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How to learn UX Research for free in 2026? Complete guide

How to learn UX Research for free in 2026? Complete guide

By Paulina Contreras•

Last update: January 2026 Author: Paulina Contreras Reading time: 15 minutes

An updated guide for self-learners, social science professionals, and those looking to transition into user experience research in Latin America.

Well, here we go again with an update to this guide I started writing several years ago :) The first version was in 2022, I updated it in 2025, and now in 2026 I feel there are enough changes and new resources to make a third, more complete version.

I want to share here the free resources to learn UX Research that helped me and continue to help me today to understand user research and apply it to work. Sometimes it’s hard to know what to choose and where to find quality resources that contribute to our work; I hope this list serves you as it has served me.

It’s never completely free—you have to invest time and be constant—but at least you won’t go over budget and you’ll be able to learn a lot. And if you come from psychology, design, or social sciences, this path can be an initial guide for your career in UX Research.

Table of Contents

  1. Why learn UX Research today?
  2. What is UX Research in 2026?
  3. Free UX Research courses in Spanish and English
  4. Blogs and articles to learn user research
  5. UX Podcasts in Spanish
  6. Conferences and talks on YouTube
  7. Essential UX Research books
  8. Academic journals and advanced resources
  9. Free tools for doing UX Research
  10. How to practice UX Research without clients
  11. UX Communities in Latin America
  12. Accessibility: The Essential Complement to UX Research
  13. References

1. Why learn UX Research today?

User Experience Research (UX Research) is not just a tool to validate designs: in 2026, it is a key strategic competence in digital products, mental health, AI, and education. The discipline has evolved a lot since I started working in this, and it is increasingly integrated with other areas such as data analysis, behavioral ethics, and accessibility.

The best part? You can learn the fundamental principles of UX Research for free with focus, community, and guided practice. You don’t need to spend a fortune, but you do need curiosity, order, and guided practice.

2. What is UX Research in 2026?

UX Research is the discipline that studies how people interact with products, services, or experiences, with the objective of improving those interactions ethically and based on evidence.

UX Research combines classic skills (interviews, observation, analysis) with automation tools, artificial intelligence, and ethical behavioral analysis.

Something I really like about how Jan Dittrich defines it in his free book “A Beginner’s Guide to Finding User Needs” is that the goal is to understand the motivations, activities, and problems of users. This helps me always remember the MAP framework (Motivations, Activities, Problems) when preparing any research.

3. Free UX Research courses in Spanish and English

Want to train in user research without spending money? Here is a selection of free and open courses with high-quality content, ideal for beginners and people with training in psychology, design, or social sciences.

Our free course in Spanish

Before moving on to external resources, I want to tell you that precisely because of the difficulty of finding introductory content in Spanish, we created a completely free Introduction to UX Research Course.

I designed it thinking of those who are starting from scratch or come from other disciplines (psychology, sociology, design) and want to understand the fundamentals without having to navigate through a thousand resources in English. If you are just starting, it can be a good starting point before diving into everything else :)

Recommended introductory courses

💡 Tip: Plan one course per month + one reading + one real practice. It’s better to go little by little than to get overwhelmed with everything you could do :)

4. Blogs and articles to learn user research

During my first years as a UX and UX Researcher, I read a Medium article every day from different authors. It was part of my daily routine on the subway to and from work (in the alternate reality of in-person work xD). I read a bit of everything, but I started liking some authors and began reading more from them.

Recommended authors on Medium

Other blogs and web resources

5. UX Podcasts in Spanish

I read and listen in English, but with podcasts, I can’t conceive of them in another language other than Spanish (I think it has to do with my diminished attention span haha), so although I’ve tried with several references, in the end, I go back to listening only to podcasts in Spanish. Here are my favorites:

6. Conferences and talks on YouTube

Many, many. Here are some that I watch continuously:

  • Learners – In 2020 they held the first remote and free UXR Conference, and it was a success. In 2022 it was hybrid and continued to be great.

  • UX Research & Strategy – With an extensive record of the conferences they have held.

  • NNGroup (YouTube) – I have notifications activated.

  • Indi Young – Talks on problem space research and listening.

  • Chris Do (The Futur) – Business and design.

