Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
User research<\/a> is the foundation of the design thinking process. After all, how can you build a digital product that meets the needs of your user if you don\u2019t understand who your user is and what their needs are? Consider the following user research tools:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Typeform<\/a> is one of the most intuitive user research tools available and is great for surveys. It\u2019s easy to set up and is known for its colorful UI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its highlights include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations that have conditional questions (\u201cwhat if\u201d with multiple streams of questions depending on the answer) and those that want to execute large-scale surveys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Basic Plan: (100 responses per month and one individual user) for $25\/month<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plus Plan: (1000 responses per month and three individual users) for $50\/month<\/p>\n\n\n\n Business Plan: (10000 responses a month and five individual users) for $83\/month<\/p>\n\n\n\n Google Forms<\/a> is an excellent no-frills user research tool. Its templates don\u2019t offer a ton of customization, but it does offer simple and streamlined surveys that can be used for research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Google Forms includes the following features and benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Data collection efforts involve short surveys and simple Q&A formats. It\u2019s also ideal for those who prefer creating simple forms on their phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Multiple plans, starting with the Business Standard Plan for $12\/month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UserBit\u2019s<\/a> survey analysis tool allows for in-depth analysis of survey data, parsing both quantitative data<\/a> and qualitative insights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UserBit offers survey tagging options based on keywords and phrases and can help you identify common pain points that arise in customer interviews. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With UserBit, you can standardize your research process, which helps create compelling user experiences for your customers and clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Qualitative research<\/a>, such as application-based questionnaires, and pulling together multiple sources of responses (in-person interviews, calls, forms, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first project is free. After that, you can pay $60\/month for the Pro Plan or $3600 for the Enterprise Plan, which is meant for bigger businesses and large teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UserZoom<\/a> is an organized user research platform that gives you access to a pool of participants that you can use for your research. You can also onboard an external set of participants through mobile, email, and social. It’s ideal for evaluating user experience and attitudes. Tracking user behavior is easy with the 100-point QXscore, which teams can adopt for streamlined product iteration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations with large-scale research efforts and UX designers with no experience<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Starting from $250.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like UserZoom, Userlytics<\/a> offers a panel of research participants that you can tap into for user interviews. It also includes a roster of UX consultants who can help you create test plans, and has a unique sentiment analysis tool that will help gauge your respondents\u2019 tone and voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations with customers\/stakeholders across the world, thus requiring geographically diverse participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their Premium Plan costs $499, and their Advanced Plan costs $999. They also provide customized pricing plans based on your requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you have a sizable set of responses, it\u2019s time to analyze. Some of the UX research tools above help with preliminary analysis. But you\u2019ll need to dig deeper to understand how your users are experiencing your site or app. Some of the best tools for this include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Google Analytics<\/a> is an excellent tool for pulling key metrics. You can find key traffic sources for your website and mobile-first designs<\/a> and apps. Google Analytics captures demographic information like visitors\u2019 locations, audience engagement (viewer time, number of pages accessed, etc.), bounce rates, and more. It also has a simple user interface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Google Analytics is a popular analysis tool because its reporting capabilities are easy to use and cover a wide range of advanced filters. Google Analytics does have a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it can be the foundation for your digital marketing campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Small businesses with 1-2 online assets looking for a reliable and in-depth analytical tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Free or $12,500\/month for the more advanced Google Analytics 360 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kissmetrics<\/a> is an analytics tool that\u2019s specifically tailored to e-commerce brands and SaaS companies. It helps you identify opportunities for maximum conversions and higher revenue per customer through e-commerce UX design. You can use this tool to optimize your checkout processes, analyze your total sales and revenue, and see your percentage of new visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kissmetrics stands out with its robust customer activity reports that help you create audience segments and user personas<\/a>. It also offers a macro-view of your sales funnel so that you can identify points of dropoff. And its advanced use of machine learning models to identify granular customer activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations with detailed sales funnels and a sizable marketing budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Silver Plan for $299; Gold Plan for $499; customized pricing per your requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With its advanced analytics, Mixpanel<\/a> gives a peek into how customers convert. It provides on-demand insights, allowing you to tweak campaigns in real time. Organizations prefer Mixpanel because it offers insights into how often customers use your products. Marketing teams can use this for targeting campaigns, and product managers can use the same data to guide the product development process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies with a large customer base benefit most from Mixpanel because the more customers you have, the better the product analysis will be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Free for limited features, or $25\/month for unlimited report generating and other add-ons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve done your customer analysis, it\u2019s time to begin brainstorming how your app or website will look. Here are the tools you\u2019ll want to use for this step:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whimsical<\/a> is a wireframing tool for testing design concepts. It has an extensive repository of elements that UX designers<\/a> can use for mind maps and flowcharts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whimsical sets itself apart with its flexible and user-friendly interface. It also offers systematic storage of design systems and files so that you can keep track of all your iterations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations with large UX design teams work on projects together with cross-analysis and feedback sharing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Its basic version is free, but it\u2019ll cost you $10 for the Pro Plan, or $20 for the Organization Plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another great collaborative tool for ideation and design is Miro<\/a>. This tool has the layout of a physical whiteboard, complete with sticky notes, drawings, colorful word maps, and other scribblings. It\u2019s used to create low-fidelity wireframes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations who want a single tool to handle the UX design process<\/a> with an emphasis on design. