Software UX Research

UX Research & Analysis Skill - Quick Reference

Use this skill when the focus is analyzing and improving user experience rather than implementing UI components. This skill identifies problems and opportunities; use software-ui-ux-design to implement solutions.

Key Distinction:

• software-ux-research (this skill) = Analysis, research, recommendations
• software-ui-ux-design = Implementation, components, code

When to Use This Skill

Invoke when users ask for:

• UX audits and gap analysis (heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthrough)
• Customer journey mapping and touchpoint analysis
• Competitive UX benchmarking against top companies
• Usability testing planning and synthesis
• UX metrics definition (SUS, NPS, HEART framework)
• Research frameworks (JTBD, Kano Model, Double Diamond)
• Service blueprint creation
• Pain point identification and prioritization
• User research methodology guidance
• User feedback analysis (App Store, Play Store, G2, Capterra, TrustRadius reviews)
• Review mining for competitive intelligence and pain point extraction
• Feedback loop patterns from BigTech and unicorns (Linear, Figma, Airbnb)

Quick Reference Table

Decision Tree: Choosing UX Research Approach

UX Research Need: [What do you want to learn?]
    |
    +-- Evaluating existing product?
    |   +-- Systematic assessment needed? --> Heuristic Evaluation (resources/ux-audit-framework.md)
    |   +-- Understanding user behavior? --> Usability Testing (resources/usability-testing-guide.md)
    |   +-- Measuring satisfaction? --> UX Metrics (resources/ux-metrics-framework.md)
    |
    +-- Understanding user needs?
    |   +-- What job are users hiring product for? --> JTBD (resources/research-frameworks.md#jtbd)
    |   +-- What features matter most? --> Kano Model (resources/research-frameworks.md#kano-model)
    |   +-- End-to-end experience? --> Journey Mapping (resources/customer-journey-mapping.md)
    |
    +-- Comparing to competitors?
    |   +-- Feature gaps? --> Competitive Matrix (resources/competitive-ux-analysis.md)
    |   +-- UX patterns to adopt? --> Case Studies (resources/competitive-ux-analysis.md#case-studies)
    |   +-- Industry benchmarks? --> Baymard/NNg Data (data/sources.json)
    |
    +-- Planning research process?
    |   +-- New product/feature? --> Double Diamond (resources/research-frameworks.md#double-diamond)
    |   +-- Iterating existing? --> Design Thinking (resources/research-frameworks.md#design-thinking)
    |   +-- Service design? --> Service Blueprint (resources/customer-journey-mapping.md#service-blueprints)
    |
    +-- Prioritizing improvements?
    |   +-- Severity-based? --> Gap Analysis (resources/ux-audit-framework.md#prioritization)
    |   +-- Impact-based? --> Effort/Impact Matrix (resources/ux-audit-framework.md#prioritization)
    |   +-- Feature delight? --> Kano Classification (resources/research-frameworks.md#kano-model)
    |
    +-- Analyzing user feedback?
        +-- App Store/Play Store reviews? --> Review Mining (resources/review-mining-playbook.md#b2c)
        +-- B2B reviews (G2/Capterra/TrustRadius)? --> Review Mining (resources/review-mining-playbook.md#b2b)
        +-- Support tickets/NPS? --> Pain Point Extraction (resources/pain-point-extraction.md)
        +-- Which tools to use? --> Feedback Tools Guide (resources/feedback-tools-guide.md)
        +-- How do BigTech companies do it? --> BigTech Patterns (resources/bigtech-feedback-patterns.md)

Navigation: Resources (Best Practices & Guides)

Research Frameworks

• resources/research-frameworks.md - Comprehensive guide to JTBD, Kano Model, Double Diamond, Design Thinking, Service Blueprints, and Opportunity Solution Trees with actionable templates

UX Evaluation

• resources/ux-audit-framework.md - Extended heuristic evaluation (Nielsen + Gerhardt-Powals), cognitive walkthrough protocol, severity rating system, gap analysis, and prioritization frameworks

Customer Journey

• resources/customer-journey-mapping.md - Persona development, 5-stage touchpoint mapping, pain point identification, emotional mapping, and service blueprint methodology

Competitive Analysis

• resources/competitive-ux-analysis.md - Competitor selection, UX pattern analysis, case studies (OpenAI, Apple, Stripe, Notion, Linear, Figma, X, Spotify), and benchmarking frameworks

Usability Testing

• resources/usability-testing-guide.md - Test type selection, task design, think-aloud protocol, remote testing tools, analysis and synthesis methods

UX Metrics

• resources/ux-metrics-framework.md - Task metrics (success rate, time-on-task), SUS scale, HEART framework, NPS/CSAT/CES, behavioral metrics, North Star identification

User Feedback Analysis (NEW)

