Awkward Silences

– 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 process—and the motions of life in general. From giving advice on embracing mistakes to finding true joy and fulfillment, Kevin Kelly shares a raw perspective on applying important life lessons to both work and life.

In this episode we discuss:

• Understanding “known failures” and “unknown failures”
• Forgetting and unlearning your bias. 
• Prototyping and experimentation in research and in life
• Career advice, tips, and hacks

Highlights:

[00:01:51] Navigating failure: tractable vs. intractable failures

[00:05:37] Understanding other people's beliefs and questioning our own

[00:12:25] The value of prototyping and experimentation in life and your career

[00:16:47] Redefining success and exploring unique opportunities

[00:22:15] Learning what to ignore and discarding unnecessary information

[00:33:44] Kevin's current project on a 100-year desirable future!

Sources mentioned in the episode:

• userinterviews.com/awkward
• https://kk.org/books/the-inevitable

About Our Guest

Kevin Kelly is an accomplished author, speaker, and “evergreen optimist,” known for his work on technology, innovation, and the future. As the founding executive editor of Wired, Kevin has been instrumental in shaping discussions around technology and its implications on society. He has authored several influential books, including "The Inevitable," which delves into the technological forces that will impact our future. Currently, Kevin is working on a project envisioning a desirable 100-year future.

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 this episode we discuss:

[00:02:37] The potential of AI for automating away the monotonous 

[00:14:23] Utilizing AI: building versus buying

[00:18:05] Tips for getting started with AI applications

[00:25:55] A shift in the roadmap of potential research products

[00:31:43] How utilizing AI could go wrong for researchers

Sources mentioned in the episode:

• userinterviews.com/awkward
• grain.com

About Our Guest

Mike Adams is the CEO and Co-Founder of Grain, a communication platform for teams that helps capture video snippets with ease. Self-describing as a three-time founder with over ten years of experience building skills for job education software programs, Mike is a pioneer for fully immersive cohort-based education. His current mission with Grain is to help teams to share more understanding with each other and the people they work together to serve, thus creating a more cohesive working environment. Mike has authored several useful articles, including “The Founder’s Guide to Actually Understanding Users”. 

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 coaching
• Finding the right coach
• When is it a good idea to consult a coach?
• What qualities do effective coaches have?
• Advice for aspiring coaches

Highlights:

• [01:48.73] Sylvana defines coaching and shares her career journey
• [07:05.40] Sylvana explains why most people look for leadership coaches
• [10:59.60] The difference between mentorship and coaching
• [19:40.69] When not to call a coach and the duration of a coaching arrangement
• [21:52.00] Factors to consider when choosing a coach
• [27:14.36] What you can expect from working with a UX coach
• [39:51.76] Career tips for aspiring coaches 

Sources mentioned in the episode:

• http://userinterviews.com/awkward
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylvanarochetbelleri
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/elan-vital-coaching

About Our Guest

Sylvana Rochet is the Founder and Principal Coach at Elan Vital, a leadership coaching and personal development company that helps founders and executives tap into their full potential and achieve their goals. Before founding Elan Vital, she worked as a Partner and Executive Coach at Evolution, a leading coaching, consulting, and investment firm that specializes in working with high-growth companies.

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.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The significance of a robust UX research strategy
• The definition of a good and bad strategy 
• Essential components of an effective research plan
• Aligning research with stakeholder needs and expectations
• Metrics and KPIs to evaluate progress and success

Highlights

• [00:01:17] Strategy vs delivery, prioritizing projects and allocating resources  
• [00:10:13] The role of flexibility and adaptability
• [00:15:38] Gaining stakeholder buy-in and tying research to organizational objectives
• [00:21:05] Establishing KPIs and metrics to measure progress and success
• [00:33:46] Periodic reviews and updates to maintain relevance and effectiveness

Sources mentioned in the episode:

• userinterviews.com/awkward
• Good Strategy/Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt
• UXR Maturity Models: Move to a more advanced level in your org by Nikki Anderson of Dovetail
• UX Strategy Components by Nielsen Norman Group
• The Organizational Appetite for Research by Behzod Sirjani

About our guest:

Devin Harold is the Director of UX Research at Capital One, where he leads a team dedicated to improving end-to-end experiences and touchpoints for one of the company’s primary business units. With over eleven years of experience in UX design and research, he has a deep understanding of research methodologies, leadership, strategy, frameworks, and interaction design. Devin’s expertise and leadership have been recognized with multiple awards, including the IDEA Award, Verizon Beyond Award, and Verizon Credo Award. 

