There are n number of reasons to not do user research. The designers slowly die inside when they fail to express the significance of user research to decision-makers. Here are the most common hurdles faced by researchers/designers in their journey to conducting user research.

1. We know what the problems are

The very first step towards bad design is this statement from the decision-makers. The biggest problem is that they think they know the problem. The research will reveal multiple aspects of the problem and validate the known issues. The intent of user research goes beyond identifying the solvable problems. It gives a broad and clear context into the problem area. The design solution will turn out to be a huge misfit if the efforts are made in the wrong direction.

The best way is to quickly identify the scope of research and propose an estimated account of things that can bring impact to the design solution. This little exercise should be more than enough for designers to build a case in favour of user research. Also, try to map all the things that can go wrong in the absence of rich research insights. A smart research plan will be of great help where you show all the unexplored possibilities that can add value to the design solution. The ultimate way out of this situation is to validate the known problems with users. There is always room for validating the “known” facts with the target user group.

2. Our users don’t know what they want

This is another level of bias that prevails in the top levels of the organizations as they’ve been leading the market for years now. Users may not know what they want but they definitely reveal a lot about what bothers them. Some products/ services indeed define the user needs and behaviour but it is highly crucial to keep it relevant to users.

Conducting user research in this situation is even more significant because no one really knows what lies ahead in the design journey. The behaviour and habits of people speak louder than their words. This could be a great chance to tap into some groundbreaking innovation based on a deeply hidden need of the target user segment. A plausible solution to come out of this situation is to educate the team on human behaviour and emphasize its impact on the offered product/service.

3. We don’t have the resources for user research

There is always a dearth of resources in one or the other way. The members of the anti-user research club want the money to go into building the product/service over some 200 pages research report. It is quite obvious that people would want to see tangible outcomes and impacts when the budget is allocated to different parts of the project. They may want to build prototypes as quickly as possible or test the product multiple times. All of it is perfect from their perspective but the user perspective should also find a place on this table.

It becomes the duty of user researchers to show the significance of the research insights and how it can reduce the overall cost of building a product/service by chopping off the unnecessary features or elements. The research can also involve building low-fidelity mockups and iterating on them. The core intent is to involve users in the early stages to avoid not-so-pleasant surprises in the later stages of the project. Make it a point to show how much resources can be saved if we get the solution right through well-informed research.

4. We don’t have time for user research

The time crunch in design projects is a universal challenge. The team is always grinding to meet the deadlines. Amidst all this hustle, the most affected phase of the project is user research. Apparently, everyone knows what problem needs to be solved and they have got a tight schedule to deliver the solution. This is a grave situation as one cannot simply afford to spend crucial time on anything that does not add directly visible value to the project.

The user research advocate role here begins with highlighting the value user research can bring to the project and in turn save time and money on the iterations in the later stages. With that being said, the research should also be planned in a way that gives quick directions to proceed ahead in the project. I should also keep validating the design decisions at critical stages. The expected timeline and schedule for research can help everyone calm down and focus on leveraging the insights from the research. User research can sometimes bring unexpected deviations in the process and it needs to be managed smartly enough to not affect the parallel activities in the project.

5. We don’t know how to find out user pain-points

This pops out when all the previous points have been successfully tamed by the researcher. The lack of clarity on user research among the team makes them skip a lot of critical points. There is too much ambiguity to be handled by different people in the project and that’s where the need emerges to bring in the user researchers. It may look impossible to identify the user’s needs, pain points, and frustrations but user research is the ideal way out from this situation.

It is time for the researchers to unravel the research tools that can be helpful in this investigation. A collaborative research plan will bring everyone on the same page. Everyone in the team will have something to contribute to the research. It ensures that everyone is equally involved and informed about the emerging themes from the research. This becomes a saviour while navigating through the ambiguity in a design project.

User research is not just one step of the process, instead, it is a practice that needs to run throughout the project. It not only informs design decisions but also builds empathy across different teams.