Whenever someone asks me, “Why do we need to conduct user research or testing if we already have you? You’re the user experience expert.” I reply, “Because we know nothing.”
When you’re working on a website or product, it’s risky to make assumptions about user needs and behaviors (and you know what they say about what happens when you assume). You can be UX experts, possess the latest tools and technology, know every single best practice, and employ the best team of designers and developers in the world, but you can still be wrong.
If we are the UX experts, then by definition, we are not typical users. That’s why expert designers know that you must talk to users, get their feedback, and test your products with them. UX designers can make educated guesses based on best practices and professional experiences, but they’re untenable unless they’re validated by user research. The Nielsen Norman Group ran a study testing the accuracy of educated guesses versus user data for design recommendations and found that “75% of guessers were wrong. You'd be better off tossing a coin.”
The first step to solving any problem is knowing that it exists. The only way to accurately identify users’ problems and learn what they are thinking and feeling is to ask them. If you don’t, you could overlook a major issue or end up solving the wrong problem.
Even if you qualify as a typical user, chances are that your involvement in a project has created bias. This is completely natural once you’ve invested time, effort, or money into a project. No one is immune to bias. However, your users’ biases, assumptions, and concerns are what count, not your own. By conducting user research and using that data to make design choices, you remove any personal biases and end up with a product that will better meet users’ needs.
User research also serves as a great equalizer when project team members (both internal and external) disagree on the appropriate features, strategies, content, and design. You cannot argue with the data collected from user research (as much as one might want to), and it provides an objective course of action. It’s especially helpful when stakeholders report to senior executives, because it’s better to go into a discussion armed with facts instead of explanations such as, “The designer said so,” or “It looks pretty."
The saying “The customer’s always right,” is tried and true. They are the ones actually using your product. If a product doesn’t work for them, you will fail at accomplishing your individual goals and your company may lose earnings as a result.
Speaking of earnings, conducting user testing early and often will save you time and money in the long run. On average, it’s 100 times more expensive to fix an issue after development and launch than it is to fix it during the design phase. If you combine that with the loss of billable hours spent redoing avoidable work, not investing in user research is potentially prohibitively costly for your company.
At the end of the day, users will use your product and find issues; it’s just easier and less expensive to have them do so before you launch. User testing and research enables you to solve easily avoidable problems, and eventually it can pay for itself.
Whether you have a conservative budget or timeline (or even if you don’t), testing can be done incrementally and in manageable layers to varying extents depending on your constraints at the time. Testing early and often, to whatever extent you can, eventually becomes validating previous findings instead of assuming.
In today’s market, successful products constantly undergo changes and improvement with each release. Gone are the days of “launch it and leave it;” it must adapt to keep up with demand or it (and your company) may fall into obscurity. An out-of-date product that doesn’t address users’ needs will negatively impact your brand.
You must keep asking your users questions so your site or product can evolve along with them and their needs. Involving your users as you update your design leads to a product that solves their problems and achieves your business goals, resulting in a shared success.
Conducting user research and talking to your target audience ensures that your product or site is user-driven, solves the correct problems, and avoids unnecessary costs. Otherwise, your product might miss the mark, because without your users’ input, you know nothing.