Design without research is decoration. Every interface we build is grounded in understanding—who uses it, why they use it, and what gets in their way. Here are the five research methods we rely on for every project.
Stakeholder interviews come first. We talk to the people closest to the business—founders, product managers, support teams. They hold institutional knowledge about user pain points that no analytics dashboard can capture.
Competitive analysis goes beyond screenshots. We sign up for competitor products, go through their flows, and document what works and what doesn't. This gives us a map of user expectations in the space and opportunities to differentiate.
User interviews are non-negotiable. Even five conversations reveal patterns. We use semi-structured interviews that balance consistency with the freedom to follow interesting threads. The insights from these sessions directly inform our information architecture and interaction patterns.
Usability testing happens early and often. We test low-fidelity wireframes before investing in visual design. Paper prototypes and click-through mockups reveal navigation issues, confusing labels, and missing features at a fraction of the cost of fixing them in code.
Analytics review provides the quantitative backbone. We look at existing data—page views, drop-off rates, search queries, support tickets—to identify where users struggle. Combined with qualitative research, this gives us a complete picture to design against.