Learn More About User Research Tools
What are the Alternatives to User Research Tools?
Alternatives to user research tools can replace this type of software, either partially or completely:
Enterprise feedback management software: Enterprise feedback management software allows companies to create, distribute, and analyze customer surveys. While UX research platforms focus on collecting data for product development and user experience, enterprise feedback management tools are more commonly used to analyze customer experiences through text-based surveys and ratings like net promoter score (NPS). As such, these products are most often used by customer service and marketing departments.
Consumer video feedback software: Also known as video survey software, consumer video feedback software allows businesses to collect and analyze video feedback from their customers or outside audiences. These solutions focus on assisting businesses with qualitative research for branding, marketing, and product development. In addition to collecting video feedback, these products offer video analysis features such as transcription and sentiment analysis.
User research repositories software: User research repositories software provide product teams with a central hub for storing, analyzing, and collaborating on user research to aid product improvement. These solutions do not necessarily include capabilities for gathering user feedback. While many user research platforms provide features for storing and managing user feedback, some businesses may prefer to conduct user interviews and tests through other tools, and analyze their collected qualitative and quantitative data within a UX repository.
Software Related to User Research Tools
Related solutions that can be used together with user research software include:
Product analytics software: Companies that develop and sell digital products should use product analytics in addition to user research tools. Product analytics software tracks user interactions with a digital product, including visits, usage, events, and interactions. Many platforms also create heat maps to visualize where users are clicking, hovering, and scrolling on the page. These solutions allow product managers and developers to understand which features of a product are engaging users, and which features may cause paint points or lead to churn. Like user research software, product analytics can help a business improve the overall product experience.
A/B testing software: A/B testing, or split testing, is the process of deploying different versions of digital content in real time and tracking which version performs the best. Marketers and web developers use A/B testing software to test different types of content, such as images, calls to action, or text, and determine which content provides the best outcome. Like user research software, A/B testing offers the benefit of optimizing user experiences.
Prototyping software: Prototyping software is used to create incomplete or preliminary versions of software and applications. The prototype simulates the final product to test, documents errors and delivers feedback. This is a perfect integration for user research software since the two are both geared toward user feedback and testing. Once the two are integrated, a user may simply go into the prototype software and begin user tests through that platform. This makes it a one-stop-shop for gathering feedback on designs that are in the process of being launched.
How to Buy User Research Tools
Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for User Research Tools
Before comparing products, the buyer or software selection team should create a list of requirements for the software and determine which requirements are the highest priority. Requirements may include features such as access to a recruitment pool, interview scheduling, or live intercepting. The list of requirements should also include any integrations necessary for collecting, managing, or analyzing user insights.
Compare User Research Software Products
Create a long list
Using the list of requirements, the buyer should create a list of no more than 10 products that appear to meet the business’s most critical needs. Some essential features that should be evaluated include:
- Participant sourcing
- Moderated or unmoderated interviews
- Scheduling and communication
- Research methods such as surveys, live interviews, usability testing, card sorting, A/B testing, and visual feedback
- Data management and analysis
- Integrations
Create a short list
After creating the long list, buyers should delve deeper into more specific features, use cases, and considerations to narrow down the list of products. At this point, buyers may wish to include pricing, customer support, and region in their considerations. For example, businesses might prefer to work with a vendor in the same region to facilitate more efficient implementation or customer support.
Conduct demos
At this point, buyers should reach out to the vendors on their short list to request product demonstrations. The demo is one of the most important parts of the buying journey since it is usually the buyer’s first opportunity to experience the product’s features first hand. The buyer should supply the vendor with their list of requirements to ensure the demo covers all the necessary features. During the demo, the buyer should pay close attention to the product’s interface, usability, and workflows, as these aspects can indicate how easy the platform will be for users to adopt.
Selection of User Research Tools
Choose a selection team
User research platforms will be used primarily by members of a company’s product, design, UI/UX, and marketing teams. The selection team should consist of individual contributors, administrative users, and managers from these departments so that all the relevant stakeholders can be involved in the decision-making process. An executive sponsor may also be required to ensure buy-in from the company’s leadership team.
Negotiation
If the products on the buyer’s short list may look very similar, negotiation on contracts and pricing will likely have a strong influence on the final decision. Most user research solutions are sold on a subscription basis and billed monthly, but the exact cost will depend on several factors. For example, in addition to extra features or add-ons, the product’s final cost may also incorporate the number of researcher seats, the number of research sessions conducted each month, and the level of customer support.
Final decision
After the cost, discounts, and contract have been negotiated, the final decision requires buy-in from everyone on the selection team. Each member of the selection team should evaluate their decision based on the determination that the product will meet the business’s requirements and will provide a return on investment (ROI).
