Insights Unlocked

What makes a podcast worth listening to?

That is an overarching question we’ll be asking as we kick off Season 5 of the Human Insight Podcast. After four seasons, we're reaching out to listeners to see what's working and what needs improvement.

In this episode, we interview Dan Misener, Director of Audience Development at Pacific Content. Pacific Content helps brands—such as Ford, Charles Schwab, Adobe, Mozilla and many others—develop and produce award-winning podcasts.

If anyone knows what makes a great podcast, it will be Dan and the team at Pacific. 

We also asked avid podcast listeners from around the world what they like and dislike about podcasts; whether that is show notes; how they discover new shows; whether they leave a rating or review and many other questions.

We’ll be sharing those insights with you throughout the season. 

In his conversation with Janelle Estes, Chief Insights Officer at UserTesting, Dan explains the “Only we” strategy for creating a podcast. And it is advice you could apply to just about any endeavor. 

“Only we is the idea that podcasters of all stripes should make the show only they are uniquely suited to make,” Dan says. “What is the show only we could make? What is the show no one else could make even if they wanted to?”

Sometimes the “only we” is the access you have; it could be a point of view or a world view; it could be that you’re the subject matter expert on a particular topic. 

“Could someone else make this show and would it be the same?” Dan said. “If the answer is yes, I don’t think your show is designed especially well.”

Listen to the episode to get more insights from Dan. In addition to expanding on the “Only we” strategy, Dan responds to UserTesting contributors sharing their thoughts on how they find a podcast, and whether they leave reviews. You can watch the videos, too! See and hear what podcast listeners say about how they discover podcasts, and whether they leave reviews.

In this episode, cohosts Andy MacMillan and Janelle Estes recap Season 4 and talk about what to expect in the next season.

Nick Mehta, CEO at Gainsight, believes there are three pillars to a great customer experience and he points to Peloton as an example. 

One thing great about Peloton is they combine human and digital, Nick said. 

First, you need a human connection. That could be a customer success manager at a B2B tech company. And for Peloton, it is the relationship with a coach. Nick’s favorite instructor Cody Rigsby for example. 

The second pillar is the product. Nick said Peloton’s digitally-connected product delivers what he (the customer) needs and wants to know for a workout. 

The third pillar is a community of other human beings. This is the leaderboard, which allows you to compete with the rest of the Peloton users in the same class as you and your type of equipment.

“That triad is the future,” Nick said.

In this bonus podcast episode, a previously recorded LinkedIn Live conversation, Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO, talks with Nick to discuss what makes a great customer experience and why that's so important for today's businesses. Their conversation was part of the User Tested book tour.

Listen to the episode for further insights.

If you asked someone shopping for a new truck whether they would purchase an electric truck what do you think would be the answer?

Now ask those same potential customers if they want to run their power tools off the bed of the truck? Or in an emergency, would they want to be able to power their homes off their truck so the ice cream doesn’t melt?

“That insight is the beauty of understanding customers in a way that isn’t just what they say and do but in what they think and feel,” said Iain Roberts, Chief Operating Officer at IDEO, a global design and consulting firm; which counts Ford and others among its longtime clients

In this bonus podcast episode, a previously recorded LinkedIn Live conversation, Roberts joined Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO, to discuss the concept of design thinking and why it’s so important for businesses. Their conversation was part of the User Tested book tour. The new book was co-authored by Andy and Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer.  

Roberts said design thinking allows companies to drive real growth by seeing through your customers eyes. 

According to its press release introducing the electric F-150 Lightning, Ford relied on its deep understanding of its truck customers to inform the design of the all-new F-150. “We see it as our duty to deliver not just what our customers want and need, but what they might have never thought possible,” said Craig Schmatz, Ford F-150 chief engineer.

Early results are impressive. Ford has reported they have more than 200,000 reservations for the electric truck, of which 75% new customers to Ford. 

Listen to the episode for further insights.

During the writing and editing of User Tested, coauthor Janelle Estes reached out to Jim Kalbach to review draft chapters and share his feedback. 

Kalbach, the Chief Evangelist at MURAL and author of several books, loved the book but wanted more stories and proof points. 

In this bonus podcast episode, a previously recorded LinkedIn Live conversation, Kalbach and Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, discuss the writing of User Tested and the importance of talking with your customers. 

Kalbach reviewed the first two chapters on why Human Insights are important, and the last two chapters on how to make this happen in any organization.

