Awkward Silences

Insights can come from a lot of different places. Support tickets, sales calls, market research studies, and of course, dedicated user research are all a part of an organization's insights funnel. But how do you synthesize all that data into useful insights for your business? Dave Chen, Director of Consumer Insights at Flipp, does it by blending his CX, UX, and Market Research teams into one superpowered insights group. Erin and JH chatted with Dave about how he handles all that research, who does what in a blended org, and how he gets stakeholders on board by using research from multiple teams. Dave talked about…What each team brings to the insights table.How the team triangulates incoming research questions to find the best answers.Why some traditional market research methods—like focus groups—are so difficult to get right.Highlights[1:36] How Dave thinks about his blended CX, UXR, and market research team.[7:02] Managing research questions in a blended organization.[12:53] Why focus groups are so difficult to get right. [17:37] How the UX, CX, and Market Research teams work in practice.[22:36] How Dave presents data from multiple teams to get stakeholder buy-in.About our guestDave Chen is the Senior Director, UX Foundations & Enablement at 1Password. Formerly, he was Director of Consumer Insights at Flipp where he was responsible for leading Market Research, UX Research and Customer Experience (CX) teams to drive customer-based insights for both B2C and B2B verticals. Before Flipp, he worked in research and consumer insights at General Mills, Nielsen, and Staples. 

Researchers talk a lot about the importance of empathy. But what the heck does ‘empathy’ actually mean? What does empathy really look like in practice? Babz Jewell—an ethnographic sociologist and Principal UX Researcher at Variant—is here to explain. She joined Erin and JH to share her practical approach to empathy and active listening, and how these skills have transformed her UX research practice.Babz talked about…How active listening can help UX researchers improve their entire research process.Building better relationships with stakeholders. Using notetaking to be a better active listener. Highlights[3:47] What is empathy anyway?[7:40] Being empathetic with your stakeholders can create more impactful research.[17:03] How radical listening can change your research practice.[24:52] How Babz uses note-taking skills she learned with Russian diplomats to improve her listening.Resources and people mentioned in the episodeHmnty Cntrd’s coursesTeresa Torres’ Continuous Discovery HabitsJor-El CaraballoVivianne CastilloAbout our guestBabz is a sociologist and leader in leveraging ethnographic research methods for corporate UX, CX and product design. She is currently UX Research Manager at FanDuel. At the time of our interview, she was Principal User Experience Researcher at Variant, a driver-focused long-haul trucking company. There, she leads research operations and projects for driver-facing products and support with ethnographic methods.

Indi Young discusses the flaws of designing for the 'average user' and the importance of understanding diverse thinking styles. She explains how using data to uncover patterns can lead to more inclusive design decisions. The podcast also explores the harm caused by biased research and design practices, highlighting the need for cognitive empathy and personalized approaches in product development.

Shortly after Lucy Denton joined Dovetail as Product Design Lead, she was tasked with running a large-scale opportunity research project—and then making sense of all the insights. And the stakes were high; after all, she was researching user researchers! This week on the podcast, Lucy chatted with Erin and JH about how she knew it was time for a big generative research project, how she got the whole team involved, and what she did with all that research. Lucy talked about…How she and the team knew it was time for a big generative project.What Dovetail built with all this research.What she would do differently if she had to do it all again.Highlights[4:30] How to know when you need to zoom out and look at the big picture rather than taking feature requests as they come.[11:13] Turning over 300 atomic insights into a roadmap.[17:30] What the Dovetail team has shipped from their research.[22:01] How Dovetail fast-tracks customer empathy by creating onboarding packs with key insights and interviews for new team members. [26:42] What Lucy would do differently if she had to do it all again.About our guestLucy Denton is the Head of Design at Dovetail. She leads the team’s design and research efforts. Before joining Dovetail, Lucy was a designer at Atlassian for over five years. At Atlassian, she led user-centered design projects, a multidisciplinary team, and contributed to strategic design decisions. 

