Continuous discovery beats big research rounds

Continuous discovery — small, regular user touchpoints instead of big periodic studies — is now treated as established practice on product teams. You don't need a big research budget to start.

Continuous discovery — small, regular touchpoints with real users instead of big periodic research rounds — is now treated as established practice on product teams, not a nice-to-have. The idea, popularised by Teresa Torres' 'Continuous Discovery Habits,' is that a steady drip of 1-2 short conversations a week compounds into better decisions than one big study every quarter. For juniors without a research budget, that's good news: you don't need permission for a 'proper' study to gather signal, just consistency. Outlets like Smashing Magazine keep covering practical write-ups on running this well.

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