User experience professionals and information architects (UX/IAs) are uniquely positioned to help address many of the decisions and challenges organizations contend with as they adopt AI. (Image: The passage Benjamin Franklin used to go to and from his home in Philadelphia, location of Information Architecture Conference 2026, “Navigating Complexity.”)

Research makes every endeavor more successful. Why would you want to undertake an expensive digital project without doing your homework, or launch a product without testing it?

The keys to getting most value out of your research are: 1. Do it, and 2. Choose the right type of research at the right time.