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. Additionally, Daniel shares success stories of companies that have used Glean.ly to integrate data from disparate sources and glean meaningful insights. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• What is atomic UX research?
• The pillars of atomic research
• How atomic research can improve your research strategy
• How does Glean.ly power atomic research?

Highlights:

• [01:38.75] What is atomic research? What is Glean.ly?
• [08:24.98] Daniel discusses why atomic research works, including how it helps organizations solve crime cases
• [11:14.58] How Glean.ly enabled Just Eat to grow and expand
• [14:06.67] One big benefit of atomic research powered by Glean.ly
• [23:59.45] Applications for atomic research and research strategy tips
• [38:27.70] The atomic research origin story

Sources mentioned in the episode:

• Glean.ly
• Cheat sheet

About Our Guest

Daniel Pidcock is the co-creator of atomic UX research and founder at Glean.ly, a UX research repository platform used by some of the world’s largest brands. He has spoken about atomic research at several events, including the UX Brighton Conference and Atomic UX Research for agencies. Before founding Glean.ly, Daniel worked as a UX consultant at Neighbourly, JUST EAT, and ie Marketing Communications. 

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 a career path in UX research
• Making career moves that align with your goals
• How to start a career in UX research
• Pros and cons of different working environments 
• Vetting potential employers

Highlights

• [01:27] Marieke’s first job was at Nielsen Norman Group
• [04:42] The benefits of working at a large organization like LinkedIn
• [7:12] Getting started with– choosing a direction when you are new to UX research
• [12:57] How to vetMarieke shares valuable advice on vetting employers
• [19:37] How does the UX research team come up with research questions?
• [25:29] TJH summarizes the differences between working at a large company vs. a smaller firm
• [39:24] The best thing about consulting is “the breadth of who you get to work with, the different industries, different teams”

About our guest

Marieke McCloskey is the Director of UX Research at LinkedIn. For over a decade, she has worked as a UX researcher and consultant with the world’s most innovative companies, including Nielsen Norman Group and the NFL. She completed her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience at the University College Utrecht and earned a MA in Cognitive Science at John Hopkins University. 

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 to get a full recap of the 2023 YouX conference and videos of the sessions—we clipped all the awkward silences parts out, so you don’t have to. You can also download a recording of the entire event at the YouX event page.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Interviewing with confidence
• Mentorships and coaching
• Wellness and UX
• Your unique UX career path
• Dealing with imposter syndrome

Highlights:  

• [00:02:59] Interviewing with Confidence (Danny Essner) – Awkward silence is your friend and dealing with self-doubt
• [00:07:38] Will You Be My Mentor? (Paul Derby) – Navigating the mentor-mentee relationship
• [00:12:36] Reframing the Imposter Syndrome (Panel) – You are not a computer! The panel address imposter syndrome and getting to the root of the problem
• [00:18:06] Wellness and UX: Going Beyond the User Experience (Dr. Christelle Ngnoumen) – Dealing with stress through mindfulness. The power of language on your perspective
• [00:24:32] Research for All: Building Healthy Teams Through Democratization (Kate Kalcevich) – for all, How can we democratize research? Democratizing generative and evaluative research

Sources mentioned in the episode:

• userinterviews.com/awkward
• YouX 2023 Recap: Learnings, Session Recordings, and Additional Resources
• YouX 2023 - The Event for You, Researchers

About our guests  

Danny Essner is VP of Marketing at Chameleon, a SaaS platform that allows startups to create personalized and engaging experiences for their users. 

Paul Derby is a SR. Manager of UX Research at ServiceNow. Paul is also the founder of Paul Derby Coaching, LLC, where he provides 1:1 coaching to UX researchers who want to establish their personal style of leadership.
Devin Harold is Director of UX Research at Capital One, where he leads a team focused on design and research for Capital One's Financial Services in New York.
Erika Spear has ten years of experience in qualitative and mixed-method research design and execution. She is currently a Research Manager at AnswerLab.
Varun M is a Senior UX Researcher at SeatGeek and the Co-Founder of Apple & Banana. 

