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.
This video is featured in the Rosenfeld Authors Answer your Questions playlist.
Summary
Leah Buley and Joe Natoli, co-authors of The User Experience Team of One (2nd Edition): A Research and Design Survival Guide, gather for a special Ask Me Anything (AMA). This interactive session dives headfirst into the insights and updated methods presented in their latest book, which serves as a vital resource for both newcomers and seasoned professionals in user experience and product design. Attendees got the chance to ask questions about the book's practical advice, the real-world situations it applies to, and the evolving landscape of UX work—and learn what's changed since the first edition.
Key Insights
-
•
Leah Buley’s book ‘UX Team of One’ originated from her needing to do stealth UX work in organizations with zero UX awareness.
-
•
Joe Natoli updated the second edition to address the realities of faster-paced, agile-driven product development environments.
-
•
UX practitioners today are often vastly outnumbered by developers and must be adaptable and pragmatic rather than process-heavy.
-
•
Direct contact with real users is the single most effective way to break team deadlocks and validate UX decisions.
-
•
Avoiding jargon and speaking in terms relevant to business KPIs and stakeholder pain points improves UX communication and buy-in.
-
•
Traditional deliverables like journey maps and personas often gather dust; collaborative, lightweight artifacts create more immediate impact.
-
•
UX value is best demonstrated visibly through active collaboration that stakeholders witness, showing rapid problem-solving.
-
•
Burnout is common; setting clear boundaries and detaching emotionally from whether recommendations are implemented is crucial.
-
•
Community support is essential for solo UX practitioners to combat isolation and stay professionally nourished.
-
•
The role of a ‘design engineer’—engineers skilled in visual quality assurance and UX thinking—can bridge design and development gaps but is increasingly rare.
Notable Quotes
"The silver bullet for all things UX is talking to real customers."
"Jargon is a barrier; I don’t even use the word UX with clients if I can help it."
"When in doubt, make pictures — drawing shifts conversations into something concrete and anchored."
"Artifacts like journey maps and personas often disappear into a void where no one looks at them again."
"Nobody reads extensive research reports; VPs just want to know what it means for their risk and decisions."
"You cannot be emotionally attached to whether your UX suggestions get implemented."
"There are allies everywhere, even in unexpected places inside your organization."
"We’re not curing brain cancer here; sometimes perfect just has to be good enough."
"If a client isn’t in the room when UX work happens, they don’t see the value and don’t understand it."
"You have to have two bags packed at all times; you never know when the train’s leaving or where it’s going."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Good design is good business."
Doug PowellClosing Keynote: Design at Scale
November 8, 2018
"Middle schoolers might ask you tough questions about release forms and how their data will be used."
Mila Kuznetsova Lucy DentonHow Lessons Learned from Our Youngest Users Can Help Us Evolve our Practices
March 9, 2022
"Every parent we talked to had some variation of the question: this exists, can I use it right now? Where was this when I needed to apply?"
Sarah GallimoreInspire Progress with Artifacts from the Future
November 18, 2022
"Simply asking stakeholders what success looks like for them in a project is a powerful way to start meaningful conversations."
Lada Gorlenko Sharbani Dhar Sébastien Malo Rob Mitzel Ivana Ng Michal Anne RogondinoTheme 1: Discussion
January 8, 2024
"It is our job to lead and transform with empathy and heart because there’s fear in everyone."
Alnie FigueroaThe Future of Design Operations: Transforming Our Craft
September 10, 2025
"Driver modeling tells you which research initiatives matter most based on their impact on key outcome metrics."
Landon BarnesAre My Research Findings Actually Meaningful?
March 10, 2022
"Every workaround is a mini story of somebody overcoming an obstacle."
Emily EagleCan't Rewind: Radio and Retail
June 3, 2019
"Legacy applications linger because changing them is risk-ridden and a major undertaking."
Malini RaoLessons Learned from a 4-year Product Re-platforming Journey
June 9, 2021
"Designers are often seen as bottlenecks because our work is harder to estimate and track than engineering’s."
Asia HoePartnering with Product: A Journey from Junior to Senior Design
November 29, 2023