Tacos = the great. Tide Pods = the not-so-great. An honest chat about the (mostly really great) state of User Interviews. Roberta Dombrowski , VP of UX Research at User Interviews, is back for our third installment of Tacos and Tide Pods. She joins Erin and JH to talk about the 100th episode of Awkward Silences, the importance of prioritizing authenticity over patterns on LinkedIn, and Roberta's upcoming wedding. In this episode: The 100th episode of Awkward Silences Why you should focus on bigg...
Sep 15, 2022•12 min•Ep 102•Transcript available on Metacast Onboarding is a customer’s first impression of your product. The way you research, design, and implement user onboarding can make or break the overall experience. So how do you refine this important aspect of your product’s UX? Pulkit Agrawal, Co-founder and CEO of Chameleon, joins us to discuss just that: How to optimize the user onboarding experience to get your customers off to a great start. In this episode: What is onboarding? Best practices for onboarding users How to integrate personality...
Aug 30, 2022•34 min•Ep 101•Transcript available on Metacast Work smarter, not harder with the right UXR productivity hacks. Michele Ronsen, founder of Curiosity Tank and our first repeat guest, joins us for our landmark 100th episode to tell us about the best user research hacks she’s learned to increase productivity, reduce cognitive load, and save time. Make your life a little easier with these pro UXR tips on scheduling, archiving, recruiting, screening, and more. In this episode: What is a UXR productivity hack? UXR productivity hacks examples and ti...
Aug 17, 2022•42 min•Ep 107•Transcript available on Metacast Healthcare in the U.S. is expensive—and as a result, some communities struggle to afford medical services. This inequity has become increasingly apparent as underserved communities are disproportionately affected by things like the pandemic. So, what can UXers do to help? Wendy Johansson, Co-Founder and Chief Product Experience Officer of MiSalud Health, believes the answer lies in health tech. In this episode, Wendy shares how the MiSalud app works and her approach to using qualitative research...
Aug 03, 2022•48 min•Ep 106•Transcript available on Metacast Let’s face it… most companies these days say they are customer-centric, but the reality just doesn’t bear that out. Because in order to be truly center-centric (or even “customer-obsessed”), you need to obsessively (i.e. continuously) gather and use customer insights. Ferdinand Goetzen , CEO and Co-Founder of Reveall , joins us to explain how teams can start actually centering their customers by adopting certain practices that will help you collect, analyze, and interpret customer insights on a ...
Jul 21, 2022•36 min•Ep 98•Transcript available on Metacast Roberta Dombrowski, VP of UX Research at User Interviews, is back for the second instalment of Tacos and Tide Pods with Erin and JH. In this episode, they discuss the importance of an effective personal productivity process, overestimated expectations, and the (very Tide Pod-y) state of the global economy. In this episode: Creating a research repository at User Interviews Setting up an effective personal productivity process Overestimated expectations Meetings vs asynchronous collab...
Jul 13, 2022•16 min•Ep 97•Transcript available on Metacast Most people—including product people—don't think of their career as a product. And even the best researchers often neglect to do the research to identify suitable roles and opportunities. The result? They stay in roles for too long, or accept one that simply doesn't align with their career goals, interest, or values. They burn out and feel stuck. Sarah Doody, Founder and CEO of Career Strategy Lab, joins us to share why you should start thinking of your User Research career as a product and how ...
Jun 30, 2022•51 min•Ep 96•Transcript available on Metacast In the world of product design, wordsmiths go by many names—UX writers, content strategists, product writers, and so on. But whatever you call them, these folks play an important role in developing seamless user experiences. Yuval Keshtcher is the Founder of the UX Writing Hub, an online education platform helping hundreds of people perfect their UX writing. He joins us to explain the difference between UX writing and content design, how the discipline is growing, and his favorite writing resour...
Jun 17, 2022•40 min•Ep 105•Transcript available on Metacast We’re changing things up a bit! Introducing a brand new series: Tacos and Tide Pods! Every month or so, Erin and JH will chat with User Interviews’s VP of Research, Roberta Dombrowski. They’ll talk about what’s going on behind the scenes at User Interviews, reflect on recent lessons learned, share their thoughts on the UXR space right now, and discuss what they're hoping to see more of in the future.
Jun 02, 2022•21 min•Ep 104•Transcript available on Metacast Context acts as the bridge between an abstract idea (’a comfortable user experience’) and a tangible design (‘cushioned, breathable running shoes’). Although gaining context through remote research can be tricky, our UXR friends with an anthropological background know the solution: Digital ethnography. This week, we’re joined by Megan McLean, User Researcher at Spotify. Megan shared the who-what-and-how of digital ethnography, what she’s learned about mapping the digital landscape, and how she e...
