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Awkward Silences

Podcast Awkward Silences
User Interviews
Welcome to Awkward Silences by User Interviews, where we interview the people who interview people. Listen as we geek out on all things UX research, qualitative...

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5 of 161
  • #160 - Where Design Thinking Went Wrong with Brett Krajewski of Accelerant Research
    In 2022, the UX community experienced a series of convulsions: layoffs, reorgs, and reduced budgets. A common thread throughout was accountability: user researchers faced frequent questions about their direct impact on and importance for the business. "Doing" UX research and "being" a design thinker was no longer enough.Today's guest believes these questions present opportunities for UX researchers. Brett Krajewski, VP Research and Growth at Accelerant Research, joins Erin and Carol to share strategies for researchers to stay sharp, stay relevant, and stay valuable. These include balancing business goals with user needs, being more experimental with methods, reframing how we use time for research, and more.Highlights06:30 Justifying UX ROI Amid Economic Challenges12:02 Integrating Insights for Improved UX18:50 Balancing User Needs and Business Goals21:07 Scalable Research in Fortune 500 Companies29:47 Innovative Strategies in Research Planning38:30 Storytelling's Role in Research ImpactAbout BrettBrett Krajewski is the Vice President of Research & Growth at Accelerant Research, where he leads the research and client solutions teams, delivering innovative insights to empower businesses and many fortune 500 companies. With a career spanning both in-house industry roles and consulting/agency leadership, Brett has built and led high-performing, multi-method research teams for Fortune 50 companies. His past roles include Head of Design Research: Customer at Walmart and Lead of Product Research at Lowe’s, where he drove customer-focused innovation and strategy.ResourcesComplete Guide to UX Research MethodologiesOn-Demand Business 101 for Researchers CoursePanel Discussion on the Future of UX Research
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  • #159 - Building Cross-Functional Research Impact with Judy Xu of Salesforce
    Creating strong stakeholder relationships is important for UX researchers at any company. Doing this at "enterprise" companies—large organizations with many products and an international footprint—can feel daunting. Our guest, Judy Xu, has successfully navigated the scale of enterprises like Hubspot, Meta, and Salesforce, where they work as a Senior Researcher. They join Erin to take us inside the enterprise, unpacking how research "happens" and what this has taught them about building cross-functional relationships. Specifically, Judy shares the value of using environmental inputs (like whether it's B2B or B2C) to map stakeholder structures, identify (and start using) meaningful metrics, and choose the right method for the moment. Together, these strategies have helped Judy create lasting UX impact, building influence and trust with key stakeholders. Listen to learn how you can start creating more impact inside your organization, whether it's an enterprise or a startup.Highlights06:16 Learning and Research Challenges in Large Organizations 10:56 B2C vs B2B: User Metrics vs Revenue Focus 15:43 Adapting Research Insight Presentation to Stakeholder Needs 17:43 Collaboration with Key Stakeholders and Functional Diversity 22:39 Understanding Matrix Structures: Cross-Functional Roles & Incentives 26:55 Embrace Details: Mastering Business Processes EfficientlyAbout JudyJudy is a Senior Researcher at Salesforce, where she uses I use qualitative (e.g., interviews, codesign) and quantitative (e.g., text analysis, surveys) approaches to tackle strategic, exploratory, and evaluative research questions. She has worked at Meta, Hubspot, and Simplisafe, and has a Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University.ResourcesLearn the fundamentals of business with this free courseUse these five steps to calculate the ROI of UX researchThese skills build credibility and influence for more impact
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  • #158 - Leading Design as a Researcher with Emily Wurgler of McDonald's
    Erin and Carol are joined by Emily Wurgler, Global Director of Experience Design at McDonald's, whose journey has had many moments of evolution and iteration. She started as an academic researcher in sociology, transitioned to innovation research at growth stage companies, and ultimately to her leading enterprise research and design teams.Emily talks about the unique value researchers bring to design leadership, how she's had to adapt her approach, and explains how product experiences are iterated and improved at large companies with a strong design-research partnership. Emily also shares how she's preparing her team of designers for the future of UX work and the characteristics she looks for in a new hire.Highlights07:30 Essential User Understanding for Product Success13:50 Identifying Users for McDonald's Enterprise Products24:38 Developing Innovative Product Solutions for Shift Leadership30:46 Balancing Innovation with Existing Workflow Challenges34:56 Cultivating Patience and Persistence for Organizational Change39:05 Ranking Four Attributes: A Favorite Interview QuestionAbout EmilyEmily Wurgler is the Global Director, Experience Design at McDonald's. She has over a decade of research experience at places like PeaPod Labs, dscout, and Over the Shoulder. She has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Indiana.ResourcesUX Designer's Guide to ResearchWorking in Design Research ConsultingDesign Thinking for Better Partnerships
