Introduction to user research for public services

User research is critical to designing and delivering effective and efficient services.

It helps you learn about your users, so you understand their: 

• behaviours
• needs
• motivations 
• mental models

Your mental models describe how you understand the world around you to function. They build upon your lived experience and previous knowledge, and influence how you make decisions and expect things to work. 

By doing user research, you’ll understand:

• who your users are
• what they’re trying to find, do or get, and why
• how they’re trying to do it now
• how their life experiences and worldviews influence what they do
• how they use and experience existing services

This helps you to create services and products that work for your users.

Delivering a service without understanding your users and their needs can create serious problems for your users in their everyday lives. 

For example, they may miss an important healthcare appointment, or they may not be able to receive financial support or apply for a permit.

It can also impact your business and organisation by:

• increasing cost
• damaging your reputation
• causing a policy to fail at achieving its goals

Using user research insights to design, develop and deliver your service, you create something that:

• works for your user
• solve the right problem
• solves their problem in the most effective and efficient way

Learn about how to research your users and their needs.