2022 UX Research Tools Map

Whatever your goals are. User testing tools are extremely important to gather meaningful insights based on surveys and research. They optimise the performance of your website or app for your target audience before you push out your product in the market.

Whether you are trying to launch a new app or you want to understand what your customers think about your website, there are different user experience tools available for research.

A well designed user interface with good UX design can boost your conversion rates, so it makes sense to use these UX tools available in the market and choose the right one for whichever stage of UX testing you are at.

UX researchers can choose from among various different solutions to conduct user research and manage different stages of their workflow. There are tools for conducting usability testing, surveys, interviews, or more specialised tests such as card sorting. Some other common tools make it easier to document research, take notes and transcribe interviews. They also use specific tools to find participants, record and document in-person sessions and generate real time reports to share with the rest of the team.

However we know that it can be confusing to choose the right one, among the many available in the market and it can be confusing to choose the right one. The research toolkit you use will depend on where you are in the research process, the research method you’ll be using, the size of your organisation and the type of product you’re researching.

In this article we lay out the various UX tools available in the market and how to select one for your goals. Here are some 2022 UX Research Tools to consider.

Tools for usability testing

1. Maze

Maze is a rapid testing platform that helps you turn your prototype into actionable insights from real users. It integrates directly with Adobe XD, Figma, InVision, Marvel, and Sketch, and allows you to import an existing prototype from the design tool you use.

This tool allows you to create and run in-depth usability tests and share those tests with your participants to get actionable insights in minutes. Its usability testing solution includes task analysis, multiple path analysis, heatmaps, A/B testing, guerrilla testing, and more. A feature called Maze Discovery allows you to run surveys and collect user feedback early in the design process. Maze also enables you to test your information architecture with features such as Card Sorts and Tree Tests. You can run one usability testing project with the free plan, and paid plans start at $25 per month.

2. Loop11

This tool helps you conduct moderated and unmoderated usability testing on live websites, prototypes, and competitors’ websites, among others. With Loop11, you can start testing at the wire-framing and prototyping stage to ensure your designs are headed in the right direction. Beyond usability testing, Loop11 can help user researchers conduct competitive benchmarking, A/B testing, and IA testing. All their plans include a 14-day free trial, and their starting price is $63 per month which includes three tests.

3. Userlytics

Userlytics is a user testing platform that helps you conduct research at scale by testing digital assets like websites, applications, mobile apps, prototypes, etc. You can collect both qualitative and quantitative data and set up advanced metrics and graphical reports. With Userlytics, you can run any combination of moderated or unmoderated user experience studies, usability tests, card sorting, and tree testing using a diversity of features. The pricing starts at $49 per participant for the Quick & Easy tier.

4. Lookback

This comprehensive UX research tool gives you the ability to do live user interviews contextualised through a live recording of the user’s screen. It also helps organisations and designers conduct moderated, unmoderated, and remote research. Lookback includes a collaborative dashboard that lets you sync all your research and customer feedback and share it with your team.

The sessions are recorded automatically which gives you the freedom and convenience to rewatch them at your convenience and share important clips with colleagues and stakeholders. It is priced at $99 per month.

5. Userzoom

Userzoom is a UX research platform for remote usability testing and includes features such as participant recruiting, heatmap and analytics recording, etc. You can use it to collect quantitative or qualitative feedback and create A/B tests with mock-ups to get feedback from users before product development. With Userzoom, you can run unmoderated task-based studies with test participants from all around the world on a website, prototype, wireframe, or mock-up.

6. User Interviews

This is a very well known platform that helps you make better product decisions and provides seamless access to quality participants. It allows you to build your own tool of participants or access a panel of over 350,000 vetted research participants who can be further filtered by profession. It offers certain features like screener surveys, scheduling interviews, and participation tracking for your existing users.

7. Optimal Workshop

Optimal Workshop offers a suite of testing tools to help you conduct information architecture (IA) tests. For card sorting, you can use their OptimalSort tool to understand how people think your content should be organized and categorized.

8. UsabilityHub

UsabilityHub is a remote research platform that offers a range of testing tools, including first click testing, design surveys, preference tests, and five-second tests. These tests enable you to collect data and validate design decisions.

Other research tools

From analytics tools to note-taking, the research tool market is quite comprehensive, so here are a few more tools that can help you maximise research within your organisation.

> For surveys: SurveyMonkey, Typeform, Usabilla
> For analytics and heat-maps: Hotjar, Google Analytics, Kissmetrics
> For documenting research: Dovetail, Notion, Google Docs, Evernote
> For transcriptions: Otter.ai, Rev, Reduct
> For remote user testing: Zoom, Google Meet/Hangouts

Originally published at https://www.onething.design on May 16, 2022.