"So we synthesized the findings and presented them to stakeholders. The first response was: "We can't make business decisions from talking to just 6 or 12 people." And the follow-up request: "Let's interview 150 users instead." In that moment, it became obvious that the issue wasn't the quality of our insights. The real debate was about the validity of qualitative research itself."
"Jakob Nielsen (1993) showed that about five users can reveal ~85% of usability issues. Guest, Bunce & Johnson (2006) found that most qualitative themes emerge within 6-12 interviews. But the discomfort didn't go away because the expectation was coming from a quantitative mindset - "A bigger sample equals a safer decision." That experience forced me to confront a question many UX teams face - Is small-sample research actually weak or is it just misunderstood?"
"The pushback around "small" research sample sizes usually isn't about research at all; it's about how people are trained to think about certainty. In UX, we're looking for patterns in behavior. In business, stakeholders are looking for proof they can defend. So two mindsets collide: UX research mindsetStakeholder/business mindset Quality over quantity Numbers = certainty "Why are people doing this?" "How many people are doing this?" Patterns matter Scale feels safer Insight drives direction Data reduces risk Stakeholders aren't anti-research. They're protecting outcome"
A small project with 6–12 interviews produced clear, repeating user patterns that stakeholders dismissed because they expected larger samples. Evidence shows roughly five users can reveal about 85% of usability problems and most qualitative themes emerge within 6–12 interviews. Qualitative research focuses on detecting recurring behaviors and reaching thematic saturation; after saturation, adding participants rarely uncovers new insights. Stakeholder skepticism often reflects a quantitative mindset equating bigger samples with defensive certainty rather than opposition to research. Bridging these mindsets requires communicating how pattern-based findings map to product risks and business outcomes.
Read at LogRocket Blog
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