Published on May 2, 2025 5 min read

Top 9 UX Research Tools You Should Know About in 2025

Understanding your users is key to creating better products, and UX research tools make this process easier. These tools help gather insights about user behavior, preferences, and pain points, allowing you to design experiences that truly meet their needs. Whether you’re testing prototypes, analyzing feedback, or tracking usability, the right tools can save time and improve results. Below, we’ve compiled a list of the nine best UX research tools to help you create user-friendly designs with confidence and efficiency.

UserTesting

The UserTesting platform provides an extensive collection of research tools for obtaining useful feedback about your design work. It enables users to build and execute usability experiments, surveys, and focus groups with real participants. UserTesting gives your organization the ability to identify trends from quantitative and qualitative user responses, establishing a complete understanding of user experience. It offers state-of-the-art capabilities, including eye-tracking monitoring tools and precise audience preference filters.

The tool is perfect for teams needing fast confirmation of product concepts or design decisions from user perspectives. UserTesting offers easily customized functionality, allowing practical feedback by testing with actual users effortlessly.

Hotjar

Hotjar is one of the most commonly used UX research instruments, providing multiple tools to study website or app behavior. Through its heatmaps, recordings, and feedback sections, users can observe design interactions of real users while pinpointing areas needing improvement. Hotjar enables both A/B testing and funnel analysis features, offering comprehensive user behavior information.

This tool is great for teams looking to optimize their existing designs and make data-driven decisions based on real user interactions. With its easy-to-use interface and powerful analytics capabilities, Hotjar is a must-have for any UX researcher.

Optimal Workshop

Optimal Workshop provides powerful tools for both moderated and unmoderated remote user testing. Its comprehensive suite includes features like card sorting, tree testing, and first-click testing, designed to help you uncover how users navigate and interact with your designs. These tools offer valuable insights into information architecture, navigation menus, and user flows, enabling you to create more intuitive and user-friendly experiences.

This tool is ideal for teams seeking to improve the usability of their products by analyzing how users interact with different design elements. Its remote capabilities also make it convenient for conducting research with participants from all over the world.

Lookback

Lookback is a platform designed specifically for mobile user research. It allows you to conduct remote moderated or unmoderated tests on iOS and Android devices. With Lookback, you can capture screen recordings, audio, video, and user interactions to gain a comprehensive understanding of how users engage with your mobile app.

This tool is perfect for teams looking to optimize their mobile designs and gather in-depth insights from real users. Lookback’s ability to record user interactions in real-time makes it an invaluable tool for understanding the user experience on mobile devices.

Qualtrics

Qualtrics is a powerful all-in-one research platform offering a wide range of tools, including survey creation, data analysis, and reporting. With advanced features like branching logic and statistical analysis, you can dig deep into user feedback and uncover valuable insights about your target audience. Additionally, Qualtrics allows you to customize surveys based on specific demographics, making it easy to gather feedback from your target users.

This tool is suitable for teams looking to conduct comprehensive user research and analyze data on a large scale. Its robust features and customizable options make it an excellent choice for gathering insights about your target audience.

Maze

Maze is a user testing platform that allows you to test prototypes and gather feedback from real users. With its intuitive interface, you can easily create tests and share them with participants, either remotely or in-person. Maze also offers advanced features like heatmaps, click maps, and session recordings to help you visualize user behavior and identify areas of improvement.

This tool is ideal for teams looking to improve the usability of their prototypes and gather feedback from real users in a fast and efficient manner. Its user-friendly interface and powerful analytics make it a valuable tool for any UX researcher.

UserZoom

UserZoom is a comprehensive user research platform offering a wide range of tools, including surveys, usability testing, and ethnographic research. With its advanced features like remote unmoderated studies and eye-tracking technology, you can gather insights about user behavior and preferences with ease. UserZoom also allows you to create personalized research journeys for different user personas, making it easier to analyze data from specific target groups.

This tool is suitable for teams seeking to conduct large-scale user research and gather valuable insights to inform their design decisions. Its diverse range of tools and customizable options make it a top choice for UX researchers.

Prott

Prott is an intuitive prototyping tool designed to help you create interactive designs and collect valuable feedback from stakeholders and users. Its user-friendly interface enables you to build prototypes effortlessly—no coding skills required. Prott also includes robust collaboration features, allowing team members to review designs and leave comments with ease. This makes it an ideal solution for remote teams looking to streamline their design process.

This tool is perfect for teams looking to quickly turn their ideas into tangible prototypes and gather feedback from stakeholders and users. Its simple yet powerful features make it a valuable asset in the UX research process.

Validately

Validately is a user research platform offering remote moderated and unmoderated testing options. Its suite of tools includes surveys, card sorting, and tree testing, making it easy to gather feedback on different aspects of your design. It also offers advanced features like participant targeting and session recordings for in-depth analysis.

This tool is suitable for teams looking to conduct remote research with participants from specific demographics or locations. Its diverse range of tools and advanced features make it an excellent choice for gathering valuable insights from real users.

Conclusion

Selecting the right UX research tools can significantly enhance your design process by providing actionable insights and streamlining collaboration. Each tool discussed offers unique features tailored to specific research needs, whether it’s prototyping, usability testing, or gathering feedback from targeted participants. By integrating these tools into your workflow, you can better understand user behavior, validate design decisions, and ultimately create user-centered designs that deliver meaningful experiences.