What is User Research in Decode

Overview

User Research is where you find out how people actually use something, whether that's a prototype you're about to build, a website that's already live, or an app in someone's hands. Instead of asking people what they think, you watch what they do: where they click, how long a task takes, where they hesitate, and whether they can complete what you've asked them to do.

Why this is different from asking people what they think

A survey question like "was this checkout process easy?" tells you how someone felt afterward, not what actually happened. User Research records the behaviour directly: every screen visited, every click made, how long someone spends on each step, and whether they complete the task or drop off. This gives you what happened, rather than a self-reported summary of it.

A simple example

Say you've redesigned your app's onboarding flow. Instead of asking people "does this make sense?", you give them a real task, "sign up and set up your first project", and record what happens. If three out of five people pause for ten seconds on the same screen before figuring out what to click, that's friction you can see in the data, whether or not anyone would have mentioned it in a survey.

Available methods

Decode's User Research covers several methods, each suited to a different stage of your product or a different kind of question:

• Prototype testing — test a design before it's built, using a Figma prototype, useful when you want to catch usability problems before investing in development
• Task research — give participants a task on a real, live website or app, useful once something already exists and you want to see how it holds up
• A/B & preference testing — show two or more versions side by side and see which one people choose or complete more successfully
• Information architecture — test how people naturally group and navigate your content, using card sorting
• Quick UX methods — fast, lightweight tests like first-click or 5-second tests, useful when you need a quick directional read rather than a full study
• Video response testing — collect spoken, expressive feedback instead of typed answers, when tone and emotion matter
• Moderated user research (live) — a real moderator runs the session live, useful for open-ended, exploratory questions a script can't fully anticipate

When to use User Research

Reach for User Research when your question is really about behaviour, can someone complete a task, how long does it take, where do they get stuck, can they find what they're looking for. If your question is instead about attitudes, preferences, or how people feel about your brand, that's Consumer Insights territory instead, see What is a Consumer Insights study to compare.

What to do next

If you're not sure which method fits your situation, see Pick the right user research method. Otherwise, jump straight to the method you need, Prototype testing if you're testing a design before development, or Task research if you're testing something that's already live.