The specific, product-focused skill of understanding the behaviors, pain points, latent needs, and feedback patterns of the user base for a digital platform, app, or service. It goes beyond analytics to empathetic interpretation: why are users abandoning this workflow? What is the sentiment behind these support tickets? What do they really want, which may be different from what they're asking for? It's UX research as a social skill.
Example: A social media app adding more complex privacy settings in response to vocal expert complaints might fail if they don't Read the Users. The silent majority might find the new settings confusing and simply disengage. The correct read might be that users want simple, default privacy, not more complex controls.
by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 3, 2026
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