134 episodes. That’s how long Awkward Silences has been going with Erin and JH as hosts. But now it’s time for something new. JH says goodbye to Awkward Silences as he kicks off a new chapter in his career. Today, he and Erin reflect on the years. They share a bit of the original background to the podcast, their favorite memories, and even some behind-the-scenes aspects and outtakes that may surprise you. Tune into this episode to learn all about Awkward Silences and bid a fond farewell to JH 👇...
Aug 23, 2023•23 min•Ep. 134
As a researcher, you know the value of using research to drive business decisions—but other stakeholders might not. In order to drive action from research, you need to create alignment with key decision-makers and the research you do. Pejman Mirza-Babaei joins the Awkward Silences podcast to discuss how to transform research insights into actionable design decisions by collaborating with stakeholders. With over fifteen years of experience doing UXR and interaction design on various applications,...
Aug 16, 2023•48 min•Ep. 133
Competition can be scary. But in UX, competitive research is insightful. You don’t want to chase your competitors, but you need to know what they are doing to know how you can improve. Rachel Miles joins the Awkward Silences podcast to discuss the value of competitive research in UX and design. As the UX research lead at IBM, Rachel integrated competitive research at IBM to measure their products’ performance and to align their existing internal measures with external measures. She shares insigh...
Aug 02, 2023•42 min•Ep. 132
In design and UX research, context is king. Your work doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it’s a part of a wider ecosystem of stakeholders, beneficiaries, and more. Sheryl Cababa , Chief Strategy Officer at Substantial, recognized a clear gap in design methods that only addressed the individual user and the immediate product benefits: designing beyond the product with a systems thinking approach. As the author of Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers , Sheryl says, “My goal is not to suddenly ...
Jul 19, 2023•48 min•Ep. 131
There are 6 key qualities for great facilitation: Starting with your core beliefs Maintaining neutrality Standing in the storm Honoring the wisdom of the group Upholding the agile mindset Honoring the group’s agenda According to Marsha Acker, Founder, and CEO of TeamCatapult, “The job of facilitator is not to become the agile process police that says we have to have a daily standup and every day we have to answer these three questions…Facilitation is all about reading what's happening in a group...
Jul 05, 2023•52 min•Ep. 130
How can UX researchers enable other teams to do research? Show, don’t tell. According to Helen Devine , UX Research Manager at The Economist, upskilling product people to do research means letting them observe, sit in, and be present during each stage of a research project—not just being told what to do. Helen went from doing scrappy research with 0 researchers to supporting 50 product people at The Economist to conduct great research with the help of 2 other UX researchers. Tune into this episo...
Jun 21, 2023•44 min•Ep. 129
What does good “scrappy” user research look like? According to Varun Murugesan , Co-founder of Apple and Banana , “You could throw anything at Jason Bourne and he would solve it... Would it be effective? [Yes—and] that's what I think about. I don't need all the fanciest tools or software.” Being good at scrappy user research is like being the Jason Bourne of research: being effective with what you have, even if you’re shot down by a tight research budget or limited in bandwidth. Varun joins Erin...
Jun 07, 2023•40 min•Ep. 128
“There’s a certain amount of forgetting that we need to do in order to learn something new.” – Kevin Kelly, Founding Editor of Wired magazine Whether you are designing a research project, prototyping a product, or carving out your career path, unlearning plays an important role in learning new things. But how do we embrace them in a practical way that leads to viable success? For Kevin Kelly , Publisher and Founding Editor of Wired, leaning on failure is a crucial aspect of the creative writing ...
May 24, 2023•45 min•Ep. 127
AI has recently become hugely popular with the likes of ChatGPT becoming a staple in day to day life, and it looks like it is here to stay. Could it replace the job of a researcher completely? Mike Adams , CEO and Founder of Grain doesn’t think so. Join the conversation as they discuss the potential perks and limitations of utilizing AI in research and product development, tips for getting started in the world of AI, and an insight into the current shift in the roadmap for research products. In ...
May 10, 2023•40 min•Ep. 126
Sylvana Rochet, Founder and Principal Coach at Elan Vital Coaching, visits the show to discuss what UX business coaching entails and how to maximize your professional growth opportunities with business coaching. Sylvana shares her past experiences coaching in the world of UX so you can learn what to expect from business coaching, how coaching works, and what the path of building a coaching career looks like. In this episode, we discuss: What does coaching entail? The individual benefits of coach...
