The most underrated aspect of user research is that it hypes you up

I recently listened to Lenny’s Podcast with Dalton Caldwell where the key theme was the critical role of motivation and confidence in the idea that is behind your startup.

One single thing that can bring a startup down

It might sound obvious and I believe it actually is but Dalton, with his extensive years of experience in helping startups in Y Combinator and hanging out with many of today's tech billionaires back in the 90s, emphasised that the real determinant of a startup's success is the founders' willingness to persevere and essentially "not give up."

He added an interesting observation noting that it’s not the lack of money that fails the startup, but the lack of motivation to keep going, the dreadful feeling of “I’m done with it”.

Overcoming the Hesitation

Dalton was saying how most founders avoid this due to social anxiety or the difficulty of being vulnerable and discussing their ideas with others. Nevertheless, these actual conversations are invaluable. That’s why I always believe that surveys and analytics are useful, but the essence of user research lies in qualitative methods—interviews, focus groups, and observations. It’s when you interact with someone and get their views (in more than 1 sentence from an open-text question). When you get the emotions and feelings this product or problem brings in them, the language they use and how they look at it through their perspective and life experiences.

Conversations are invaluable, and despite their importance, I get that most founders don’t want to do it. It is challenging and often requires preparation and thoughtful questions. Yet, postponing it indefinitely is not an option. Founders who believe in themselves and their ideas will be honest with themselves. And if they don’t want to do it themselves they will seek help.

Bring it to the team

It's crucial to note, though, that talking to users only brings this conviction, excitement, and other emotions to the team if presented properly. The founder doing interviews alone will have a hard time evoking the same kind of conviction in another team member who wasn't present in the meeting. However, expecting every team member to conduct interviews themselves isn't feasible. Fortunately, there are many tools available today, such as Blossom or Loom, that capture and share snippets of the most important moments. These tools allow others to be infected by the excitement and insights the interviewer experienced, spreading the motivational boost throughout the team.

Side note:
It's a common misconception that user research takes a long time. In reality, it can be done within a few weeks. However, the best approach is to conduct it continuously to keep a finger on the pulse of user sentiment. Regular, ongoing conversations with users ensure that the team remains connected to their needs and motivated by their feedback.

Can we even be constantly motivated?

This resonates with me and I’ve been hearing this a lot recently as I myself struggle with levels of motivation, some days are better than others. It’s not always easy to keep the flame of excitement burning.

Common advice is to do something that genuinely interests you, but that alone isn't always enough. Despite my love for research and diving into new startup ideas, I still find myself feeling demotivated at times.

What helps me regain my excitement is speaking to other people—whether they are customers or fellow UX researchers who give me advice. Engaging with others provides energy and validation for my ideas and projects.

I’ve observed this myself recently so it’s been very reassuring to hear Dalton mentioning it too. A very interesting opinion of his to me was (obviously) about the importance of doing user research! And it was not mentioned only for its ability to help in reaching product market fit but as a way to keep the flame going.

Dalton said that all the founders and startups he’s seen succeed were those who had and kept the conviction that their idea was amazing. Stressing that those people didn’t necessarily hold this view from the beginning but often developed this conviction as a result of talking to their customers aka USER RESEARCH.

In short

Engage in user research not just to improve your product, but to reinforce your belief in your idea.

Have those meaningful conversations, gather invaluable insights, and keep the flame of your startup’s journey alive.