Research
Why asking users what they want rarely works
Users are great at reacting to what's in front of them. They're much less reliable when asked to design the solution.
Why direct user suggestions often solve the wrong problem, and why the real insight usually sits underneath what people ask for.
In short
Why direct user suggestions often solve the wrong problem, and why the real insight usually sits underneath what people ask for.
Why direct answers can be misleading
So we did exactly that. We asked the user what they'd expect to happen next, what they'd change, what would make the journey better. They gave solid, clear, confident answers that, read back in isolation, would sound like useful direction. The problem was, when you stepped back and looked at the journey, none of those answers really solved what was going on.
Users are incredibly good at reacting to what's in front of them. They can tell you when something feels off, when something is frustrating, when something doesn't quite make sense. But when you ask them to design the solution — even indirectly — they're working from a completely different vantage point. They're solving the moment they're in, not the glossarySystemA system is a collection of interconnected components that work together to achieve a specific function or outcome.Open glossary term as a whole.
Users are solving the moment they're in, not the system as a whole.
When user requests point to the wrong fix
On a travel glossaryPlatformA platform is a system or environment that enables users, services, or applications to interact, build, or operate.Open glossary term, this became obvious quickly. Users were going through a booking journey where the early stages felt smooth and exploratory. But as they got closer to committing, hesitation crept in — not always verbally, but in how they behaved. They slowed down. They re-read things. They started second-guessing decisions they'd already made.
When we asked them what they wanted at that point, the answer was almost always the same: more information, more glossaryClarityClarity is how easily users can understand what is happening and what they need to do.Open glossary term, more visibility of pricing and options earlier in the journey. It sounds completely logical. But when we actually explored that direction, the effect was the opposite of what they expected. Bringing more information forward didn't increase glossaryConfidenceConfidence is the level of certainty in a decision or outcome based on available evidence.Open glossary term — it introduced more doubt. Users started comparing options they didn't need to compare yet, questioning decisions before they had enough glossaryContextThe surrounding conditions that shape behaviour and decisions.Open glossary term, and ultimately dropping out earlier. What they had asked for made the experience heavier, not better.
What they were really telling us wasn't we need more information. It was we don't feel comfortable committing yet. Those are two very different problems.
Key takeaway
What users ask for is often an expression of discomfort, not the actual solution to the problem.
Why this gets more obvious in complex systems
Across NHS work, users would often say they wanted everything in one place — all the information, all the options, all the answers visible without having to navigate around. Again, it sounds right. But when you start designing for that, it very quickly becomes overwhelming. What users actually needed wasn't more access. It was better guidance. They needed to feel like they were being led through something, not dropped into it. That distinction only becomes clear when you stop focusing on what users say and start paying closer attention to what they do.
What good research does instead
The job isn't to take what users say and translate it directly into glossaryFeatureA feature is a specific piece of functionality within a product that delivers value to users. It represents something users can do or experience as part of the overall product.Open glossary term. It's to understand what sits underneath it. When someone says they want more control, it might mean they don't glossaryTrustUser confidence that a product, service, or organisation will do what it promises.Open glossary term the glossarySystemA system is a collection of interconnected components that work together to achieve a specific function or outcome.Open glossary term. When they ask for more options, it might mean they're unsure they're making the right choice. When they say something is confusing, it might not be the interface at all — it might be how the journey is structured.
Those are very different problems, and they require a different level of thinking to solve. So I don't ignore what users say. But I don't treat it as the answer either. Because the goal isn't to glossaryBuildA build is the process of compiling and packaging code into a runnable application.Open glossary term what users ask for in the moment. It's to build something that works for them when they're actually using it. And those two things, more often than not, are not the same.