Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
A Genuine Conversation about the Future of UX Research
Summary
If you’ve followed LinkedIn of late, it’s clear that UX researchers are frustrated. They feel their work is undervalued, their strategic contributions are marginalized, and their jobs have been made redundant. Multiple fingers have been pointed in multiple directions, and—as you’d expect from social media—the discussion has often ended up in a decidedly sour place. In light of The big design freakout and the UX research reckoning, there is an important conversation to be had about the changing roles of research, design, and product, and where we go from here. In light of this, Rosenfeld’s Advancing Research community is hosting a panel of respected, collaborative, and opinionated experts from the disciplines/functions at the core of this changing dynamic: Jamika Burge, Teresa Torres, Robert Fabricant, Noam Segal, and Peter Merholz—to stop litigating the past, and engage in a positive, constructive conversation about the future of UX research. Panelists: Jamika Burge, Robert Fabricant, Noam Segal, Teresa Torres Moderated by: Peter Merholz
Key Insights
-
•
Aligning user research outcomes with business goals is critical for demonstrating research value.
-
•
AI offers opportunities for continuous discovery but raises concerns over bias and ethical transparency.
-
•
Democratizing research involves enabling non-researchers to conduct basic studies, freeing skilled researchers for complex tasks.
-
•
A mature organizational environment is necessary to successfully democratize research without sacrificing quality.
-
•
Research quality can be evaluated using reliability and validity concepts adapted from academia.
-
•
Not all research activities require advanced skills; even product managers can be trained in targeted, simple research types.
-
•
Organizational change management is as important as research execution for advancing user-focused practices.
-
•
The UX research community debates moving past the term 'democratization' to focus on evolving roles amidst technological change.
-
•
Measuring UX research value is complex because impact permeates across teams and is less quantifiable than engineering outputs.
-
•
Despite evolving roles and tools, there will always be a need for specialized, skilled researchers for longitudinal and rigorous studies.
Notable Quotes
"How do we show the value of the work that enables us to really advocate for the humans whom we are serving?"
"Building for humans is a huge challenge because humans are multi-layered, weird, and wonderful irrational creatures."
"If we are truly going to create customer-centric organizations, every single person needs firsthand exposure to customers."
"Democratization has been happening for over 20 years and it’s only going to keep happening."
"User research itself is not a single function but many disciplines that require integrity and stewardship."
"We need to move past the point of who does what and into how our roles are changing with technology."
"We know what is not good research, but defining and communicating what good research looks like is more challenging."
"The ultimate measure of our research is its impact—did we build the right thing and did it have the expected effect?"
"Organizational change management requires as much care and effort as executing good research."
"There is always more work to be done than we will ever be able to do, so enabling others to participate is beneficial."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"The veterinary pathway is well established as a way to safely get clinical validation before human healthcare."
Eric ShumakeAn AMA on UX's Role in Healthcare
April 22, 2026
"The biggest security risk is human behavior, like plugging a USB stick into a copier, not nefarious hackers."
Greg PetroffEverything is About to Change: Software as Material
June 8, 2016
"Feedback is a lot like holding up a mirror. You're reflecting what's already working and like using a flashlight to hide in the corners."
Vanessa VarinFeedback: The Other F-Word
September 10, 2025
"We aim to keep the reporting simple for stakeholders while incorporating multiple data points in the background."
Alberto FerreiraMaking it Count: Developing a custom digital metric framework that works
October 15, 2021
"We tend to design for people just like us, which is limiting."
Samuel ProulxDesigning beyond caricatures: Embracing real, diverse user needs
December 4, 2024
"Once you have a testable prototype, you can validate and iterate quickly, which makes a broad early approach useful."
Andrea GallagherThe Problem Space
May 16, 2019
"Behavior begets behavior – by modeling sharing and documentation, others start adopting those habits."
Boon Yew ChewMaking Sense of Systems—and Using Systems to Make Sense of the Enterprise
June 6, 2023
"The IBM design language is about system unity instead of uniformity, so designers aren’t cookie cutters."
Adam CutlerPeople + Places + Practices = Outcomes
June 8, 2016
"If AI makes building trivial, the challenge shifts to figure out who’s best to decide what to make."
Erin MaloneUnderstanding the past to prepare for the future
July 19, 2024