ChatGPT for UX Researcher: How to Use, Benefits, Limitations, Examples, and Best Practices

All eyes are now on ChatGPT, the AI tool that managed to hit the one million users mark just five days after its launch. Being totally free, but very effective and able to provide tailored answers to users’ questions, ChatGPT is becoming an integral part of our daily lives, both personal and professional. New technology like ChatGPT has transformed workflows in the past year, driving rapid advancements in how AI is integrated into design and research tasks.

Here at , we’ve already tested ChatGPT and agreed that it is quite useful for doing UX research. Based on our experience, the tool offers rather accurate and realistic responses to a wide range of inputs. Integrating ChatGPT into the design process can streamline certain research and ideation tasks, making it a valuable addition to modern UX workflows. But we also have to say that the tool comes with certain flaws, which we’re going to discuss later on.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the benefits and limitations of using ChatGPT. We will also provide some examples and tips when you want to use it for your project, so keep reading.

Benefits of using ChatGPT for UX research

Conducting UX research not only helps designers develop products that appeal to future users but also ensures the designed solutions will be competitive. But the truth is, UX research is a time-consuming and complex process.

According to the State of User Research survey, the typical study takes from 1 to 4 weeks to plan, while 61% of respondents admit that they conduct half of their research sessions with participants from their own audience. Such research practice may lead to inaccurate results and bring bias in an assessment of market needs.

In this respect, ChatGPT can be very helpful for speeding up the process and providing unbiased opinion. As a learning-based natural language processing tool, it is trained on a diverse range of text data sourced from the Internet in a variety of ways.

The use cases for ChatGPT in UX research are endless, starting from gathering inspiration and ideas to providing a color palette for an app or a website. The tool can help develop the concept and recommend fonts or an icon for a non-standard project. Additionally, ChatGPT can support the user research process by assisting with various research methods such as interviews, surveys, usability testing, and data analysis, making it a valuable asset throughout different research phases.

With that said, the benefits of using ChatGPT for UX research include:

• Natural, human-like performance. Based on the recent GPT-4 Technical Report, ChatGPT can now understand both text and image inputs, and generate a wide range of responses in a close-to-human manner.  The research showed promising results, demonstrating that ChatGPT can interact with human language and follow instructions creatively, like humans do, which is beneficial for UX researchers looking to collect user feedback.

• Great level of accuracy. The accuracy of GPT-4 has improved compared to previous models, achieving scores of over 80%. This means it performs better in predicting and generating more contextually appropriate responses. Simply put, the tool can now give better and more sensible responses based on the question asked.

• Multi-purpose. From text generation to question answering and building user personas, there are many ways how UX researchers can utilize ChatGPT, including analyzing qualitative and quantitative data to generate actionable insights that inform design decisions.
• Cost-effectiveness. Lastly, ChatGPT is not only fast and accurate, but comes at no cost, letting you optimize the budget for UX research.

Limitations of ChatGPT in UX Research

Although ChatGPT offers speed and flexibility, it’s important to understand its limitations—especially when working in a high-stakes product environment. As with any AI tool, its outputs should be treated as helpful suggestions, not definitive answers. ChatGPT should be used as a support tool within the broader development process and product development process, complementing human expertise and ensuring that user research aligns with each stage of product creation.

When Not to Use ChatGPT

There are certain scenarios where relying on ChatGPT could be risky or counterproductive. For example:

• When accuracy is non-negotiable: ChatGPT can occasionally generate outdated, incomplete, or factually incorrect responses. It’s not suitable for projects where precise data or regulatory compliance is required. Providing as much detail as possible in your prompts can help mitigate some risks, but it may not fully eliminate inaccuracies.
• When emotional nuance is essential: Unlike human researchers, ChatGPT cannot interpret tone, emotion, or body language. If you need to understand user motivation at a deeper level, direct interaction is still necessary, especially when trying to grasp user needs and user behavior.
• When working in specialized industries: In areas like healthcare, legal, or finance, subtle errors can have major consequences. ChatGPT’s lack of verified sourcing makes it less reliable in these fields.
• When current information is critical: Unless explicitly prompted with up-to-date data, ChatGPT cannot provide real-time insights. This limits its usefulness for emerging trends, news-based behavior shifts, or user feedback from recent events.

