Accessibility research for the metaverse has come a long way over the past few years, but it’s still a field full of possibility — and yet-to-be-answered questions. Here’s what we’ve learned from the toughest challenges we’ve faced so far. By Sheila Meldrum and Yao Ding Conducting accessibility research for the metaverse is an exciting new venture, but it’s one we’ve been working on since the launch of the first Meta Quest headset in 2019. In the past few years, we’ve learned that helping to make the metaverse a place for everyone is an undertaking just as complex and challenging as ..read more

UX research can be an unfamiliar discipline for researchers from social science backgrounds. Here’s how to start viewing problems through a people-and-products lens. Many tech companies hire UX researchers from traditional social science disciplines as well as those with UX-specific experience. In either case, UX research hinges on demonstrating “product sense” along with research ability. For researchers without previous UX experience, two questions naturally emerge: Um, what is product sense? How can I apply product sense in my research? Proving that you have an ability you’ve only j ..read more

Boost your strategic impact by building your research deliverable around a single provocative argument, not an assortment of findings. By Denise Deutschlander and Lise Marken As UX researchers, our job is to formulate strong research questions, apply rigorous and objective methodologies to answering them, and finally, to bring our findings back to our team as strategic partners in a product development process. Everyone seems to know that telling a powerful story is crucial to doing that last part of our jobs well. But what does it mean to tell an effective story? If we think about the g ..read more

The diverse metaphors that we use to describe our online data can reveal a lot about our beliefs and assumptions — and even point the way toward better products. Our online activities leave behind traces of data that we rarely see. Instead, we rely on metaphors to make sense of our data. Like footprints along a forest path, we can follow our data metaphors to understand people’s attitudes about digital information, to uncover new product insights, and to tackle broader debates about the role of data in society. Metaphors are familiar ideas we use to explain less familiar ones. “The essen ..read more

How researchers can help ensure that DEI leads to product changes that truly serve people in marginalized communities. By Indira Phukan and Jason Sattizahn For many UX researchers, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion concepts fit naturally within their overall work improving peoples’ product experiences. But bringing those ideas to life — making sure they lead to meaningful product changes for the people they’re meant to serve — can be trickier. Researchers may not know where to start, or the best ways to approach DEI with their product teams. We hope our experience helps you dive into this impo ..read more

How We Bring Users Into Product Decisions Before We Even Start Designing By Leah Acosta, Caroline Kim and Ryan Finch Zero-to-one product teams — those that are creating brand new products — have dozens of ways to test product ideas. Well-tested approaches include A/B tests, interactive prototypes, and wireframes. We use all of those at Meta, but we were missing a way to quickly test a bunch of ideas (15+) before we even had prototypes. After several rounds of testing and iteration, we landed on a version of quantitative concept testing that has helped our teams integrate meaningful user ..read more

Quantitative diary methods can provide a rich, detailed look into people’s everyday product experiences over time. Here’s how to decide whether and when to use them. One of the most exciting parts of working as a UX researcher is investigating big, complex questions: Why do people use our products? What perceptions, emotions, and attitudes predict whether they’ll use a product day over day? How can we make people’s experiences better? Quantitative diary studies are one way to tackle questions like these. Here’s a look at when, why, and how a quantitative diary study can bring unique valu ..read more

Worried that your insights will expire soon after you report them, or that you might be missing early signals of emerging trends? Here are some simple ways to start future-proofing your research. By Jessie Shen Ever tried to anticipate how user behaviors might change in the future? Or wondered whether your research insights will still be relevant a year from now? I’m a foresight strategist, so it’s my job to think systematically about the future and anticipate change. But you don’t have to specialize in foresight to extend the shelf life of your research. A few simple tips can help resea ..read more

When I unexpectedly found myself without a manager, I knew I needed to really take charge of my own career growth. Here’s what I learned along the way. By Saswati Saha Mitra Change and ambiguity at work have become the norm in recent years, and my experience has been no exception. A few months after joining WhatsApp in February 2020, I learned that my manager would go on maternity leave. I didn’t think much about it at the time, not realizing that her departure would lead to my being without a direct manager for 18 months. My “managerless” journey hasn’t been easy, but it’s tau ..read more

Hypothetical dilemmas and other techniques can encourage participants to provide richer, truer responses on potentially sensitive topics. By Dan Busso and Laura Brown Many of the attitudes and behaviors we seek to understand as UX researchers are sensitive. The views and experiences we ask participants to share often touch upon weighty issues like race, class, sexuality, and health. In other instances, people may be invited to describe behaviors that are stigmatized, such as those that violate a platform’s policies. And some conversations may involve a power dynamic — discussions between ..read more