Essay · ~10 min read

Watch What Users Do, Don't Listen to What They Say

Jakob Nielsen · UX Tigers Free Intermediate

This essay is the clearest explanation of why stated preference and revealed preference diverge, with a concrete example of people saying one thing and clicking another at scale. It gives you the underlying reasoning for why what broke last time and what you use today beat any question about liking or wanting something. Good to read once, mostly to arm yourself against your own optimism when a call goes well.

  • What people say they want and what they actually do are frequently two different things.
  • Behavioral, revealed data is more trustworthy than a verbal preference collected in an interview.
  • Design your discovery process to observe or ask about actual behavior wherever you can, not stated intent.
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The question it answers

  1. How do I run good discovery calls in India when the person keeps saying yes to be polite but never converts?

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