Linguistics → UXR | User Research 101

This post walks through the full user research process at a UXR team — from writing a research plan to recruiting participants, preparing questions, running interviews, debriefing, synthesis, and final reporting.

What Is “User Research”?

User Research is, as the name suggests, research about users. (Obviously. 😄)

Coming from academia, “research” wasn’t a foreign concept to me (see my career pivot story). But industry research is quite different from academic research — the purpose is almost always more concrete, and everything revolves around the product itself.

It might be early-stage discovery: what are users’ preferences, experiences, and needs? Or mid-development: are there significant problems with the product? Or pre-launch iteration: what do users feel about the current version, and what should change in the next?

In industry, user research always serves the product.

Research Methods

Like academic research, user research can be broadly split into quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative analysis looks at large-scale behavioral data — large companies usually have a dedicated Data Team for this. Most UXR teams lean qualitative: selecting a small number of representative users and deeply observing their process and feedback. Combining both approaches almost always produces better results.

The User Research Process

1. Define Research Objectives and Questions

Like all research, this is the most important step. Everything that follows — methodology, participant selection, interview structure — needs to answer the original research objectives and questions. Getting this right matters enormously.

In a tech company, stakeholders usually bring their needs to the UXR team, who help them clarify research goals. Stakeholders often have many questions; part of the UXR’s job is helping them prioritize, narrow scope, and confirm which questions can realistically be answered in one study.

2. Write a Research Plan

A typical research plan includes:

• Background: What’s already known? Why do this research now?
• Research objective: What concrete outcomes do we expect?
• Research questions: What problems are we trying to solve?
• Methodology: How will we conduct the research?
• Participants: Target number, screening criteria
• Research schedule: Timeline for all stages
• Budget: Research costs

Align on the plan with stakeholders before moving forward.

3. Design a Recruitment Survey and Recruit Participants

Find the right participants based on the research goals.

Start with a recruitment survey. To avoid participants answering strategically (saying what they think you want to hear), avoid revealing exactly what type of participant you’re looking for. The survey should also include important logistics upfront (compensation, recording consent, tools used) so participants know what they’re agreeing to.

4. Screen Participants

Once responses come in, screen for fit based on your research goals. If you can cross-reference their product behavior from other data, that’s even better for the final results.

5. Notify Participants

Confirm participants and coordinate scheduling. Email or message works; phone calls let you gauge verbal communication ability too.

6. Prepare Interview Questions

Write detailed questions based on research objectives. The more specific the better — even scripting your opening, what disclaimers to give, how to introduce yourself. I used to assume I’d remember the small details, but in practice it’s easy to forget things mid-interview. Write everything down.

Review the question list with teammates and stakeholders to catch anything missing, and sequence it for natural flow.

7. Confirm Day-of Role Assignments

Schedule sessions in a calendar tool like Google Calendar and invite relevant team members. You’ll need at minimum:

• Interviewer (1): Usually the UXR running the study. If cross-language, adjust accordingly.
• Note-taker (1): Records what users say. Often another UXR; if not, brief them on note-taking expectations beforehand.
• Observers (optional): As needed, to observe and support note-taking.

8. Pilot Test

Before the real thing, run a test session with a colleague or friend. Check that the interview flows smoothly; adjust questions as needed.

9. Run the Interviews

Everyone joins on time. Once settled, invite the participant in.

The interviewer introduces themselves, explains the research purpose, and previews the session structure. If others are present, clarify they’re just there for notes. Ask for verbal consent to record.

Start with warm-up questions to help participants relax, then move into the main interview. Everyone has their role:

• Interviewer: Follow the script loosely, adjusting as needed. Know the participant’s background from their screener responses.
• Note-taker: Record as much detail as possible — think conversation analysis: pauses, emotional tone, everything.
• Observers: Log observations in a collaborative tool like FigJam.

Before wrapping up, confirm whether teammates have any remaining questions. Make sure the participant has said everything they want to. End by thanking them and explaining the compensation process.

We usually send a follow-up message the next day to thank participants again.

10. Debrief

Immediately after each session, run a 10–20 minute debrief. Even if there’s another session in 30 minutes, you still have time.

This is for quickly capturing observations and impressions while they’re fresh. See my dedicated post: Linguistics → UXR | The 15-Minute Post-Interview Debrief

11. Organize Notes

After the debrief, the UXR organizes and categorizes everything. Make sure important moments from the interview are captured. No single right way to do this — just make it useful for what comes next.

12. Daily Summary

Stakeholders don’t always attend every session, so a daily summary of interview highlights keeps everyone in the loop.

13. Synthesis

Once all interviews and notes are organized, synthesis is the most important step before reporting. The goal: verify that the research objectives and questions can be answered by what was gathered.

This is where you convert raw observations into insights, and build user journeys, behavioral patterns, personas, and action items that will anchor the report. Then sequence findings from the quantitative and qualitative data into a coherent narrative.

More on synthesis in a future post.

14. Report

Present findings to stakeholders — and anyone else interested in the research.

Afterword

The full process will vary by company, team, researcher, and method. I’m still learning, so this may be updated over time. Questions welcome in the comments!

Thanks for reading :D

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