Many people in the product community, including myself, actively share their experiences using AI tools to build products. However, far fewer conversations focus on a foundational phase: product research. The quality of product research directly impacts the outcome of the entire design process. As AI tools become increasingly embedded across different phases of the product design process, including the research phase, it's vital to establish a clear, intentional research process that maximizes design efficiency while reducing business risk from poorly informed or incorrect decisions
Let's be brutally honest. Your user personas are probably garbage. They're a collection of stock photos and demographic fluff that you and your team spent a week creating, only to file them away in a Google Drive folder to be forgotten forever. "Marketing Mike," who is 35, married, and "enjoys hiking," isn't helping you make better decisions. He's an art project.