[ahoyhere]

Actually, I beg to differ :) Talking to customers isn't nearly as effective as watching what they do, not what they say. Customers will tell you one thing all day long, then do another. Or they will have serious pains they suffer with every day, and if you ask "What hurts?" they won't think of it.

Research has backed this up over & over -- that story about Sony's focus groups about the yellow vs black Discmans is just one example -- not to mention anecdata from, well, everyone.

That's why I teach my students to observe customers and deduce, rather than ask them.

[grueful]

Yeah, you can't just take the responses at face value.

Watching five subjects in a row get to one point and then get confused is important, but they might never mention it if you just ask them directly afterwards.

I've also observed talk between users that started out "oh, I hated it" - then they'll go on to praise the functional aspects - and it turns out they just didn't like the color scheme. Which is equally valid if it generates consistent responses.