User research plan template: the 8 sections

The eight sections every user research plan needs, whether it is for a discovery study, a concept test, a usability evaluation or a churn investigation. Each part names what to write: the decision behind the study, the goal and questions, method, participants, discussion guide, timeline, analysis and the decisions and risks. Fill it in on one page before any fieldwork starts. With AI-moderated interviews in Koji, the timeline section can come down to about a week.

Where this appears

• User Research Plan: The Step-by-Step Template (with Examples) for 2026

What's in this framework

1. Project overview and background: The question that set off the study, the decision it will inform and who is involved. Two paragraphs at most.
2. Research goals and questions: One goal, then 4 to 7 specific questions you will know you have answered.
3. Method and approach: The method, the modality, whether it is moderated, unmoderated or AI-moderated, and one sentence on why.
4. Participant criteria and recruitment: Who is in, who is out, how many per segment, where they come from and the incentive.
5. Discussion guide: The exact questions in order, with probes, mixing open questions with structured ones.
6. Timeline and milestones: Five dates: plan approval, recruitment, interviews, analysis, then the readout and decision.
7. Analysis approach: How you will code, who does the coding and what the deliverable looks like.
8. Decisions enabled and risks: What the study will and won't decide, the known risks and how you will keep bias out.