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.
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
"Fair is a choice, and we have better ones to make if we bring them into focus to build a better future."
Brendan JarvisIt was the Best of Times. It was the Worst of Times.
September 25, 2024
"We are still designers, we’re systems designers, we’re organizational designers, even if we’re not making things."
Louis Rosenfeld Jose Coronado Rachel Posman Guneet Singh Crystal YanThe Bigger Picture: A Panel Discussion
October 23, 2019
"Am I the right person to conduct this type of research for this culture? That’s a question most companies don’t have researchers asking."
Sharon Banh Dave Hora Marieke McCloskey Alicia ZhongReimagining research: What does the field need to grow? [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
October 16, 2024
"At Fable, our platform lets you do generative and exploratory research with real assistive tech users remotely."
Sam ProulxUnderstanding Screen Readers on Mobile: How And Why to Learn from Native Users
October 2, 2023
"Reduce, reuse and recycle wherever you can to multiply your impact as a solo design ops person."
Jackie AjouxLeveling-Up: A Single-Player’s Guide to the DesignOps Team-of-One
January 8, 2024
"Over perfection is less effective than showing progress and building rapport with stakeholders."
Carol MassaDesigning Health: Integrating Service Design, Technology, and Strategy to Transform Patient and Clinician Experiences
December 3, 2024
"Good parenting involves guiding, allowing exploration, making mistakes — we can think of nurturing AI similarly."
Changying (Z) ZhengNavigating Innovation with Integrity
September 25, 2024
"Rapid research is going quickly; you get a lot of information fast, but the analysis isn’t as deep as other methods."
Feleesha SterlingBuilding a Rapid Research Program
May 18, 2023
"The customer’s mental model is a bit different than your mental model and also different than the actual product."
Marc Majers Tony TurnerInterrupted UX - Add A Dose of Reality To Usability Testing
March 11, 2022