I dropped a clip from my conversation with Jeanette Fuccella, who created a practical 2x2 matrix to help teams right-size their research effort. It’s a helpful way to figure out how much research you actually need…especially when everything feels like a priority.
This was my 5-6th interview, so I’m getting my footing… but it’s tough to get the right feel.
In the episode, Jeanette shares how her framework helps teams decide when to go deep, when to move fast, and how to have better conversations around research.
“It started as a self-preservation tool. There are always more research questions than time.”
She breaks research down by two things:
- Problem Clarity – how well you understand the user’s problem
- Risk – what happens if you get it wrong
This creates four research modes:
- Ship It & Measure (High Clarity, Low Risk)
- Design Heavy (High Clarity, High Risk)
- Research Light (Low Clarity, Low Risk)
Research Heavy (Low Clarity, High Risk)
In my experience, many teams don’t skip research because they don’t care. They skip it because they don’t know how much is enough.
Jeanette’s matrix gives teams a shared way to make those tradeoffs, without overthinking it or defaulting to “no time, no research.”
And it fits perfectly with how we use UX metrics. If you can measure how clear the problem is (or how well users understand your idea) you’ll know when quick feedback is enough and when it’s worth investing more.
Discussion
How do you decide when it’s worth doing deeper research?
