UX Research Geeks

Joel Barr, a UX engineer and software creation professional, reflects on why we need to rethink the place of UX research within organizations, arguing that researchers have much greater impact when they sit under operations rather than product. He explores the decline of field research, the importance of connecting UX to sales and customer success teams, and the risks of overrelying on AI and synthetic participants. Joel also advocates for measuring UX through business outcomes such as revenue, retention, and operational success rather than product-centric metrics, debating that only by proving its commercial impact can UX secure its future. 

👉 If you have any tips on fantastic speakers from across the globe, feedback, or any questions, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to geekspodcast@uxtweak.com

🔎 Do you want to know more? Check out this episode at:
https://www.uxtweak.com/podcast/joel-barr-ux-research-in-organizations

Episode highlights
00:01:48 - Why UX Research should not sit under Product 
00:08:08 - Servant leadership 
00:11:40 - How companies benefit from having UX researchers in the field 
00:16:27 - Will UX Research lose influence if moved under Operations?
00:21:23 - AI in UX research
00:26:10 - Connecting UX research with retention and sales metrics 
00:28:12 - Summing up

👉 Did you know that UXtweak also offers a series of webinars packed with practical knowledge for UX professionals? Check out the episode with Stéphanie Walter, where she talks about overcoming the challenges of enterprise UX: https://www.youtube.com/live/d9p4ShC_fMA?si=eYEl_S0UErpJiT4B 

About this podcast:
Welcome to UX Research Geeks, where Tina Ličková, a researcher and strategist, talks with researchers from around the globe about topics that matter to them. 

🐝 Brought to you by UXtweak, an all-in-one UX research software. Start your research for free at: https://www.uxtweak.com/ 👈

🐝 Where to follow UXtweak:
LinkedIn / Instagram / YouTube / Facebook / Twitter

After 4 years and 70+ podcast episodes, we're saying a heartfelt thank you to Tina Ličková, our amazing host of UX Research Geeks since its first episode.

Tina gave this show her critical mind, passion, and the courage to ask uncomfortable questions. She helped us shape UXR Geeks into what it is today, and we're incredibly grateful for that.

Stepping in is Petra Rajkov, our Senior UX Researcher, who cares deeply for our field and the users. With her experience from Slido, Cisco, and now UXtweak, Petra brings a new perspective and genuine passion to the podcast.

UXR Geeks continues. Same mission. New energy. New voice.

👉 If you have any tips on fantastic speakers from across the globe, feedback, or any questions, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to geekspodcast@uxtweak.com

🔎 Do you want to know more? Check out this episode at:
https://www.uxtweak.com/podcast/new-chapter-of-uxr-geeks

Episode highlights
00:00:36 - UX Research Geeks news 
00:01:22 - Meeting Petra
00:02:15 - Petra’s experience in the UXR field
00:05:25 - Petra’s mission for UXR Geeks
00:07:08 - Petra’s first guest on the podcast 
00:10:00 - Summarizing Tina’s 4 years with UXR Geeks 
00:12:40 -  Saying a heartfelt goodbye to Tina

About our guest:
Petra Rajkov is a senior UX researcher and product thinker. With a background spanning startups, scale-ups, and large corporations, she’s worked on a wide range of projects, but her main goal is always keeping real human experiences at the center of the company. Driven by curiosity and her experience at Slido, Cisco, and UXtweak, she is now bringing her passion for UX and empowering others to the UX Research Geeks Podcast.

👉 Did you know that UXtweak also offers a series of webinars packed with practical knowledge for UX professionals? Check out the episode with Maria Rosala, where she talks about using AI as a UX research partner.

About this podcast:
Welcome to UX Research Geeks, where Petra Rajkov, a senior UX researcher and product thinker, talks with researchers from around the globe about topics that matter to them. 

🐝 Brought to you by UXtweak, an all-in-one UX research software. Start your research for free at: https://www.uxtweak.com/ 👈

🐝 Where to follow UXtweak:
LinkedIn / Instagram / YouTube / Facebook / Twitter

Dr. Gyles Morrison, a Clinical UX Strategist and former medical doctor, discusses how UX research can improve healthcare by addressing the realities of clinical practice, systemic bias, and complex care delivery. He explores why healthcare research must go above and beyond combining user research with population health data, workflow analysis, and an understanding of clinical systems to design products that patients and clinicians can actually adopt. Gyles also introduces his principle of "designing with discrimination in mind," arguing that digital health products should anticipate where bias enters clinical decision-making and deliberately shape workflows that make evidence-based care the easiest path to follow.

👉 If you have any tips on fantastic speakers from across the globe, feedback, or any questions, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to geekspodcast@uxtweak.com

🔎 Do you want to know more? Check out this episode at:
https://www.uxtweak.com/podcast/gyles-morisson-challenges-of-user-research-in-healthcare

Episode highlights
00:01:50 - Unique aspects of user research in healthcare
00:05:33 - Example of complexity of user research in healthcare
00:12:33 - Motivation for work in healthcare
00:16:27 - The biggest problems in healthcare
00:12:16 - Care plans in healthcare
00:23:21 - A clinitial's mindset and subconscious bias
00:28:23 -  Communicating user research findings in healthcare
00:30:48 -  Final advice

About our guest
Dr. Gyles Morrison is a Clinical UX Strategist with 15 years of healthcare experience (as of 2026). Originally a doctor in the UK, he now works globally, aiding UX professionals and healthcare firms in crafting valuable products and services for clinicians and patients. His expertise spans digital therapeutics, healthcare behavior change, health equality, and UX strategy. Gyles also leads the Clinical UX Association, a worldwide community passionate about healthcare. As a UX mentor and career coach, he assists doctors transitioning from clinical practice to UX careers and delivers talks and workshops on career change, personal development, and personal branding. You can connect with him through his website or on LinkedIn.

