Growthmates: Create and Grow Meaningful Products & Careers Revealing 3 myths about User Research and start easy | Jason Giles (VP of Product Design at UserTesting)
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In this episode, I chat with Jason Giles — a VP of Product Design at UserTesting.com. We dove into his journey, from working as an electronic musician to becoming a leader in the tech industry. Jason shares his unique story about transitioning into the UX field during his time at Microsoft, his experiences with design leadership, and how human-centered design became his foundation. We also dive into the importance of research, debunking 3 myths about its cost and time, and Jason’s insights into democratizing research within organizations.
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Key highlights from this episode 👇
- How Jason transitioned from music to UX design;- The role of human-centered design in successful products;- Revealing 3 myths about User Research and sharing actionable tips:
* Research takes a lot of time, it’s expensive, and we basically don’t have resources for that.
* Research doesn’t give any measurable impact and it’s impossible to to measure
* It’s risky to democratize research, as it can become a weapon in the “wrong” hands
- Quantifying the ROI of user experience research- Democratizing research across teams for better user insights—
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Where to find Kate Syuma, Growth Advisor (ex-Miro):
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Where to find our guest — Jason Giles (VP of Product Design at UserTesting):
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaygiles/
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What we’ve covered in this episode:
[00:00] Introduction and welcome to the conference[00:07] Jason’s journey: From electronic musician to UX designer[00:20] Joining Microsoft and the early stages of his career in UX[03:00] Joining UserTesting and how the mission aligns with his personal goals[05:30] The myths about UX research and the challenges of starting with limited resources[09:30] Conducting research with minimal budget and engaging customers[12:41] Measuring the ROI of UX research[16:00] Case study: Saving $1.2 million by using validated designs[20:00] The role of democratizing research within teams[24:00] How leadership can support a user-centric mindset[26:30] Audience Q&A: Advice on how to involve the entire team in UX research[31:00] Final thoughts and closing remarks
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📕Useful Resources for User Research
* “The Holistic Growth Playbook" by Growthmates with insights from 100+ companies on Growth and UX: https://growthmates.club/playbook
* “The Design of Everyday Things” by Don Norman: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Revised-Expanded/dp/0465050654
* UserTesting.com — the platform for user research to transform how you build products and experiences: https://www.usertesting.com/
* Advanced Techniques: Continuous Discovery by Aakash Gupta:
🎙️ More Growthmates episodes on User Research
* Making Decisions with User Research from Startup to Scale-up | Behzod Sirjani (Advisor & Partner at Reforge, ex-Slack): https://katesyuma.substack.com/p/making-decisions-with-user-research
* Running UXR in Growth teams | Andrej Balaz (UXR at Miro):
https://katesyuma.substack.com/p/running-uxr-in-growth-teams-andrej-9df
* Driving a Positive Behavioural Change with Your Product | Amy Bucher (Lirio, Author of "Engaged"): https://katesyuma.substack.com/p/driving-a-positive-behavioural-change
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