Product managers (PMs) live and breathe prioritization, constantly weighing trade-offs to deliver value. But one thing PMs should never sideline is user research (UXR). While analytics are great for telling you what happened, user research reveals why—helping you navigate product decisions with confidence and purpose, avoid costly mistakes, and maintain an evidence-based product strategy.
According to the 2024 State of User Research Report, user research has become a shared responsibility—77% of people who do research (regardless of job title) are embedded in product or design teams., It’s essential for product managers to build some research proficiency, whether your role as a PM involves collaborating with dedicated researchers or conducting studies yourself.
“User research allows a company to problem solve in a way that increases the likelihood that its product team will not just be shipping fast but that they’ll be shipping purposefully.” - Cori Widen, User Research Team Lead @ Lightricks, We need research insights more than ever during a recession
This guide will help you:
- Understand why a deeper knowledge of ux research is a PM’s secret weapon.
- Learn the types of research PMs should conduct.
- Collaborate effectively with UX researchers.
- Access actionable tips and tools to incorporate UXR into your workflow.
Why Product Managers need user research
“Delivering features doesn’t mean you are delivering value, just like telling a joke doesn’t mean people will laugh. It’s all about how customers receive your feature and if it helps them to meet their goals.” – Maarten Dalmijn, Author of 'Driving Value with Sprint Goals', Why Roadmaps Reflect the Level of Agile Inadequacy
User research transforms your product strategy by ensuring every decision is grounded in user needs from the get-go. That means fewer pivots (which derail precious timelines and throw your whole team off track) and more usable products. Because at the end of the day, “the value is in what gets used, not in what gets built.”
PMs who integrate research benefit from:
- Faster decision-making: Substantiate roadmap priorities with user evidence.
- Fewer missteps: Catch usability issues or misaligned features early.
- Stronger alignment: Facilitate consensus with qualitative and quantitative insights.
- Greater customer empathy: Understand your users’ goals, challenges, and motivations.
💡 Key insight: 57% of researchers report strong leadership buy-in, which means research-backed decisions are increasingly valued. PMs who champion research are more likely to gain executive support. A few ways to do this include:
- Start small: Incorporate lightweight research to demonstrate its value.
- Highlight ROI: Emphasize how avoiding redesigns saves time and budget.
- Maintain an insights repository that teams can easily access.
- Host regular syncs to share findings and align cross-functional teams.
When should PMs do research?
“I think the biggest [mistake during product launches] is not doing research. There are so many teams that skip that step because they are trying to move quickly and they think that they know how things should be talked about.” - Derek Osgood, Founder and CEO of Ignition, Awkward Silences #118 - The Product Launch Playbook
Research shouldn’t be reserved for major launches. Instead, integrate UXR throughout the product lifecycle:
- Discover: Identify user pain points and unmet needs through interviews or field studies.
- Define: Narrow your focus to the most pressing problems. Surveys or card sorting can help.
- Develop: Validate ideas and test prototypes with usability testing or preference studies.
- Launch and Beyond: Gather feedback post-launch to iterate and improve continuously.
Bake research into each stage by default. If that feels like a lot of research once you get down to it, that’s fine—it’s much easier to cut scheduled tests than it is to squeeze them in at the last minute. If you’re worried about UXR becoming a time suck, consider using a rapid research framework, like the one championed by Feleesha Sterling, to accelerate data-informed decision making.
💡 Bookmark it: We created a short and sweet guide to doing Minimum Viable Research, plus a handy cheatsheet to help you get started. Get the MVR guide here.
💡 Pro tip: Continuous research is the gold standard. Think of it as “flossing” for your product strategy—small, consistent efforts prevent big problems later.
What type of research should PMs do?
While PMs aren’t expected to become full-time researchers, many companies expect Product Managers to be able handle lightweight research methods that provide actionable insights.
As a Product Manager, you’re probably somewhat comfortable with things like behavioral analytics and product data. You may also feel confident running and analyzing quick surveys and sentiment measurements like NPS, CSAT, etc. And that’s great!
But you can’t complete the puzzle without a bit of qualitative research to bring empathy and understanding to all the hard numbers. Assuming you’re already reasonably comfortable with things like product analytics, here’s how you can focus your efforts and upskill your qualitative chops.
Generative research
Generative or discovery research focuses on user-centric insights. It’s about generating a deep understanding of who your customers are as people as well as users.
Purpose: Explore user problems and behaviors to shape your strategy.
Methods include:
Evaluative research
Evaluative research methods are about testing different solutions or designs with real users to gather feedback.
Purpose: Test solutions and refine designs before launch.
Methods include:
Continuous research
Continuous research is done, well, continuously. A steady drumbeat of lightweight research gives product teams a constant source of fresh insights and helps PMs stay on top of evolving user needs.
Purpose: Maintain a real-time pulse on user needs and feedback.
Methods include:
Tips for incorporating continuous research into your product strategy
"Great product managers already know that product improvement doesn’t end at launch. And that means that there will always be a need for UX research to continuously validate and provide direction for these continuous improvements." – Karen VanHouten, Awkward Silences Episode #89
Launch ≠ done. Treat research as an ongoing practice to refine features, iterate on long-term strategy, and maintain alignment with user needs.
- Embed research in your workflow: Dedicate time each sprint for lightweight research like surveys or interviews to keep a constant pulse on user needs.
- Ask open-ended questions: Encourage storytelling to uncover deeper insights and build empathy with users.
- Focus on a small number of qualified participants: Use tools like User Interviews to quickly recruit relevant users for frequent studies.
- Balance quantitative and qualitative: Validate trends with numbers and enrich them with user context and emotions.
- Streamline with tools: Leverage templates, repositories, and automated solutions to reduce the effort of planning, tracking, and analyzing research.
- Set realistic goals: Start small with research methods that match your resources and expand as you build confidence and buy-in.
- Foster cross-team support: Champion research as a shared responsibility to gain allies and stakeholder support for iterative improvements.
- Document insights continuously: Maintain a repository to centralize findings and ensure insights are accessible across the organization.
🎧 Listen and learn: How to Interview Customers Continuously with Teresa Torres of Product Talk
Collaborating with UX Researchers
If your team has dedicated UXRs, lean into collaboration for better results. Research is most impactful when PMs and UXRs work together, combining strategic vision with research expertise.
Early-stage collaboration with research partners ensures that ideation is grounded in real user needs and market insights from the start. By bringing in data, user pain points, and behavioral trends early, the team can prioritize ideas with the highest potential impact. This avoids wasted effort on misaligned concepts and leads to solutions that are innovative, user-centered, and more likely to succeed. –MX Been, The Product x Research Collaboration Report
Of course, cross-functional collaboration can amplify existing challenges and introduce new ones:
Product teams often misunderstand that research is a time-intensive process focused on exploration and discovery, not immediate results. They may expect quick, concrete answers, overlooking the uncertainty and depth required for thorough investigation. Additionally, they might undervalue long-term insights in favor of short-term deliverables. – Nazil Hussain, The Product x Research Collaboration Report
Often researchers assume we can make modifications at any stage and from time to time do not consider the dependencies required in order to ensure that the project is completed on time. One researcher I partnered with requested a change one week before delivery that postponed the project by nearly two months. — Laur Rivera, The Product x Research Collaboration Report
Collaboration tips for PMs and Researchers
The folks we interviewed as part of The Product x Research Collaboration Report suggest that kickoffs, deeper integration between Product and Research workflows, and patience on the part of Product folks can help alleviate some of those challenges.
I think it's as simple as a project plan or waterfall chart. Researchers could outline the steps, why they are important and the tentative completion date tied to each step in the process. — Max Freedman The Product x Research Collaboration Report
Here are a few more evergreen tips for effective collaboration between teams:
- Plan with research in mind: Build UXR phases into your roadmap. Early alignment avoids rushed or skipped research.
- Clearly define problems: Present prioritized issues with supporting context to UXRs for effective scoping.
- Set boundaries: Let UXRs handle complex studies, but take ownership of lightweight research like surveys or A/B tests.
- Share insights broadly: Keep findings accessible to align teams on the "why" behind decisions.
💡 Good to know: Role clarity avoids silos and facilitates better collaboration. As a rule, PMs own the “what” (problems to solve); UXRs focus on the “how” and “why” (evidence and solutions).
What does collaboration truly look like between Product and Research teams? Is there full alignment on goals? Trouble in paradise? When massive business outcomes are on the line, this relationship matters...a lot.
Read The Product x Research Collaboration Report for a look at how these roles work together and get ✨a free PDF version of this guide✨.
How to conduct research as a PM
User research can feel daunting, but following a structured process makes it manageable. Below is a brief step-by-step guide. We’ve linked to more in-depth resources for every step—if you’re new to this, read deeper in stages, but don’t let information overload keep you from the big picture.
