Want to be impossible to replace with AI? Do more of this -
Who doesn’t want to become impossible to replace with AI?
I think we should spend more time doing one kind of customer research (and we’ll get better insights, too) 👇
Because this one type of research is the only one I can’t imagine AI doing for us.
When I ask product teams, researchers and designers about the most impactful research they’ve ever run, it’s the very same type. 😃
Because the people who do research like this have the best stories to tell.
The kind of stories that end with, “and it completely changed how we thought about [use case]!”
That kind of revelation doesn’t often come from sitting alone in front of a screen.
It comes from meeting humans.
In person.
Where use cases happen.
In the real world.
In-person studies are some of the most valuable types of research we can run.
Seeing and experiencing the problems that come up in a real, un-staged scenario is invaluable.
I’ve been testing opportunities to use AI in customer research at various points of the process, in various types of research.
But I don’t see bots replacing us or even helping much here.
So whether you’re scared of AI or embracing an AI-supported future role, I think the skill to practice is “getting out of the building”.
If you’ve *mostly* done remote research since the pandemic (I get it, it’s so convenient, plus…so introvert-friendly 👩💻)…
Try this instead:
🏢 Visit a B2B customer’s business location to observe how they work
🏖️ Spend time where your audience gathers and take time to watch use cases play out
🏪 Politely interrupt someone shopping for a competitor product in-store to ask 1 or 2 questions
🏋️♀️ Find a friend who fits your audience and ask to join them next time they [do that thing you’re interested in]
Shop-alongs, contextual inquiry, and simple people-watching from a park bench all give you chances to see real life insights that bots won’t catch running remote interviews for you.
If there’s one set of skills I think we should all improve, it’s observation IRL.