The current state of AI adoption in user research
The number of AI-powered solutions across all aspects of modern business is surging. Companies are fundamentally transforming their strategies in key growth areas, particularly customer insights, with AI and traditional research practices increasingly converging.
In today's competitive environment, success hinges on regular research, whether the goal is identifying product-market fit or mitigating customer churn. An especially compelling argument for the importance of user research lies in the findings of a recent Amazon Web Services study. It revealed that the surveyed eCommerce businesses forfeited 35% of their potential revenue (approximately $1.4 trillion left on the table) because of poor user experience. Fortunately, recent AI advancements enable researchers to develop actionable customer insights in significantly less time (and at far-reduced cost) than conventional methods.
A 2023 State of User Research report shows an uptick in AI adoption among research professionals:
A fifth of participants incorporate AI into at least some of their work.
An additional 38% plan to tap into it eventually.
(BTW, Dovetail emerged as one of the top five most used AI-based tools among these researchers 👋).