When discussing products, how many times have you heard someone say, “If I am the user I will think that.. I will do this and think that and do that and blah blah… “

If you build products like this, it is likely that you are surprised when your users do not think and act the same way.

It is important to be similar to users, to be deeply involved with them, and to talk to them, and to use your own product. But ultimately you might say “Most users like that..” , “Some users don’t like that..”, “Our users love that..”, but when you say, “If I am the user”, that’s a red flag that you haven’t really been involved with the users and it’s a high chance that you are not going to build the right thing.