Awesome User Research

A curated list of tools for Product Managers and UX Researchers — covering the full stack from feedback collection and session recording to analytics, experimentation, and AI-powered synthesis.

All-in-one platforms

Why buy five tools when you can be overwhelmed by one?

Platforms that combine multiple research and analytics capabilities — session replay, analytics, feature flags, surveys, and more — in a single product.

Contentsquare - Digital experience analytics combining heatmaps, session replay, and journey analysis.
Datadog - Observability platform with RUM, session replay, and user journey analytics.
Hotjar - Heatmaps, session replay, surveys, and feedback widgets in one platform.
Pendo - Product analytics, in-app guides, session replay, and feedback in one platform.
PostHog - Open source suite: analytics, session replay, feature flags, surveys, and A/B testing.
Screeb - Product analytics, session replay, and in-product surveys in one platform.

Survey

Users will tell you exactly what they want. Then use the product completely differently.

In-app surveys

"On a scale of 1 to 5, how likely are you to abandon this survey before finishing it?"

Ask questions along your users' journey.

Hotjar - On-site polls and feedback widgets alongside heatmaps.
Pendo - In-app surveys and NPS tied directly to product usage data.
PostHog - In-product surveys integrated with analytics and feature flags.
Refiner - In-product microsurveys for SaaS.
Screeb - User feedback and in-product surveys.
Sprig - In-product surveys and concept testing tied to real user segments.

Feedback analysis

We have 10.000 pieces of user feedback. They all say "make it faster." Faster than what?

Aggregate, tag, and extract signal from qualitative feedback at scale.

Chattermill - AI-powered feedback analytics for CX and product teams.
Enterpret - AI-native feedback analysis aggregating support tickets, reviews, and NPS at scale.
Kapiche - AI-driven theme discovery and clustering from unstructured customer feedback.
Thematic - AI-powered thematic analysis for clustering recurring themes from open-ended feedback.

Product discovery

We built the feature users asked for. Turns out they meant something else entirely.

Build an understanding of customers, then using that knowledge to prioritize features development.

Canny - Capture, organize, and analyze product feedback.
Harvestr - Customer feedback and product management software.
Productboard - Product management software centered on customer insights.

Session recording

Big Browser is watching you click the wrong button again.

Session recordings are renderings of real actions taken by visitors as they browse a website. Recordings capture mouse movement, clicks, taps, and scrolling across multiple pages on desktop and mobile devices.

Contentsquare - Session replay with zone-based heatmaps and journey analysis.
Datadog - RUM and session replay tied to backend traces and errors.
Fullstory - Behavioral data platform with session replay and real-time error capture.
Heap - Session replay linked to auto-captured user behavior data.
Hotjar - Website heatmaps and behavior analytics tools.
Microsoft Clarity - Free heatmaps and session recordings.
PostHog - Open source session replay integrated with product analytics.
Screeb - Session replay with mobile support and product analytics integration.
Smartlook - Qualitative analytics with session recordings and heatmaps.

Analytics

Data-driven decisions, made by people who already knew what they wanted to do.

Product analytics

Our DAU is up 200%! (We changed how we define "active".)

Purpose-built tools for understanding user behavior, retention, and product usage.

Amplitude - Digital analytics platform for product and marketing teams.
Datadog - Observability platform with RUM, session replay, and user journey analytics.
Heap - Digital insights platform that auto-captures all user interactions.
Mixpanel - Self-serve product analytics for user behavior.
PostHog - Open source product analytics, feature flags, and A/B testing.
Screeb - Product analytics with built-in user feedback and session replay.

Marketing analytics

We got 10,000 visitors! Only 3 converted, but the traffic slide looked great in the deck.

Tools focused on acquisition, conversion, and campaign performance across web and digital channels.

Contentsquare - Digital experience analytics with journey mapping, zone analysis, and conversion insights.
Google Analytics - Web and app analytics by Google.

Business intelligence

A SQL query walks into a bar, walks up to two tables and asks... "Can I join you?"

General-purpose querying and visualization tools for slicing data across sources.

Looker - BI and data analytics platform by Google Cloud.
Metabase - Open source business intelligence and analytics.
Redash - Open source tool for querying and visualizing data.

Customer data platform

Your data is in 12 places. None of them agree on the user's name.

A customer data platform is a collection of software which creates a persistent, unified customer database that is accessible to other systems. Data is pulled from multiple sources, cleaned and combined to create a single customer profile. This structured data is then made available to other marketing systems.

mParticle - Customer data platform for mobile and web.
RudderStack - Open source platform for streaming data from your website to any modern stack.
Segment - Collect, clean, and activate your customer data.
Tealium - Real-time customer data hub and tag management.

Feature flags & experimentation

We ran an A/B test. Variant B won. No one remembered to turn off variant A.

Control feature rollouts and run rigorous experiments to validate product decisions with data.

Flagsmith - Open source feature flags and remote config.
GrowthBook - Open source feature flags and A/B testing platform.
LaunchDarkly - Feature management and experimentation platform.
Optimizely - A/B testing and feature experimentation at enterprise scale.
PostHog - Open source feature flags and A/B testing integrated with analytics.
Split.io - Feature flags with built-in impact measurement.
VWO - A/B testing and conversion optimization platform.

Product tours & onboarding

Our onboarding is so good, users still get lost — they just feel great about it.

Guide users through your product, drive adoption, and collect in-context feedback.

Appcues - No-code user onboarding and product tours.
Intercom - In-app messaging, product tours, and customer support in one platform.
Pendo - In-app guides and walkthroughs tied to product analytics.
Screeb - In-app product tours and onboarding flows tied to user segments and analytics.

