UX Research Agency

UX research is the practice of studying how real users interact with products - their behaviors, needs, mental models, and pain points - to inform better product decisions. It matters because intuition and internal opinion, no matter how experienced, are a poor substitute for direct evidence from the people who use your product. Teams that invest in research ship fewer wrong things, reduce expensive rework, and build products that users actually adopt.

Research engagements typically start around $15K for a focused study, with cost driven by method, number of participants, and timeline. A discovery sprint to de-risk a direction sits near the floor; a larger mixed-method study runs higher. Ongoing research support is structured as a monthly retainer, scoped separately.

We offer the full spectrum: generative research (discovery, interviews, contextual inquiry), evaluative research (usability testing, heuristic evaluation, UX audits), quantitative research (surveys, behavioral data analysis), and ongoing research retainers. We select and combine methods based on what your team needs to learn, not on a fixed methodology.

A focused discovery sprint typically runs 2-4 weeks. Usability testing or evaluative studies can often be completed in 1-2 weeks. More comprehensive generative research programs - longitudinal studies, large participant samples, multi-method designs - run 4-8 weeks. We scope every engagement to your timeline and decision-making needs rather than defaulting to a fixed duration.

We handle recruitment end-to-end. For most studies, we recruit from panel sources and screen participants against your user criteria. For studies requiring specialized populations - clinical professionals, specific job functions, niche user segments - we work with your team to identify recruitment channels and manage outreach. We screen rigorously to ensure participants reflect your actual user base, not a convenience sample.

At Coalesce, research doesn't happen in isolation - it feeds directly into the Product Studio's design and strategy work. Research findings inform wireframes, prototypes, design system decisions, and roadmap prioritization. Because our researchers and designers work together on the same team, insights don't get lost in translation between a research report and a design brief. The same people who learn what users need are involved in designing the solution.

The honest answer: earlier than you think, and more continuously than feels comfortable. Generative research is most valuable before a major initiative begins - before the team has committed to a direction. Evaluative research is valuable throughout the build cycle, testing assumptions at low fidelity before they become expensive to change. And ongoing research cadences keep teams connected to user reality as products scale and user needs evolve. If you're asking "is it too late for research?" - it's probably not, but the sooner the better.

Usability testing is one method within UX research. It evaluates how well users can accomplish specific tasks with an existing product or prototype - identifying friction, confusion, and failure points. UX research is broader: it encompasses the full range of methods used to understand user behavior, needs, and context, including research conducted before any product exists. Both are valuable, but they answer different questions. We use usability testing when you need to evaluate something that exists; we use other research methods when you need to understand a space before building.

Choose an agency that picks methods based on your question, not the one method it always sells; that can recruit your actual users, including specialized ones; and that connects findings to design decisions instead of stopping at a report. Ask how a past study changed what a team built. At Coalesce, researchers and designers work together, so findings go straight into wireframes, prototypes, and roadmap decisions.