Lessons In Product Management

The Partnership Between User Research and Product Management with Nikki Anderson - User Research Lead @ Zalando and Founder of User Research Academy

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On today's episode, I sat down with Nikki Anderson, User Research Lead at Zalando and Founder of User Research Academy. Nikki started her user research career about 7 years ago, with a foundation in quantitative research but has since shifted focus to specialize in qualitative user research where Nikki has worked in B2B, B2C, B2B2C and has both worked as a freelancer and worked in corporate settings. After having started her career in New York, Nikki has since moved to Germany where Zalando is based. With such a robust and diverse background in user research Nikki had a ton of great advice and insight to share. 

Here's what we discussed:

  • Some of the biggest misconceptions of user research
  • Why quant or qual data alone is not enough to make decisions
  • The trust cost of doing user research and the cost of not doing it
  • Low cost ways to source user feedback
  • What Nikki has learned throughout her career that she wants other user researchers to know
  • The difference between user research and UX design 
  • Why planning and purpose are essential to the value of research
  • How to influence executives to care about user research
  • What a great partnership looks like between user research and product management in setting priority for what you build
  • How to know if you're doing user research right in a well-resourced company
  • Ways to get scrappy if you're a user research team of one
  • How Product Managers can do user research on their own

    • Here's the resources:

    • Google's Heart Framework
    • Podcasts: Awkward Silences, Dollars to Donuts & Mixed Methods
    • Books: Just Enough Research by Erika Hall; Practical Empathy by Indi Young; Quantifying the User Experience by Jeff Sauros
    • Recommended resources for user researchers
    • Important concepts, processes, and terminology
    • User Research Academy
      • ...more
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