He said his advice could be applied to anyone writing a book. He wanted more stories— or evidence— as a way to connect to a larger audience, who may be unfamiliar with incorporating testing and customer feedback into their business processes. Kalbach said you want to be able to talk with these people in a language they can understand. Ignore them, and you’re just talking with folks in an echo chamber who already believe and support your point of view.

It is a challenge many in the UX industry have experienced, explaining the need for user insights. But as Tamara Adlin in Episode 12 of the Human Insight Podcast said, you need to talk in a language your audience will understand. 

Listen to the episode for further insights.

When T. Rowe Price rolled out a new process for creating an online investment account, they discovered a 37% drop off on the very first step after users opened the webpage.

They needed to know “why behind the what” and for that they turned to UserTesting. Within hours they’d identified the problem and were making fix recommendations to product owners. 

The T. Rowe Price story is one of many shared in User Tested and that is being featured in Season 4 of the Human Insights Podcast. The book was authored by podcast hosts Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, and Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO. You can order the book here or on your favorite book seller’s website.

Harsha Thayi, Senior Manager of UX Research at T. Rowe Price, shares their story and other insights in his interview. In their conversation, he and Janelle discuss: 

Ben Hoggan's team at the Notre Dame's IDEA Center has mentored close to 200 startups and would-be startups  from concept to revenue over the last four years.

The best way, he said, to know if a company will be successful is by talking with its customers and potential customers. And after more than 6,000 customer interviews on behalf of those startups, he should know.

"It is very selfish to invest in customer research," said Hoggan, the Director of De-Risking at The IDEA Center. "You're saving yourself time. You're saving yourself money."

Standing for Innovation, De-Risking, and Enterprise Acceleration, the IDEA Center works with faculty, student, community, and alumni entrepreneurs on their commercially viable, early-stage product ideas and innovations.

The IDEA Center's story is one of many shared in User Tested and that are being featured in Season 4 of the Human Insights Podcast. The book was coauthored by podcast hosts Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, and Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO. You can purchase a copy of the book here or on your favorite book seller’s website.

Listen to the episode to learn more about: 

In this episode, Janelle Estes talks with Tom Lorusso, the Principal User Research Lead for Xbox and gaming across Windows products and devices.

Tom has been working in games for over 7 years, with 15 years in the user research field on phones, operating systems and portable ultrasound. Tom and his Xbox Experiences team tackle a variety of research questions in social gaming, community, monetization, communication, cross-platform gaming, video consumption, accessibility, and inclusivity.

Tom's story at Microsoft is one of many shared in User Tested and that are being featured in Season 4 of the Human Insights Podcast. The book was co-authored by podcast hosts Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, and Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO.  You can order the book here or on your favorite book seller’s website.

Listen to the episode and learn how Tom and his team at Microsoft and Xbox tackle: 

This week on the Human Insight Podcast, we are excited to have James Villacci joining us to discuss how HelloFresh is scaling customer insights across the organization. 

As the first UX Researcher at HelloFresh, James Villacci established the value of conducting studies on the company’s online and offline projects. He is now head of Global UX Research at the company, which is the largest meal-kit provider in the world. 

He evangelized the power and impact of getting fast customer feedback through what has become “The Insights Show,” an internal watch party of customer insights that draws 100+ employees.

The HelloFresh story is one of many shared in User Tested and that will be featured in Season 4 of the Human Insights Podcast. The book was authored by podcast hosts Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, and Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO. The book is being released on February 15th, but you can pre-order it today here or on your favorite book seller’s website.

Listen to the episode to learn James’ recipe for democratizing insights across an organization. In their conversation, they discuss: 

In this week’s episode, James Lane shares the evolving story of how AAA is becoming a design-driven organization.

James, a Senior Product Design Manager at AAA Club Alliance, joins host Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, and Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO, to share AAA’s story, which is one of many being shared in the upcoming User Tested and that will be featured in Season 4 of the Human Insights Podcast. The book was authored by podcast hosts Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, and Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO. The book is being released on February 15th, but you can pre-order it today here or on your favorite book seller’s website.

James said becoming a design-driven organization is similar to how organizations evolved into being data-driven, moving data insights from just the math wizards in a corner office to enabling everyone in an organization to use data to inform and improve their work. 

“We can all use design processes, just as we all use data, to understand our world a little better, as a process for exploring what customers are looking for,” he said. 

The results are impressive. Following their customer-informed design changes, organic conversions for the website were up 30%, including a 55% lift for Premier memberships (AAA's top-tier membership type), a 39% lift in revenue for this channel.

In their conversation, they go on to discuss: