Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

The UX research reckoning is here | Judd Antin (Airbnb, Meta)

Jan 4, 2024

Judd Antin, a veteran in UX research with a rich background at Yahoo, Meta, and Airbnb, tackles the pressing challenges in the field. He critiques past user research trends and argues for three distinct types of research—macro, middle-range, and micro. Antin emphasizes the need for researchers to be integral to product development and critiques the effectiveness of the Net Promoter Score, advocating for better customer satisfaction metrics instead. His insights shed light on how to genuinely align research with business objectives for meaningful improvements.

01:14:34

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Judd Antin

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Quick takeaways

User-centered research demands diverse skills and deeper understanding of business and product metrics to drive better outcomes.

Researchers and product managers should collaborate closely to integrate research fully into the product process and leverage the expertise of researchers for informed decision-making.

Prioritizing micro and macro research types, such as usability testing and strategic product planning, respectively, can lead to more meaningful outcomes for the business.

Deep dives

The need for a new version of user-centered research

User-centered research is undergoing an evolution, and researchers need to adapt to the changing landscape. This evolution involves developing diverse research skills and deepening their understanding of the business and product metrics. Additionally, researchers should focus on building strong relationships with product managers and designers to ensure integration from the beginning to the end of the product process. By doing so, they can have a larger impact and drive better outcomes for the business.

User Centered Performance - symbolic rather than learning

02:17

UX researchers aren’t integrated enough to make impact

00:36

The Flaws of NPS as a Marketing Metric

02:45

The Value of Fast Research in Generating Business Insights

01:39

Intro

5min

Reckoning in User Research

9min

Integrating UX Research in Product Development

18min

Collaboration in User Research

5min

The Essential Role of Usability Research in Product Development

4min

Balancing A-B Testing and User Research

23min

Rethinking NPS: The Case for Customer Satisfaction Metrics

3min

Navigating Product Management and Personal Insights

8min

Judd Antin has spent 15 years leading research and design teams at companies like Yahoo, Meta, and Airbnb. His direct reports have gone on to lead user research at Figma, Notion, Slack, Robinhood, Duolingo, AllTrails, and more. In our conversation, we unpack the transformation that the user-research field is experiencing. Specifically:

• Where user research went wrong over the past decade

• The three types of research—macro, middle-range, and micro—and the purpose of each

• How to effectively integrate researchers into the product development process

• The “user-centered performance” phenomenon and why it’s a waste of time

• Common tropes about PMs, from researchers

• The ideal ratio of researchers in a company

• Why Judd says NPS is useless, and what to use instead

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ux-research-reckoning-is-here

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Where to find Judd Antin:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juddantin/

• Website: https://juddantin.com/

• Blog: https://medium.com/onebigthought

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

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• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/