In this special episode, two UXR CEOs geek out about their work, the challenges of building tools for user researchers, and the future of UX research tools.This week we’re mixing things up a bit. Basel Fakhoury, CEO and cofounder of User Interviews, and Benjamin Humphrey, CEO and cofounder of Dovetail, braved transpacific timezone scheduling to chat about starting a company in the UX research space, what their teams are working on now, and what they think the future holds for user research tools.Their conversation is available as both a video recording and an audio episode, so go ahead and pick your poison!Basel and Benjamin talked about…How User Interviews and Dovetail beganThe future of the UX research software spaceHow they think about the value of UX researchHighlights[2:15] How User Interviews and Dovetail began.[9:22] User research tools take a whole lot of user research to build. [13:32] What’s behind the rise of user research?[18:32] How do researchers measure the effectiveness of their work?[26:18] Where does user research fit into an organization?[32:07] What’s next for Basel and Benjamin?About our guestsBasel Fakhoury is the CEO and co-founder of User Interviews. User Interviews’ goal is to help companies make smarter decisions by connecting them with consumers who are interested in sharing their feedback on your products and ideas. The User Interviews platform simplifies the entire process of recruiting, vetting, and scheduling qualified participants for product tests and market research interviews.Benjamin Humphrey is the CEO and co-founder of Dovetail. Dovetail helps you store, analyze, and collaborate on user research in one place, making it easy to see patterns, discover insights, and decide what to do next. Thousands of researchers, designers, and product managers use Dovetail worldwide.

How do you measure success in a still-evolving field? Joey Encarnacion has been working in research ops since 2017. He joined Erin and JH on the pod to talk about Slack’s Rolling Research program, what success looks like for his team, and how he builds systems that scale.Joey discussed…Ensuring research ops can scale by building the smallest operable system firstHow he measures the success of his efforts in such a new field Slack’s Rolling Research programHighlights[2:14] Research operations as connective tissue within an organization.[8:45] To make your operations scalable, build the smallest operable system first.[16:34] Slack's Rolling Research Program.[21:54] How Joey knows if his research ops program is working.[24:48] Trends in participant recruitment during the pandemic.[28:08] Research ops as a signal that user research as a field is growing in importance. [36:08] How to measure success in research ops.[36:42] Checking your biases in civic research.About our guestJoey Encarnacion is a Research Operations leader (Twitch, Slack, Airbnb). He has been working in research operations since 2017. He’s a black belt cat herder and loves bringing organization to chaos. 

To celebrate our launch on Product Hunt, we're taking some time to reflect on what Awkward Silences is all about. Guests featured in this episode, in order:Jon Macdonald, Founder of the GoodCat Noone, CEO of StarkRoy Opata Olende, Research Operations Manager at ZapierMaria Rosala, User Experience Specialist at Nielsen Norman GroupJoel Klettke, Founder of Case Study BuddyErika Hall, Co-Founder and Director of Strategy at Mule DesignHarrison Wheeler, Senior Manager, Product Design at LinkedIIn 

Whether you’re paying a parking ticket or getting a divorce, chances are high that you’ll go through some (if not all) of that process online. Chances are also good that the UX of that process will be… not great. Cyd Harrell wants to change that.Cyd—prominent Civic Design Consultant and Service Design Lead at the Judicial Council of California—has been working in civic tech since 2012. She’s passionate about helping governments create digital services that meet people where they are. In this episode, Cyd joins Erin and JH to talk about her past projects, navigating the public sector, what inspired her to get involved in civic tech, and how people can contribute to the field. Cyd talked about…The unique difficulties that come with designing for the public sectorThe importance of creating equitable digital experiences How to get started in civic tech, even if you don’t codeHighlights[1:23] Civic tech, explained. [4:09] Metrics for public services have to be different from the private sector because growth really isn't the focus. [7:54] How Cyd got started in civic design.[13:23] Cyd talks through a project she worked on for California’s court system.[22:13] How do civic tech projects get started anyway? [32:46] How to work with stakeholders in the public sector.[36:42] Checking your biases in civic research.Resources mentioned in the episodeUS government agenciesU.S. Digital ResponseCode for America and Code for [Insert your city]U.S. Digital Service18FConsultancies that work with the US governmentA1MBloom WorksNavaPluribus DigitalCommunities, conferences, books, etc.Cyd’s book: A Civic Technologist’s Practice GuideRosenfeld Media’s Civic Design 2021Code for America’s Slack channels#CivicTech on TwitterAbout our guestCyd Harrell is Chief Digital Services Officer for the City and County of San Francisco and on the Board of Directors for Technologists for Public Good. She has previously worked at Code for America, 18F, and Charles Schwab doing UX, research, and product work. She’s the author of A Civic Technologist’s Practice Guide. Her favorite tools are empathy and duct tape.

