Awkward Silences

Learn how to navigate networking events with insights from Bryan Dosono of eBay. Discover strategies for introverts, maximizing networking opportunities, and balancing conference attendance. Hear tips on adding value during small talk, connecting with researchers, and making meaningful interactions. Bryan also shares advice on overcoming imposter syndrome and leveraging transferable skills in the UX research field.

The decision to leave academia can be difficult. Often, it involves giving up a stable career path and a lifetime commitment to a particular field of study. But as Joe Stubenrauch explains, the move also offers researchers the opportunity to pursue new career paths, improve work-life balance and geographic flexibility, and reinvent their lives.And he should know: Formerly a professor of history, he walked away from tenure to join a big tech company as a UX Researcher at AWS. In this episode, Joe discusses his decision to walk transition to the private sector and shares thoughtful advice for others considering a similar move.Highlights from the episode[04:06] Joe reflects on feeling burnt out, bored, and doubtful in academia [11:23] What makes you happy? Joe weighs the pros and cons of things like mental health, geographic mobility, and proximity to family and friends.[19:41] Breaking into a new field, experimenting, and talking to people. [34:47] The importance of having a portfolio that includes compelling stories [41:35] Tactical advice for job seekers (resumes, LinkedIn profiles, job interview strategies, etc)[44:23] Working in a team environment as a former academicAbout our guestJoe Stubenrauch is a former professor of British history at Baylor University, and the author of a prize-winning book published by Oxford University Press. During the height of the pandemic, he walked away from tenure and joined a big tech company in order to redesign his life. Now as a UX Researcher at AWS, Joe has found unexpected similarities between his work as Victorianist and his work in the cloud. He also writes regularly about the transition from academia to industry and is obsessed with how people can reinvent their lives and careers.You can follow Joe on LinkedIn.

How often do you think about content design? The answer, most likely, is: “not enough”.The work of a Content Designer involves fitting the right words in the right places, understanding the nuances of things log in vs. sign in, and knowing the right words to use to engage customers. Content Design is an important part of the user experience—and the ROI is high. Like, “millions of $s saved through content-testing” high.Erica Jorgensen is a Staff Content Designer at Chewy.com and the author of Strategic Content Design: Tools and Research Techniques for Better UX. She joined Erin and Carol on the podcast to discuss the ins and outs of content design, the importance of clarity for effective communication, and how to involve your audience in content design.Highlights from the episode:00:02:03: What is content design in the context of UX research?00:06:48: Gaining clarity by thinking about the words you use frequently 00:14:00: How Erica used simplified language to get customers to buy more insurance plans00:26:42: Using cloze testing to ensure general content clarity00:29:26: The importance of syllables and length 00:39:46: Resources and guides for better content design00:42:56: How Microsoft saved $2 million through content testing  Sources and people mentionedBrainTrafficChewy.comCloze testing — “Cloze Test for Reading Comprehension,” NN/g.Curtis Kopf, Chief Experience Officer at REIDylan Romero, Affiliate Instructor at University of Washington, UX at MicrosoftFlesch–Kincaid – Wikipedia Hemingway EditorJorgensen, Erica. Strategic Content Design: Tools and Research Techniques for Better UX. (2023) — GET 15% OFF AT ROSENFELD MEDIA WITH CODE AS15MeasuringU (Jeff Sauro)Merriam-Webster DictionaryMetts, Michael and Andy Wefle. Writing Is Designing: Words and the User Experience. (2020)Scott KubieSystem Usability ScaleTracy Vandygam, Senior Content Designer at MozillaVisual ThesaurusWinters, Sarah. Content Design. (2017)About our guestErica Jorgensen is a staff content designer at Chewy.com and the author of Strategic Content Design: Tools and Research Techniques for Better UX, published in April 2023 by Rosenfeld Media. She's a content designer, content strategist, and team leader determined to bring greater respect to the content field. To that end, Erica speaks frequently at conferences including UXDX USA, UX Lisbon, Microsoft Design Week, the Web Directions Summit, and Button: The Content Design Conference, and on podcasts like The Content Strategy Podcast with Kristina Halvorson and Content Insights podcast with Larry Swanson. In addition to working in content roles for companies of all sizes, she has taught at the University of Washington and Seattle’s School of Visual Concepts. Erica earned her B.A. from the University of Connecticut and M.A. from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. In her free time, you can find her exploring Washington State’s wineries or hiking with her husband and rescue dog, Rufus.