May 18, 2022•43 min•Ep 103•Transcript available on Metacast Public libraries have been using insights repositories for decades—and it’s time user research teams catch up. This week, we’re joined by Nada Alnakeeb, Head of Design and Research Operations at DoorDash, and Joanna Perez, Sr. Taxonomy Strategist/Digital Archivist, Studio Production at Netflix. Nada and Joanna shared learnings from their experience building the insights repository at Meta, using familiar organizational patterns to reduce mental load, tips for effective taxonomies, and more. High...
May 05, 2022•46 min•Ep 102•Transcript available on Metacast What is design psychology? Thomas Watkins of 3Leaf compares it to ergonomics—both fields aim to make products feel as comfortable as possible for their users. Where ergonomics is concerned with things like the shape of your office chair’s back or the height of its armrests, design psychology is all about making software experiences more intuitive and reducing cognitive load. This week on the podcast, Thomas chatted with Erin and JH about the similarities and differences between design psychology...
Apr 20, 2022•30 min•Ep 101•Transcript available on Metacast The State of User Research 2022 Report unpacks the data from our international survey of UX researchers and people who do research as part of their jobs. This week, we met with Roberta Dombrowski, VP of User Research at User Interviews and one of the creators of the report, to talk about how it was made and what she thinks of the insights. She talked about the rise of buy-in and demand for research, what democratization means for professional researchers, and her predictions for the future of us...
Apr 05, 2022•40 min•Ep 100•Transcript available on Metacast Doing user research in an agency setting comes with its own set of challenges—from context switching to stubborn clients to less-than-optimal tool stacks. Karen VanHouten , Director of Product Strategy at Philosophie by InfoBeans, spent most of her career in enterprise B2B before transitioning to agency life. In this podcast episode, Karen shared some great advice on setting expectations, fostering ongoing client relationships, and why she thinks more researchers should be involved in the sales ...
Mar 30, 2022•40 min•Ep 89•Transcript available on Metacast The democratization of research continues to grow—and with it, the complexities of research operations. This week, we chatted with Garrett Tsukada, Head of Customer Connect UX Research Operations at Intuit about how research ops supports democratization at scale. He talked about how Intuit approaches research democratization for a 14,000+ team, guardrails and processes to ensure research quality, advice for starting and scaling a research operations function, and more. Highlights [04:39] How Int...
Mar 02, 2022•36 min•Ep 99•Transcript available on Metacast You’ve mastered the basics, but now it’s time to take your interviews to the next level. This week, we chatted with Therese Fessenden, Senior User Experience Specialist at NN/g about how to get even better at interviewing. She talked about how to master the basics, hone your skills, and become an A+ interviewer. Highlights [3:40] You can get more out of your interviews by going in with a solid plan. [9:44] Mastering probing questions. [20:36] Common mistakes people make when they get comfortable...
Feb 15, 2022•42 min•Ep 98•Transcript available on Metacast Should everyone do research? It’s a tricky question. Yes, research is a craft that takes years to master. But on the other hand, if we want research to happen all the time, everyone needs to be able to do some of the basics on their own. Today, we talked to Jonathan Widawski, Founder and CEO of Maze about how the democratization of research is actually advancing the craft. He talked about the need for researchers to be good teachers, how research can grow in the same way data and design did, and...
Feb 01, 2022•27 min•Ep 97•Transcript available on Metacast It’s our most meta episode yet. Today, we chatted with Roberta Dombrowski, VP of User Research at User Interviews, about doing user research about user researchers at a user research company. Listen in to learn about how adding a formal user research practice has benefited the UI team, the challenges of going from an IC to a leadership role, and building a research practice from the ground up. Highlights [2:58] What’s different about being a user researcher for a user research platform. [11:04] ...
Jan 18, 2022•40 min•Ep 96•Transcript available on Metacast Recruiting participants for user research is hard. Recruiting participants from a pool of your own customers? Somehow even harder. There’s client relationships, privacy concerns, and lots of red tape. This week on the podcast, Matthew Morrison joins Erin and JH to share what he’s learned after a year of B2B recruiting at Braze. Highlights [2:04]The key problems with B2B recruiting. [8:22] Make your sessions as short as possible, 30-45 minutes is best. [12:53] How to make users feel connected to ...
Jan 04, 2022•41 min•Ep 95•Transcript available on Metacast What’s it like to be black in UX right now? Are companies sticking by their plans for diversity and inclusion? How do researchers ensure their work is as inclusive as possible? This week on the podcast, Dr. Lisanne Norman joins Erin and JH to talk about all this and more. Highlights [8:13] What to do when people try to make diversity and inclusion your job. [11:12] How including Black participants created aha! moments. [18:01] Creating an environment of openness with participants is key to under...