Validating AI-Generated UX Insights

To get the most value from ChatGPT without compromising quality, its responses should always be validated. Here are a few ways to do that:

• Cross-check the output with established UX research sources such as Nielsen Norman Group, UX research books, or peer-reviewed studies.
• Run ideas past your team—product managers, UX leads, and developers can help spot gaps or assumptions the AI may have introduced.
• Test the outputs in real-world contexts, whether that’s running a user interview with AI-generated questions or comparing AI-created personas against real user data.
• Review AI-generated outputs to ensure key insights are accurate and actionable, confirming that the findings are relevant and useful for your UX goals.
• Have human researchers focus on analyzing data to validate and contextualize AI-generated findings, ensuring that the most important information is not overlooked.

In short, treat ChatGPT as an idea generator, not a replacement for first-hand research.

Human UX Researcher vs. ChatGPT: A Comparison

To clarify where ChatGPT fits into the research process, here’s a breakdown of what it can do — and where it falls short compared to a professional UX researcher:

Some examples of using ChatGPT

Here at Eleken, we find ChatGPT quite useful for conducting UX research. For example, ChatGPT can assist in creating discussion guides for interviews and generate multiple choice questions for surveys, making it easier to design effective research tools. Here are some examples of when the tool can help, in particular:

Gathering market insights

The UX research process involves identifying competitors and understanding the market, gaining insights into user preferences and behavioral patterns. Gathered data helps understand how users may interact with the product we design. ChatGPT can also help generate research questions focused on user engagement and user behavior, ensuring your research plan addresses the key factors that influence how users interact with your product.

Let’s say you need to collect information about the target market and potential users to verify the success of a new student engagement app. Here’s what ChatGPT recommends.

Prompt: I want to gain insights into user preferences and behavioral patterns to understand how they will interact with the student engagement app.

Additional prompt examples:

• Create a list of top competitors in the education market. Write their strengths and weaknesses.
• I want to know how to conduct primary market research to gain insights into customer needs and preferences for the education sector. How can I do it?
• How can I use secondary market research like the education sector competitor analysis to gain a better understanding of the market?
• What are effective ways to segment and target the education sector audience for market research?
• How can I effectively collect survey responses and conduct questionnaires to gather market research data?
• What are some best practices for conducting focus groups and user interviews to gain insights into customer behavior and preferences?
• Imagine you are a UX researcher. Write me a detailed UX research plan. Include JTBD statements, personas, and desired outcomes.
• Ask ChatGPT to generate research questions that explore user engagement and user behavior for your app.
• Request examples of well-structured research questions to guide your user research process.

Helping create interview questions for qualitative user research

Doing both quantitative (qual) and qualitative (quant) UX research is essential for all kinds of projects. While qual research provides observational findings and allows you to understand users’ emotions and behaviors, quant research offers metrics and actual data. Sadly, ChatGPT can’t help with the latter much, but can it help us with qualitative research? Let’s find out. ChatGPT can also suggest different ux research methods for qualitative studies, helping you choose the right approach for your project.

Prompt: I want to improve the design of the student engagement app. How can I craft effective interview questions for qualitative research?

Additional prompt examples:

• What are the best ways to analyze and interpret qualitative research data?
• How can I use data visualization to present user research findings?
• How can I do a survey for quantitative research?
• What are some best practices for conducting surveys for student engagement apps?

Building buyer personas

UX researchers create personas to identify ideal users and assess design decisions. Let’s ask ChatGPT to build a user persona for the student engagement app.

Prompt: Build a user persona for a new student engagement app that automates the onboarding and arrival process for university students and agents.

ChatGPT created a user persona by the name of Sarah. For this persona, it specified age,  background, goals, challenges, and needs. Identifying user needs is crucial for building effective personas, as it ensures the resulting design solutions address real user pain points, behaviors, and motivations. Additionally, the tool offered a list of key features for the app.

Additional prompt examples:

• What are the best practices for building user personas based on real user research and information?
• Create a persona for a time-tracking web application interested in managing their working time and getting insightful reports.
• How can I use user personas to improve the usability and user-centeredness of web applications?

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Preparing interview questions 

Once we’ve created user personas, the next step is to find users who match those criteria and interview them. Let’s ask ChatGPT to generate the right questions.

Prompt: I want to interview time-tracking web app users. I want to know what functionality they need more. Write 10 interview questions I can ask them.

