In a recent LinkedIn post, John Cutler discusses a habit he has broken when working with data-intensive products: asking users about the specific decisions they hope to make. Cutler argues that this approach often leads to inaccurate insights because users struggle to articulate their decision-making processes realistically.
He highlights a fundamental challenge in this line of inquiry:
“People are terrible at thinking about their decisions realistically.”
Cutler elaborates that not all valuable insights directly inform an immediate, concrete decision. When pressed, users may invent decisions simply to satisfy the questioner, leading to a disconnect between theoretical possibilities and actual user behavior. As John Cutler points out, the decisions users initially list are often not the ones they truly act upon.
The Pitfalls of Eliciting Theoretical Decisions
The core of Cutler’s argument is that directly asking about decisions can be a misguided strategy for understanding user needs in data-rich environments. He suggests that the theoretical decisions people present are rarely aligned with their practical, day-to-day actions. This misdirection can lead product teams down the wrong path, building features or analyses that don’t align with how users actually work or what they truly value.
According to John Cutler, a more fruitful approach involves shifting the focus from abstract decisions to the tangible realities of a user’s job.
“Much better to discuss their job, what they do, how they work, what they pay attention to, etc.”
By understanding the user’s role, their workflows, and their priorities, product developers can gain a much deeper and more accurate understanding of their needs and the potential value of data. This observational or contextual approach allows for the discovery of insights that users might not even recognize themselves or be able to articulate when asked about specific decisions.
A Better Path: Understanding Workflow and Context
Cutler proposes a more effective method for uncovering genuine user needs and opportunities for data products. Instead of focusing on hypothetical decisions, he advocates for a deeper dive into the user’s actual work and context.
Focusing on ‘What They Do’
As John Cutler notes, unless the product is directly tied to a binary decision like “Approve Application (or Not),” understanding the user’s daily activities is far more revealing. He argues:
“Unless you’re talking about something like “Approve Application (or Not),” you’ll learn way more about their decisions by talking about what they do than by asking them to list off their decisions.”
This perspective emphasizes that for complex data products, the insights that drive value often emerge from understanding the intricate processes, the information flow, and the subtle challenges within a user’s workflow. By observing or discussing what users actually *do*, product teams can identify unmet needs, areas for improvement, and opportunities for data to provide genuine, actionable value. This method bypasses the user’s potential difficulty in articulating future decisions and focuses instead on the observable present and the established patterns of work, leading to more robust and relevant data product development.
📝 About This Content
This article is based on insights shared by John Cutler on LinkedIn.
📅 Originally posted on October 2, 2026 | View original post on LinkedIn →