How can you best understand your customers’ needs? Start with user research to first identify a problem, then pinpoint solutions.

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User research is a discipline rooted in design; however, its applications are farther reaching than an app or new product development. Any experience can and should benefit from user research.

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While market research aims to quantify opinions at scale, user research focuses on uncovering problems. While most users might not experience a pain point, even a small inconvenience is worth investigating and fixing.

Here are five ways to build user research into your business. As you put these into action, remember the most important work is what follows: ensure action is taken to resolve issues that rise to the surface.