Our third annual State of User Research survey gathered insights from 525 people who do research around the world. Katryna Balboni, our Content Director, joined the hosts of Awkward Silences to talk about how the 2021 report came together. They discussed the challenges of survey design, the changing landscape of user research, improving stakeholder buy-in for user research, and (nerd alert!) large-scale medieval surveys.

In this episode, Katryna talks about…

• How we (re)designed our survey and distributed it to user researchers
• The relationship between stakeholder buy-in and UX researcher job fulfillment
• Getting philosophical about survey distribution and representative audiences
• The “Great Survey” and Domesday Book of 1086 ⚔️

Read the full report: The State of User Research 2021

Highlights

• [8:20] Thinking about ways to improve survey distribution for a more diverse audience—and the implications that has on how representative that makes the results.
• [11:40]  On average, researchers rated their fulfillment at work as 6.4/10. How does stakeholder buy-in and engagement with UX research affect that score? 
• [18:51] A staggering 90% of user researchers said they worked exclusively remotely since the pandemic began. How has that affected research? 
• [27:00] How to get stakeholders engaged with research by involving them early and often.
• [28:34] 34% of people who do research start planning their research sessions 2-4 weeks in advance. We ask: Will we see that timeline shrink in the future?
• [32:20] Survey nerds need to know about the Domesday Survey of 1086, and Katryna’s here to tell you about it.

Resources mentioned in the episode

• The State of User Research 2021 Report
• 6 Strategies for Doing Faster User Research—Without Sacrificing Validity
• How to Organize, Automate, and Tidy Up your User Research
• Research Ops: What It Is, Why It's So Important, and How to Get Started
• Ep #15: Kate Towsey on Starting a Research Ops Practice
• History Extra podcast: Domesday Book: Medieval big data*

About our guest

Katryna Balboni is a marketer by day, thankless servant to cats Elaine Benes and Mr. Maxwell Sheffield by night. Loves to travel, has a terrible sense of direction. Bakes a mean chocolate tart, makes a mediocre cup of coffee. She is leads Creative Content & Special Projects at User Interviews.

*Psst—Katryna here… Bonus extra fun fact that I forgot to mention: In the 11th century, many rents were paid in kind (i.e. not with money). One of the most common forms of payment was eels. Yes, as in the slippery fish. Domesday data shows that people in England paid their landlords over 500,000 eels each year. 🐟🐍