Previously on Episode 1 of Conversations with Bellini, we touched on a Henry Ford quote you may be familiar with - "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." Although it is debated whether he actually said this, this quote has become the old adage whenever is user research is debated. So, let's discuss what this quote actually means and how it affects user research.

If you ask your horse-riding customers what they want, what they really really want… Chances are, they’d say, “A faster horse” or maybe “a more comfortable saddle”. Not one person will tell you, I think we need to get an engine, motor, some wheels, and build a car. This tale alludes to the dangers of asking the wrong questions and ending up with the wrong answers.

In this episode, we’ll be discussing - How do you ask the right questions so that they will point you in the right direction. You might be looking to your customers to help guide your next big business expansion, pivot your product direction, or even whether to start that startup you’ve been dreaming of.

It’s a 28 minutes video so we've included some timestamps below the video as a conversation cheat sheet. In fact the cheat sheet is so thorough, you might not have to watch the video (but we do hope the topics pique your interest and you do!)

Content cheat sheet:

• 0:00 Intro 🍩
• 0:11 The Faster Horse Problem

Chapter 1:

• 3:40 🚨Red flags - What not to do when researching
• 4:42 Red Flag #1: Hypothetical questions are dangerous
• 8:00 Red Flag #2: Be cautious if someone says "this is a great idea.. for someone else.”
• 8:38 Red Flag #3: Don't volunteer answers for your users. You could lead them down the path to your solution...but is it what they really want and what they will really do?
• 10:35 Red Flag #4: Research is not a sales pitch. We are exploring, not convincing.

Chapter 2:

• 12:15 🙀Oh no, how do I avoid these traps? hint SCREENERS!
• 12:34 Create screener surveys for your interviews / surveys to make sure you're talking to the right people for your research needs
• 12:43 In your screeners, make sure you're reaching your target market
• 15:02 Make sure you're recruiting with diversity within your target market
• 16:17 You can use surveys to find your addressable market it (to be addressed in a future video)

Chapter 3:

• 16:53 🤹🏻‍♂️ Good practices and tips for better research
• 17:38 Good tip #1: It's always best to run interviews first when you're lost. In an interview situation, ask "When was the last time you" to explore problem areas, solutions, etc. This leads to customer journey maps, which you can use to distill insights
• 19:40 Good tip #2: Now that you have insights, you can rank these quantitively during a survey
• 22:55 Good tip #5:We'll reiterate because it's so important to us: talk to real people, read reports, visit forums, etc. BEFORE you run surveys. If you don't know the realm of possibilities, you will end up volunteering answers for people
• 24:30 Good tip #4: On usability testing / user testing: make sure you're testing with an audience that has the right intention
• 26:52 FYI, Ali does not care about who the Kardashians are dating
• 28:27 Byeeeee

Interested in more? We've also got the full transcript of the video! Let us know your thoughts!

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