The role of

UX Researcher

A UX Researcher is responsible for the discovery and evaluation aspects of the design process. They focus on uncovering and understanding user behaviours, goals and expectations with the goal of sharing their insights with the product development team, informing design decisions and product vision.
UX Researcher

Responsibilities

A UX Researcher is responsible for the discovery and evaluation aspects of the design process. They focus on uncovering and understanding user behaviours, goals and expectations with the goal of sharing their insights with the product development team, informing design decisions and product vision.

UX Researchers work closely with the entire product development team and can work as a strategic partner to UX Leads, Product Owners and Product Managers, providing input for the product vision and roadmap.

UX Researchers are sometimes referred to as User Researchers and User Insights Designers or specialists.

  • Suggest, plan and lead research projects, involving their team members and stakeholders in the process
  • Encourage and ensure the use and combined use of both qualitative and quantitative research methods
  • Contribute to goal-setting and follow-up
  • Suggest and lead processes of setting up and following up metrics and analytics focused on measuring customer satisfaction and usability
  • Analyse, document and present research findings, involving their team members and stakeholders in the process, informing design decisions
  • Advocate and communicate the value of research activities
  • Benchmark competitors
  • Facilitate workshops for their team to ideate on and prioritise research findings
  • Contribute to product vision and roadmap
  • Build and maintain research repositories and contribute to building and maintaining user panels
  • Contribute to user stories
  • Map customer and user journeys
  • Grow UX maturity by sharing knowledge with their team, including them in the research process
  • Be a UX Buddy to a new UX Researcher in Visma’s design community
  • Contribute to knowledge sharing and events in Visma’s design community

A Senior UX Researcher does many of the same things a UX Researcher does, but typically has more experience and more responsibility. 

In addition to the role of UX Researcher, Senior UX Researchers

  • Lead research projects, continuously evaluating the user experience in their product line and contribute to research repositories. 
  • Contribute to defining research processes and methodology, set research objectives, and ensure that the research is aligned with business goals and user needs.
  • Collaborate effectively with product teams, communicating research findings and recommendations clearly, advocating for user-centered design and research practices. 
  • Synthesise research findings and data into actionable insights that help shape the product vision and roadmap.
  • Measure and present the impact of research, increasing UX maturity in teams.
  • Mentor and coach mid-level and junior UX Researchers, providing feedback, setting goals and expectations, and guiding career development.

A UX Research Lead is not only a researcher, but a multi-faceted leader, strategist, collaborator, methodologist, and mentor. They partner with product teams to gather insights that inform development and contribute to better user experiences.

In addition to the role of Senior UX Researcher, UX Research Leads

  • Lead and/or manage a team of UX Researchers, setting clear research goals, providing guidance and feedback to their team, ensuring efficient progress towards shared goals.
  • Set up, oversee and maintain research repositories, ensuring collaboration between product teams, customer support, sales and other relevant parties.
  • Develop and communicate the research strategy for their product line in collaboration with Product Managers, UX Leads and product teams, aligning business objectives, user needs, and market trends to create a cohesive research plan that supports product goals.
  • Collaborate with product teams and UX Leads to define and implement research methodology, integrating research insights into the product development process to inform product decisions.
  • Define and oversee UX metrics, empowering product teams to analyse data for actionable insights and increase UX maturity across teams.
  • Mentor and coach UX Researchers at all levels, providing feedback, setting goals and expectations, and guiding career development.

Specialization opportunities
for

UX Researcher

  • Specialise in one of the proposed specialisation areas for UX Researchers, e.g. Accessibility, Analytics or Facilitation
  • Take on more responsibility and work towards becoming a Senior UX Researcher
  • Consider moving into a closely related field, such as Service Design

Accessibility

Accessibility is usability for people who interact with products differently. Learn how to help teams approach accessibility.

Product Analytics

Setting clear goals and following up on the impact of UX improvements can help guide research and design efforts.

Facilitation

Learn how to enable others to reach their goals, promote team collaboration and encourage innovative problem solving.

Resources

Here you will find everything from Slack channels where you can connect with the design community, to events, links and community support from the Hubs.

Related roles

In Visma Learning Zone you will find an overview of all design roles and their different areas of expertise and responsibility. In addition, you will find how designers can grow in Visma.

Service Designer

A Service Designer addresses all touchpoints across the customer journey within a product line, including how the internal organisation works to deliver that customer journey.

Service Designer
UX Researcher

A UX Researcher is responsible for the discovery and evaluation aspects of the design process. They focus on uncovering and understanding user behaviours, goals and expectations.

UX Researcher
Product Designer

A Product Designer’s specialty is to translate user insights into attractive, easy-to-use user interface that customers and end-users want to use.

Product Designer
Want to learn more?

Get in touch with Visma UX

Drag
Request access