Everyone tells engineers to talk to users. But what should you ask, and how do you turn the answers into better product decisions? Sara Iacozza is a Senior UX Researcher and Product Strategist with 7+ years of experience helping teams understand user behaviour and decide what to build.

In our conversation, we discuss:

1. How understanding users helps engineers make trade-offs and find simpler solutions
2. How to practise user interviews with colleagues, an AI coach, and a researcher’s feedback
3. How to avoid leading questions, use plain language, and ask about real experiences
4. How to turn interview notes into shared insights and check AI analysis against the evidence
5. How to get closer to users by shadowing interviews, watching recordings, and talking to colleagues

Episode transcript:

Where to find Sara Iacozza:
• LinkedIn: https://it.linkedin.com/in/sara-iacozza/

Where to find Peppe:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peppesilletti/
• X: https://x.com/peppesilletti
• Website: https://peppesilletti.io

Where to find The Product Engineers Podcast:
• Website: https://productengineers.com

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Introduction and what UX research involves
(06:35) Why user research matters for engineers
(12:33) Learning to interview users, with practice and AI
(24:19) Avoiding leading questions and polite answers
(28:39) Using language your users understand
(33:08) Turning conversations into insights and checking AI analysis
(42:00) Making research part of the team’s work
(45:20) Getting closer to users when access is limited
(51:35) Where to find Sara

Referenced:
• Sara’s User Interview Coach (announcement and access link): https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sara-iacozza_chatgpt-user-interview-coach-activity-7296141061372993536-pWZQ
• Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres: https://www.producttalk.org/continuous-discovery-habits/