Additional prompt examples:

• What are the best practices I can use when conducting user interviews?
• Generate questions for a research interview to gather feedback on a new student engagement app.

Selecting color palettes and features

ChatGPT can also be used to prioritize the features users expect to see in a product. Additionally, it can suggest improvements to the app's design by analyzing user feedback, helping to enhance usability, accessibility, and overall user experience. You can easily use it to pick up certain color palettes that appeal to the target audience or select complementary colors.

Let’s ask ChatGPT to suggest primary and secondary colors for a time-tracking web app and a list of features users want in the app.

Prompt: Can you suggest primary and secondary colors for a time-tracking web app? List features users expect to see in this app. Represent in a chart.

Additional prompt examples:

• Suggest 2 color palettes for the student engagement app.
• Can you create a list of features users want from a student engagement app? 
• Can you prioritize key features and requirements for a time-tracking web app?

Tips to incorporate ChatGPT into UX research

Working with ChatGPT reduces time spent on UX research, making the process of gathering information easier. The researchers can leverage the capabilities of the tool with minimal effort. Here are some tips that can help:

• Ask simple, open-ended questions. To get more accurate results, it is better to use open-ended questions starting with “What,” “How can I,” “Why,” “Can you explain”, and such, instead of yes/no questions or the ones that provide a single word or phrase responses. Complex sentences, unusual words, and structures or technical jargon are best to avoid since they can confuse the chatbot.
• Mind the length. According to Arxiv, ChatGPT has about 4,096 of context length (that’s 3,072 or 6,144 words), so keep that in mind when you’re about to have open debates with the chatbot.
• Test it on your own. The best way to understand if ChatGPT fits your needs or not is to give it a try. Ask for custom responses, add context, and specify information about what you need – this way the tool can better adapt to your needs. When crafting prompts, provide as much detail as possible to achieve more accurate and effective results, especially for complex tasks.
• Teach the bot. ChatGPT is an AI learning model, which means you can teach it and improve it. So when, for example, you don’t like the answer provided by the chatbot, you can regenerate the response and rate whether the result was better or worse.

Now that you know how to use ChatGPT effectively, let’s look at where it best fits in your research stack.

Where ChatGPT belongs in your UX research stack

ChatGPT isn’t meant to replace your existing research tools, but it can become a powerful assistant when used at the right stages. Think of it as a research sidekick that helps you plan faster, communicate more clearly, and generate ideas on demand.

Here’s how ChatGPT can fit into a modern UX workflow:

During Planning: Speed up the groundwork

• Create a research plan by prompting ChatGPT to generate goals, methods, and timelines.
• Draft a recruitment screener to filter users based on persona criteria.
• Clarify your research focus by asking ChatGPT to suggest hypotheses or questions based on product goals.

Example prompt:

“Write a UX research plan for a time-tracking app. Include objectives, methods, participant types, and expected outcomes.”

During Execution: Save time on content creation

• Generate interview questions tailored to your research goals.
• Build user personas based on common patterns in your market segment.
• Create survey drafts with clear, unbiased language.

Example prompt:

“I want to interview freelancers using productivity apps. What questions should I ask to learn about their pain points?”

During Synthesis: Turn raw input into structure

• Summarize transcripts into themes, pain points, and quotes.
• Generate insights based on research notes.
• Draft reports or slide content to share findings with stakeholders.

Example prompt:

“Summarize this research transcript into key takeaways and pain points for the onboarding experience.”

Tools ChatGPT complements

To get the most out of ChatGPT, pair it with the tools you already use in your UX workflow:

Combining ChatGPT with these tools can help you extract valuable insights from research data, such as meeting recordings, handwritten notes, and survey responses, making it easier to identify actionable information.

When used wisely, ChatGPT can help you move faster through repetitive tasks, freeing up time for what matters most: talking to users, making sense of findings, and improving product experiences.

Conclusion

ChatGPT offers UX researchers a fast, affordable way to gather insights, craft personas, and prepare qualitative interviews. But like any AI, it’s best used with a critical eye and human oversight.

At Eleken, we blend smart AI tools with real UX expertise to help SaaS companies build user-centered products. If you're curious how to elevate your UX research with AI without losing the human touch, reach out to us for a free 3-day trial — we’d love to help.