In the fast-paced world of software development, understanding the end user of your digital product is not just beneficial—it's crucial. It’s not a nice to have, it’s a must have.

When companies overlook this critical aspect, they risk creating products that miss the mark—leading to wasted resources and lost opportunities.

But how do we truly understand our users? And what happens when we don’t?

What happens when we neglect user research?

Picture this scenario. During your quarterly strategic planning session, you and your team set a clear goal: to invest in operational improvements.

Inspired by this objective, you decide to create a digital product to help cut costs by improving operational efficiency. Aware of your staff's challenges with the current system, you carefully select features for your new software.

However, you miss a crucial step. You don’t sit down to observe how your staff actually uses the older system. Without firsthand insights, your understanding of their workflow relies on assumptions and self-reporting—rather than real behavior.

And as you progress through product development, you neglect to present early prototypes (or an MVP) to your staff, missing valuable opportunities to gather feedback on usability and functionality.

Months later, after a significant financial investment, you launch the new product with high expectations. But to your disappointment, your staff struggles to understand and use the new software. The features you thought would solve their pain points end up creating new frustrations.

Product owners often outline what they believe should be built. But without regular user feedback, projects can veer off course—like this (all too real) example.

With the amount of investment required for custom software solutions, this is unacceptable—and consistent user research is the only way to avoid this pitfall.

How to engage users to acquire meaningful insights

Marty Cagan of Silicon Valley Product Group offers four key questions for product management—the first two of which are:

• Will the user choose to use or buy this product?

• Will they be able to figure out how to use it?

None of us can know exactly what end users need in a product until they get to touch and use the software. Consumer behavior research urges us: Don’t listen to what users say. Watch what they do.

This is because individuals often can't fully explain our preferences or the factors driving our decisions. What we claim about our behavior is often unreliable: we say we use things one way, but actually do it a different way. Or we can’t even imagine a possible solution, because no such thing exists yet!

For example, someone might say that fit matters most when buying jeans, but end up purchasing a pair on Amazon based on brand and a good price instead. The same is true with user interaction with software.

While user feedback is invaluable, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Instead, we suggest a combination of user research methods to ensure a comprehensive understanding of user needs:

• User interviews: We’ll conduct one-on-one interviews to understand user-reported desires and pain points.

• Usability testing: We’ll observe users as they interact with early prototypes, identifying issues and areas for improvement.

• Field studies: We love the chance to spend time in the user’s environment to see how they’re currently working through a process or how they might use a new product in a natural context.

• A/B testing: Sometimes, it can be great to compare two versions of a prototype to see which performs better based on user interactions.

• Heatmaps: We can use digital tools (or more informal observation) to see where users click, scroll or hover most frequently—trying to identify areas of interest or confusion.

This comprehensive approach to user research should occur consistently throughout the product lifecycle, not just at the beginning or end. Regular testing with a reasonable sample helps ensure the product stays aligned with user needs, while also allowing for innovative solutions that users may not have explicitly articulated.

The benefits of knowing your users

When you truly understand your users, you’ll receive significant value—for your product and your business:

• Informed roadmaps: Realizing your users’ needs and behaviors will give you a clear direction for future product development. You can’t solve every problem at once, so these insights help prioritize features that will deliver the most value—ensuring your product roadmap will move you toward your business objectives.

• Increased user adoption: When you tailor your product to documented user needs, those individuals will be more likely to embrace and stick with your product.

• Reduced development cost: Early and continuous user feedback helps you identify potential issues and adapt—before spending too much time and money heading in the wrong direction.

Becoming intimately familiar with your end user is the driving force behind successful, user-centric products. It’s the heartbeat of successful product development.

If you see the value of user research, but need support in executing it to the level you desire, our product managers and UX designers are here to help. Start a conversation by completing our simple contact form or reaching out to me on LinkedIn.