UX Research – Insights for informed product decisions
UX Research – Insights for informed product decisions
UX Research — also known as User Research — is the systematic collection and analysis of usage data, needs, and behavior patterns. As a service, UX Research encompasses two core areas: generative research (user interviews, field observations), which uncovers new insights about real usage contexts, and evaluative research (usability testing, prototype validation), which tests existing concepts against observed behavior. Splore conducts UX Research for companies whose products are used in complex, often regulated environments: Medical Technology, Mechanical Engineering, B2B software. The central question remains: What do users really need, and which assumptions hold up in reality? The starting point is the needs and problems of users, both current and future. Research results have a direct impact on decisions: They are incorporated into sprint planning, design decisions, and strategic goals.
Splore works as an integral part of the product team, combining data collection with design. The research work does not end with a results report but with decisions that become visible in the product. This way, usage knowledge is created where it is needed: in the development process.
What UX Research means at Splore
Research at Splore always takes place within the framework of a UX project: embedded in product development, not as an outsourced study. The core benefit: informed, objective product decisions instead of decisions based on opinion hierarchy or gut feeling. Research results become decision-making foundations, not research reports.
Research is not a preliminary step but an integral part of product development. Splore works within the product team, not alongside it. Insights from interviews and observations are incorporated into the same sprint planning where design and development decisions are made. Those who have interviewed users are at the table during prioritization. This requires a different working method than the classic client-service provider mode: joint planning, shared access to results, direct feedback between data collection and design.
This approach requires that research questions arise from specific product decisions: Which function has priority? Which workflow causes errors? Which assumption about the target group is untested? Which features solve a real problem and differentiate from the competition? The answers determine what is built or changed next — 'Designing the Right Thing' instead of gut feeling.
Behind this are two fields of action: What should the product be, what problem are we solving? The answer flows into the UX Product Vision. And: How should the product be, what problem does the operation have? These insights flow into design and prototyping.
Generative Research: Understanding what is really needed
Generative Research uncovers knowledge that is not yet present in the product team and provides the foundation to translate insights into viable concepts. The methods depend on what is to be collected.
User interviews
Structured conversations with users who use a product in their daily work. Interviews provide insights into goals, frustrations, latent needs, and workarounds that are not on any feature list. Current needs and the needs of tomorrow are explored. They form the basis for concepts in the product or portfolio vision. Splore conducts interviews remotely and on-site, depending on the accessibility of the target group.
Field observation
Observation of professionals under real conditions: in the clinic, on the production line, or in the control room, at the laboratory device. Contextual observation shows how people actually work, not how they report they work. The difference between the two is often the most important insight.
Contextual collection
Combination of observation and questioning in the usage context. The conversation takes place where the work happens. This method is particularly suitable for domains where implicit knowledge plays a major role — operating personnel on machines, clinical staff at the patient's bedside, clerks in complex processes.
Usability Testing and Validation
Where generative research uncovers new insights, evaluative research tests existing ones.Usability Testing puts designs,prototypes or existing products to the test: Do users understand what they see? Do they reach their goal? Where do errors occur?
Splore tests with the people who will use the product in everyday life, not with colleagues from their own company. Whether remote or on-site depends on the product and the accessibility of the target group. Testing is conducted on prototypes or existing interfaces, in scenarios that reflect the real usage context. The results are fed back into the product team as prioritized findings and influence the next design iteration.
Splore tests within the project context itself (evaluative research on its own designs and clients' products). For pure, large-scale test studies (laboratory, panel, sample recruitment), Splore collaborates with the specialized partnerKITE Design Research from Berlin.
For products in regulated environments, usability tests provide insights that can be included in the manufacturer's usability documentation. Theformal validation according to IEC 62366 lies with the manufacturer — Splore provides the research foundation, not the regulatory proof.
Are you facing product decisions that require reliable usage knowledge? Write tohello@splore.de — we will get back to you with an initial assessment.
From Insight to Decision
Research results are not an end in themselves. They become decision-making foundations: prioritized user needs, validated assumptions, documented pain points. Splore translates insights into formats that product teams can work with: in product or portfolio visions (UX Product Vision), in requirements for sprint planning (UX / Digital Product Design), in design criteria forinterface decisions. Depending on the question, quantitative collection complements the qualitative insights.
Typical formats are prioritized requirement lists for the backlog, documented usage scenarios, and concept sketches that translate insights directly into initial designs.
The team's questioning mindset grows with it: Once you have experienced how user observation corrects your own assumptions, you will ask differently in the future.
Example projects
Siemens Healthineers: UX Product Vision for Medical Technology
Splore conducted user observations in clinics and remote interviews in various markets to identify latent needs and optimization potentials for an integrated solution in Medical Technology. The research results were translated into a strategic goal for specialized clinical workflows, validated with radiologists.
Krones: Research on the production line for Connected HMI
Splore conducted workshops with operating personnel, analyzed existing operating processes, and translated the requirements into new operating processes for the Connected HMI. The research work on-site provided the usage knowledge that flowed into the redesign of the operating processes.
Honic: Research on a startup scale
Research knows different scales. At Honic, this means: lean, with continuous involvement of clients and experts in interview rounds. Insights flow directly into optimization without documentation overhead.
Talk to us about your research project
Talk to us about your research project
Are you planning user research for an existing or new product? Or do you want to find out which research method is suitable for your current question? We will look at your project and suggest the solution that fits.
FAQ
Market research examines markets, segments, and purchasing decisions. UX Research examines how people use a specific product: behavior, needs, problems in the usage context. It involves two fields of action: What should the product be, and how should it be operated? Market research answers 'Who buys?', UX Research answers 'What does the person who works with it need?'
Usability Testing is a method within UX Research. It tests whether a design or product is understandable and usable for the target group. UX Research also includes generative methods such as user interviews and field observations, which uncover new insights before a design is created.
Research at Splore takes place within the framework of a UX project: as an integral part of the design process, not as an isolated study mandate. Each project begins with clarifying the question: Which product decision is pending, what usage knowledge is missing? From this, Splore derives methods and target groups. The data collection — interviews, observation, testing — takes place remotely or on-site, depending on the context. Results are prepared as prioritized decision-making foundations, not as research reports.
When the product team lacks the capacity or methodological expertise for independent user research. Or when an external perspective is needed that consciously questions the team's assumptions and enters usage contexts without prior knowledge.