Research Objectives: From 'What If' to 'What to Test'

Why it exists

To prevent unfocused research and wasted effort. Without clear objectives, teams risk testing unimportant features, gathering irrelevant data, and facing pushback from stakeholders who feel their concerns weren't addressed. This process ensures everyone agrees on what to test and why before a study begins.

The mental model

Think of research objectives as the blueprint for a construction project. You wouldn't just tell builders to "build a house." You'd provide a detailed plan with room dimensions and materials. Research objectives are that plan, translating a high-level goal like "improve the website" into concrete, answerable questions like "can first-time users find the return policy in under 60 seconds?"

How it works

The process starts by gathering two key inputs: the most important user tasks and the biggest stakeholder concerns. Important tasks are identified from analytics, search logs, or user surveys. Stakeholder concerns are collected through interviews or workshops. These inputs are then grouped and prioritized. For each top priority, you write a problem statement, which is then broken down into specific, measurable research goals. Finally, these goals are used to write the actual user scenarios for your test.

When to use it

Use this process before any significant usability study, especially for complex applications, new products, or when there are many potential features to test. It is essential for getting buy-in from multiple stakeholders; involving them in defining objectives ensures they trust and support the eventual findings.

When not to use it

For very small, informal tests with an obvious and limited scope (e.g., "does this one button's new label make sense?"), a full objective-setting workshop might be overkill. However, even a quick, informal definition of the goal is still beneficial to keep the test on track.

One canonical example

An e-commerce team is worried about cart abandonment. Their high-level goal is "reduce cart abandonment." A specific research objective would be: "Determine if users can successfully find and apply a discount code during checkout." This leads directly to a test scenario: "You have a 15% off coupon. Go to your cart and complete the purchase using this code." This tests a specific, high-risk part of the user journey tied directly to a business goal.