• resources/pain-point-extraction.md - Extract actionable pain points from any feedback source (App Store, Play Store, G2, support tickets, NPS) with prioritization scoring
• resources/review-mining-playbook.md - Practical guide to mining B2B (G2, Capterra, TrustRadius) and B2C (App Store, Play Store) reviews for competitive intelligence
• resources/feedback-tools-guide.md - Tool setup tutorials for AppFollow, Appbot, G2 Seller, Linear Customer Requests, Dovetail, Hotjar, and GPT analysis prompts
• resources/bigtech-feedback-patterns.md - How Linear, Figma, Airbnb, OpenAI, Stripe, and unicorns handle user feedback (modular reference by problem type)

AI-Assisted Research (2025)

AI tools can reduce qualitative analysis time by up to 80%. Key use cases:

Best Practice: AI assists analysis, not replaces human judgment. Always validate AI-generated insights against primary data.

See data/sources.json ai_assisted_research category for tool links.

External References

• data/sources.json - 118 curated sources (Nielsen Norman Group, Baymard Institute, UXPA, top company design blogs, AI research tools, thought leaders)

Navigation: Templates by Category

Audit Templates

• templates/audits/heuristic-evaluation-template.md - Extended heuristic checklist with severity ratings
• templates/audits/ux-audit-report-template.md - Full audit report structure with prioritized recommendations

Journey Templates

• templates/journeys/customer-journey-canvas.md - 5-stage journey map with emotional curve
• templates/journeys/service-blueprint-template.md - Frontstage/backstage service design template

Competitive Templates

• templates/competitive/competitive-ux-matrix.md - Feature and UX pattern comparison matrix

Testing Templates

• templates/testing/usability-test-plan.md - Complete test plan with tasks, metrics, and script
• templates/testing/think-aloud-protocol.md - Facilitator guide and probing questions

Metrics Templates

• templates/metrics/ux-metrics-dashboard.md - UX health score dashboard with SUS, task metrics, and trends

Feedback Templates (NEW)

• templates/feedback/pain-point-report-template.md - Structured pain point report with priority tiers, action items, and UI pattern mapping
• templates/feedback/competitor-review-matrix-template.md - Competitive review analysis with switching triggers, feature gaps, and opportunity summary

Related Skills (Cross-Functional)

• ../software-ui-ux-design/SKILL.md - Implementation sibling: Use after research to implement UI improvements (components, accessibility, design systems)
• ../product-management/SKILL.md - Discovery integration: Shared frameworks (OST, customer interviews, strategy)
• ../software-frontend/SKILL.md - Implementation consumer: Frontend applies UX research findings
• ../software-mobile/SKILL.md - Mobile UX: Platform-specific UX patterns (iOS, Android)

Operational Workflow

Typical Research-to-Implementation Flow

1. DISCOVER (this skill)
   +-- Stakeholder interviews
   +-- Competitive analysis
   +-- User research (JTBD)
   +-- Feedback analysis (reviews, support tickets)

2. EVALUATE (this skill)
   +-- UX audit (heuristics)
   +-- Usability testing
   +-- Journey mapping
   +-- Pain point extraction

3. PRIORITIZE (this skill)
   +-- Severity rating
   +-- Kano classification
   +-- Effort/Impact matrix
   +-- Frequency × Severity × Business Impact scoring

4. IMPLEMENT (software-ui-ux-design skill)
   +-- Design system updates
   +-- Component improvements
   +-- Accessibility fixes
   +-- Pain Point → UI Pattern mapping

5. MEASURE (this skill)
   +-- SUS scores
   +-- Task metrics
   +-- NPS/CSAT tracking
   +-- Review sentiment trends

Feedback-Driven Development Flow

USER ASKS                          SKILL FLOW
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
"Find pain points in reviews"   → pain-point-extraction.md → Pain Point Report
                                     ↓
"Find UI patterns for issues"   → Pain Points → software-ui-ux-design → Pattern Recommendations
                                     ↓
"How do BigTech handle this?"   → bigtech-feedback-patterns.md → Company Pattern Reference

Usage Notes

For Claude: When user asks to "improve UX" or "fix usability issues":

1. First use this skill to analyze and identify problems
2. Generate recommendations with severity ratings
3. Then switch to software-ui-ux-design for implementation

For Claude: When user asks to "analyze reviews" or "find pain points":

1. Use pain-point-extraction.md for methodology
2. Use review-mining-playbook.md for platform-specific extraction
3. Output using pain-point-report-template.md format
4. Feed results to software-ui-ux-design for pattern selection

Output Formats:

• Audit findings: Severity-rated issue lists
• Journey maps: Visual canvas with touchpoints
• Competitive analysis: Feature/UX comparison tables
• Test results: Findings with video timestamps
• Metrics: Dashboard with benchmarks
• Pain point reports: Priority-tiered issues with UI pattern mapping
• Competitor reviews: Gap analysis with switching triggers

Key Principle: Research first, implement second. Never skip the analysis phase.