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  • #157 - The Future of Design Collaboration with Andrew Hogan of Figma
    Few companies are most closely associated with UX design right now than Figma, which not only helps designers get their work done, but serves as a bridge for others to get more involved in the process. Erin and Carol are joined by Andrew Hogan, Figma's Head of Insights, to explore  the nature of collaboration today and how the structure of that collaboration can impact our ability to effect UX change.Andrew shares some of his team's own research on design collaboration, from how it's changed, what still needs improving, and how UX professionals can collaborate better. This includes the growing and evolving impact of AI. He also talks about what he learned during his recent parental leave—including the pervasiveness of screens—and how he's applying that learning to his own team.Highlights11:13 Design's Role in Software and Team Collaboration18:01 Diverse Methods for Sharing Research Insights20:46 Uncertain Future of AI: Expectations Reset24:34 AI's Impact on Productivity and Team Collaboration29:49 Overcoming Challenges: Standing Out in Content Saturation33:05 Perceptions of Change: Exploring Role SpikinessAbout AndrewAndrew Hogan conducts research on the design industry and design practices to figure out what’s happening. He love anecdotes, anecdata and data. He also likes to write and speak about what he finds, sometimes in the form of jokes and is occasionally quoted by places like Fast Company, WSJ, Forbes, CNN, Business Insider, AdAge, CIO.com and Tech Republic. In the past he authored/co-authored 50+ Forrester reports about design, UX, CX and the design industry, and created CX certification training modules on journey mapping and data/AI + design.ResourcesA Designer's Guide to UX ResearchProduct x Research Collaboration ReportThe 2024 AI in UX Research Report
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  • #156 - Change Management with Graham Gardner of U.S. Bank
    Change is an important and inevitable part of developing as a user experience professional. But what does change look like when it happens at the organizational level? That is the focus of this episode, featuring Graham Gardner, VP of UX Design Research Operations at U.S. Bank. He joins Erin and Carol to talk about change management, which is the practice and process of evolving and adapting a company's approach to something.Graham takes us inside his strategy for this, including how team structures can affect change (and their impact on research tooling). He also unpacks just how important Research Operations (ReOps) is to planning, executing, and managing change at an organizational level. Finally, Graham looks ahead to the impacts of AI and how he believes it might help teams like CX, analytics, and marketing work together better.If you've ever wondered about how companies grow and develop, and how these developments can impact user insights, check it out. Highlights08:16 Enhancing Collaboration through Transparent Tool Mapping14:37 Harmonizing AI and Human Roles for Success20:44 From Projects to Service Design: A Strategic Shift23:46 Research Insights: Steering Through Complexity for Success28:40 Integrating Research into Client Relationship Strategies31:37 Insights from Backgrounds: Decoding Environmental CuesAbout GrahamGraham Gardner, VP of UX Design Research Operations at U.S. Bank, is a researcher, designer, strategist, and maker. He brings a human-centered design lens to research ops (thanks to a long stint at IDEO and a background in inclusive education research). He works to collaboratively and iteratively understand and design research and design ecosystems that grow and evolve with the changing contexts of our beautifully messy world and the people that live in it. Conversations with Graham usually involve dad jokes, dog cameos, and snack breaks.More ResourcesGuide to UX Research StrategyAI in UX Research ReportThe Importance of Research Operations
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About Awkward Silences

Welcome to Awkward Silences by User Interviews, where we interview the people who interview people. Listen as we geek out on all things UX research, qualitative data, and the craft of understanding people to build better products and businesses. Hosted by Erin May and Carol Guest, VPs of growth/marketing and product at User Interviews. Take this survey and let us know what topics you want to hear next! userinterviews.com/awkwardsurvey
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