From UX Research to Entrepreneurship: Lessons from Launching a Coffee Business

When the Researcher Becomes the Founder

Promo image of a Decaf Before Death discovery box

As Head of UX Research at Oyster HR, a fully distributed company, my day-to-day revolves around uncovering user needs, identifying problems, and crafting recommendations to guide product teams. Recently, I stepped outside this role into an entirely new challenge: launching a side business, Decaf Before Death, a subscription service dedicated to exceptional decaf coffee. While this might seem unrelated to my professional world, the journey has been an intensive, hands-on learning experience that deeply complements my work in UX and product development.

Starting with Research: From Curiosity to Business

About six months ago, I conducted discovery research on decaf consumers and their preferences—initially out of curiosity—but the study revealed a clear gap in the market. People were interested in higher-quality decafs but found them difficult to source (link to the research, in case you're interested). This initial finding laid the foundation for what became Decaf Before Death.

The journey began as all good UX work does: with research. Using tools like Prolific, I explored attitudes toward decaf coffee, uncovered pain points, and tested initial concepts. This expanded into extensive secondary research in forums and spaces where decaf is discussed and consumed. I spent time in cafes, observed online conversations, and gathered insights through guerrilla-style testing—approaches familiar to any researcher working with constrained resources.

Adapting UX Research Skills for Business

The transition from UX researcher to entrepreneur revealed how our methodological training provides a framework for business development, even with the constraints of running this as a side project alongside a full-time job. Here's how I adapted UX research approaches with limited time and budget:

Working with research panels taught me how to build and maintain engaged participant groups – a skill that translated directly to creating an early-access mailing list of potential customers. I used Prolific strategically to test critical elements like branding concepts and subscription models, ensuring the offering resonated with target users before investing in full development.

My experience writing research recruitment emails (with help from AI tools) proved unexpectedly valuable for marketing communications. The principles of clear communication, setting expectations, and building rapport transferred directly to crafting launch announcements and customer communications.

Rather than traditional market research, I applied user research frameworks to understand competitors and similar businesses. This meant focusing not just on what they offered, but on how customers experienced their services – from subscription models to packaging. These insights shaped everything from pricing strategy to product positioning.

The Researcher's Challenge: Managing Bias and Objectivity

As researchers, we're trained to approach user insights with as much objectivity as possible, but when the product is your "baby," biases can creep in and are harder to control. Negative feedback hits harder, and balancing passion with objectivity becomes a nuanced challenge. Cognitive biases, such as confirmation bias, can influence decision-making. Recognising these biases early helped me create structured feedback loops to ground decisions in data, not assumptions (even though I'm not always succeeding).

UX research habits shaped how I approached business decisions. I created style and branding guides early – not just for consistency, but to document decisions and assumptions in a way that would make future iterations easier. This systematic approach to documentation, familiar from research practice and working with UX teams, helped maintain focus despite limited time.

From Insights to Action: The Executive Mindset

One of the most striking differences between running a business and working in UX is the shift from advising to executing. As researchers, we're accustomed to delivering insights and recommendations, trusting others to make decisions. In this venture, every decision was mine to make, from pricing strategies to product positioning.

This decision-making role offered new challenges:

• Balancing vision and practicality: I had to weigh my idealised vision for the business against logistical constraints like shipping costs, sourcing challenges, and research findings

• Dealing with uncertainty: Unlike in UX research, where findings often guide decisions, entrepreneurship often demands action in the face of ambiguity. You can't collect data for every single decision. Sometimes, you have to rely on your intuition, even for seemingly big decisions—something challenging for a UX professional

• Revisiting decisions post-implementation: The iterative mindset of UX was invaluable here. For example, after launching an early prototype of the subscription service, I adapted the offering based on user feedback, just as we would refine a product feature after usability testing

Beyond the Research Bubble: New Perspectives

Even though I've worked closely with sales, marketing, and other teams in my professional life, stepping into their shoes was an entirely different experience. Running a business forced me to confront the tension between what's best for the user and what's necessary for the business.

This clash highlighted:

• The emotional labour behind persuasion: Crafting a compelling narrative for an audience is not just about clear communication but also about understanding and connecting with emotional motivators

• Constraints are real: As researchers, it's easy to overlook the operational and budgetary constraints that teams face. Grappling with these limitations firsthand has made me more empathetic toward cross-functional colleagues

When feedback challenges something you've poured your heart into, it's easy to get defensive or overly attached to initial ideas. I've had to consciously practise detachment and remind myself that critiques are about the product, not a reflection of personal failure.

Lessons and Growth

Over the past few months, this side project has been an intensive learning experience. It's pushed me to:

• Tackle unfamiliar concepts: From logistics to pricing models, I've had to learn fast and adapt even faster

• Apply UX principles in new ways: Treating business strategy like a product design process—user-centred, iterative, and feedback-driven—has been invaluable

• Build resilience: Accepting that not every decision will land perfectly and that iteration is part of the process has strengthened my ability to lead and adapt

In product development, we often talk about fostering a "culture of feedback." This experience reinforced just how crucial (and difficult) it is to embody that culture when the stakes feel personal. It's a practice I'm carrying back into my UX leadership roles.

What's Next?

This journey has not only expanded my skills but also deepened my understanding of the broader product lifecycle. It's been a reminder that UX doesn't exist in isolation; it's part of a much larger ecosystem of decisions, constraints, and collaborations.

For UX professionals and product developers considering side projects, I'd highly recommend it. The insights and empathy you gain from stepping outside your comfort zone and owning end-to-end outcomes are invaluable.

If you've had similar experiences or insights from stepping into new roles, I'd love to hear your thoughts!