image from Etsy RottenRayArt   As a small business owner with a very successful newsletter, I receive numerous unsolicited requests, multiple times a week. These solicitations, via email and LinkedIn, have evolved significantly over time. Initially, they focused primarily on offering free or paid newsletter/blog content, requests to use backlinks in my content, and SEO optimization. I'm now inundated with offers about creating Wikipedia pages "I deserve" and publishing books "guaranteed to be a best seller." The trend evolution in these solicitations is interesting—and equally ann ..read more

  image from freepik   I often think about pivotal moments that shaped my career as a user researcher and entrepreneur. A particularly memorable experience occurred during my time at Zillow. It was a conversation that radically changed my understanding of my role in research reporting. I discovered that my practice of including recommendations in reports—something I never, ever thought twice about—was not as common as I had assumed. This realization was a complete wake-up call! Coming into research from design, going beyond beyond basic data collection was second nature to me ..read more

Last week I ran five remote, one-hour sessions for a study we had just begun. While P1 was verbose (and a little angst), all five provided excellent, meaningful feedback and were on time! My stakeholders were involved, accessible, and responsive, they helped rightsize the question set, took notes, and pitched in when we had a technical issue with the prototype. The participants were engaged, focused, and overall (mostly) delightful. We’re seeing strong patterns and deviations in patterns. Sessions will continue this week. The team and I are learning a lot and accomplishing our study goals. Th ..read more

In the legal world, emails can be used in discovery and as evidence. When will mining AI platform data to gather insights into participants' mental models become mainstream? How are AI inputs similar or different from email in discovery? I'm not asking about how to leverage AI to conduct research or to improve AI models. I am asking about mining people’s entries/results to understand their concerns, behaviors, and emotional responses regarding their AI use (e.g. retirement planning, proposal writing, health queries, food prep tips, drafting emails, navigating parenting challenges, etc.). In s ..read more

What is research theater? How is it identified? Why should I care? What can I do if I suspect it? Research theater refers to situations where organizations claim to be conducting research but are actually just going through the motions without the necessary expertise, rigor, or fidelity. In sum, the appearance of research is prioritized over the substance.   Original image from Freepik   It’s important to be able to identify the signs when research lacks credibility and may be more for show than for genuine inquiry or improvement. Image from Freepik Here are some red flags to watch ..read more

    I just had a terrific conversation with a UXR colleague navigating a recent layoff. She worked in the role for nearly six years. Having worked alongside her for nearly two of those six years I can personally vouch for her incredible talent, awesomeness, and dedication. Now, she's contemplating a significant career pivot, possibly leaving corporate America to either launch her own business or explore civic tech. This discussion evolved into entrepreneurship among applied researchers. I’ve often wondered (and have asked many of you!) why entrepreneurship isn't more common in our ..read more

Looking for ways to articulate and demonstrate user research strategic value? Here are 28 different approaches. It’s paramount to emphasize how the work directly contributes to the org’s success during the initial intake process and to reinforce these outcomes in both the share-outs and archives. Contributes to Strategic Goals​ Align with Business Objectives: Clearly link UXR activities to the org’s overarching business goals and objectives. Guide Product Roadmaps: Use insights to inform and prioritize the product roadmap. Inform Marketing Strategies: Leverage UXR to refine marketing eff ..read more

Yesterday I joined a riveting panel discussion by Rosenfield Media titled “A Genuine Conversation about the Future of UX Research,” with an audience of 400 + researchers and industry leaders. A key question was: “What is quality research?” This hit close to my heart, as I often think in terms of tools and templates for teaching UXR and elevating our industry’s appreciation and value for it. Original image from Freepik Quality user research serves as the backbone of product strategy and business and design decision making. It’s a systematic exploration aimed at uncovering needs, behaviors, an ..read more

Here are 28 ideas for UXR teams to articulate and demonstrate its strategic value. It's paramount to emphasize how the work directly contributes to the org's success during the initial intake process and to reinforce these outcomes in both the share-outs and archives. Contributes to Strategic Goals Align with Business Objectives: Clearly link UXR activities to the org’s overarching business goals and objectives. Guide Product Roadmaps: Use insights to inform and prioritize the product roadmap. Inform Marketing Strategies: Leverage UXR to refine marketing efforts. Support Expansion: Us ..read more

    Despite what many might think, getting to the heart of user experiences isn’t easy. It’s a cerebral adventure that requires preparation, innovative methods, artful interviewing skills, sharp analysis, and empathy. This two-part workshop will show you the massive difference between customer and sales calls versus proper user research, teach you about the primary tools and processes trained professional researchers employ, and why. We’ll also discuss what goes into effective research plans, why plans are critical, the key to crafting research questions that unearth meaningful ins ..read more