It's not you, it's them

User research is a crucial aspect of product design and development as it helps ensure that the products and services being created are actually meeting the needs and desires of their intended audiences.

User research is not a luxury. It is a critical component of ethical and effective product design, and the abandonment of this practice by companies will have negative consequences for users and society.

It feels unsettling to see people talking about pivoting an entire profession that is all about bringing humanity and empathy into products and services, simply because the people in charge prioritise short-term profits over long-term, sustainable design practices.

It is important to recognise that the system is what needs fixing. We need to start demanding more from our leaders and from the institutions that shape our economy and society. We need to prioritise ethical design practices, and we need to recognise the critical role that user research plays in this process.

If we let this slide continue we risk perpetuating harmful biases and creating products that exacerbate inequality and harm vulnerable populations.

At the end of the day, it's important to recognise that your job is to contribute to the success of your organisation, if they are worthy of success. While "business value" is certainly an important metric for evaluating your value and contribution as a user researcher, it's just one among many. Unfortunately it just happens to be one that decides if you're kept on or let go.

It is time for us to recognise that business should be subservient to society, not the other way around. We need to create a new paradigm in which businesses are held accountable for the impact they have on the world, and in which they are incentivised to prioritise the well-being of people and the planet over their own bottom lines.

As Ted Chiang says in his must-read article on AI for The New Yorker:

Does capitalism have to be as harmful as it currently is? Maybe not. The three decades following the Second World War are sometimes known as the golden age of capitalism. This period was partially the result of better government policies, but the government didn’t create the golden age on its own: corporate culture was different during this era. Corporations then had a radically different conception of their role in society compared with corporations today.

This article was provoked by The UX Research Reckoning is Here by Judd Antin.