What 5 Years of User Interviews Taught Me About Human Behavior

I’ve sat through enough user interviews to know that what people say and what people do are two very different things. Ask someone how they shop online and they’ll tell you they carefully compare prices, read reviews, and make rational decisions. Watch them actually shop and you’ll see them impulse-buy something because the photo looked nice and shipping was free. This gap — between self-reported behavior and observed behavior — is why I’ll never rely on surveys alone to make design decisions. The data tells you what happened; interviews help you understand why; observation shows you the truth.

The best research sessions I’ve run felt less like an interview and more like a conversation I mostly stayed out of. I ask an opening question, then I get quiet. I watch where people hesitate, where they speed up, what they mutter under their breath. I notice the workarounds they’ve built for themselves — the sticky note next to the keyboard, the exported spreadsheet they use instead of the dashboard we built. Those workarounds are a designer’s gold. They mean a real need exists that the current product isn’t meeting, and that’s where your next best feature is hiding.