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Miro offers a free version, but you can also upgrade to its starter pack for $8, its Business Plan for $16, or its Enterprise Plan, which entails customized pricing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MindMeister<\/a> is a tool that streamlines your ideation process in the form of mindmaps, which can be enhanced with images, attachments, graphs, and other visuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MindMeister is known for its easy-to-use interface and its compatibility with other UX tools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Teams that prefer visual representations for collaboration tools rather than textual collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first three maps you create are free. After that, you can choose the Personal Plan for $2.49, the Pro Plan for $4.19, or the Business Plan for $6.29. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve brainstormed, it\u2019s time to actually design. This step usually begins with a wireframe or prototype<\/a> before building out an actual design. Here are some tools to get you started:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sketch<\/a> is a versatile design tool for Mac users. It has customized toolbars and collaborative spaces. The tool is beginner-friendly and has many resources, including pre-built formats to kickstart your design concepts. Sketch is popular because even non-UX designers find the software easy to use. A well-labeled version history also allows the team to jump between previous versions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smaller teams, as Sketch doesn\u2019t have robust collaboration options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Standard Plan for $9, Business Plan for $20<\/p>\n\n\n\n Balsamiq<\/a> has pre-set templates and options that can help you quickly build out wireframes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Balsamiq is great for its drag-and-drop functionality and its collaborative options for large teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations that do not require complicated wireframes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Balsamiq is priced per project. Two projects will cost you $90, 20 projects will cost $490, and 200 projects costs $1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Figma<\/a> is the most popular design and prototyping option among UX designers. It has real-time collaboration options that sync efforts for smooth workflows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It stands out with its beginner-friendly navigation and simple UI, in-depth formatting options, and integrations with stock image websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interactive prototyping, that is design-heavy rather than content-heavy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Starter Pack is free; the Professional Pack costs $12; the Organization Pack costs $45; the Enterprise Pack costs $75.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook\/Meta created Origami Studio<\/a>, which offers a library of pre-built templates that are great for interactive prototypes. Though it has a steep learning curve, UX designers like it for its wide range of prototyping options to determine user flow. It allows designers to create complex interfaces, and there\u2019s even an option to convert audio samples to create visuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UX designers who want a more advanced tool that can collaborate with programs like Sketch and Figma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Free<\/p>\n\n\n\n Adobe XD<\/a> is for vector-based design systems and is useful in the early stages of product development. The program is known for its intuitive workspace, reminiscent of all Adobe products. It also has a strong customer support system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UX designers who are already working with the Adobe package of graphic designing tools such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe InDesign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n $9.99\/month<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve built your interface, it\u2019s time to test it amongst real users. Here are the tools that can help you gain insights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crazy Egg<\/a> helps you understand how real users interact with different elements on your page. It promises everything you need to know about user behavior in 5 reports. With these reports, you can focus on page improvements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Crazy Egg helps you place critical buttons like CTAs, and helps you understand your customers by providing information about how they spend time on your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n E-commerce brands and agencies wanting to test the efficacy of how their landing pages are structured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crazy Egg offers a 30-day free trial. Its Basic Plan costs $29; the Standard Plan costs $49; its Plus Plan costs $99; its Pro Plan costs $250. They also offer customized pricing for larger businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UserTesting<\/a> is a tool that provides UX designers with videos of users using their digital products. A visual feed of their reactions and thoughts can unlock rich qualitative insights. UserTesting is seamlessly compatible with design tools like Figma, Adobe XD, and InVision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n UX designers who are looking for qualitative rather than quantitative feedback. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Schedule a consult with UserTesting for pricing options. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Like UserTesting, Userfeel<\/a> provides videos of users using your website. It also provides \u201chighlights\u201d of a specific batch of user videos, which allows UX designers to focus on pressing issues. With Userfeel, UX designers can annotate user feedback videos to systematically store and address the most pressing needs of your users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations in the initial stages of product development with a focus on user feedback, rather than analytics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pay-per-user test, starting at $60 for a 20-minute session. <\/p>\n\n\n\n UXtweak<\/a> streamlines real-time video calls with user participants for in-depth and actionable feedback. UXtweak\u2019s user testing tools help analyze video calls to study smiles, frowns, and other facial expressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UXtweak makes it so that you can meet and talk to your customers in real-time, which means you can get instant clarifications and ask follow-up questions. It also allowed UX designers to conduct specific research exercises, like card sorting and concept testing across mobile applications and web applications<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizations looking for narrow focus groups for their UX research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aside from their Free version, you can purchase their $80 Plus Pack, their $144 Business Pack, or get a customized quote, depending on your needs<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are free UX tools for each step of the UX design process. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\nTypeform<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Google Forms<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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UserBit<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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UserZoom<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Userlytics<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Analytics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Google Analytics<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Kissmetrics<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Mixpanel<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Ideation and Brainstorming<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Whimsical<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Miro<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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MindMeister<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Design <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Sketch<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Balsamiq<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Figma<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Origami Studio<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Adobe XD<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Testing and Evaluation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Crazy Egg<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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UserTesting<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Userfeel<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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UXtweak<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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What Are the Best Free UX Tools?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Get To Know Other\tDesign Students<\/h4>
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