Unlike some of the raw data you may need to interpret, the actual process of doing UXR can be fairly straightforward. Here’s how it goes:
- Define clear research goals: What decisions will the findings inform? A good user research question should be specific, practical, and actionable—specific enough to answer within the scope of your study, practical enough to answer with the resources you have available, and actionable enough to help you make decisions..
- Choose your methods: Match your goals to methods (e.g., interviews for empathy, surveys for validation). Focus on open-ended questions to uncover motivations; use closed-ended surveys or usability tests for measurable insights. (💡 Pro tip: Use the User Interviews Method Selector Tool to find the right method for your study.)
- Recruit the right participants: Use platforms like User Interviews to find qualified participants in any niche, or manage a panel of your own users for faster recruiting.
- Read up on best practices for your chosen methods: This includes how to analyze the data you’ll collect (information which may influence how you structure your sessions). See the section below for some method-specific tips for PMs.
- Analyze and synthesize: Combine qualitative stories with quantitative evidence to create a well-rounded narrative.
💡 Key insight: AI adoption in UXR is rising—according to the 2024 State of User Research Report, over half (56%) of researchers are using AI to support their work. Analysis and synthesis seem to be the most common use cases—90% of AI-users we surveyed for our 2024 AI in UX Research Report said they’re using AI for this purpose.
Research tips for Product Managers by method
Below are quick tips and reminders for PMs doing research.
If you’re new to any of these common methods, we recommend checking out the the UX Research Field Guide—which offers comprehensive guides to a variety of user research methods, as well as research planning and analysis—as well as the Fresh Views blog and Award Silences podcast, which feature practical tips and how-tos from experienced researchers.
Generative user research methods
User interviews: Gain deep insights into user attitudes, behaviors, and problems.
- Ask open-ended questions to encourage storytelling (e.g., “Tell me about a time you…”).
- Dive into the context and motivations behind user actions.
- Maintain neutral body language to avoid bias.
Diary studies: Track users’ real-world interactions with a product over time.
- Provide clear instructions and templates for entries.
- Use prompts to capture specific moments or actions relevant to your product.
Card sorting: Understand how users categorize information to improve IA.
- Choose between open (user-defined categories) or closed (predefined categories) sorting.
- Analyze patterns to align navigation with user expectations.
Evaluative user research methods
Usability testing: Identify friction points in workflows or designs.
- Test early with prototypes to avoid costly revisions.
- Follow up with qualitative questions to explore confusion points.
A/B testing: Compare variations to determine which performs better.
- Isolate one variable per test to ensure clear insights.
- Combine with qualitative feedback to understand “why” behind the results.
Surveys: Collect broad user feedback at scale.
- Keep surveys concise to avoid drop-offs.
- Ask one question at a time and use simple, user-friendly language.
- Always QA your survey with a colleague before sharing with participants.
Continuous user research methods
Analytics and heatmaps: Observe aggregate user behavior patterns.
- Pair with qualitative insights to add context to user actions.
- Focus on key performance indicators (KPIs) aligned with your goals.
Session recordings: Monitor real-world user interactions with your product.
- Look for recurring friction points or drop-offs.
- Use findings to refine features continuously.
Feedback loops: Maintain a real-time pulse on user sentiment.
- Incorporate in-app surveys or feedback forms post-interaction.
- Regularly review and act on feedback for iterative improvements.
💡 Pro tip: Insight repositories are more than just centralized places to store research findings—they’re a valuable and evolving source of fresh insights. Many tools now offer built-in AI features that allow you to ask questions about your data and even receive AI insights about broader trends and themes across your datasets.
Tools and resources to streamline research
Simplify your process with these resources:
- Recruit: Find niche participants quickly
- Research Hub: Manage a panel of your own users with our enterprise-ready Research CRM
- Templates: Use pre-made research plans, interview scripts, and analysis frameworks. Check out the User Interviews template library for a growing list of free resources
- Tools: Explore the ever-evolving UX software landscape with the 2024 UX Tools Map
- Knowledge: Read The Product x Research Collaboration Report
Final thoughts
Great PMs deliver not just features but value. Incorporating UXR into your workflow and working closely with dedicated researchers will help you solve real user problems with precision.
📈 Level up your research game: Sign up for a free User Interviews account and start finding participants today.
Do you have a UX designer on your team who's also interested in learning how to do user research on their own? Check out our companion guide: The Designer's Guide to User Research
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