Tiffany Eaton is a talented and creative self-employed graphic designer with expertise in logos, cover art, graphic design, children's illustration, and children's book illustration.

Nikki Anderson-Stanier is Founder & Managing Director of User Research Academy, a company that offers coaching, mentoring, and remote courses on UX Research. 

Fredrick Royster is an accomplished educator and UX/Web/Graphic Designer with over twenty years of experience in web design and front-end development.

Dr. Christelle Ngnoumen is Principal User Experience Designer at Headspace Health, where she leads internal and external research programs dedicated to the design of Headspace's evidence-based digital interventions.

Kate Kalcevich is Head of Accessibility and Innovation at Fable, a platform for people of all abilities, where she works on democratizing design and accessibility. 

For our guests' full bios, visit https://www.userinterviews.com/blog/best-highlights-from-youx-2023 

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 throughout his career. In this episode, he discusses the power of company culture and shares advice on culture building.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The overall impact of research culture on companies’ bottom-line goals
• The anatomy of a “healthy” company culture
• Establishing cultural norms in your organization
• Dealing with challenges and avoiding mistakes
• Tips and tricks for nurturing and developing a research-focused company culture

Highlights:

• [00:01:11] Planting the seeds of research culture
• [00:03:18] The importance of psychological safety for UXR teams
• [00:06:04] Maintaining healthy conflict and avoiding cognitive bias
• [00:12:21] Attributes of a healthy research culture
• [00:21:45] How research culture fits in with the rest of the organization
• [00:28:39] Tips on how to build research awareness and educate stakeholders

Sources mentioned in the episode:

• http://userinterviews.com/awkward
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/klaviyo

About Our Guest

Mike Oren, Head of Design Research at Klaviyo, a technology company that provides an automated email marketing and SMS marketing platform. He is also the Founder of Societech, an Adjunct Professor at Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute of Design, and an independent UX Research Consultant. Mike holds a Ph.D. and a Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction and Sociology from Iowa State University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and English Writing from DePauw University. 

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 experts.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How bad research processes can give research a bad reputation
• Top most common ways that research can go wrong
• The relationship between research methodologies and project timelines
• Figuring out the right method for your research

Highlights:

• [00:04:27] Holly’s unique perspective from academic research and into tech
• [00:07:58] How can research go wrong?
• [00:10:20] The components of a good research model; what you need to get right
• [00:14:32] What to do with a research plan once you have it to ensure maximum alignment
• [00:16:54] How to combat biases in research and questionnaires
• [00:21:54] The interaction between methodology and the timeline in research
• [00:24:18] Figuring out the right method for your research
• [00:31:01] Interacting with stakeholders and organizations for the best research outcome

Sources mentioned in the episode:

• Holly’s LinkedIn
• H2R Product Science Website
• H2R Product Science LinkedIn

About our guest

Holly Hester-Reilly is the Founder and CEO of H2R Product Science, as well as a Product Discovery Coach and Consultant for the company. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor at New York University, a Member of the Board of Advisors at Octane11, and a Product Advisor at Ergatta. Needless to say, Holly is an undisputed expert in her field, and we’re lucky to have her on the show! 

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 consider before, during, and after launch. He also provides a step-by-step walkthrough of a successful go-to-market strategy, complete with specific marketing tactics for planning, targeting, collaboration, and research.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What makes a successful product launch?
• The elements of a winning launch
• Best research practices, tactics, tips, and tools
• Common mistakes and oversights

Highlights:

• [00:03:37] The ingredients to a successful launch
• [00:08:34] Walkthrough of a successful launch (plus a laundry list of important questions to consider)
• [00:12:11] Internal marketing and the importance of communicating across teams
• [00:17:17] How teams get it wrong, dos and don'ts
• [00:20:39] A simplistic way to segment your audience
• [00:26:25] Message testing tips - the how, when, and why
• [00:32:02] Specific tactics and tools Derek uses to find pricing and understand features

Sources mentioned in the episode:

• http://userinterviews.com/awkward
• Ignition LinkedIn

About Our Guest

Derek Osgood is a product marketing specialist, entrepreneur, and Founder & CEO of Ignition, a platform that helps brands streamline go-to-market strategies. He has launched several products that have collectively generated over $1 billion in revenue. Before Ignition, Derek worked as Director of Product Marketing at Rippling, Director of Marketing and Growth at BBVA, and as a Product Manager at Playstation.