Information architecture is everywhere. Page Laubheimer, Senior User Experience Specialist at Nielsen Norman Group, joins our hosts to shed some light on the complicated topic of IA and how the way we organize data impacts how we interact with products. He explains how and when to do IA work on a UX project, which research methods you’ll need, and how to launch your IA career.Page talked about…How and when to do IA work on a UX projectWhich research methods you’ll need to use to improve your IAHow to launch your IA careerHighlights[1:15] What is information architecture anyway?[10:07] Why IA is the eternally relevant UX discipline.[12:40] The term "architecture" makes many people think IA has to come first, but this isn't always the case.[23:17] How Page got started in IA.[27:11] What kind of research do you need to do to create good IA?[36:00] If you're doing IA as a part of your UX work, take some time to really focus on words.About our guestPage Laubheimer is a Senior User Experience Specialist at Nielsen Norman Group. His background in library and information science helps him create usable and organized interfaces. At NN/g he performs independent research, leads courses and seminars, and works with clients to create well organized UX. 

Our third annual State of User Research survey gathered insights from 525 people who do research around the world. Katryna Balboni, our Content Director, joined the hosts of Awkward Silences to talk about how the 2021 report came together. They discussed the challenges of survey design, the changing landscape of user research, improving stakeholder buy-in for user research, and (nerd alert!) large-scale medieval surveys.In this episode, Katryna talks about…How we (re)designed our survey and distributed it to user researchersThe relationship between stakeholder buy-in and UX researcher job fulfillmentGetting philosophical about survey distribution and representative audiencesThe “Great Survey” and Domesday Book of 1086 ⚔️Read the full report: The State of User Research 2021Highlights[8:20] Thinking about ways to improve survey distribution for a more diverse audience—and the implications that has on how representative that makes the results.[11:40]  On average, researchers rated their fulfillment at work as 6.4/10. How does stakeholder buy-in and engagement with UX research affect that score? [18:51] A staggering 90% of user researchers said they worked exclusively remotely since the pandemic began. How has that affected research? [27:00] How to get stakeholders engaged with research by involving them early and often.[28:34] 34% of people who do research start planning their research sessions 2-4 weeks in advance. We ask: Will we see that timeline shrink in the future?[32:20] Survey nerds need to know about the Domesday Survey of 1086, and Katryna’s here to tell you about it.Resources mentioned in the episodeThe State of User Research 2021 Report6 Strategies for Doing Faster User Research—Without Sacrificing ValidityHow to Organize, Automate, and Tidy Up your User ResearchResearch Ops: What It Is, Why It's So Important, and How to Get StartedEp #15: Kate Towsey on Starting a Research Ops PracticeHistory Extra podcast: Domesday Book: Medieval big data*About our guestKatryna Balboni is a marketer by day, thankless servant to cats Elaine Benes and Mr. Maxwell Sheffield by night. Loves to travel, has a terrible sense of direction. Bakes a mean chocolate tart, makes a mediocre cup of coffee. She is leads Creative Content & Special Projects at User Interviews.*Psst—Katryna here… Bonus extra fun fact that I forgot to mention: In the 11th century, many rents were paid in kind (i.e. not with money). One of the most common forms of payment was eels. Yes, as in the slippery fish. Domesday data shows that people in England paid their landlords over 500,000 eels each year. 🐟🐍