In 2019, I stood in front of a group of 71 people at a Google event and said “now we will die.”

Although my choice of words was stark, maybe cultish, and insensitive out-of-context, I was the facilitator. I was about to introduce the next exercise, a Eulogy, at the Future of Ads Co-Laboratory. I needed to quiet the room and get the attention of participants. Goodness did it work.

Why do we repeatedly build products users don’t need or want? After partnering with 55+ teams in Google’s incubator Area 120, I’m confident there’s a better way to de-risk product development, one that promises more velocity, less resources and better outcomes.

We User Experience Researchers (UXRs) have the tendency to invest copious amounts of energy into standardized phases of the research process: recruiting participants, designing protocol, data collection, rigorous analysis, and crisp synthesis. There’s something about our repeatable process (the science side of the house) that is invigorating and makes the art of what we do approachable.

Truth is, I think we overdo process and don’t break enough rules.