  • Delta CX – Customer experience.

  • Strategyzer – Value proposition and business model canvas.

  • Eventbrite – I have registered for several free talks on different topics related to UX. You can search by topic, date, and event type.

7. Essential UX Research books

You can look for these titles in digital libraries, used versions, or with open licenses. You can also find summaries in PDF or on specialized YouTube channels.

Fundamental books

  • Think Like a UX Researcher – Travis & Smith
  • Interviewing Users – Steve Portigal
  • Validating Product Ideas – Tomer Sharon
  • Observing the User Experience – Goodman & Kuniavsky
  • Designing for the Digital Age – Kim Goodwin
  • Just Enough Research – Erica Hall

Free and open source books

To deepen into digital research

8. Academic journals and advanced resources

When I want to know something in depth, as I did in the article on How to build Personas, I review recent publications and classics on the subject. Many have articles that are open access:

Journals and databases

Featured Resource: Qualitative Social Media Research Resource Guide

This year I found an incredible resource created by Jenna Drenten (Loyola University Chicago) that compiles tools, research networks, trainings, and journals for qualitative research on social media and digital culture. It is particularly useful if you are interested in digital ethnography or the analysis of platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube.

The document includes:

  • Tools for data collection and analysis (Instaloader, TikTok Python Crawler, MAXQDA)
  • Research networks like Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR), TikTok Cultures Research Network
  • Ethics guides for internet research
  • Journals where to publish qualitative research

9. Free tools for doing UX Research

Here is a table with the tools I use or have tried:

Own tool: UX Methodology Selector

Something I was asked a lot was “what methodology do I use for this project?”. That’s why I built the UX Research Methodology Selector, a free tool that helps you choose the right method according to your context, objectives, and constraints. If you are starting, it can save you quite a bit of research time on which technique to use.

Other recommended tools

Function Recommended Tools
Transcription Otter.ai (free), Notta, Whisper
Qualitative Analysis Notion, Google Sheets, MAXQDA, QDA Miner Lite
Surveys Google Forms, Typeform (free plan)
Feedback and prototypes Maze, Useberry, PlaybookUX (trials)
Prototyping Figma
AI applied to UXR ChatGPT (GPTs), Claude, Gemini (GEMs), Perplexity
Social media data Instaloader (IG), Pyktok (TikTok), Social Media Research Toolkit
Sample calculation UXR Sample Calculator (our free tool)

10. How to practice UX Research without clients

This is one of the most frequent questions I get asked: “How do I practice if I don’t have real projects?” Well, here are some ideas:

  • Choose a real app (e.g. GOV.cl, Duolingo, Mercado Libre) and test its experience with someone close to you.
  • Draft an interview protocol + conduct the interview.
  • Do a remote test using Maze or Lookback (some have trials).
  • Use AI to simulate users (Synthetic users) as an initial test, generate tasks or summarize insights.
  • Do a heuristic evaluation of an app you frequently use.

📝 Document everything: write down the process you took, take screenshots or photos of the process and the final result, explaining how you arrived at that proposal. This is how you build your first portfolio.

11. UX Communities in Latin America

Because Social Media is not only for watching kittens and delicious recipes :)

LinkedIn

I follow some UX Researchers: Indi Young, Nikki Anderson, Darinka Buendía, and related hashtags:

#uxresearch #designresearch #userresearch #researchops

Communities

  • +Mujeres en UX – Latin American community of women in UX
  • ResearchOps Community – Global community on research operations
  • Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) – They have a very complete ethics guide for internet research
  • TikTok Cultures Research Network – For those researching digital platforms
  • Content Creator Scholars Network (CCSN) – Research on content creators and platform economies

Challenges and portfolio

  • Participate in challenges like #30DiasUX
  • Build your portfolio with 2 real projects: E.g. Heuristic evaluation of an app + test with real users
  • Publish your learnings on LinkedIn – Sharing helps you consolidate knowledge and connect with the community

12. Accessibility: The Essential Complement to UX Research

Something that has happened to me a lot lately is realizing that you can’t do good UX Research if you don’t understand accessibility. And I don’t just mean “adding alt text to images” (although that too xD), but understanding how people with different abilities interact with digital products.

