How UX researchers should influence the product roadmap

Curiosity drives good product decisions. It helps you ask probing questions and uncover real problems worth solving. But curiosity also reveals multiple paths forward — each with different opportunities and tradeoffs. You need confidence you are pursuing the right one.

Product decisions require evidence, not just intuition. User research gives you that proof.

User research is a key input to product discovery. It gives you a direct line to customer thinking — one of the most reliable indicators of what you should build. Unlike passive feedback collection, it is deliberate evidence gathered through surveys, testing, and interviews to understand user behaviors and motivations.

Many product managers handle user research themselves. But if you work at a larger organization with dedicated UX researchers, your role shifts from doer to consumer of research. While you may not interview customers directly, you still determine what questions need answers. You bring in UX researchers at the right moments to inform key roadmap decisions. They recruit participants and run studies, providing results you can act on.

This creates coordination challenges. Deep research takes time. Results that arrive in the middle of roadmap planning can be disruptive, impractical, or even unusable. Without clear context, researchers may deliver findings that are misaligned with priorities — or simply confirm what you already know.

UX researchers need the same clarity as anyone else invested in your roadmap — communicate what you are planning and why.

That means defining clear research goals and involving UX researchers early in roadmap refinement, whether for major prioritization decisions or specific design choices. This elevates user research from nice-to-have input to an integral part of your planning process.

When you are refining a roadmap, consider these key moments to bring in UX researchers and how to make the most of their work. If you handle research yourself, keep this list handy as a reference for when user research can have the biggest impact.

Prioritizing features

You have to balance opinions with evidence when ranking features. UX researchers help with the latter — investigating whether anecdotal input reflects how users actually behave.

• Example research goal: “Identify which workflows cause users the most difficulty so we can target enhancements for high-impact problems.”

• Research timing: During quarterly or annual roadmap planning, or whenever you need to refocus priorities.

• How to apply the results: Update the value estimates in your prioritization framework based on the observed user behavior and rerank priorities accordingly.

Validating concepts

Before committing resources to a big idea, ask UX researchers to test it with users. You can gauge if there is sufficient interest to justify the investment and avoid building functionality that sits unused.

• Example research goal: "Evaluate user interest in this new feature concept to determine if it should move forward for the roadmap."

• Research timing: Early in discovery, before feature details are defined and you can still change direction.

• How to apply the results: Depending on users' interest level, decide whether to explore the concept in deeper discovery, rework it before moving forward, or shelve it for the moment.

Uncovering the MLP

Feature bloat can creep up on you and your users. UX researchers can dig into what customers find essential versus optional, helping you solve real needs without overloading on functionality — so you can define a Minimum Lovable Product.

• Example research goal: "Understand core versus edge-case workflows to help us deliver the most value with the least effort."

• Research timing: While defining feature requirements, before development estimates are set.

• How to apply the results: Refine the MLP requirements to ensure the first release delivers must-have functionality. Flag any additional capabilities for future consideration.

Modeling user flows

The order of what you build matters — pay attention to how users move through your product. Work with UX researchers to map out how users complete tasks and which steps are critical to a smooth experience.

• Example research goal: “Identify the essential steps in user workflows, highlighting where friction or gaps exist.”

• Research timing: During early release planning, before detailed UX design starts.

• How to apply the results: Update plans to focus on flows that serve the majority of users. Consider how to remove obstacles that block users from reaching their goals.

Guiding design

When you have multiple design directions, let users weigh in. Ask UX researchers to assess which version is clearest and most satisfying to use before designs are finalized.

• Example research goal: "Test usability and user satisfaction across design options."

• Research timing: When creating mockups or prototypes, when changes are still easy to make.

• How to apply the results: Work with UX designers to review the test data and select the best option. Decide if any usability issues are critical to address before development.

Bring in UX researchers to investigate your biggest roadmap uncertainties and uncover customer evidence — before you need to decide what to build.

If you use Aha! Discovery, the research-to-roadmap connection is built-in. Product managers can set clear research objectives for each study, and UX researchers can build a participant database. When research is complete, you can link findings directly to ideas, features, and goals — so every roadmap decision is traceable to customer evidence.

Uncover customer needs and tie key insights to the product roadmap. Start a free trial of Aha! Discovery today.