Matt Wallens · Fractional Research Lead
Products die from the research sessions that never happen.
I help product teams understand their customers before they build the wrong thing. Based in Atlanta. Available everywhere.
Most teams make important decisions without enough information.
They’re moving fast, guessing at what customers need, and finding out they were wrong after they’ve already committed.
That’s the problem I’ve been solving for 25 years.
Senior research, without adding headcount
Pick the problem you’re facing.
Product teams, agencies, and early-stage founders who need to get it right before they commit.
Discovery Research You need to understand the problem before you commit to solving it. Learn more → Journey Mapping Something you've built isn't working and every team has a different theory why. Learn more → Market Validation You built it. Now you need to know if the market is actually there. Learn more → Research Lead You need senior research on the work, not on the org chart. Learn more →
See all services → Twenty-five years of teams who’d work with me again.
“I've worked with plenty of researchers over the years. I've learned it's something that's easy for people to do... poorly. It's incredibly hard to do it well, and no one exhibits mastery of the domain as much as Matt does. He's truly at the top of his craft and it shows up in the outcomes.”
Jon Ellsworth
Sr. Dir. Technology, NAPA
“Matt is great to work with. He is a good listener, quick study and valued partner. He was able to quickly get up to speed on the customer problem and work with us to develop the right approach and questions. He does a great job making customers feel comfortable during user testing. And I was most grateful that when under a tight deadline, he was able to synthesize the customer feedback in a short period of time so we could immediately act on the results.”
Michelle Quiles
Product Manager, Mailchimp
“Matt took the time to really review and understand the designs and ask lots of questions in advance of the interviews to be sure he understood everything correctly. He is very thorough, detail-oriented, flexible, and easy to work with. I would be happy to work with Matt again any time.”
Cheryl Buersmeyer
Project Manager, User Insight
“During testing, Matt was amazing at working with the users. His questions elicited thought out responses, his patience in working with the users and the tools was saint-like. All in all, I couldn't ask for a better research partner.”
Phillip Zannini
UX Director, Center for Creative Leadership
A few of the teams I've worked with
Market Validation for Startups
The most expensive thing you can build is the wrong product. This playbook walks through six steps for confirming, with real evidence, that a market exists and people would pay to solve the problem.
Download the free playbook