In Focus, But Missing the Point

What sports photography taught me about asking better questions, challenging assumptions, and understanding consumers

I have recently taken up sports photography. What started as a need on my son's baseball team has turned into a creative outlet but also a skill-building exercise. It was during one of my first few games that I had an unexpected realization about consumer research.

I was trying to photograph the action through protective netting. I could see the players, the ball, and the game unfolding right in front of me. I came home excited, thinking I had captured some beautiful moments, only to discover when I uploaded the pictures to my computer that I had missed the whole point! The netting was everywhere, obscuring the very action I was trying to capture. The players were there, the game was happening, but somehow the netting had stolen the show!

And that got me thinking...

How often do we do exactly the same thing when trying to understand consumers?

We have sophisticated research tools, advanced analytics, proven methodologies, and more consumer data than ever before. Yet sometimes, despite all that information, we still struggle to understand why consumers behave the way they do.

Perhaps the issue isn't always the quality of our tools or the amount of data we collect.

Perhaps we're simply focused on the wrong thing.

It Starts with Knowing What You're Trying to Capture

One of the first things I'm learning about photography is that a great picture starts well before you press the shutter. Am I trying to capture the athlete's expression? The moment the bat makes contact with the ball? The anticipation before a pitch? Each tells a different story and requires a different approach. Consumer research is remarkably similar.

We often begin with seemingly straightforward business questions:

"Why aren't consumers buying our product?"

"Which formulation do they prefer?"

"Why are our satisfaction scores declining?"

But are these the questions we really need to answer?

Take declining repeat purchases. We might immediately commission a satisfaction study. But what if consumers are satisfied and simply no longer have the same need? What if a competitor fits more conveniently into their routine? Our research could be methodologically sound, yet completely miss the underlying problem.

A perfectly executed study cannot compensate for a poorly framed question.

Just as in photography, we first need to decide what deserves our focus.

Choosing the Right Lens

Photography has also taught me that the lens matters. A telephoto lens brings distant action closer. A wide-angle lens captures the broader environment. Neither is inherently better; it depends on what you're trying to capture. The same applies to consumer research. Surveys help quantify perceptions and behaviors. Qualitative interviews uncover motivations and emotions. Ethnography reveals what people actually do, including behaviors they may struggle to articulate. Sensory research explores product perceptions and preferences, while usability testing identifies friction in interactions. Each methodology offers a different perspective.

Yet organizations sometimes default to familiar approaches. Surveys because that's what we've always done. Focus groups because they feel exploratory. Analytics because the data is available. Increasingly, AI because it promises faster answers. But sophistication and speed mean little if we're using the wrong approach.

The best research method isn't the one we know best. It's the one that helps us answer the right question.

And sometimes, understanding the complete picture requires more than one lens.

The Netting: What Bias Looks Like

Back to that protective netting. It wasn't the subject of my photograph, but it was right there between the camera and the action. Unless I adjusted my position and framing, it would continue to obstruct what I wanted to capture. I find this a compelling analogy for bias in consumer research. We all bring assumptions shaped by experience, expertise, organizational priorities, and expectations. Sometimes these assumptions are obvious. Other times, they're so embedded in our thinking that we don't recognize them.

Consider the difference between asking:

"How much did you enjoy the improved flavor?"

And:

"How would you describe the flavor of this product?"

One assumes improvement and enjoyment. The other invites an unbiased response. Similarly, a company convinced consumers want more features might ask which additional features they prefer, without considering whether complexity is precisely what frustrates them. We can unintentionally design research to validate what we already believe.

Eliminating bias entirely may be unrealistic, but recognizing and minimizing it is essential. Challenging hypotheses, asking neutral questions, considering alternative explanations, and seeking contradictory evidence all help. Most importantly, we must remain open to discovering that our assumptions were wrong.

Sometimes the most important adjustment isn't changing the lens. It's recognizing what's obstructing our view.

Framing Matters: Context Changes the Story

In sports photography, a close-up of an athlete might capture intensity. But a wider shot showing the scoreboard, teammates, and crowd can explain why that moment matters. Both tell a story, but context changes its meaning. The same is true for consumers. Consider a cup of coffee. It might provide energy during a rushed morning, offer indulgence on a quiet afternoon, or be part of a social ritual. The product is the same, but the occasion, motivations, and expectations shape the experience. A consumer might prefer one formulation in a controlled test but purchase another because of convenience, familiarity, price, or the occasion in which it's consumed.

Likewise, a digital experience that works beautifully in a usability test may become frustrating when someone is distracted or under pressure. Controlled research is valuable for isolating variables, but real life rarely happens under controlled conditions.

Understanding how a product performs isn't necessarily the same as understanding the role it plays in someone's life.

Sometimes we need to zoom in. Other times, we need to step back and see the bigger picture.

Capturing the Moment: The Power of Observation

Perhaps what excites me most about sports photography is capturing a moment that cannot be recreated. The swing of a bat. A split-second reaction. An unexpected play. You can anticipate the action and prepare your settings, but you also need to remain alert to what's happening. Consumer research has similar moments. A participant hesitates before answering. Someone struggles with packaging but never mentions it as a problem. A consumer uses a product in an unexpected way. These small observations can reveal more than answers to carefully structured questions. This is why curiosity and observation matter as much as methodological rigor.

A good researcher follows the research plan. A great researcher also recognizes when something unexpected deserves exploration. Of course, not every observation is a meaningful insight. It needs to be examined, challenged, and validated. But some of the most valuable discoveries begin with noticing something we weren't looking for.

From Capturing to Understanding

A photograph captures a fraction of a second. Understanding why that moment matters requires interpretation. Research is no different. A statistically significant result doesn't automatically tell us what to do. A high product liking score doesn't guarantee commercial success. Thousands of consumer comments don't necessarily translate into meaningful insights.

We still need to ask:

What does this tell us about consumers?

Does it challenge what we believed?

What decisions should we make differently?

This is where the art and science of consumer understanding come together. Science gives us rigor and methods to test our thinking. The art lies in curiosity, observation, judgment, and connecting seemingly unrelated information to understand people more completely.

Both are essential.

The Bigger Picture

As I continue exploring photography, I'm realizing that taking a great picture isn't simply about having the right camera or mastering its settings. It's about knowing what you're trying to capture, choosing the right perspective, understanding the environment, and recognizing the unexpected. Isn't that fundamentally what good consumer research is about? We spend considerable time discussing methodologies, sample sizes, statistical techniques, dashboards, and increasingly, AI. All of these matter. But perhaps before deploying the tools, we should ask ourselves:

Are we solving the right problem?

Are we asking the right questions?

What assumptions might be influencing our perspective?

Have we considered the context in which consumers actually experience the product?

And are we open to discovering something that challenges what we thought we knew?

Ultimately, consumer research isn't simply about generating more data. It's about developing a clearer understanding of people and using that understanding to create products and experiences that genuinely improve their lives.

My biggest takeaway from photography so far?

You can have the right camera, the right lens, and all the technical settings perfectly dialed in.

But if the netting is obscuring your view, you might still miss the game.

And sometimes, understanding consumers requires exactly the same realization.

At The Consumory, we believe meaningful innovation begins with curiosity, asking better questions, and connecting consumer understanding with product science and commercial strategy. Connect with us at theconsumory.com as we explore ideas and perspectives that challenge how we understand people and create products that matter.

I'd love to hear from fellow researchers, innovators, and product leaders: Have you ever discovered that changing the question—not the methodology—completely changed what you learned?