The good news: there are incredible and free resources to learn. The bad news: most are in English. But I found some jewels in Spanish that are worth gold.

Free accessibility courses

The official W3C course (free and in Spanish)

The Digital Accessibility Foundations from W3C and UNESCO is probably the best starting point. It covers WCAG principles, how people with disabilities use the web, and the business case for accessibility. The best part: you can audit it for free on edX.

💡 Fact: 96% of those who take it say they were able to apply what they learned in their work. Not bad for a free course.

🔗 Digital Accessibility Foundations - W3C/edX

Google’s Learn Accessibility (web.dev)

Google created a quite complete free course on web.dev. It covers everything from fundamentals to testing with assistive technologies. I use it as a constant reference when I am designing research that includes participants with disabilities.

🔗 Learn Accessibility - web.dev

Udacity + Google Course

If you prefer video, the Web Accessibility course from Udacity (co-created with Google) is excellent and 100% free. It includes practical exercises with screen readers.

🔗 Web Accessibility - Udacity

Diploma in Web Accessibility (Alison)

Alison has a complete free diploma on web accessibility and WCAG. It is more basic than the previous ones, but it serves if you prefer something structured with a certificate.

🔗 Diploma in Web Accessibility - Alison

The free book in Spanish you need

Here comes the jewel: “Accesibilidad Web. WCAG 2.2 de forma sencilla” by Olga Revilla and Olga Carreras is available as a free and accessible PDF (In Spanish). It’s 412 pages covering everything: WCAG 2.2, WAI-ARIA, accessible PDF documents, accessible SPAs, audits… basically the bible of accessibility in Spanish.

Olga Carreras also has an incredible blog (Usable y Accesible) with resources, checklists, and free tools she has been compiling for years.

🔗 Download “Accesibilidad Web. WCAG 2.2 de forma sencilla” (Free PDF, in Spanish)

Free tools to evaluate accessibility

When you do UX Research, being able to detect accessibility issues gives you superpowers. These tools are free:

Tool What it does Where
WAVE Extension that analyzes web pages and visually shows errors wave.webaim.org
axe DevTools More technical extension, ideal for detailed reports Chrome Web Store
Lighthouse Audit integrated into Chrome DevTools (includes accessibility) Already in Chrome
WebAIM Contrast Checker Color contrast checker webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker
NVDA Free screen reader for Windows nvaccess.org

💡 Researcher Tip: Install NVDA and navigate your own website with your eyes closed. It is one of the most revealing experiences you will have.

Resources to keep learning

The A11Y Project

A community project with checklists, resources, and articles on accessibility. Their WCAG-based checklist is perfect to have on hand during heuristic evaluations.

🔗 a11yproject.com

100 Days of A11y

Amy Carney’s blog documenting her 100-day journey learning accessibility to get IAAP certifications. It’s like a study diary you can follow step by step. Very inspiring if you are starting.

🔗 100daysofa11y.com

MDN Web Docs - Accessibility

Mozilla’s documentation on accessibility is technical but very complete. Useful when you need to understand how to implement something specific.

🔗 developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/Accessibility

Why does this matter for UX Research?

I asked myself this at the beginning too. But the reality is that:

  1. Recruiting diverse participants includes people with disabilities. If you don’t understand how they use technology, you can’t design inclusive studies.
  2. Heuristic evaluations remain incomplete without accessibility criteria. Nielsen’s heuristics don’t cover everything.
  3. Competitive analysis should include accessibility. It’s a real competitive differentiator.
  4. Usability metrics change when you include users with assistive technologies.
  5. In Chile, Law 20.422 establishes norms on equal opportunities and social inclusion. It’s not just ethics, it’s regulatory compliance.

Closing

You don’t need to spend a fortune: but you do need curiosity, order, and guided practice. If you come from psychology, design, or social sciences, this path can be an initial guide for your career in UX Research.

If you don’t know where to start, our free introduction to UX Research course can be a good first step.

I would love to know what resources have helped you? You can leave me your references on LinkedIn or in the blog comments.

References

Article originally published in December 2022. Updated in July 2025 and January 2026.

UXR.cl | User Experience Consulting