Intro

User research is an important aspect of product development. It helps identify user pain points, preferences, and behaviors.

By incorporating user research throughout the entire product development process, teams can ensure that they are building products and services that truly meet the needs and expectations of their users.

User Research within Design-Led Development

Ideally, user research is practiced in all three phases of SAP’s design-led development process: Discover, Design, and Deliver. The graphic below shows which of the 14 most practised user research methods at SAP are typically used in which phase.

User research methods along the design-led development process

In the Discover phase, user research helps to understand the needs, behaviors, and pain points of the target users. This can be done through methods such as interviews, surveys, and shadowing to gather insights into user preferences and expectations.

In the Design phase, user research helps to validate design decisions and ensure that the product or service meets the needs of the users. This can involve usability testing to gather feedback on the design and iterate on it based on user input.

In the Deliver phase, user research helps to evaluate the effectiveness of the product or service and to identify areas for improvement. This can involve methods like usability benchmarking and other feedback mechanisms to gather data on how users are using the product and adjust to their behavior.

User Research Resources

SAP User Research Panel

The SAP User Research Panel is a is a centralized recruiting platform and database for gathering user feedback and insights, and we encourage all product teams to take advantage of it. By leveraging the panel, you can ensure that your product development efforts are guided by the input of real SAP users, leading to more user-centric and successful products.

To get started, please reach out to the SAP Research Foundations team for access to the panel and enablement materials. Additionally, feel free to direct your customers and SAP users to the external webpage and panel registration to encourage their participation in the panel.

User Research Portal

The User Research Portal is designed as a one-stop-shop to support anyone at SAP in making data-driven decisions. This includes reassessing product planning strategies, making usability improvements, and understanding and applying user research. The portal provides a range of resources, including methods and templates, recruitment options, testing tools, a quarterly newsletter, and enablement material.

One example is the User Research Method Cards. They provide a quick and example-driven overview of the 14 most practiced user research methods at SAP.

Please feel free to reach out in case of feedback or potential content contributions.

User Research Library

The User Research Library provides access to a wide range of user insights for enabling data-driven decision making.

In addition to accessing 750+ completed studies, the library also serves as a platform for user researchers and stakeholders to share their own findings and contribute to the collective knowledge base. This approach enables teams to learn from each other’s research and make informed decisions to drive better outcomes for our products and customers.

We encourage all user researchers and stakeholders to leverage this resource and actively contribute to its growth by sharing their own completed studies.

UX Insights Hub

The UX Insights Hub is a key part of SAP's commitment to innovation and excellence.

Centralizing user research data and insights in a single, compliant, governed, AI enabled user research repository powered by Dovetail and integrated with Aha!, the UX Insights Hub provides on-demand access to traceable and comparable UX insights across SAP to make data-driven decisions.

Adding your data to the UX Insights Hub enables faster analysis, synthesis and seamless collaboration for your research project, making your data discoverable and easy to share across SAP.

Download

User Research Method Cards

Inclusive Research Handbook

Scenes Toolkit

Further Resources

Take a look at our user research content on the SAP Community for all the latest news and updates. To dive deeper into user research case studies, approaches, and stories from behind the scenes, check out our blog collection.