Apr 26, 2023•43 min•Ep. 125
A solid UX research strategy serves as the compass that guides research ops and helps ensure repeatable success. But how do you envision, create, and execute a strategy that helps you achieve your goals in the most effective way possible? In this episode of Awkward Silences, Devin Harold, Director of Research at Capital One, unpacks how to craft and refine a winning UXR strategy, including tips to help you make team playbooks, win stakeholder buy-in, and inform your strategy with maturity models...
Apr 19, 2023•56 min•Ep. 124
Maintaining a huge insights repository can be overwhelming. It’s even more difficult to extract the right insights from research findings. Atomic research is an approach developed concurrently by Tomer Sharon and Daniel Pidcock to manage and break down research knowledge to their smallest modular form. This week on Awkward Silences, Daniel Pidcock, the co-creator of atomic UX research and founder of Glean.ly, joins Erin and JH to explain this new approach to research knowledge management. Additi...
Apr 12, 2023•44 min•Ep. 123
What are the best UX career options? How do you vet a potential employer to ensure it’s the right fit? Should you join a smaller firm that offers plenty of autonomy and flexibility, or does it make more sense to work for a larger company with a ton of resources? Erin, JH, and Marieke McClosky , Director of UX Research at LinkedIn, address these questions, examining UX research as a career and a practice as they discuss Marieke’s journey as a UX researcher. In this episode, we discuss: Navigating...
Mar 29, 2023•43 min•Ep. 122
YouX 2023 is a wrap! No big deal, just us and 3500 other UX-obsessed friends. The half-day virtual event featured breakout sessions and presentations conducted by some of the brightest minds in UX, who covered a number of topics from personal wellness and professional growth to work-life balance and community. We’d like to thank everyone who attended the event, especially our guest speakers, panelists, and moderators. It was a truly extraordinary YouXperience for everyone. Head over to our blog ...
Mar 22, 2023•35 min•Ep. 121
Whether you are a team of one or one hundred, cultivating a healthy research culture starts with strong leadership. Strong leadership encourages UXR teams to promote better research practices across teams and manage healthy conflict. But what does a healthy company culture look like IRL? And how do you promote best practices throughout the organization to help scale your research? Mike Oren , Head of Design Research at Klaviyo , has built and scaled several thriving research teams from scratch t...
Mar 15, 2023•41 min•Ep. 120
In this episode of Awkward Silences, Erin May and John-Henry Forster are joined by Holly Hester-Reilly , CEO and Founder of H2R Product Science . They delve into how research can go wrong, how bad research processes can give research a bad reputation, and how the methodology and timeline of your research can complement each other. Holly also outlines the best way to determine the right research method for your product. Tune in for an engaging conversation on research best practices with industry...
Mar 08, 2023•54 min•Ep. 119
According to Derek Osgood, it takes a "great product and product marketing collaboration" to get people to adopt products. But with such a small window of opportunity and many moving parts, it's easy to get it wrong. So how do massively successful brands execute a winning product launch? Join Erin and JH as they welcome guest Derek Osgood, CEO of Ignition, to examine the key components of a product launch. Derek shares his perspective on branding at scale as he outlines critical aspects to consi...
Mar 01, 2023•47 min•Ep. 118
Erin May, John Henry Forster, and Carlos Tellez , Growth Research Manager at Nubank , get to the bottom of growth research. This episode is focused on two of Erin's favorite things – optimization and research. They discuss how research informs growth teams as Carlos describes the moving parts involved in the research process. Listen to hear what Carlos loves the most about his job, the scope of growth research, research design methods, tools, and tactics. In this episode, we discuss: The value a...
Feb 15, 2023•41 min•Ep. 117
UX is exploding! It's tremendously exciting. But much of the technology pushing the state-of-the-art has been around for over a decade. What are the key driving factors behind the rapid rise of new tools like Figma? What does this mean for the future of collaboration? How will this affect research practices? Alfonso de la Nuez , Co-Founder, CVO & BoD Member at UserZoom, and Dana Bishop , VP, Strategic Research Partners at UserZoom , drop by to discuss the evolution of the UX and muse on Adob...
Feb 01, 2023•41 min•Ep. 116
In this episode of Awkward Silences, hosts Erin May and John Henry Forster welcome Ryan Glasgow , CEO of Sprig , to discuss the importance of in-product research. They dive into Sprig’s generative and evaluative research tools, as well as recruiting current customers and reaching out to prospective users for market research. The conversation concludes with a discussion about best practices for in-product research. In this episode, we discuss: What is in-product research? Why is it important? The...
