Welcome to another episode of Supra Insider. This time, Marc and Ben sat down with Alex Hanthorn (Drift, TripleByte, Nielsen) to explore the evolving world of user research. From scrappy research methods in early-stage startups to the more formalized processes at large tech companies, we delve into the challenges and opportunities of understanding user motivations. Alex shares insights from his experiences, including his time working with companies from Taco Bell, and discusses the art of balancing intuition with data.
This episode is packed with actionable advice for founders, product managers, and anyone looking to improve their approach to user research.
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In this episode, we covered the following topics:
* Alex’s journey from user research into product management
* How startups can quickly validate ideas with scrappy research methods
* The importance of uncovering user motivations beyond surface-level feedback
* Examples of research techniques used at companies like Taco Bell and Canvas
* Balancing speed, precision, and risk in product decisions
* The role of AI in accelerating user research and potential pitfalls
* Best practices for involving product designers, engineers, and stakeholders in research
* Using AI tools and call transcription to streamline the process
* And more!
If you’d like to watch the video of our conversation, you can catch that on YouTube:
Links:
* Alex Hanthorn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-hanthorn/
* Alex’s website: https://www.alexhanthorn.com/
* Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres: https://www.amazon.com/Continuous-Discovery-Habits-Discover-Products/dp/1736633309
* Outset: https://www.outset.ai/
* Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benerez/
* Marc: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcbaselga/
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