UX Research Services

We are a small UX research agency that works with product and design teams. We focus on building and running ongoing research programs or virtual UX labs for enterprise and mid-size companies. We also lead a small number of standalone UX research studies for new clients.

Recurring UX Research Programs

User understanding doesn’t come from a single study. It comes from regular UX research. That’s why we specialize in building, managing, and scaling UX research programs and virtual UX labs for a small number of clients.

Our programs use a wide range of UX research methods, from usability testing to card sorts to personas.

Featured Case Study:

Building a UX Research Program for GEICO’s Enterprise Service Application

Challenge

GEICO wanted to improve the user experience of its internal web application used by customer service reps. With thousands of reps helping millions of customers, support task efficiency was a key driver of both business KPIs and customer satisfaction.

Approach

The company’s digital experience team partnered with Marketade to design, launch and run an virtual UX research lab for its call center software. Our process included designing a 2-week research cycle, building a 1,000-person panel, and constant iteration.

Result

In 3 years, we completed over 60 research studies through this program. The research transformed the user experience of support software, showed a strong ROI, became a point of pride for the company, and inspired new research programs for other GEICO products.

One-Time UX Research Studies

While most of our UX research work is part of ongoing partnerships, we also lead a small number of standalone UX research studies for new clients.

We focus on complex projects that require a mix of UX research methods or multiple rounds of research. Most of our work relates to digital products such as software, mobile apps, enterprise applications, and websites.

Case Study:

Prototype UX Testing of a New McDonald’s Mobile Ordering Flow

Challenge

A McDonald’s team had redesigned part of its app to address a mobile ordering pain point. They wanted to uncover any friction points with the new design prior to rollout.

Approach

Marketade led iterative UX research: prototype testing with 19 users followed by rapid design changes; then live app testing with another 19 users.

Result

Our 1st testing cycle caught areas of confusion that the team addressed with design and copy changes. Our 2nd testing cycle validated most changes yet also surfaced some new problems to tackle before rollout.

More UX Research Work

Here are other examples and case studies of recent UX research projects that we’ve led for product, design, and marketing teams.

Usability Testing for Malwarebytes

To guide a B2B software product redesign, we led qualitative research and an analysis workshop with product and UX team members. Learn more: Usability Testing with IT Security Managers for Malwarebytes.

Content Testing for GEICO

To support an insurance product team, we led iterative content testing with overnight changes between rounds. Learn more: Rapid Content Testing for a Complex GEICO Product.

Personas for Herman Miller

10 contextual interviews with customers of HM’s Design Within Reach furniture brand followed by a 1-day persona-building workshop. Learn more: Creating Research-Based Personas for Herman Miller.

Card Sort for United Nations

Card sort and first-click testing for a 2,500-person agency within the UN System. 12 moderated plus 100+ unmoderated sessions. Informed the IA for a new HR portal. Learn more: Improving an HR Portal’s Findability through IA Research.

Heuristic Evaluations for Epsilon

Partnered with this agency to conduct UX audits for a top 20 global pharma company. Prioritized 100+ recommendations across 4 websites. Learn more: Improving Pharmaceutical Websites with a Human Factors Heuristic Evaluation.

Concept & MVP Testing for Thales

Software concept testing with IT security leaders to inform product decisions at this 80,000-employee company. Learn more: Helping Thales Test Enterprise Security Concepts with B2B Decision-Makers.

Tree Testing for Baileigh

IA research to help this industrial machinery company overhaul its site structure and increase self-service, web sales, and sales team productivity  Learn more: How Tree Testing Improved Baileigh’s Product Findability by 85%.

UX Testing for American Water

3 early-stage usability studies to improve the customer experience of this utility’s new web portal — each followed by a stakeholder workshop. Learn more: Prototype Usability Testing of Billing Scenarios for American Water.

“I thought the interview set-up, organization, and deliverables were all fantastic!”

Jeremy Abrahams

UX Design Lead, Herman Miller

UX Research by Industry

See examples of our UX research work across 6 industries where we have especially deep experience. In addition to the sectors below, we also have experience in travel, e-commerce and retail, industrial machinery, other consumer products and services, and other B2B products and services.

Financial Services

Banking | Insurance | Credit Unions

Nonprofit

Associations | NGOs | Foundations

Health & Medical

Health Systems | Medical Trials | Pharma

Software & Technology

Enterprise & SMB | Consumer Products

Government

Global | Federal | State & Local

Education

Higher Ed | K-12 | Early Childhood | EdTech

“Working with Marketade has been an amazing experience. I highly recommended them to anyone!”

Hung Ngo

Senior UX Designer, PenFed Credit Union

UX Research by Method

See examples of our UX research work across our 8 most popular methods and tools.

“Settled matters we would otherwise debate endlessly”

Derwin Olivier

Head of Continuous Improvement, Aggreko