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A product dies from the research sessions that never happen.

I founded 80 Watts to help product teams understand their customers before they build the wrong thing. Based in Atlanta. Available everywhere.

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Illustration of a lightbulb surrounded by research tools including a laptop, magnifying glass, phone, sticky notes, and pencil, representing UX research

Most product teams are making 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 Matt Wallens has been solving for 25 years.

Who I work with

Product teams, agencies, and early-stage founders who need senior research without adding headcount.

Matt Wallens conducting a user research interview

Ways I can help

  • Discovery Research
  • Research Lead
  • Sprint Advisory
  • Market Validation

What clients say

"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

  • Mailchimp
  • NAPA
  • HP
  • Cox
  • Center for Creative Leadership
  • Mayo Clinic
  • KontrolFreek
  • Dropbox
  • TOTO
  • IGT
  • Passport
  • ConstructConnect
  • Lowe's
  • SafraPay
  • Roadie
  • Amplify
  • Goddard
  • Glory

Free Resource

Market Validation for Startups

The most expensive thing you can build is the wrong product. This playbook walks you through six steps for confirming, with real evidence, that a market exists and that people would pay to have the problem solved.

Download the free playbook

What's inside

  • How to map your riskiest assumptions first
  • How to define a segment specific enough to be useful
  • How to design interviews that surface real behavior
  • How to synthesize findings without losing signal
  • The patterns that trip up even experienced teams

Let's talk about your project

Let's talk