Process
The five stages of user research maturity
From ad-hoc requests to research that drives strategy
The five stages of user research maturity, from ad-hoc requests to an optimized practice where research drives measurable business impact. Only 3% of organizations have reached the top stage. Use it to place your own team, then pick the next stage as your goal. Koji can help teams move from ad-hoc to continuous by removing scheduling and manual analysis.
Where this appears
What's in this process
- Ad-hoc: Research happens when someone requests it, with no systematic process.
- Structured: A research team exists and runs studies with consistent methodology.
- Continuous: Research is ongoing, not project-based. Findings feed product cycles.
- Strategic: Research shapes every level of business strategy. Insights reach all teams.
- Optimized: Research is a competitive capability with measurable impact. 3% of orgs are here.
Use this image
Free to use in your docs, decks and posts under CC BY 4.0, as long as you credit Koji with a link to this page. To embed it, paste this into your page:
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<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/user-research-maturity-stages"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/user-research-maturity-stages/user-research-maturity-stages.png" alt="Process showing the five stages of user research maturity: ad-hoc, structured, continuous, strategic and optimized, with 3% of organizations at the top." width="1200" height="739" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/user-research-maturity-stages">The five stages of user research maturity</a>, Koji</p>