Learn how designers can be effective change agents by employing their skills to drive change at scale, treating design as a mindset, and working with people who share a creative and open mindset. Discover the qualities of effective leaders and the importance of believing in progress and continuous improvement.

Prayag Narula, CEO and Co-Founder of Marvin, discusses practical strategies for building a customer-centric culture, the importance of customer obsession, and incorporating customer feedback in decision-making. He also explores the role of researchers and the challenges of maintaining a data repository. Tune in to learn more about fostering customer obsession and the importance of customer centricity.

Linus Lee, Research Engineer at Notion, discusses designing interfaces for Generative AI tools, the challenges of instructing AI, user feedback's importance in AI design process, security considerations, and distinguishing between AI-generated and human-written text.

Andrea Amorós, Associate Principal Researcher at ADP, shares how to make research meaningful for stakeholders at higher levels of the organization. She discusses building relationships, presenting research to big audiences, and creating meaningful change in the research landscape. Learn how to bring research to the big table and make a genuine impact.

As the hosts bid farewell to JH after 134 episodes, they reflect on the origins of the podcast and their favorite memories. They discuss the impact of the podcast, their favorite episodes and guests, and unveil some secrets about the intro. JH shares his future podcast plans and Erin reveals where JH is heading. They also share funny outtakes and memories from their time together.

As a researcher, you know the value of using research to drive business decisions—but other stakeholders might not. In order to drive action from research, you need to create alignment with key decision-makers and the research you do. Pejman Mirza-Babaei joins the Awkward Silences podcast to discuss how to transform research insights into actionable design decisions by collaborating with stakeholders. With over fifteen years of experience doing UXR and interaction design on various applications, Pejman shares insights on the importance of effective communication and collaboration; the need for actionable and cost-effective research; and the challenges and biases that can arise in decision-driven research.Tune into this episode to learn all about the intricacies of decision-driven research 👇Highlights: [00:01:53] Pejman’s extensive experience with games and user research[00:04:40] Making good, directed, actionable decisions from research[00:08:53] The inspiration behind The Game Designer’s Playbook[00:13:14] Collaboration with stakeholders to determine research necessity[00:16:53] Ensuring alignment between decision-makers and researchers[00:23:30] When decision-centric research backfires[00:27:31] Avoiding marketing your company to your participants[00:30:07] Specificity in context [00:32:28] Navigating difficult decisions stemming from research[00:37:03] Successfully seeing research insights through to action[00:43:46] Life motivations mirrored in gamesSources mentioned in the episode:userinterviews.com/awkwardThe Game Designer's PlaybookAbout Our GuestPejman Mirza-Babaei is a UX research consultant, author, and professor. His latest book, The Game Designer's Playbook, was published in September 2022. He also co-edited the Games User Research book (2018), a compendium of insights from over 40 experts on UX research in games. He has over 15 years of experience doing UXR and interaction design on various applications, from mobile apps to VR games and everything in between streaming content, console, PC games, and even delivery robots! He worked as the UX Research Director at Execution Labs (Montréal, Canada) from 2015 to 2017 and was a UX Researcher at Vertical Slice and Player Research (UK) from 2009 to 2013. 

Competition can be scary. But in UX, competitive research is insightful.You don’t want to chase your competitors, but you need to know what they are doing to know how you can improve.Rachel Miles joins the Awkward Silences podcast to discuss the value of competitive research in UX and design. As the UX research lead at IBM, Rachel integrated competitive research at IBM to measure their products’ performance and to align their existing internal measures with external measures. She shares insights on selecting benchmark competitors or metrics, communicating competitive insights, and navigating legal challenges. Tune into this episode to learn how competitive research can inform your product development and strategy 👇Highlights:[00:00:41] Rachel’s interest in competitive research[00:02:27] What makes up competitive research?[00:05:54] Choosing your competitors to benchmark against [00:10:08] Determining benchmarking metrics[00:16:33] Rule #1: Avoiding over fixating on the competition[00:21:37] Opportunities for non-researchers to do competitive research[00:23:28] Creating and sharing benchmark assets[00:27:95] Managing participants for competitive methods[00:30:11] Navigating legal challenges[00:34:56] Priming participants for fake scenarios[00:38:05] Teamwork makes the dream work in competitive researchAbout Our GuestRachel Miles, UX Research Lead at IBM, is a user experience researcher and strategist. A self-proclaimed nerd of all trades, she loves to learn about everything that crosses her path. In her spare time, you might catch her reading, drawing, traveling, or working on her blog where she talks about where technology meets wellness.