In late April, our entire team converged in our headquarter city of Austin, TX for a time of team-building, reflection, and planning.

As I watched different groups hang out across the 3 day event, I noticed that every conversation was different. Jordan talked about basketball with Tom, and milk with Megan. Ken shared his path to UX with Lindsay, and lamented the challenges of post-pandemic wardrobe with me.

No two chats were alike, even when the same Slider was involved. This made me think about how product teams often approach user research.

It’s not uncommon to hear a product leader say conversation with users isn’t needed "because our brand agency already handled that." Or because, "our founders are already super familiar with this audience. We know exactly what they need." (Spoiler: They might not!)

But y’all, no two conversations are alike in regular life... After working with Sliders day in and day out for nearly a decade, I’m still learning things. I was shocked to learn how many bananas one Slider consumes in an average week! So what makes us think user research is any different?

One conversation with users based on one goal doesn't necessarily suffice for another.

There’s always more to learn, and a great facilitator will lead the conversation where it needs to go. Before opting out of user research, consider whether past conversations have actually answered the questions your team has today. And if you need someone to help you with that research, I know a great team!