What's the best way to validate the information you uncover in your research?

There's 2 ways I like to validate if the information I've uncovered resonates: Talk to real people from your target audience. Whether that's a prospective user, a current customer, or an internal SME with the same role as your target audience, validate that information with them and see what resonates. One thing to keep in mind here though, just because one person says yes or no, doesn't mean it's going to be the same for everyone. Test a few assets to see if it scales. Use the information you'v ...Read More

Use confidence levels to communicate where you are in the research process, and use LLMs as sparring partners to battle-test your findings before presenting them internally. Think like a researcher: communicate your confidence level explicitly. For example, tell your stakeholders 'I'm at about 60% confidence here — I don't yet have the depth or altitude.' This surfaces gaps and often prompts others in the organization to fill them in. Organizations hold more information than you realize — statin ...Read More

Use LLMs like Claude or ChatGPT as validation tools, but set explicit guardrails — tell them not to blindly agree and not to fabricate sources. Also validate across different segments and socialize findings early. A few key validation practices: 1. **Use LLMs with guardrails**: When using Claude or ChatGPT, explicitly instruct them: 'Don't just blindly agree with me' and 'Don't make up sources.' This is critical — hallucinated citations are a real risk. Set constraints on what sources to use. 2. ...Read More

Ask enough 'why' questions to reach the right altitude of understanding — make sure you've gone deep enough to confidently answer the business question, not just surface-level data points. Validation is less about verifying the source and more about asking: did you follow the right level of questions? Did you get to the right altitude of understanding on *why*? Following a few 'whys' down as you do research is more important than just validating the source. Ask yourself: do you have enough depth ...Read More

Validation isn't about finding one right answer — it's about collecting enough outside-in data and anecdotal feedback to synthesize a direction that's well-supported and defensible internally. Most of what product marketers do is inherently subjective. It requires synthesis and analysis of ambiguous, nebulous information — shaping it into clear go-to-market strategy, positioning, messaging, and campaigns. There isn't always one right answer. That's precisely why market research is so important: ...Read More