Virtual assistants play a crucial role in supporting clients and their business. One way you could add even more value is by understanding user research and how it can help your clients make smarter decisions.

What is user research?

User research is the process of gathering insights from real people to understand their needs, behaviors, and pain points. It helps businesses create products, services, and marketing strategies that truly resonate with their audience. 

It’s most typically used by companies offering primarily digital services and experiences, but it can actually help all kinds of entrepreneurs and businesses to thrive. Unlike assumptions or guesswork, user research helps you to make decisions that are based on actual data from real customers.

How can user research help solopreneurs and small businesses?

Many small business owners don’t have the time or resources for large-scale research, but even simple and quick user research can provide game-changing insights. Here are a few ways it can be useful:

1. Understanding customers’ real needs and frustrations

Perhaps your client has an itching feeling that they don’t fully understand their users and what makes them tick, and they don’t want to get by on assumptions any longer. User research can help. This could involve conducting short surveys, interviews, or analyzing customer feedback. Most likely it will be a mixture of these! It doesn’t take long for entrepreneurs to feel like they have a much deeper understanding of who their users are and what matters to them.

2. Improving websites and online presence

Does your client’s website attract visitors but not convert them into customers? Or do they have an online service or app that users are struggling to use? User research can help identify usability issues or unclear messaging. Techniques like usability testing are among the quickest ways to find out why users are having problems with your website, service or app, and prompt ideas for how to fix it.

3. Testing new product or service ideas

Before investing time and money into a new product or service, your client can validate their idea through user research. Running quick concept tests and getting feedback on prototypes can prevent costly mistakes. Putting your ideas to the test by prototyping and testing with users as soon as possible to avoid wasting time on something that doesn’t meet their needs.

4. Enhancing marketing and messaging

Sometimes, businesses struggle to create marketing content that truly speaks to their audience. By conducting customer interviews or analyzing online reviews, your client can uncover the language, concerns, and motivations of their customers—helping them craft more compelling messaging.

Common questions about user research

Isn’t user research only for big companies with big budgets?

No! User research doesn’t have to be expensive. Even small businesses can gather valuable insights through simple and cost-effective methods like customer interviews, surveys, and website feedback tools.

Does user research take a long time?

Not necessarily. While large-scale studies can take months, many quick and effective research methods—such as five-minute surveys or informal customer chats—can provide useful insights in just a few days.

Can’t my client just rely on their intuition or past experience?

While intuition is valuable, making business decisions based on real customer insights reduces guesswork and increases the likelihood of success. Even a few conversations with customers can reveal surprising insights.

What’s the difference between user research and market research?

Market research focuses on industry trends, competitors, and market size, while user research focuses on understanding customer needs, behaviors, and experiences with a specific product or service.

How can my client do user research if they don’t have a large customer base yet?

They can start small! Research can be done with as few as 5–10 people. They can talk to potential customers, gather insights from online communities, or analyze competitors’ customer reviews.

Do they need fancy tools or software to do user research?

No. While there are tools like Hotjar, UserTesting, and Typeform, businesses can start with free or low-cost options like Google Forms for surveys, Zoom for customer interviews, and social media polls for quick feedback.

Can user research help improve marketing and sales?

Absolutely! Understanding what customers need, how they talk about their problems, and what influences their decisions can help refine messaging, improve website copy, and make marketing efforts more effective.

What are some ways a virtual assistant can help with user research?

It’s true that user research can take substantial organisational effort to run smoothly. Virtual assistants can be invaluable here, supporting in a wide range of ways:

• Set up and manage surveys
• Organize and analyze customer feedback
• Conduct research on competitors’ customer reviews
• Reach out to customers inviting them to take part in research
• Schedule and transcribe customer interviews

How often should my client do user research?

User research isn’t a one-time task—it’s an ongoing process. Even checking in with a few customers once a month or reviewing feedback regularly can keep a business aligned with customer needs.

Whether it’s refining their marketing, improving their website, or validating a new product idea, even small-scale research can provide valuable insights. Take a moment to think about where user research could help the clients you work with—what challenges are they facing that a little reliable customer feedback might solve? If you’d like to learn more about how to incorporate user research into your VA services, I offer free one-off coaching calls where I share practical tips and ideas. Get in touch—I’d love to help!