Resolving user confusion with clear design

Resistance Isn’t the Enemy – It’s a Signal During depth interviews or usability tests, new functionality can meet unexpected pushback. Participants cling to familiar workflows ("we’ve always done this in Excel – why switch?") or sidestep certain topics. The instinct is to persuade or “break the ice.” But resistance isn’t the enemy – it’s a resource. In psychotherapy, resistance often points to unspoken fears and needs. In UX research, negative reactions are equally valuable: they mark where experience tightens, where trust thins, and where risk is felt. Instead of pressing harder, shift the stance from convince to curious. Swap “Why are you refusing?” for “What worries you about this approach?” Pushback often reveals what matters: fear of losing control over data, low trust in automation after past failures, or constraints we didn’t see. Treat each objection as information, not interference. Like a map of tender spots, resistance guides design toward the real anxieties that must be addressed – so the product answers human concerns rather than ignoring them. Checklist – Spot & Use Resistance in UX Interviews: https://lnkd.in/d7GuuU93 #UXResearch #UserExperience #UserBehavior #PsychologyInDesign #HumanCenteredDesign

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how research often gets overlooked in the design process. It’s easy to jump straight into visuals or solutions, especially when deadlines are tight. But truthfully, the real magic usually happens before the design even begins. Personally, I’d say “Good research gives context, while great research builds empathy”. It helps us ask better questions, understand real user needs, and avoid designing for assumptions. Whether it’s user interviews, competitor analysis, or just spending time digging into the problem, research grounds design in reality (Data is indeed key). It doesn’t have to be perfect or formal every time. But making space for it, even in small ways, always leads to stronger, more thoughtful work. #DesignThinking #UXResearch #ProductDesign #DesignProcess #HumanCenteredDesign #Research

The design thinking process starts with empathizing, where UX designers deeply understand users’ thoughts, emotions, and experiences without bias. This helps create products that solve real problems and provide meaningful experiences.   Methods for Empathizing with Users: • Interviews   • Questionnaires/Surveys : Quick insights from multiple users • In-person Interviews : Observe body language & emotions   • Phone Interviews : Convenient & accessible   • Video Interviews : A balance between in-person and phone • Empathy Maps A tool to organize user insights by answering:   • Who are the users?   • What do they say about their experience?   • What do they think about it?   • What do they do before, during, and after?   • How do they feel about it?  • User Personas   • Fictional characters representing real user groups.   • Help designers remember key user insights.   • Support design decisions with realistic user stories.

Capturing what people say in an interview is one thing. Capturing what they actually do over days or weeks? That’s where diary studies ✨shine.✨ Diary studies let you see behavior unfold in real contexts: the routines, friction points, and subtle shifts that shorter sessions often miss. They’re powerful but they can feel intimidating to plan and run. That’s why we put together a new guide: Diary Studies 101: An Actionable Guide for UX Researchers. 📔 Inside, you’ll find: ✅ What a diary study is and when to use one ✅ Practical steps for planning and running them smoothly ✅ How to set participants up for success (and avoid drop-off) ✅ Common pitfalls to watch out for ✅ Ways Rally helps automate the logistics so you can focus on insights Diary studies can feel complex, but they don’t have to be. With the right setup, they become a repeatable way to uncover how people actually live with your product. Dive into diary studies. 👇 #diarystudies #research #uxr #uxresearch #reops #researchops #researchoperations #userresearch

Interview Insight: Retention & Customer Drop Points My frequent interview question: “How will you analyze customer drop points?” The textbook answer is: “Look at CDP data.” But what if the event isn’t integrated? This is where most answers stop. In reality, gaps in event tracking are common. That’s when you need to think beyond the dashboard: • Use UI/UX track tools. • Identify friction points where users actually drop off. • Configure missing events and decide what really needs to be tracked. • Correct and iterate until you see a cleaner journey. Retention isn’t just data collection—it’s connecting the dots between product, analytics, and user experience. #retentionmarketing

