On an impossibly sunny day in Los Angeles, I sat in a loft in Venice observing a group of twenty-somethings talk about their dating lives. The focus group moderator asked, “Next time you’re single, which app will you use to meet someone?” Not one person mentioned Tinder. At the time, Tinder was the largest dating app—by a large margin.
Later, the moderator asked, “Have you met anyone on Tinder in the last year?” Nearly everyone raised their hand. This stark disconnect reveals a fundamental truth about user research: not all questions are created equal. Some questions lead to the truth, and others lead to wildly inaccurate conclusions.
What this essay explores
- Distinguish questions about past behavior, imagined futures, and present product use.
- Use recalled behavior to ground product decisions in what users actually did.
- Recognize why future-intent questions can produce unreliable answers and false conclusions.
- Use present-tense narration to understand actions and thoughts while users complete tasks.
- Prioritize historical behavior over claimed future behavior when evaluating product decisions.
Key takeaway
An important truth about user research questions and a guide to getting better answers
