I got a business credit card last month. I’m brand new to this very well-known and expansive financial services provider's ecosystem. This morning I was making my second payment (my first was made last night) and stopped in my tracks when I saw: “Choose the feature that you’d be most interested in for your business.”

STOPPED. IN. MY. TRACKS.

Head spinning…

From... this is really interesting to….

• I have no idea how to answer this (as I am completely new to this ecosystem)... to...

• Wondering whether the responses were randomized... to...

• Which department within the financial institution is assessing this data and how... to...

• Who are they sharing it with... to...

• What other data collection measures are they using to ascertain their new feature roadmapping... to...

• Is this an example of collecting data for data's sake... to...

• What is the quality of this data...

???

This financial institution is an enormous organization with many design and user researchers, so I assume this is not done in a vacuum without considerable thought.

*BUT* I’m not a good participant to answer this question right now being COMPLETELY NEW to their ecosystem. I don’t even know what features they have nor have I given this any thought.

HEAD SCRATCHING.

How one collects data REALLY matters. And WHOM you collect the data from REALLY matters.

Successful user research requires asking the right people, the right questions, in the right way. It's a 3-part equation. In addition, it requires a balance of considerations, context, cross-functional collaboration, ideally data triangulation, and more.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the pros and cons of this experience.