase, before usually moving onto other phases such as Alpha, Beta and Live. That's where my experience comes from - I've conducted many discoveries across many different types of product and services, in both the public and private sector, and I want to show you how this intense period of research will almost certainly save time and money in the future and produce a happier end user!04 - These are the templates I include: Discovery / research planSample interview frameworkInterview write-up guideFindings log with sample session write-upPersona templateService blueprintJourney mapEmpathy mapResearch debt reportA research findings playback slide deckYou don't have to use these templates. If you're already researching and producing outputs then you'll likely have your own. I've included them to give you a feel for how I document the research when conducting discoveries myself. If you've not created some of these before then feel free to use them in your own research. I hope that sounds exciting. I love discoveries and cannot wait to show you how fun and rewarding they are!...
10. UX Usability Testing & User Testing, Interviews and Research Techniques.
Learn how to improve your UX design really fast. User Testing is a skill that every UX designer should know that and master. The class is aimed at designers that already know a bit about UX and would like to take their skills to the next level experienced designers can also review these classes and check if they are applying them to their work. The class is for designers of all abilities...
11. UX Design Process from User Research to Usability Testing
When a beginner start their User Experience Design process, they get confused about where to start the UX Design Process. There are hundreds of things involved in a UX Design process and each design firm uses their own version of this User Experience Process. Project based course -→ Creating and Improving User Experience of an Ecommerce Startup called FroklandShould we start with User Interviews, Personas or Customer Journey Maps? Should we first define the scope of the product? Which UX process is related to Users or the Business?In this course, you will learn how to start User Experience process in a simplified way for beginners and why do we need User personas, feature matrix, competitive analysis etc…You will get tons of DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES in the format ofPDF NotesUX Templates to get startedYou will learn aboutUser Life-cycle FunnelDefining the Scope of the ProductStakeholder InterviewsUser InterviewsWAAD Affinity DiagramUser PersonasEmpathy MapsUser Journey MapsFeature MatrixCompetitive AnalysisUser ScenariosUser StoriesHierarchical Task Inventory ModelUser FlowsSite MapsCard Sorting for Information ArchitectureTask Interaction ModelsWireframesPrototypes (in details with types of prototypes)Usability TestsFirst Impressions Test (5 seconds test)Essential Task TestWorkaround TestSurveys & QuestionnaireI will also show you few online tools to create User Flows, Site maps, Card Sorting, Personas and User Journey maps so you can create them online with easeIf you have any question, you can always ask meNow let's dive into the course and start learning the UX process in detail...
12. User experience research: How to ask the right questions?
No matter whether you are new to the research scene or already have some experience, this course will help you excel in future research challenges and bring your project, product and start-up to a success. Regardless which approach to innovation you or your company adopted, all approaches are based on the deep understanding of the wishes, needs and desires of the user. Entering a dialog with your present and future consumers is essential for any development or relaunch of products, applications and services. Consumer centricity is crucial for an economic deployment of your resources. During this course, you will learn how to become an 'insight gold miner' via qualitative interviews and unveil hidden truths. With accurate preparation and execution of user interviews, your research challenge will become a success. Crafting the right questions for your interview is always a tailormade task. This course helps you to reach the goal of asking the right questions by helping you prepare properly. The course is practice oriented. To increase the learning impact, the sessions include exercises as well as theoretical background. The course takes you through the following topics: Importance of research for the success of your businessShort introduction to qualitative methodsMindset, researcher and research teamBusiness vs. research objectivesSetting up a research plan (To how many people should one speak and how to define it?)Preparing the guideline for the interviewsThe actual interview situation with what to look out for5 golden tips on how to ask the right questionsWhat is an analysis?How to proceed in an analysis?NOTE: this course focusses on qualitative research (e. g. interviews, in-depths), not on quantitative research (e. g. surveys)!...
13. User Research and Usability Testing Fundamentals for UX/UI Design
Learn the ins and outs of conducting user research and the strategies that will allow you to create the best possible human-centered digital interfaces...
14. UX Research for Apps: User-centric from Concept to Launch
What is the key ingredient that makes apps successful? They start with a laser focus on what users need. This course teaches you the tools and techniques needed to help you step into the shoes of customers - allowing you to shape concepts that connect and design products that stick. Learn the professional secrets of conducting crucial user research quickly and inexpensively. Following a 6-step approach you will learn how to: Shape a concept Screen app ideas Conduct primary research (IDIs, surveys) Create customer journeys, personas and empathy maps Use participatory design to refine and prioritize Use Voice of the Customer research post-launch There are dozens of techniques, tools and apps discussed. Taught by veteran digital strategist and UX design researcher Dr. Todd Greenwood, this course is appropriate for anyone who is planning to build a mobile tech solution: app entrepreneurs, UX designers, and programmers. Along the way, Todd will highlight success stories and research that were used to develop some of the most successful apps like AirBnb and the research that should have been done for…well, the failures whose designers thought they could skip it. This 35-lesson course is hands-on, with a wealth of cost-effective techniques for gathering and analyzing survey data and qualitative insights. You'll know when to DIY and when and where to find companies (many research solutions have recently emerged in the mobile space) that you can call upon to help...
15. How to Talk to People: Conducting Focused Interviews for Design and User Research
When I started learning about User Experience Design I noticed that there came a time when teachers would typically say “ … and then you test it with users.”...