User Research for Nonexistent Products

Summary: If your product doesn't exist yet, and you don't even have a prototype, you can (and should) still base design decisions on user research. Observational research methods can gather information about user needs and provide input to new-product ideation.

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Therese Fessenden is a Senior Experience Specialist with Nielsen Norman Group and host of the NN/g UX Podcast. Her research focuses on understanding human behavior, attitudes, and expectations in order to better orchestrate system and service design strategies. 

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