Everyone in product gets told: "Talk to your users." But nobody teaches them how to ask. I've watched it play out across teams: Founders, PMs, UX researchers, designers. "Would you use this if we built it?" "Do you like the idea?" "How much would you pay?" All garbage questions. Polite lies wrapped in false confidence. The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick changed everything for me. The insight was simple: Stop asking for opinions. Start asking about behavior. So I built something small to make those lessons practical. A simple tool that generates sharper customer conversation questions on the spot. No theory. Just prompts you can actually use. Check it out: tools.corshift.com Question for you: What's the worst customer interview question you've heard (or asked)? #ClarityWithCorshift #ProductClarity

 Great design starts with great questions. It’s not just about what users do — it’s about why they do it. Here are 9 research questions I always rely on to uncover real user needs, hidden pain points, and design opportunities. Save this for your next user interview or product workshop. Could you tag a fellow designer who should add these to their toolkit? #UXResearch #DesignThinking #UserExperience #ProductDesign #UXDesign #HumanCenteredDesign #UserResearch #DesignStrategy #UXInsights #DesignPrinciples #CustomerExperience #ResearchDrivenDesign #UXProcess #uiuxbond

🎯 User Research & Interviews – The Foundation of Great UX Before we design, we need to understand our users User research isn’t just about asking questions it’s about listening, observing, and finding patterns that guide better design decisions. In this short carousel, I’ve shared: ✅ Why user research matters ✅ Different research methods (surveys, interviews, observation, analytics, competitor analysis) ✅ Tips for conducting effective user interviews ✅ How to analyze findings and improve your design ✨ Remember: A product designed without research is just a guess. Good design starts with empathy and evidence. #uxresearch #research #userexperience #empathy #users #userinterviews #uxui #surveyes #productdesign #product

One of the hardest truths in UX research is this: even the most careful researcher brings bias into the room. The way we phrase a question, the order we ask it in, even the emphasis in our tone—these subtle cues can shape the answers we receive. Suddenly, the interview stops being about the user’s truth and starts echoing our own assumptions back to us. I call this the “interview echo chamber.” As practitioners, our responsibility isn’t just to ask questions, but to constantly question ourselves. ❓ Am I steering this conversation without realizing it? ❓ Are my words shaping the insights I claim to uncover? ❓ What assumptions am I carrying in, unseen? Methods and tools will continue to evolve—but the discipline of self-awareness is timeless. Without it, our research risks becoming validation, not discovery. The more we recognize this, the better we become at designing for what users actually need—rather than what we subconsciously expect to hear. 👉 How do you keep yourself in check when running user interviews? #UXResearch #DesignLeadership #ObjectOrientedUX #DesignStrategy

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 🌍 We often rely on dashboards, analytics, and KPIs to measure product success. But numbers alone can only tell us what happened, never why. That’s where empathy maps become a designer’s real North Star — helping us see beyond metrics into the lived experiences of our users. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 An empathy map brings the user’s voice, feelings, and struggles to the surface. Instead of reducing people to data points, it captures what they say, think, feel, and do — giving depth to their journey. 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝟭. 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗽𝘀 — Use empathy maps when metrics show a drop-off but the reason isn’t clear. They highlight motivations hidden behind the numbers. 𝟮. 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 — A visual map makes user struggles tangible, creating a shared reference for designers, PMs, and developers. 𝟯. 𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘀 — Metrics may say a feature is “underused,” but empathy maps reveal why — perhaps it’s confusing, intimidating, or poorly timed. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 When teams design with empathy maps, they stop chasing vanity metrics and start solving real human problems. Products built this way don’t just “perform” — they connect. 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Behind every metric is a person with a story. If we listen with empathy, our designs become more than efficient — they become meaningful. #UXDesign #Empathy #ProductDesign #DesignThinking #UserResearch #InclusiveDesign