What do you need to learn before you build?
Pick a decision that research could change. For a repair-shop app, you might need to learn how staff handle missed appointments before deciding whether to build reminders or make rescheduling easier.
What should you ask first?
Start with a recent event. “Tell me about the last appointment someone needed to move” gives you a chance to learn what happened, including who noticed the change and how they reached the customer.
If you already have permission to speak with someone who does the work, start there. A research tool earns its place when it helps you answer something you cannot learn from that conversation alone.
When is a prototype useful?
Once you have a change in mind, plan a task that shows whether it helps. If you sketch a rescheduling screen, the task can end when someone finds their new appointment time. Keep what you learn about the proposed screen separate from what people tell you about their current process.
Compare tools
Scroll the table sideways to read every column.
| Tool | What it helps withThe job the tool can help you do. | What you getThe type of information you can use. | What to check nextHow to verify the lead or prepare to use it. | How costs workWhat you pay for or what the free option includes. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Trends | Compare phrases people search for. | Relative search interest for a time and place. Low-volume phrases can show zero. | Pick wording to investigate. The chart does not count prospective customers. | Free Explore tool. |
| SparkToro | Find places a particular audience pays attention to. | Sites, shows and other sources suggested by group-level data. A small audience can give thin results. | Read a recent discussion or listen to a relevant episode before relying on the lead. | Limited free previews with an account. Paid plans have a report allowance. |
| User Interviews | Find and schedule people for a research session. | Recruit candidates from its panel, or work with your own participant list in Research Hub. | Check whether each candidate has actually done the task you need to understand. | Recruit Pay As You Go charges per completed participant session. Budget incentives and possible cancellation fees separately. |
| Respondent | Recruit people who recently did the job you want to understand. | Screening answers and interviews you run. | Check who qualified and distinguish their recent actions from estimates about the market. | Budget the recruiting charge and the participant incentive. |
| Lyssna | Check where people click first on a sketch or screenshot. | Click maps and counts for the task you gave them. | Use a follow-up or a clickable test to check whether they can finish. | Panel recruiting is separate. Test duration, screeners and recordings can affect the order. |
| Maze | Give people a task across a clickable Figma prototype. | Routes people took and outcomes for a defined goal. | Check whether reaching the goal actually proves that the task is finished. | Panel recruiting uses credits. Check the plan for test and export features. |
| Ballpark | Test a prototype, website task or question with your own audience or a paid panel. | Responses, observed choices and recordings when enabled. | Check mobile screen recording setup, participant agreement and which response exports your offer includes. | Trial and quoted study packages. Panel recruitment uses separate credits. |
| Lookback | Watch a live session with follow-up questions or give a self-guided task. | Session recordings and notes. The paid export options differ from preview and trial access. | Decide what to record and who may observe. Bring participants or check the panel terms. | Annual plans with session allowances. Recruitment, participant incentives and processing can be separate. |
| UserTesting | Recruit contributors and compare sessions using the same task. | Recordings and feedback, with video or transcript export options depending on the study and plan. | Confirm the audience network, format and permissions before commissioning tests. | Quoted testing or team-based plans with edition and scope differences. |
| Great Question | Manage a recurring research contact list and run studies, or source outside participants. | Study findings and survey responses, with separate controls for contact data and recordings. | Keep contact, recording and clip-sharing permission distinct. Verify each needed export. | Paid researcher seats. Observer access is free. External recruitment and incentives are separate. |
How can you plan one useful check?
Sketch your first study on paper. You can work through the plan before opening an account, collecting contact details or sharing a demo.
- Write down the decisionFor the repair-shop example, choose which problem to investigate first: appointments people forget or appointments they struggle to change.
- Choose what to recordFor a search comparison, choose the place and time range you will keep the same. For a conversation, decide what detail you will write down from each conversation, such as which step took the most effort.
- Separate the observation from your guessIf a participant describes phoning a shop three times to move a booking, write that down first. Then note what you think might help and what evidence could change your mind.
What should you check before involving people?
Explain the purpose, who will see the notes and how long you will keep them. Ask permission before recording and leave out customer names, contact details and real bookings.
Before opening or sharing a demo, confirm it reads and saves only invented records in a separate booking store. Check that reminders and payments use test services or are disconnected. Stay on paper if you cannot confirm those settings.
What would justify changing your plan?
Look for a problem you can describe in specific terms and test again. If people can already move bookings easily, a reminder may be worth investigating. If a change routinely requires several calls, sketch a simpler rescheduling flow and ask someone to try it.
Keep the date, who or what you looked at, the observation and what remains uncertain. A handful of conversations can help you choose the next test. To learn whether people will pay, gather evidence about that decision separately.