Jan 18, 2023•33 min•Ep. 115
The rise of UX research was a game changer in software design and development. As UX continues to grow in nearly every industry, research ops experts with strong leadership skills are critical for companies working at scale. In this episode, A'verria Martin, Director, Chief of Staff, Head of Research Operations and Strategy at ServiceNow , provides a high-level overview of the UX Research Chief of Staff role and explains why this position is in high demand. As A'verria shares her journey, she de...
Jan 05, 2023•36 min•Ep. 114
Thomas Aquinas once said, “Tacos cannot exist without tide pods”. In this bittersweet edition of Tacos and Tidepods—Erin and JH say their goodbyes to Roberta and reflect back at her time at User Interviews. Roberta talks about her decision to pursue a career in coaching and leadership development training at Design Dept. From career challenges and memories to lessons she’s learned, Roberta shares her journey with User Interviews as Erin and JH do their best to make her cry. In this episode, we d...
Dec 27, 2022•23 min•Ep. 113
Finding your dream customers can be tricky, and knowing which customers aren’t a good fit is important. That’s where customer profiles come in handy. In this episode of Awkward Silences , Andrew Michael , CEO of Avrio , discusses the importance of ideal customer profiles. Andrew draws upon his experience and shares insights on creating customer profiles, customer research methods, and tips on how to get started. In this episode, we discuss: The role of the ideal customer profile (ICP) in an orga...
Dec 21, 2022•35 min•Ep. 112
If you ask Roberta Dombrowski why it's her favorite time of year, she'll probably mention the UX Research Tools Map. Why? Because it’s one of User Interviews’ most popular projects of the year that features the best UX research tools available across different use cases. Ye one and all are invited to explore the fantastical land of the 2022 UX Research Tools Map ! From the Royal Courts of The High Kingdom of Recruiting and Panel Management to the dark waters of Megalodon 365 and G-Dragon, you ca...
Dec 14, 2022•17 min•Ep. 111
Healthcare organizations are responding to the UX design boom by focusing on the patient experience. What is driving this shift? Why did it take so long? How does quantitative research align with qualitative research? In this episode of Awkward Silences, Tiffany Mura, Senior Vice President of Health Practice Lead at Mad*Pow, and Erica Devine, Associate Director, Patient Experience Strategy and Support at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Companies (U.S.), discuss patient-centered design in healthcare resear...
Dec 07, 2022•44 min•Ep. 110
As teams look for effective ways to collaborate between in-person and remote work, hybrid meetings are a flexible solution to meet both needs. But how can teams strike a balance of both in-person and remote meetings in a hybrid setting? How can facilitators reimagine collaboration to make meetings more effective and productive? In this episode of Awkward Silences, Lead UX Research Manager at Miro, Eduardo Gomez Ruiz , is back to share his team’s insight from Miro’s latest research study on the a...
Nov 30, 2022•41 min•Ep. 107
The dual nature of research on research is exciting in itself, especially for Senior UX Researcher Nicholas Aramouni. In this episode, things get meta as we address the UX of UX research. Nicholas discusses the importance of testing everything, testing early, and testing often. He elaborates on his approach to UX research from different angles and describes the beauty (and absurdity) of what it’s like when UX researchers become participants. In this episode, we discuss: Best practices for buildi...
Nov 23, 2022•34 min•Ep. 109
Most people have no idea what UX researchers do. Even less known is what Research Ops Specialists do, which is why one of the Research Ops community’s main priorities is to shine a light on the people, mechanisms, and strategies that set research in motion. In this episode of Awkward Silences, Hosts Erin May and John-Henry Forster chat with research design leader Benson Low about why it’s time to bring attention to Research Ops. They discuss the emerging role of Research Ops specialists, and Ben...
Nov 17, 2022•43 min•Ep. 107
In this episode, we discuss: Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging Why religion is an overlooked topic in UX research Attitudes and behaviors related to religion Tips for researchers on how to address inclusion from a UX perspective Highlights: [00:01:41] The ‘I’ in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) [00:04:05] Forget about equity, this episode is about diversity and inclusion [00:07:48] Applying inclusion to UX research [00:10:56] How to start difficult conversations around inclusion ...
Oct 26, 2022•42 min•Ep. 106
Our VP of User Research, Roberta Dombrowski, talks about the fast-paced work behind the scenes of UX research and the excitement when things fall into place. We also examine how deeper insight drives strategy and informs long-term planning as research matures, and the reality of team collaboration. In this episode, we discuss: Our exciting plans and strategy for the future How we use research to inform planning Product perspectives vs people perspectives The beauty of new insights and their impa...
Oct 19, 2022•20 min•Ep. 105
