--- title: UX Research for Web Design | Growth-Driven Design --- [![Growth-Driven Design](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/hubfs/assets/images/company-logo-light.png?t=1499290021476) ![Growth-Driven Design](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/hubfs/assets/images/logos/gdd-logo.png?t=1499290021476) ](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/) # UX Research for web design Gain an empathetic understanding of your users to uncover their challenges and answer critical questions. ** ## **Why Conduct UX Research for Web Design and Optimization?**     *The above is a video clip from the "Conducting UX Research" class in the [(free) Growth-Driven Design Certification](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/certification). Watch the entire class and get the templates by [signing up](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/certification) for the free certification.* The world's top web design and optimization teams understand that to build a peak performing website, you must have a deep understanding of your users. Knowing what to build to help users comes from viewing the world through their eyes, understanding the progress they are trying to make on an outcome, and what trouble they are having. The way to gain this knowledge is to conduct user experience (UX) research.   ### **FIRST, HAVE A PROCESS** Before you dive into implementing various research methods, it's important to first have an established research process to ensure you're investing your time answering the right questions, using the right methods.  ![](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/hs-fs/hubfs/How%20it%20Works/UX%20Research/UX-Research-Process.jpg?width=912&height=357&name=UX-Research-Process.jpg "UX-Research-Process.jpg") The high-level overview of the UX research process includes: Start by creating user questions about the observed challenges they are running into. Once you have your user questions, you can select the correct types of research to use to uncover the answers to those user questions. Review your findings, understand patterns, and summarize your learnings and takeaways into a report. ### **NEXT, STUDY EACH RESEARCH METHOD** After you have established your UX research process, the next step will be to study each individual UX research method you can use to better understand your users.  Below is a list of the most common UX research methods used in the Growth-Driven Design process to build a peak performing website. Click into each one for a deep dive. ### UNDERSTAND WHY WEBSITE VISITORS ARE BEHAVING A CERTAIN WAY WITH ## QUALITATIVE RESEARCH ### User Interviews Host conversations with users or potential users. [Learn More](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/web-design/user-interviews) ### User Surveys More scalable and quicker way to collect qualitative feedback from users and potential users. [Learn More](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/web-design/user-survey) ### Slide-Up Page Survey Display a side-up mini-survey on a specific page of your website. [Learn More](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/web-design/on-page-survey) ### Website Chat An on-page chat that allows users to communicate with a real person. [(resource page coming soon)](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/web-design/ux-research#) ### User Testing Select users to complete specific tasks or answer questions. [Learn More](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/web-design/user-testing) ## UX Research for Web Design is all about understanding your user's world to uncover opportunity. [** Tweet this](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%23UX+Research+for+%23WebDesign+is+all+about+understanding+your+user%27s+world+to+uncover+opportunity.+via+%40gdrivendesign+on+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.growthdrivendesign.com%2Fweb-design%2Fux-research) ### SEE WHICH SPECIFIC ELEMENTS WEBSITE VISITORS ARE INTERACTING WITH USING ## OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH ### Click Heatmaps A visual report of where users are clicking on a page. [(resource page coming soon)](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/web-design/ux-research#) ### Scroll Heatmaps A visual representation of how far users are scrolling down a specific page. [(resource page coming soon)](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/web-design/ux-research#) ### User Recordings A live recording of a user’s session on your website. [(resource page coming soon)](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/web-design/ux-research#) ## Asking the right user questions is critical to selecting the right UX research method to uncover the answer. [** Tweet this](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%3Cp%3E%3Cspan%3EAsking+the+RIGHT+user+questions+is+critical+to+selecting+the+RIGHT+%23UX+research+method+to+uncover+the+answer.%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fspan%3Evia+%40gdrivendesign+on+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.growthdrivendesign.com%2Fweb-design%2Fux-research%3C%2Fp%3E) ### UNDERSTAND WHAT WEBSITE VISITORS ARE DOING WITH ## QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH ### Website Analytics Data about the interactions users are having on your website. [(resource page coming soon)](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/web-design/ux-research#) ### Website Event Tracking Develop a custom set of behavior criteria that triggers an “event.” [(resource page coming soon)](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/web-design/ux-research#) ### Website Funnel Reporting A step-by-step report of a conversion funnel. [(resource page coming soon)](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/web-design/ux-research#) ### Website Cohort Reporting A comparison between different groups based on the start time of them starting an action. [(resource page coming soon)](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/web-design/ux-research#) ### When should you use different UX Research Methods? In addition to the content in the [free Growth-Driven Design certification](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/certification), here are two videos that outline which methods work well for various scenarios.  ## ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ### Growth-Driven Design Certification A free certification covering the Growth-Driven Design methodology for building and optimizing a peak-performing website. Lays out processes for UX research and includes many tools and templates. [Learn more](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/certification) ### Books on UX Research Love to read? Interested in finding books to deep dive on UX research? Here is a list of recommended books to check out. [View the Books](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/blog/books-to-read-for-growth-driven-design) ### "Start at the End" UX Research Michael Margolis has made his mark in the world of UX research, leading UX reserach efforts Google Ventures. Here is a 45 minute talk that overviews how he thinks of UX Research.  [Watch the Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW6wcuEAF0I) ### Build a peak performing website with ## GROWTH-DRIVEN DESIGN Stage01 ### Strategy 10 - 14 Days Develop an empathetic understanding of your audience’s world and how the website can solve problems along their journey. [Learn More](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/how-it-works/website-strategy) Stage02 ### Launch Pad 60 - 90 Days Quickly build a website that looks and performs better than what you have today, but is not a final product. Rather, your Launch Pad is the foundation on which to build and optimize from. [Learn More](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/how-it-works/launch-pad-website) Stage03 ### Continuous Improvement 14 Day Sprints With a launch pad site live and collecting user data, you can start identifying the high-impact actions you can take to grow your business. [Learn More](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/how-it-works/continuous-improvement) ![](https://www.growthdrivendesign.com/hubfs/GDD-Logo-Icon-Very-small.png) ### Get the full ## Growth-Driven Design BLUEPRINT Signup for our FREE certification to get video training, tools and templates to help you make the transition into a growth-driven organization. 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