Introduction

Understanding your users in the fast-paced world of technology and product development is crucial for creating simple, useful, and intuitive products. In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of conducting your own user research and how it can prevent common pitfalls in product development.

The Importance of User Research

User research helps us understand how people attempt to perform tasks and achieve goals that are important to them. It gives technology designers, product managers, and startup CEOs context and perspective to build simple, functional, intuitive products.

I’ve been helping teams build technology products for over 30 years – based on a better understanding of their users. In a series of posts, I will explore the “why” and the “how” of running do-it-yourself user studies.

Why Products Fail

There’s a constant theme that I’ve witnessed over the years. A startup or product team comes up with a goal – there’s a product that they want to build. They want to move as quickly as possible to build and take it to market. They are 100% convinced that this thing “will be awesome.” They know precisely what it is; they’re just going to charge ahead and move as quickly as possible toward that goal. “We’ll launch, then learn and figure out what to do next”.

This is a model that I have witnessed over and over from teams starting on this journey. Much like technology projects, in general, today, it represents an oversimplification of proven processes and a lack of understanding of the work that must be done.

The problem with this thinking

The problem with this approach – is that by the time you have launched your product and learned your first set of lessons, you could have drifted away from the “best possible” product that “could have been” or “should have been”.

If you don’t catch these things until after your first launch, there’s a risk that you spent a lot of time and a lot of energy moving as fast as you could – but towards the wrong thing.

There must be a better way

What if you could learn a bit sooner? What if before you get down there, you can just check-in – in and ask yourself some tough questions? “Are we on the right track?”. “Is this what people want?”. What do people want? What can you learn? You may be able to push yourself back onto a better line – a more successful target.

Thus, if you learn sooner, you can save valuable time and money. It reduces the risk of the overall project. So that, by the time you’re launching, you can be more confident that you’re closer to the mark that you would otherwise have been.

Conclusion

Conducting your own user research is an essential step in product development that can save valuable time and money, and increase the chances of success. By learning from your users early on, you can ensure that your product stays on track and meets their needs and expectations.