There's a Pendo statistic that's been floating around product circles for a long time, and it still stings every time I say it out loud: roughly 80% of all software features that get released are rarely, if ever, used.
Let that sink in. Eight out of ten things your team designs, builds, and ships may never matter to the people you built them for.
I don't share this to be discouraging. I share it because it frames everything that follows. When resources are tight, and they most often are, your batting average matters. And the single most reliable way to improve your batting average is to bring customers into your process before you build, not after.
That's what research does. And it's why I believe it's the most undervalued investment a product team can make right now.
We're Not Talking About Slowing Down
The first thing people push back on when I bring up research is time.
“We move fast here."
“We can't slow down for that."
“We'll validate after we launch."
I get it. But here's what I've seen over and over: teams that skip research don't actually move faster. They just move with more confidence in the wrong direction. They ship features nobody asked for. They rebuild things that could have been right the first time. They spend months clawing back churn that better upfront insight could have prevented.
Yes, doing research the right way takes a little more time up front. Yes, it costs a little more. But the return, a higher success rate on the things you're actually investing in, makes it one of the most efficient things you can do.
Getting it right the first time is always faster than building it twice.
Research Isn't Just for Product Teams
One of the biggest misconceptions I run into is that research only lives in product: user testing, usability studies, that kind of thing. But the impact of research runs deeper than your product roadmap.
On the go-to-market side, the same principle applies. If you're launching into a market without really understanding who your buyers are, what motivates them, how they make decisions, and what your competitors are saying to them, you're guessing.
Guessing gets expensive fast.
Whether it's user research that informs how you design an experience, or buyer research that shapes how you position a product, it all comes back to the same idea: you can't build or market something people love without first understanding what they actually need.
Product experience research — understanding the people who use your product.
- What's working?
- What's confusing?
- Where are they dropping off, and why?
- What would make them come back?
Go-to-market research — understanding the market you're competing in.
- Who are your real buyers?
- What do they care about?
- What does your competitive landscape look like?
- What story will actually land?
When both are grounded in real insight, everything downstream gets sharper: the design, the roadmap, the messaging, the positioning.
Strategy aligns. Design unifies. Research connects the dots.
The Foundation You Can't Skip
Here's something I've come to believe pretty deeply: the quality of what you build, and how well you can tell its story, is directly tied to the quality of the foundation you build it on.
I've seen companies sprint toward launch with a great-looking product and a compelling pitch, only to find themselves rebuilding core assumptions six months later because they didn't really know their customer.
Not in the way that matters. Not in the way that only comes from talking to them directly, understanding the language they use, the problems they feel most, the tradeoffs they're willing to make.
You can do a lot with secondary research, competitive analysis, and market data. That work is valuable. But talking to real customers, the people who will actually use your product or buy your solution, is what separates a well-informed strategy from a genuine one.
In a world where everyone is moving fast and shipping often, the teams that win aren't just the ones shipping the most. They're the ones building the right things.
What to Do When You Don't Know Where to Start
A question I get a lot: where do we even begin?
The honest answer is, it depends on where you are. The right research approach looks different for a startup trying to validate a concept than it does for a scaleup trying to reduce churn or nail a new market segment.
Regardless of context, there’s a starting point that almost always pays off: identify a near-term hypothesis or goal for what you want to learn, and get on a phone or Zoom call with someone in your target user or buyer with targeted questions. Ask about their workflows, their frustrations, and their workarounds. Don’t pitch or try to problem solve. Just listen.
What you hear will surprise you. It always does. And more often than not, it will save you from building the wrong thing, or saying the wrong thing to the wrong person.
You don’t have to—and shouldn’t—try to boil the ocean and learn everything about your product from hundreds of people. Five to seven well-targeted conversations with the right people will answer your targeted unknowns.
That's where having an experienced research partner matters. Not to do the listening for you, but to help you design the right research, ask the questions that reveal the real answers, and turn what you learn into strategy you can actually act on.
Research Isn't a Phase— It's a Practice
Research isn't something you do once at the beginning and then reference forever. Markets shift. Customer needs evolve. Competitors move. The product you built six months ago may have created new questions that didn't exist before.
The companies that do this well treat research as a continuous practice, not a project kickoff deliverable. They check in with customers regularly. They revisit assumptions when something isn't working. They treat customer insight as a competitive advantage, not a checkbox.
That's a different posture than most teams start with, and we get it. In a world where speed to market has become both easier and more important than ever, learning, listening, and validation can feel like an easy-to-skip step. The truth is, your product is for your customers, and if you aren’t talking to them, your product stops being for them and starts being for you.
The Bottom Line
If you want to build a product people love, start by understanding the people you're building for. If you want to tell a story that connects, start by listening to the one your customers are already telling.
Research isn't a nice-to-have. It's the most reliable investment you can make in the success of your product and your go-to-market strategy.
Not sure where to start with research, or looking for a partner who can help you turn customer insight into strategy? Start a conversation with our team.
