Signs that you might need a User Researcher, and why it matters more than you think
- UXcentric
- 7 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Darren Wilson
Whether you’re a product owner, engineering manager, business development manager or developer, you’re constantly navigating decisions.
Some decisions feel clear, but many rely on instinct or incomplete information, and gradually, that uncertainty starts to slow momentum.
But even strong teams reach a point where decisions become slower, debates become circular, and direction becomes less certain. That’s usually the moment where User Research becomes essential.
User Research sits earlier in the Human-Centred Design process than UX design, therefore helping you understand the problem before deciding how to solve it.
If you read our article on Signs You Might Need a UX Designer, this one comes naturally before it.
Here are ten signs your product might benefit from more intentional User Research.
1. Decisions rely more on assumptions than evidence
Assumptions are natural in any team. But when they go unchecked, they quietly shape strategy, features and priorities, often in ways that don’t reflect real user needs.
User Research uncovers how people think, behave and make decisions in real contexts. It replaces guesswork with understanding, helping teams align and move forward with confidence.
2. Stakeholders have conflicting ideas about what users want
Different teams see the product differently. Engineering, sales, marketing and leadership often form their own perspectives on user needs. When these viewpoints clash, progress slows.
User Research provides a shared understanding grounded in real behaviour. It cuts through opinion-based debates, reduces friction, and gives everyone the same starting point for decision-making.
3. You’re exploring a new problem space, and the direction feels unclear
Early product exploration often feels ambiguous. You may sense a problem, but not know how users experience it, how often it occurs, or whether your solution is even needed.
Generative User Research helps you map the landscape before you make big decisions.
It reveals unmet needs, workarounds, expectations and frustrations, giving you the insight to shape a purposeful roadmap rather than relying on instinct.
For a deeper look at different user research techniques and when to use them, here’s a short article I wrote a while ago:
Online video focus group for Codemasters to assess their product offering
4. Analytics show what's happened, but not why
Analytics are brilliant at revealing what users do, where they drop off, which features are ignored, or where journeys take longer than expected.
But numbers alone can’t tell you why those behaviours occur or what users were expecting at that moment.
User Research fills that gap. It uncovers what's behind the data: misunderstandings, hesitations, mismatched expectations or contextual barriers that analytics cannot surface on their own.
Together, data and research help teams see not just the pattern, but the reason behind it, and that’s what leads to meaningful change.
5. Features launch… but adoption and the user experience don’t match expectations
Some features land well. Others look promising internally but struggle to gain traction with real users. When adoption is lower than expected, it’s usually because the feature doesn’t yet fit naturally into how people work.
User Research helps uncover why.
It reveals whether users understand what the feature does, whether they see its relevance, and whether it solves a meaningful problem for them. It also highlights where expectations differ from the team's intended outcomes.
With this clarity, teams can refine the feature in ways that genuinely matter. This improves both understanding and uptake.
6. Your product team is too close to the solution to see the real problem
The longer you work on a product, the harder it becomes to see it as a new user would. The adage of you can’t see the wood for the trees.
You navigate instinctively, interpret unclear labels and interactions instinctively, skip over confusing elements, and fill in gaps without noticing them.
User Research brings fresh eyes to the experience. It reveals friction points that internal teams have become blind to, and highlights usability issues you can’t see from within the product.
1:1 interview to assess what real users think of the experience
7. You don’t fully understand how users behave in their natural environment
Products aren’t always used in neat, controlled situations.
Some are used on factory floors, in vehicles, in workshops, in hospitals, or while juggling multiple tasks. These environments shape behaviour far more than teams often realise.
Real-world environments introduce their own pressures (noise, movement, lighting, workload and safety considerations), all of which influence how people actually use your product.
Contextual User Research helps you see these constraints first-hand. It reveals what users really do, where workarounds appear, and which elements of the experience need to adapt to their environment.
These nuances may not surface in interviews and only become apparent when you’re in the user's typical environment, behaving naturally.
8. You’re planning a redesign, but don’t know where to focus
Redesigns are expensive, time-consuming, and often politically sensitive. Without clear insight into what’s working, what’s failing, and what users truly need, teams either try to change everything or fix nothing.
User Research gives you clarity on:
Which parts of the experience need improvement
What users actually value
Where to prioritise effort
What should remain stable
What needs rethinking entirely
It ensures the redesign has purpose and direction rather than becoming a cosmetic overhaul.
9. You want to reduce the risk of costly mistakes before committing to development
When features are complex or the stakes are high, uncertainty becomes expensive.
Building on assumptions increases the chance of wasted effort, rework, or missed opportunities, especially when teams feel pressure to move quickly.
User Research reduces these risks by validating direction early and highlighting issues before they become costly to fix.
It helps teams identify which ideas are worth pursuing, which need refinement, and which are unlikely to deliver value. In other words, it allows you to learn cheaply before committing engineering time, reducing the likelihood of costly mistakes later.
10. Support and internal feedback aren’t giving you the full picture
Support teams hear symptoms. Sales teams hear objections. Internal testers know the product too well to spot real usability issues.
These signals are useful, but they don’t reveal the underlying causes.
User Research helps identify the patterns behind individual complaints, showing where users really struggle and why. It prevents teams from solving surface-level issues when the deeper problem lies elsewhere.
How User Research Supports Better Product Decisions
User Research helps teams:
Reduce uncertainty
Identify the right problems
Validate direction early
Align stakeholders
Avoid costly mistakes
Prioritise effectively
Improve user understanding across the organisation
Build products that people trust and value
It provides the foundation for purposeful UX design, not as a separate discipline, but as a natural partner.
Case Studies
If you want to see how early UX involvement shapes projects in practice, you can explore:
Case Study 1 - Codemasters
Working with Codemasters, during COVID, we conducted global, online focus groups, 1:1 interviews and diary studies with elite players to gather feedback on a feature offering they had. The research was semi-structured to incorporate specific questions Codemasters had, but also allowed for issues to surface organically.
Our objective was to provide Copdemasters with confidence that their offering was compelling, needed to be tweaked or completely abandoned, before investing large amounts of capital into it.
Case Study 2 - Particle Design & VinFast
We conducted interviews with users of different vehicles to collect information on what features people used in their vehicles and how they used them, and when. We also sat in with them to observe them as they drove around, asking them to use specific features, including media, navigation and driver-assistive technology.
The information collected was used to inform the design of the new in-vehicle interface in the VinFast portfolio.
Case Study 3 - OPUS VL
As part of a collaborative group with Coventry University, interviews were conducted with medical professionals, including Doctors and Nurses, to understand the process of collecting patient data.
Typically, using the NEWS2 method, we wanted to elicit which problems there were on the wards, what the impact of those problems was, and whether they had any suggestions for improvement.
Final Thoughts
If you recognise several of these signs in your own team, User Research might be the missing layer that brings clarity, direction and momentum to your next phase of work.
Whether you're exploring a new product, refining an existing one or navigating complex stakeholder needs, research helps teams make decisions based on evidence, not untested assumptions.
If you’d like to explore how User Research could support your roadmap, I'm always happy to talk.
Further Reading
Now you’ve enjoyed this article, why not go and read about why you might need a UX designer!
And don't forget the blog on User Research techniques too.
Get in touch with the author
Darren Wilson
Managing Director at UXcentric
07854 781 908
