5 Reasons UX Research Should Be Part of the M&A Process

Mergers and acquisitions are high-stakes events that can redefine the trajectory of a product portfolio. Yet in the rush to consolidate roadmaps, align tech stacks, and integrate teams, many organizations overlook a critical component: the user experience. 

When a company announces that it’s been acquired, customers often immediately call out aspects of the brand experience they want the new owners to preserve… or improve. All too often, that feedback gets ignored. New owners may either rush to make changes without stopping to understand the lay of the land, or do little to integrate the organization they’ve bought into the portfolio. Neither approach inspires confidence. Here are five reasons why UX research should be a priority during M&A.

1. Protect the Customer Experience During Transition

Mergers and acquisitions bring together disparate experiences, expectations, and backend systems. It’s no surprise that M&A activity often disrupts user journeys… and it’s also no surprise that users have low tolerance for those disruptions. Even seemingly small changes — a broken login link, an unfamiliar checkout flow, a missing feature — can create friction that leads to churn, negative reviews, or increased support volume. UX research helps identify and resolve friction points before they negatively affect users. It preserves continuity in key user flows like login, checkout, or account management, which are vulnerable during system migrations. 

“You’ll want to observe and learn from people who are using your experience so you can determine if there are places in the process that need to be improved,” Applause Senior Director of User Experience Research Celeste Buckhalter explained in a webinar. 

This feedback becomes especially valuable when merging backend systems or migrating user accounts — where the potential for friction is highest. By embedding UX research into the M&A integration roadmap, product leaders can ensure continuity in user journeys, avoid unnecessary frustration, and preserve the hard-won loyalty of both customer bases.

2. Prioritize Design and Dev Resources Effectively

Post-merger teams often face tight timelines and limited resources – while under pressure to show ROI fast. Product teams struggle to unify platforms, consolidate feature sets, and deliver a cohesive user experience — all while juggling competing priorities and stakeholder expectations.

In this environment, UX research becomes a critical decision-making tool. Rather than relying on assumptions, internal debates, or legacy priorities, product leaders can use UX insights to surface what matters most to users. Studies reveal where users encounter friction, what features they rely on most, and which gaps in the experience are actually impeding adoption or satisfaction.

This evidence-based prioritization helps product leaders:

• Avoid costly missteps like redesigning low-impact features or investing in unnecessary parity work.
• Align teams around clear user-driven goals, reducing friction between design, engineering, and product strategy.
• Accelerate delivery of high-impact fixes that improve usability, engagement, and retention.

It also strengthens the business case for resource allocation. When roadmap decisions are backed by behavioral data and user feedback, it’s easier to justify trade-offs to executive stakeholders who are balancing cost, risk, and time-to-value.

3. Identify and Resolve Inconsistencies Across Digital Properties

When two brands merge, their digital ecosystems often reflect very different design languages, interaction models, and UX philosophies. Users navigating between platforms may encounter mismatched visual styles, different navigation structures, or even contradictory terminology — all of which can undermine trust, increase cognitive load, and lead to user frustration.

UX research allows teams to proactively surface these inconsistencies across the merged product landscape. More importantly, it provides insight into what real users want and trust — from visual hierarchy and tone of voice to interaction patterns and feature layouts. Instead of relying on internal assumptions, product teams can make data-driven decisions about which elements to unify, which to sunset, and which to evolve.

This is particularly important when you’re merging design systems, integrating features across platforms, or deciding how to roll out a new brand identity. UX research supports those efforts by revealing how legacy users of both products will react to changes — and whether your evolving experience aligns with your future state vision.

Ultimately, this process ensures the post-merger experience is cohesive and user-centered, reducing confusion, supporting retention, and strengthening the combined brand’s credibility in the market.

4. Protect Revenue-Generating Journeys

M&A is all about driving value. Broken or inefficient paths in e-commerce, subscription, or lead-gen workflows can immediately affect conversion rates and lead to lost revenue. While functional testing ensures that mission-critical interactions (like payment, booking, or sign-up flows) work throughout integration, UX research is critical in validating that they’re intuitive and users can and will actually complete the process.   

As an example: I recently purchased tickets for a local concert through a vendor (Ticket Company One) that merged with another ticket seller (Ticket Company Two) ages ago. But to purchase and access the mobile tickets, I had to download Ticket Company One’s app, which pushed me to sign in on Ticket Company Two’s website with my login for that account, and then go back to Ticket Company One’s app. The process was not at all intuitive, and both company’s apps and websites have different layouts and functionality. If I hadn’t agreed to join a friend at the show, I would have given up and abandoned the purchase.

5. Validate Assumptions About the Combined User Base

Acquiring a brand means inheriting a new audience with potentially different expectations, behaviors, and accessibility needs. Research uncovers differences in device usage, language preferences, or UX expectations that may require adaptation post-merger. Learning about these new customers ensures your product team builds for the full spectrum of your user base.

In addition, acquisitions often bring an organization into a new geographic or demographic market. Understanding expectations in those markets helps the newly combined user base to adopt, engage, and find value without interruption. On the other hand, sudden changes to the digital experience without sufficient user validation can erode brand equity and customer loyalty. UX research surfaces reactions to design or navigation changes, helping teams avoid alienating loyal users. 

In some cases, Applause helps UX teams conduct competitive research before they acquire another brand. This helps teams understand what customers are used to, and how they currently use an experience before making any changes. For example, one bank was taking over an airline loyalty credit card from a competitor and wanted to understand what type of support customers were used to. The bank had Applause assess the IVR experience the original bank offered the credit card customers to guide decisions about how to adjust the UX.  Read the case study.

In short, UX research keeps your team focused on outcomes, not opinions — helping you deliver a seamless, scalable post-merger experience that resonates with users and supports long-term product success. Applause provides a variety of different types of UX research to help teams unearth the insights they need to deliver seamless customer experiences. 

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