“Some people say, "Give the customers what they want." But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, "If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, 'A faster horse!'" People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.”
This flies pretty opposite to what the lessons the author got from their experience ("Keep your users in the loop, always. Do not go build in isolation.", "If you make assumptions about your users, they will find a way to surprise you.")
I kind of feel your view is a variation on "if you built it they will come", which is true in some cases, and will wield spectacular failures in ton of other cases.
It's a Steve Jobs Quote. Sorry should have put that there but it's so well known I guess I didn't think to. But I think it is a little of both. To much of the Jobs approach can lead you down errant paths, but if you never anticipate what the customer wants you could miss great opportunities.
I think what Steve Jobs calls "market research" is mostly customer panels, polls and actual straightforward "what do you want" questions to users.
Apple did extensive research when designing their products, just not the naive/lazy kind that would be offered if they went to an established marketing firm.
This bias was also what bit them when they designed the trashcan MacPro, or the following coming to term with needing a Mac Pro at all.
