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Product folks are more excited than ever about talking to users.
Even before the rise of AI, there was already a movement to democratize UX Research. Many tech companies started enabling product managers to engage directly with users, without relying on UX Research professionals as intermediaries.
Now, with AI tools evolving to support both research setup and analysis, there’s even more momentum for product folks to speak with users.
Recent layoffs and a shift towards frugality in tech have added to this trend. Talking to users has become a key part of the product manager’s role, especially when full-time researchers are laid off and product designers are overburdened by executing new design iterations.
I’m not against product folks engaging directly with users. I support it. I believe product releases shouldn’t be based solely on data experiments. Interacting with users is essential to creating user-centric products.
