What to do when client can't afford user research?

1. When should you not do user research?
2. How much user research is enough?
3. Is it possible to conduct user evaluations without actual users?

When should you not do user research?

1. When you can answer your research question with analytics, secondary research, or by talking to your team. User research is not omnipotent. It's not the best way to answer every single question your team could think of asking.

How much user research is enough?

Interview rule #1: Rule of 5

“The best results come from testing no more than 5 users and running as many small tests as you can afford.” “The most striking truth of the curve is that zero users give zero insights.

Is it possible to conduct user evaluations without actual users?

You can use a heuristic evaluation to evaluate the user experience without observing user behavior directly. In a Heuristic Evaluation, an expert reviews the interface against a set of guidelines or principles (heuristics), which provide a template to uncover problems that a user will likely encounter.