Henry Ford never said the famous quote used to discredit user research. In reality, his refusal to listen to customer desires for different colors, features like windscreens, and financing options allowed GM to seize market dominance, a position from which Ford never recovered.
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Your happiest, biggest customers are satisfied because your product already works for them. The most valuable insights for innovation and growth come from understanding your non-customers—the people not buying from you. Their unmet needs represent your largest untapped opportunities.
Ford celebrated attracting buyers new to trucks and their brand. In hindsight, this data was a red flag, indicating that their loyal, traditional truck and Ford customers—the largest markets—were not interested in the electric vehicle.
Users aren't product designers; they can only identify problems and create workarounds with the tools they have. Their feature requests represent these workarounds, not the optimal solution. A researcher's job is to uncover the deeper, underlying problem.
Founders misuse the Henry Ford quote to justify ignoring user research. It wrongly equates a customer's underlying problem (demand), which is supply-agnostic, with their desire for a specific solution (supply). True innovation serves existing demand with a better supply, like a car fulfilling the need to travel.
The apocryphal Henry Ford quote is often used to dismiss customer research. Yet highly innovative companies like Apple invest millions studying customers to find deep-seated problems, not to ask for solutions. The real lesson is to research customer pains to inform visionary products.
A common misconception is that user research involves asking customers to design the product. This is wrong. The process is a clear division of labor: customers articulate their problems and pain points. Your team's role is to then use its expertise and resources to devise the best solution.
The old product leadership model was a "rat race" of adding features and specs. The new model prioritizes deep user understanding and data to solve the core problem, even if it results in fewer features on the box.
Directly asking customers for solutions yields generic answers your competitors also hear. The goal is to uncover their underlying problems, which is your job to solve, not theirs to articulate. This approach leads to unique insights and avoids creating 'me-too' products.
When leaders use arguments like the "faster horses" quote, it's rarely about a genuine belief that research is valueless. Instead, it often signals fear—of being out of touch, of ceding the vision, or of challenging the status quo. The best response is empathy, not a factual takedown.
Ford celebrated attracting buyers new to trucks and their brand. In hindsight, this data was a "canary in the coal mine," signaling that their core, loyal truck customers—the largest market—were rejecting the electric vehicle. This misinterpretation led to a flawed growth narrative.
