How to respond to common objections to audience research

This is an excerpt from my monthly newsletter, Re:filtered. You can subscribe here.

In "Just Enough Research," Erika Hall has this helpful list of objections to research and some excellent responses.

Sharing some gems here:

❌ We don't have the expertise. ✅ "Research is a craft and a set of skills, but above all, it's a mindset."

❌ We need to be scientists. ✅ This isn't pure science. "Your desire to find out needs to be stronger than your desire to predict."

❌ We don't have the money. ✅ "Objections about time and money are always a smokescreen using a bad model of what research is."

❌ One research methodology is superior (qual vs quant). ✅ "You want to know what is happening (qualitative), how much it's happening (quantitative), and why it's happening (qualitative)." 

❌ We already know the issue/user/problem inside and out. ✅ "Familiarity breeds assumptions and blind spots."

❌ Research will get in the way of innovation. ✅ "Understanding why and how people do what they do today is essential to making new concepts fit into their lives tomorrow." 

The book has a few more. I really encourage you to read it.

This is an excerpt from my monthly newsletter, Re:filtered. You can subscribe here.