First Rule of Usability: Don't Listen to Users
Classic wisdom on software development: speculation is the greatest enemy to usability.

Ultimately, the way to get user data boils down to the basic rules of usability:

  • Watch what people actually do.
  • Do not believe what people say they do.
  • Definitely don’t believe what people predict they may do in the future.
Speculation is the greatest enemy to usability. The best thing any team can do for their customers is to constantly pursue a workflow that prioritizes frequent, focused releases and replaces speculation for observation as much as possible.