User testing

It takes 5 users to find 85% of usability issues. It takes 1 stakeholder to ignore all of them.

Validate designs and flows with real users before shipping.

Dscout - Diary studies and in-context mobile research platform for longitudinal qualitative insights.
Maze - Rapid product research platform for usability testing.
Sprig - In-product concept and prototype testing tied to real user segments.
UserTesting - On-demand human insight platform.

User interview

"Tell me about the last time you used our product." — "What product?"

Conduct, record, and analyze user interviews at scale.

Discuss - Qual research platform for live and async moderated interviews.
Grain - AI-powered meeting recorder and highlight reel for user interviews.
Great Question - End-to-end interview platform with scheduling, recording, and transcription.
Lookback - Live and async moderated interview sessions with real-time team observation.
Lyssna - Remote research platform for moderated and unmoderated user interviews.
Outset - AI-moderated interviews that scale qualitative research without a human moderator.

Research repository

Where insights go to be forgotten by everyone except the person who ran the study.

Centralize, organize, and make discoverable all research artifacts — transcripts, videos, highlights, and insights — across studies and teams.

Condens - Lightweight research repository for centralizing and tagging research data.
Dovetail - Research repository with AI-powered tagging, theming, and insight synthesis.
Marvin - AI research assistant for tagging, analysis, and insight generation across studies.

User recruitment

Finding the right participant is harder than finding a bug in production on a Friday.

Find and recruit the right participants for your research.

Prolific - High-quality participant recruitment for research studies.
Respondent - B2B and consumer research participant recruitment.
User Interviews - The fastest way to recruit research participants.

Learn

The best time to learn about user research was before you shipped. The second best time is now.

Event

A room full of people who agree users should be central to everything — see you next year.

Nielsen Norman Group UX Conference - Training and events from the leading UX research firm.
Product at Heart - Annual product conference in Hamburg focused on product thinking and discovery.
UX London - Annual UX conference by Clearleft with talks and full-day workshops.
UXLX - UX Lisbon, one of Europe's leading UX conferences.
UXPA International - Annual conference by the User Experience Professionals Association.

Talk

Watching someone talk about talking to users. Close enough.

Continuous Discovery Habits - Teresa Torres on building a sustainable habit of weekly customer discovery.
How to Run Better User Interviews - Steve Portigal on interviewing users.
Jobs to be Done - Bob Moesta on understanding user motivations.
Just Enough Research - Erika Hall on making research practical and actionable for teams.
The Mom Test - Rob Fitzpatrick on talking to customers without fooling yourself.
The Power of Storytelling in Research - Steve Portigal on synthesizing and communicating research findings.

Podcast

Six episodes in on how to talk to users. Still haven't called one.

Awkward Silences - User Interviews' podcast on the practice and craft of UX research.
Dollars to Donuts - Steve Portigal interviews research practitioners.
Mixed Methods - A podcast for UX researchers.
The Product Experience - Mind the Product's podcast on building better products with real user insight.
Rosenfeld Review Podcast - Interviews with UX practitioners and design thinkers.
This is HCD - Human-centered design conversations with practitioners worldwide.

Books

Everyone on the team owns The Mom Test. One person has read it.

Essential reading for product managers and UX researchers.

Continuous Discovery Habits - Teresa Torres. How to build a habit of weekly customer touchpoints to make better product decisions.
Demand-Side Sales 101 - Bob Moesta. Selling and building products through the lens of Jobs to be Done.
Interviewing Users - Steve Portigal. How to uncover compelling insights through conversations with users.
Just Enough Research - Erika Hall. A practical guide to doing research that is useful, timely, and cost-effective.
Lean UX - Jeff Gothelf & Josh Seiden. Applying lean principles to UX design and research.
Research That Scales - Kate Towsey. Building and managing a research practice at scale.
The Mom Test - Rob Fitzpatrick. How to talk to customers and learn if your business idea is good.
The User Experience Team of One - Leah Buley. A research and design survival guide for solo practitioners.

Blogs

Bookmarked for later. Later is a lie.

Dovetail Blog - Research methods, team management, and UX practice at scale.
Nielsen Norman Group Articles - Evidence-based UX research and design guidance.
Product Talk - Teresa Torres on continuous discovery and product strategy.
UX Collective - Medium publication covering UX research, design, and product.
UX Matters - Long-form articles on UX research methods and strategy.

Newsletters

Weekly reminders to do user research, delivered to an inbox you check between meetings you're already late for.

Humans Who Research - Practical UX research methods and career advice.
Lenny's Newsletter - Product strategy, growth, and user insights from Lenny Rachitsky.

People to follow

They all say "talk to your users." You liked the tweet instead.

Practitioners, thinkers, and writers shaping the field of UX research and product discovery.

Bob Moesta - Co-creator of the Jobs to be Done framework; author of Demand-Side Sales.
Erika Hall - Co-founder of Mule Design; author of Just Enough Research.
Judd Antin - Former head of UX research at Meta; writes on research strategy and impact.
Kate Towsey - Pioneer of research operations; author of Research That Scales.
Leah Buley - Author of The User Experience Team of One; VP of Research at Salesforce.
Nikkel Blaase - Product designer writing on design systems and research-led product thinking.
Steve Portigal - Author of Interviewing Users; leading voice in user research practice.
Teresa Torres - Author of Continuous Discovery Habits; advocate for outcome-driven product teams.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Read the contribution guidelines first.

There are many ways to help: suggesting a tool, improving a description, reporting a dead link, or opening a discussion about the taxonomy.

Footnotes

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