I’ve run at least 200+ user research calls ever. The fastest way they go off track? When users start pretending to be the CEO. I’ve been doing user research for a new project, and noticed something fascinating. When you ask potential users for feedback, especially in tech, many try to be helpful by instinctively putting on the VC hat or CEO hat (what I call "Advisor Syndrome"): - “This market is crowded.” - “You should do it this way because of X competitor.” - “Here’s why this idea won’t work.” I had a conversation where someone went full Advisor Syndrome mode on me. At first, it sounded like a pessimistic take on the product I was validating. But then I shifted the conversation back to pure user research & asked: - “Tell me about the last time you faced this problem.” - "How frequently do you face this problem?" - “What solutions or alternatives have you tried?” His answers completely changed. When he spoke as a user, he stopped saying “the market is crowded” and started describing his pain points. He’d tried the existing tools and while there were plenty, none worked well. The frustration was so obvious. Awesome, I found gold! ⭐ That flip revealed the real signal (& the one I needed to hear): even in a space full of products, the pain was strong enough that he’d welcome a better solution. --- TAKEAWAY If you’re DOING user research, always steer the conversation back to past behavior and actual problems. That’s where the strongest signals live. If you’re PARTICIPATING in user research, the best way to help isn’t to play advisor. It’s to share your real experiences as a potential user. View original post on LinkedIn.