Why did Trump win? Let’s ask the voters themselves.

As you know, I am a big believer in making business decisions by asking customers what they think rather than guessing about it. The same principle applies to social issues, including the US election of 2024.

The day after a big election there’s always a flood of commentary about what it all means. Most of that comment is based on personal opinion, and tells you more about the author than it does about the voters. I wanted to try something different, so I used UserTesting’s human insight system to do instant interviews of ten random Trump voters the day after the election. I asked them why they voted the way they did, which issues matter to them most, and their hopes for the future. The whole process took a few hours from start to finish. This video shows you clips of what they said.

The video may be painful depending on your political orientation. I'm not advocating for either candidate; I just want to understand why we got this outcome. I’ll let you form your own conclusions, but I heard the word “economy” over and over.

Ten interviews are not an opinion survey, but I think they're pretty useful for understanding the thoughts and feelings of Trump voters. Check it out and decide for yourself. If nothing else, it’s a lot more objective than the random opinions of online influencers. (By the way, I blurred the faces of the participants so they would feel comfortable speaking frankly.)

From time to time my employer, UserTesting , allows me to use its system to research public issues like this. I’d like to thank UT, and to remind you that this post represents my own opinions, not the company’s. But hey, if I can do interviews like this on a political subject in a few hours, imagine what you could do to inform a decision you’re making in your business. There’s no longer any excuse for guessing about anything.