UX research encompasses all types of research activities: user research, competitive research, stakeholder or subject matter expert interviews, audits, analytics, and other information sources—with the goal of helping organizations understand how to better serve their users.
Think beyond the traditional research report! Below is a list of UX research deliverables you can use to help you communicate strategy or research insights with greater impact and engagement.
Business Strategy
Goal: Communicate business strengths, differentiators, or priorities.
- Activity System Map
- Impact-Effort Matrix
- Ladder Diagram
- SWOT Analysis
UX / CX Performance
Goal: Communicate UX / CX metrics gathered from beacons, lasers, sensors, analytics, video, and voice of customer surveys.
- CX Scorecard
- Customer Journey Dashboard
Business Processes & Systems
Goal: Document the people, processes, systems, and platforms that make the organization run—and opportunities to improve.
- CX Ecosystem Map
- Ecosystem Map
- Gap Analysis
- Process Map
- Service Blueprint
- Stakeholder Map
- System Map
- Touchpoint Map
UX / CX Strategy
Goal: Communicate the UX or CX strategy or propose solutions to customer problems.
- Concept / Sketch
- Content Map
- Customer Journey Map: Future State
- Design Tenets
- Prototype
- Scenario Map
- Site Map
- Storyboard
- Wireframes
Product or Service Strategy
Goal: Map product / service problems to solve, strategy, and priorities.
- Customer Problem Map
- Impact Map
- Impact-Effort Matrix
- Journey Atlas
- Story Map & User Stories
User Needs & Behaviors
Goal: Determine user needs by first documenting how users currently complete tasks or how they will use a future state service or product.
- Storyboard
- Task Analysis Grid
- Use Cases
- User Flow
- User Journey Map
- User Scenarios
Research Synthesis & Collaboration Tools
Goal: Collaborate with the design or stakeholder team to map research hypotheses, questions, or findings, and then identify patterns or themes.
- Affinity Map
- Concept Map
- Empathy Map
- Hypothesis Map
- Mind Map
Research Insights
Goal: Communicate research findings.
- Customer Journey Map: Current State
- Customer Stories (e.g., photobook, posters)
- Expectation Map
- Experience Map
- Mental Model
- Podcast
- Research Repository (e.g., Trello, Google Sheets)
- Research Wall / Research Room
- Social Media Persona
- TV Show
- Usability Study Log
- User Personas
- Video Clips
Audits
Goal: Document findings uncovered during an audit.
- Accessibility Audit
- Content Audit
- Experience Audit
- Fishbone Analysis
- Heuristic Analysis / Expert Review
Competitive Insights
Goal: Communicate expert assessments about competitors or the competitive landscape.
- Competitive Analysis
- Competitive Matrix
- Context Map
See also: When to Use Which UX Research Method
Related Articles
- Discovering Hidden Insights with Kano Analysis: A Case Study
- ESAT & CSAT: A Survey Alignment Love Story
- UX Research Toolbox: Anatomy of a Compelling Narrative for Your UX Research Reports
- Data Overload? How to Manage the Flow of CX Insights Effectively
- Bias-Free UX Research: Innovative Approaches to Mitigating Bias in the Research Process
