INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS: if you don’t talk to users, you will fail

When starting product development, most people skip research because they assume they understand the problem. They form assumptions based on experience, start ideating, and then wonder why users don't connect with what they made.

You can't design by guessing at your desk. Talk to people who will actually use this thing. Not surveys or focus groups. Real conversations with real people about real problems.

Find people who match your target and talk to them. Don't ask direct questions like "would you buy this" or "how much would you pay." Ask where they buy similar products now. What solutions they already own. How they actually use them. Paint a picture of their lifestyle around these products.

Do enough conversations to see patterns. One person's behavior might be unique. Five people doing the same thing reveals how people actually solve problems.

Use what you learned to inform design decisions. Not cherry-picking supportive quotes. Actually shaping design based on how people live, not what they say they'd do.

Research isn't validating assumptions. It’s rolling over the rocks to see what was there all along.