I've been analysing open-ended responses from the State of User Research 2025 survey, and one theme is emerging from the data:
Researchers are exhausted from constantly proving their value to business leaders who don't get it.
If you've heard these push-backs, you're not alone:
"We don't have time for research"
"We don't have the budget"
"We already know our users"
I've faced these challenges before.
Sometimes I thought I was the problem; maybe I wasn’t persuasive enough, not strategic enough, my work was not valuable enough.
But these three lessons changed everything.
One: influence happens in micro doses
Your stakeholders won't suddenly "see the light" because you delivered the perfect argument.
Persuasion isn't a moment.
It's a daily practice wrapped in slowly-building trust.
Small conversations. Consistent presence. Gentle persistence.
Two: They're humans with fears and needs
The people pushing back aren't villains.
They have pressures, KPIs, and delivery anxieties just like you.
When I stopped trying to convince them research was valuable and started uncovering their motivators, things shifted. Suddenly we were on the same team.
Three: Sometimes it's not you, it's them
This was tough to accept. You can’t persuade everyone.
Sometimes an organisation's user-centred maturity level is at a stage that no amount of brilliant strategy will land. And that's okay.
This is all to say that these challenges are surmountable.
(Side note: I'm doing this analysis manually so I can compare it with an AI-assisted approach.)
Next time: Let's address the elephant in the room: "Software developers don't have to prove their value. Why do UX researchers?"
If this resonated, would you forward it to one person who needs to read it?
— Tomi