Dec 20, 2021•43 min•Ep 94•Transcript available on Metacast Creating a video game requires more than just development time and coding—to make sure the experience is enjoyable, you have to test it. In this episode, User Researcher Steve Bromley joins us to discuss the nuances of conducting user research in the video game industry. He describes integrating user feedback with the developer's creative vision, recruitment for games research, and the evolution of the gaming industry since he first started. Steve talks about… How to integrate user feedback with...
Dec 08, 2021•46 min•Ep 93•Transcript available on Metacast How do you build a long lasting research practice? Aim for a healthy one. Gregg Bernstein you how. This week on the podcast, Gregg talked to us about how to contribute to a healthy research practice every day and what a healthy practice even means. Highlights [3:26] Can you have a healthy research function without dedicated researchers? [14:20] Sharing contextualized insights with relevant teams can help you build value as you work. [24:40] What's an unhealthy research culture? [33:13] Contribut...
Nov 23, 2021•44 min•Ep 92•Transcript available on Metacast Doing research with users from different cultures is (very, very) important. It can also be complicated. In this episode, we are joined by Norah Abokhodair, Senior Program Manager at Microsoft, who spoke about conducting research in Arab cultures. She explained some of the nuances of Arabic and Arab cultures, how to recruit diverse participants, and how to adjust your research style depending on the context. Highlights [2:11] If you want to build products for everyone, include a more diverse aud...
Nov 09, 2021•37 min•Ep 80•Transcript available on Metacast What is participatory research? And how do you include it in your UXR practice? Alexis McNutt Unis, Lead UX Researcher, Homeowner Experience at Better is here to explain. Alexis shared how she involves stakeholders in engaging workshops, co-creates with participants, and takes research readouts to the next level to drive a participatory research practice that works for everyone. Highlights [1:29] What is participatory research anyway? [4:58] How Alexis does participatory research. [11:54] The fi...
Oct 27, 2021•42 min•Ep 91•Transcript available on Metacast We learned so much in this week’s episode of Awkward Silences. Samuel Proulx, Accessibility Evangelist at Fable, joined us to talk to us about accessibility and why it (really, really) matters. He taught us about the assistive technologies that many people with disabilities use to navigate the digital world, why accessibility is more important now than ever, and how designing for accessibility makes everyone’s user experience better. Highlights [2:09] What an Accessibility Evangelist does. [7:39...
Oct 12, 2021•50 min•Ep 78•Transcript available on Metacast Eniola Abioye—user research career coach—joined us for a special live episode of Awkward Silences. She answered audience questions and shared some of her best tips for crafting a research portfolio that stands out, transitioning from different fields, and why not everyone needs a bootcamp. Highlights [6:16] How to learn more about user research on your own. [17:17] Tailoring your resume to UX research roles. [22:38] Building a standout user research portfolio. [26:40] Eniola’s honest opinions on...
Sep 29, 2021•52 min•Ep 77•Transcript available on Metacast This week we’re joined by Zack Naylor, CEO and co-founder of UX research tool Aurelius. We spoke about what researchers need to know about their company, why tying research outcomes to business impact is so important, and how to navigate the waters when business goals and user research don’t align. Zack talked about… Conducting stakeholder interviews to deeply understand your business. Choosing a company that aligns with your values and personal goals. Using business knowledge to get high level ...
Sep 21, 2021•36 min•Ep 76•Transcript available on Metacast As a seasoned researcher who has led teams at Unilever, Netflix, and DoorDash, Zach Schendel has come up against every type of skeptical stakeholder you can imagine. He joined us to chat about the research myths he runs into most often, how he debunks them, and why he wants to banish “let’s do a qual” from everyone’s vocabulary forever. Zach talked about… The 4 UX research myths he’d like to debunk once and for all. Stories from his time at Unilever, Netflix, and DoorDash. How he gets stubborn s...
Sep 08, 2021•48 min•Ep 75•Transcript available on Metacast Rajesh Nerlikar works with companies to help them build great products. As the CEO of Prodify , he and his team advise startups on how to build impactful, vision-led products that get customers excited. In his experience, the best way to get teams on the same page is with a compelling product vision that’s easy to understand. In this episode, Rajesh joins Erin and JH to chat about why great product visions are like comic strips, the hard work of actually putting those visions into action, and ho...
Aug 24, 2021•40 min•Ep 74•Transcript available on Metacast Meg Pullis Roebling, Head of CX Research, Data & Analytics Solutions at BNY Mellon, talks us through her approach to building relationships with stakeholders, finding people to support her research efforts, and making research visible to the whole organization. Meg discussed... How she convinces relationship managers to get clients involved in research. What metrics she uses to make the case for research. How to know when research is weaving its way into the fabric of your organization. High...
Aug 10, 2021•34 min•Ep 73•Transcript available on Metacast 
