UX Research on a Budget: 7 Methods That Cost Almost Nothing

Good research is a habit, not a budget line. Five unmoderated tests with your actual target users will surface roughly 85% of usability problems — a finding replicated for decades. Recruit from support chats, community groups, and existing customers.

Combine three cheap lenses: behaviour (analytics and session replays), attitude (short in-product surveys), and task performance (timed usability tests). Where all three point the same way, you have a decision you can defend.

Write findings as decisions, not reports. Each insight should end with: what we will change, who owns it, and how we will know it worked. A one-page insight card beats a 40-slide deck nobody reopens.

Keep a rolling research repository — tagged clips and quotes searchable by feature and persona. Over six months it becomes your most valuable design asset.