Alex around the World

I was asking myself this question the other day: “Should all web projects start with research?”. In other words, whenever you start creating a new website, should you always analyze your target audiences and create personas for example?

I always thought the answer to this question was yes. In fact, it depends.

Dan Saffer (Adaptive Path) wrote an article entitled “Research is a method, not a methodology” where he explains his point of view about this.

Research should be used as a tool, your own expertise being the most important element when building new sites. It should also “be used only when necessary, not applied to every project unthinkingly”, writes Saffer.

It does make sense, especially when you consider the amount of time that some research require sometimes.