I’ll never forget the day I convinced my team to skip user research because “we already know what users want.” Spoiler alert: we didn’t. After launching a feature that literally nobody used, we wasted three months of development. Additionally, I had to sit through the most uncomfortable stakeholder meeting of my career. That expensive mistake taught me something invaluable – choosing the right research method at the right time isn’t just nice to have, it’s the difference between building something people love and building something that collects dust.
Here’s the thing though: UX research in 2025 looks nothing like it did even two years ago. Yes, the fundamentals haven’t changed – we still need to understand users, validate ideas, and iterate based on real feedback. However, AI has been affecting UX design in ways that make research faster, deeper, and honestly, way more accessible to teams without massive budgets.
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