User research is a way to gain insights into your users’ behavior, needs, and motivations. It’s important because it helps you make decisions based on what they want, not what you think they need.

User research can be done in many ways, but generally speaking it involves:

• Talking with users (in-person or remotely) about their needs and wants
• Observing them as they go through their day-to-day lives
• Gathering feedback and ideas from surveys or polls

Despite the chosen method, user research offers several benefits for companies.

Better Understanding of Users

User research is an essential part of the design process, and it’s important to understand why. If you’re designing a product or service that will be used by real people in their everyday lives, you need to know what they want out of it. You also need to understand how they use your product or service – and what problems they encounter when using it. This information can be used to make informed decisions about future iterations of your product or service. 

Improved User Experience

A good user experience is essential for any business. A bad one can make your customers leave, and even worse, it can cost you money.

User-centered design processes are based on the belief that users are experts in their own lives, so they should be involved in the design process as early as possible. This approach has been shown to improve both the quality of products and services as well as user satisfaction with them.
User research comes from many different disciplines including psychology (human factors), sociology (social science), anthropology (cultural studies) and information sciences.

Increased User Retention

User retention is a key metric for any business. It’s also a good indicator of how much customers value your product or service, which can help you determine whether or not you need to make changes in order to increase user retention. The longer a user stays with your product, the more revenue you can generate from them.
User research can increase user retention as it allows you to develop products and services that are more useful and appealing for your target audience. This increases their likelihood of becoming repeat users over time because they feel like they’re getting value out of each interaction with your company’s services or products.

Reduced Costs and Risks

User research is an investment, so it’s important to get the most out of your resources. There are many techniques for reducing costs.

Using existing data (when possible) – If you have existing data about your users or customers, use it! This can be anything from customer satisfaction surveys to analytics reports on website traffic. You may not need to do any additional research at all if you already know what needs fixing in your product or service offerings. If there’s something missing from this information–or if there are gaps between what people say they want and how they actually behave–then conducting some form of user research will help fill those holes and give you more accurate information about what needs improving.

Using low-cost methods – One way businesses cut down on their overall cost when conducting user research is by using low-cost methods such as surveys instead of focus groups (which tend to be more expensive). Surveys also allow companies access large numbers of participants without having them physically come together at one location.

All in all, businesses can benefit from user research in several ways: better understanding of your users’ needs and wants, improved user experience, increased user retention and reduced costs and risks among others.