Most consumer research focuses on learning about what people do, and most innovation projects focus on developing new technologies into things people will buy. Notice the disconnect?
Too little research is focused on how people make decisions, and too few innovation projects focus on developing something that fits better with people's decision processes.
Learning to do this type of research is difficult. Learning to connect this research to the development process is even more difficult – and rare. No one would argue that it is important to learn about how consumers make decisions, nor would they argue with the importance of connecting this knowledge to the development process is important. In fact, many would say they are already doing it.
I have not seen a product or service fail when this is done well, and yet according to Stevens and Burley, at least 1 of 3 products fail at launch despite research and planning. Clearly, we can see that doing these activities does not mean we are succeeding at connecting them.