👉 Did you know that UXtweak also offers a series of webinars packed with practical knowledge for UX professionals? Check out the episode with Stéphanie Walter, where she talks about overcoming the challenges of enterprise UX: https://www.youtube.com/live/d9p4ShC_fMA?si=eYEl_S0UErpJiT4B

About this podcast:
Welcome to UX Research Geeks, where Tina Ličková, a researcher and strategist, talks with researchers from around the globe about topics that matter to them.

🐝 Brought to you by UXtweak, an all-in-one UX research software. Start your research for free at: https://www.uxtweak.com/ 👈

🐝 Where to follow UXtweak:
LinkedIn / Instagram / YouTube / Facebook / Twitter

Anfisa Bogomolova, a product designer and the host of Honest UX Talks, reflects on how AI is dissolving the boundaries between UX design and UX research. She explains how role expectations are shifting and what role she expects UX researchers to play in the future. She also muses on the form of future collaboration between UX research and design roles and gives wonderful advice for junior UX folks. 

👉 If you have any tips on fantastic speakers from across the globe, feedback, or any questions, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to geekspodcast@uxtweak.com

🔎 Do you want to know more? Check out this episode at:
https://www.uxtweak.com/podcast/anfisa-bogomolova-ux-design-vs-ux-research

Episode highlights
00:01:42 - Meet Anfisa 
00:03:47 - Where is the line between UX design and UX research?
00:06:48 - What Anfisa values most in collaboration with researchers
00:09:29 - Getting a second perspective to reset your mindset
00:12:16 - The ideal cooperation 
00:15:12 - Do UX researchers make good PMs? 
00:16:21 - What should you learn from UX researchers? 
00:18:45 - Radical curiosity 
00:24:10 - Should UX designers do research? 
00:26:08 - Final advice from Anfisa

About our guest 
Anfisa is a Senior Product Designer with 14h of experience, a host of the Honest UX Talks podcast, and the founder of IntoUX.design, a community for designers who want to stand out on the market and land dream job.

👉 Did you know that UXtweak also offers a series of webinars packed with practical knowledge for UX professionals? Check out the episode with Stéphanie Walter, where she talks about overcoming the challenges of enterprise UX: https://www.youtube.com/live/d9p4ShC_fMA?si=eYEl_S0UErpJiT4B 

About this podcast:
Welcome to UX Research Geeks, where Tina Ličková, a researcher and strategist, talks with researchers from around the globe about topics that matter to them. 

🐝 Brought to you by UXtweak, an all-in-one UX research software. Start your research for free at: https://www.uxtweak.com/ 👈

🐝 Where to follow UXtweak:
LinkedIn / Instagram / YouTube / Facebook / Twitter

Vitaly, the UX lead with the European Parliament and co-founder of Smashing Magazine, reflects on the messy reality of designing AI products and why UX matters more than ever in the age of artificial intelligence and AI agents. He also explores how and why many companies rush into implementing AI without addressing issues in their processes and systems and discusses the importance of trust, transparency, and guidance in designing AI products.

👉 If you have any tips on fantastic speakers from across the globe, feedback, or any questions, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to geekspodcast@uxtweak.com

🔎 Do you want to know more? Check out this episode at:
https://www.uxtweak.com/podcast/vitaly-friedman-designing-ai-products

Episode highlights
00:01:56 - The confusing reality of 2026
00:03:54 - What are we doing with AI?
00:06:28 - Prompting and user experience
00:09:56 - AI is the next Internet
00:13:52 - Current state of AI
00:17:57 - The main problem with designing AI products
00:23:44 - How AI amplifies structural and data issues
00:31:12 - Final advice from Vitaly

About our guest
Vitaly loves beautiful content and does not give up easily. Born in Minsk, Belarus, he studied computer science and mathematics in Germany. While writing algebra proofs and preparing for software engineering at nights in the kitchen, at the same time he discovered passion for typography, interface design and writing.

After working as a freelance designer and developer for 6 years, he co-founded Smashing Magazine back in 2006, a leading online magazine for designers and developers. His curiosity drove him from interface design to front-end to performance optimization to accessibility and back to user experience over all the years.

Vitaly is the author, co-author and editor of Smashing Books , and a curator of Smashing Conferences. He is the UX lead with the European Parliament and Smashing Magazine and front-end/UX consultant in Europe and abroad, working with large and small companies and organizations like Haufe-Lexware, Axel-Springer and others.

He also runs Measure UX and Smart Interface Design Patterns, friendly video courses on UX and design patterns, along with a live UX training for passionate UX and product designers.

👉 Did you know that UXtweak also offers a series of webinars packed with practical knowledge for UX professionals? Check out the episode with Stéphanie Walter, where she talks about overcoming the challenges of enterprise UX: https://www.youtube.com/live/d9p4ShC_fMA?si=eYEl_S0UErpJiT4B

About this podcast:
Welcome to UX Research Geeks, where Tina Ličková, a researcher and strategist, talks with researchers from around the globe about topics that matter to them.

🐝 Brought to you by UXtweak, an all-in-one UX research software. Start your research for free at: https://www.uxtweak.com/ 👈

🐝 Where to follow UXtweak:
LinkedIn / Instagram / YouTube / Facebook / Twitter