Desk Research vs User Interviews

Developers should learn desk research to quickly validate ideas, assess technology adoption, or understand user needs before investing in development meets developers should learn user interviews to create products that truly meet user needs, reducing wasted effort on features users don't want. Here's our take.

Desk Research

Nice Pick

Developers should learn desk research to quickly validate ideas, assess technology adoption, or understand user needs before investing in development

Pros

• It is crucial during project planning, competitive analysis, or when exploring new tools and frameworks to avoid reinventing solutions
• Related to: data-analysis, competitive-analysis

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

User Interviews

Developers should learn user interviews to create products that truly meet user needs, reducing wasted effort on features users don't want

Pros

• It's crucial during the discovery phase of a project, when defining requirements, or when iterating on an existing product to identify pain points
• Related to: user-research, usability-testing

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

Use Desk Research if: You want it is crucial during project planning, competitive analysis, or when exploring new tools and frameworks to avoid reinventing solutions and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.

Use User Interviews if: You prioritize it's crucial during the discovery phase of a project, when defining requirements, or when iterating on an existing product to identify pain points over what Desk Research offers.

The Bottom Line

Desk Research wins

Developers should learn desk research to quickly validate ideas, assess technology adoption, or understand user needs before investing in development