Rosenverse
A Genuine Conversation about the Future of UX Research

Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.

Log in Create free account

100s 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

Wednesday, March 20, 2024 • Advancing Research Community
Share the love for this talk
A Genuine Conversation about the Future of UX Research
Speakers: Robert Fabricant , Peter Merholz , Noam Segal and Teresa Torres
Link:

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."

Ask the Rosenbot
Dr. Jamika Burge
Embracing change: Navigating shifting landscapes with compassion and agency
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Saara Kamppari-Miller
DesignOps for Inclusive Design and Accessibility
2022 • DesignOps Community
Alicia D. Johnson
Disasters and the 21st Century
2021 • Civic Design 2021
Gold
Louis Rosenfeld
Discussion: What Operations can teach DesignOps
2017 • DesignOps Summit 2017
Gold
Peter Merholz
The Trials and Tribulations of Directors of UX
2023 • Enterprise Community
JJ Kercher
A Roadmap for Maturing Design in the Enterprise
2018 • Enterprise Experience 2018
Gold
Sam Ladner
How Research Can Drive Strategic Foresight
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Kristin Taylor
Building Bridges Across Organizational Silos
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Kit Unger
Theme 3 Intro
2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Gold
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks
2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023
Gold
Mark Interrante
AI for Prioritization (3rd of 3 seminars)
2024 • Rosenfeld Community
Leah Buley
Closing Plenary: The Crisis of Digital
2020 • Advancing Research 2020
Gold
Clara Kliman-Silver
UX Futures: The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Design
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Smitha Papolu
Theme 3 Discussion
2019 • Enterprise Experience 2019
Gold
Kevin Bethune
Gatekeepers and Servant Leadership
2020 • DesignOps Community
Frances Yllana
DesignOps Exposed: What do our peers really think of us?
2025 • DesignOps Summit 2025
Gold

More Videos

John Calhoun

"Be human first when creating new roles; treat them with the same care as hiring new team members."

John Calhoun Rachel Posman

Two Sides of the DesignOps Coin: Teams Ops and Product Ops

January 8, 2024

Liza Pemstein

"The biggest struggle was recruiting and scheduling participants, so we started a shared Google sheet."

Liza Pemstein Jane Davis

Scaling Research Via an Ops First Model at Clever

March 27, 2023

Lena Shenkarenko

"We must create spaces that allow nature to thrive within our cities."

Lena Shenkarenko

Collaborative Wireframing for Creating Team Alignment and Shipping Better Products

October 21, 2020

Steve Portigal

"The pandemic is a message from the universe to pause and rethink who we hire and how we train."

Steve Portigal Alba Villamil Sam Ladner

The Future of Research: Bridging the Gaps

July 29, 2021

Maish Nichani

"We need to find the narrative, not just use a narrative; sometimes it’s hidden and must be dug out."

Maish Nichani

Sparking a Service Excellence Mindset at a Government Agency

December 9, 2021

Joe Elmendorf

"Talking is linear, but systems are non-linear. Visual maps show those relationships that words can’t."

Joe Elmendorf

Shitty Maps: A Trojan Horse for Sensemaking

July 9, 2026

Mackenzie Guinon

"Tell people the ingredients and instructions—clarify what we’re looking for and support them to do their best."

Mackenzie Guinon

M.C. Escher’s UX Research Career Ladder

March 9, 2022

Deanna Washington

"Designers have the power to convene people around an idea and set the agenda."

Deanna Washington Tim Allen Jeff Courcelle John Maeda Matt Raw Erica Tjader

Scaling Success: Paving the Path from DesignOps to VP

October 4, 2023

Dorelle Rabinowitz

"Just because they have a different opinion doesn’t mean they’re bad people."

Dorelle Rabinowitz

The Magic Word is Trust

June 15, 2018