Consumer/User Research Study

What is it?

A user research study template is a structured document for recording the methodology, findings, and recommendations from qualitative or quantitative research with users, customers, or consumers. It captures who was studied, how the research was conducted, what was discovered, and what the organisation should do with the insights.

Research is expensive, and the findings are worthless if they do not reach decision-makers. Most organisations conduct research that produces a slide deck, gets presented once, and disappears. A standardised template ensures every study is documented in a consistent, searchable format so product managers, designers, and strategy teams can access insights from any study at any time, not just the most recent one.

Who should use this template?

This template is for teams responsible for understanding users and markets:

• UX Researchers: document usability studies, interviews, and surveys in a format that product and design teams can reference

• Product Managers: record customer feedback, beta testing results, and feature validation findings

• Market Research Analysts: capture consumer behaviour studies, segmentation research, and brand perception data

• Strategy Teams: document strategic research that informs positioning, pricing, or market entry decisions

How to create this template in Elium

1. Open the Template Builder: Go to your profile menu and select the Template Builder tab, or click “+ Create” and choose “Create a new template”.

2. Set the scope: Choose an icon, enable the template, and decide whether it applies platform-wide or to specific spaces (e.g. Research or Product).

3. Add structured fields: Click “Field” to add metadata: text fields for study title and reference number, a user field for research lead, a tag field for study type (pre-populate with “Usability Test”, “Interview”, “Survey”, “Focus Group”, “Field Study”), a date field for completion date, and a tag field for status. Mark study title and research lead as mandatory.

4. Build the study structure: Use the “+” button to add content blocks: text blocks for research objective and methodology, a text block for participant profile, a numbered list block for key findings, a table block for recommendations (columns: recommendation, priority, owner), and a text block for limitations.

5. Preview and save: Review the template layout, then save. Researchers can now select it when documenting new studies, and you can apply it to existing content in bulk.

How AI helps

Capture faster. Paste interview transcripts, survey results, or session notes into Elium’s AI. It identifies recurring themes, extracts key quotes, and organises findings by category, so the researcher synthesises rather than transcribes.

Retrieve smarter. A product manager asks Elium’s AI: “What did our users say about the onboarding experience in the last three studies?” The AI surfaces the relevant findings from multiple research documents, revealing patterns that no single study shows.

Why teams use Elium for this

Research insights are perishable. They lose value if they are not accessible when decisions are made. When studies live in scattered slide decks, the same research questions get repeated because teams cannot find previous answers. Elium centralises research knowledge: structured templates make every study searchable, tags connect related findings across studies, and AI-powered search lets anyone query the research library from a plain question.

Servier (22,000 employees across 140 countries) uses Elium to centralise intelligence and research findings. With over 1,000 active users across therapeutic areas, research insights from one team inform decisions across the organisation, preventing duplication and ensuring evidence-based planning.

FAQ

Common questions about user research study templates

What is a user research study and why is it important?

A user research study is a structured investigation into how users behave, what they need, and how they experience a product or service. Without documented research, product decisions rely on assumptions. Structured studies provide evidence that reduces risk, validates ideas before investment, and ensures teams build what users actually need.

What should be included in a user research template?

A complete user research template includes study metadata (title, lead, type, date, status), a research objective, methodology description, participant profile, numbered key findings with evidence, actionable recommendations with priorities and owners, and a limitations section noting constraints on the research scope.

How can user research benefit my organisation?

Documented user research reduces product risk because teams validate assumptions before building. It improves customer satisfaction because products address real needs. It creates a research library that prevents duplicate studies. It informs strategy with evidence rather than opinion, leading to better decisions across the organisation.

How do you write an effective user research report?

Lead with the research question: what were you trying to learn? Describe the methodology clearly so others can evaluate the findings. Number each insight and support it with specific evidence. Write recommendations that are actionable and tied to named owners. Acknowledge limitations honestly so readers understand the scope.

What is the difference between user research and market research?

User research focuses on how people interact with a specific product or service: usability, needs, and experience. Market research examines broader market dynamics: segmentation, sizing, trends, and competitive positioning. Both inform strategy, but user research drives product decisions while market research drives business decisions.