Awkward Silences

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. 

In design and UX research, context is king. Your work doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it’s a part of a wider ecosystem of stakeholders, beneficiaries, and more.Sheryl Cababa, Chief Strategy Officer at Substantial, recognized a clear gap in design methods that only addressed the individual user and the immediate product benefits: designing beyond the product with a systems thinking approach. As the author of Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers, Sheryl says, “My goal is not to suddenly become a systems thinking methodology practitioner and leave my job as a designer behind. I need to figure out a way to integrate [systems thinking] into my practice in a way that is actionable and accessible.”She joins Erin and JH today to discuss how systems thinking can address the complexities and interconnectedness of products and their ecosystems, sharing practical strategies for integrating it into your own design practice. Tune into this episode to learn actionable advice on adopting a systems thinking mindset when designing user experiences 👇Highlights: [00:01:18] The appeal of systems thinking[00:08:45] Ethnography as a bridge between traditional UX methods and systems thinking[00:14:29] Understanding when a problem calls for systems thinking versus when it does not[00:22:37] Avoiding “chaos” when integrating systems thinking[00:28:04] Systems thinking as a mindset rather than a set of tools[00:31:30] Recognizing when methods are producing valuable results[00:36:17] Utilizing systems thinking for speculative design[00:41:34] The importance of multi-disciplinary groups in systems thinkingSources mentioned in the episode:Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for DesignersWant a copy of Sheryl Cababa's book?Use discount code: [cababa-awkwardsilences] for 15% off your purchase of Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers at https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/systems-thinking-for-designers/.About Our GuestSheryl Cababa, Chief Strategy Officer at Substantial and Author of “Closing the Loop - Systems Thinking for Designers,” is a multi-disciplinary director with over two decades of experience in product design and consultancy, mainly focusing  on systems thinking and evidence-based design. Her current role at Substantial, a design and software development consultancy, involves conducting research, developing design strategies, and advocating for human-centric outcomes. In her book, “Closing the Loop - Systems Thinking for Designers,” Sheryl introduces readers to a powerful systems thinking mindset.

There are 6 key qualities for great facilitation:Starting with your core beliefsMaintaining neutralityStanding in the stormHonoring the wisdom of the groupUpholding the agile mindsetHonoring the group’s agendaAccording to Marsha Acker, Founder, and CEO of TeamCatapult, “The job of facilitator is not to become the agile process police that says we have to have a daily standup and every day we have to answer these three questions…Facilitation is all about reading what's happening in a group, [and] tapping into the collective intelligence and wisdom of that group."In this episode, Marsha sits down with Erin and JH to discuss the art and importance of facilitation in group settings, focusing on the 6 key principles of great facilitation she wrote about in her book The Art and Science of Facilitation: How to Lead Effective Collaboration with Agile Teams.Tune in to hear her approach to facilitation, including methods, the preparation process, and how to build your facilitation skills.👇Highlights: [00:01:05] Defining facilitation: the art of leading people through a process towards a goal[00:04:50] Reading the room and speaking the language of others[00:06:08] Maintaining neutrality as a leader[00:14:24]Standing in the storm of conflict and handling differences[00:20:43] Honoring the wisdom of the group[00:23:25] Enhancing agile processes with intentionality[00:28:54] Honoring the group’s agenda [00:33:12] Familiarity versus externality: the pros and cons of different facilitator types[00:35:57] Guidelines for facilitating workshops[00:44:56] The importance of navigating invisible team dynamicsSources mentioned in the episode:userinterviews.com/awkwarduserinterviews.com/awkwardsurveyThe Art and Science of Facilitation: How to Lead Effective Collaboration with Agile Teams Build Your Model for Leading ChangeAbout Our GuestMarsha Acker, CPF, CPCC, PCC, is the author of Build Your Model for Leading Change: A guided workbook to catalyze clarity and confidence in leading yourself and others, available now. She is the founder and CEO of TeamCatapult, a leadership development firm that equips leaders at all levels to facilitate and lead sustainable behavioral change. She is also the author of The Art and Science of Facilitation: How to Lead Effective Collaboration with Agile Teams and the host of the Defining Moments of Leadership podcast. 

How can UX researchers enable other teams to do research? Show, don’t tell.According to Helen Devine, UX Research Manager at The Economist, upskilling product people to do research means letting them observe, sit in, and be present during each stage of a research project—not just being told what to do.Helen went from doing scrappy research with 0 researchers to supporting 50 product people at The Economist to conduct great research with the help of 2 other UX researchers.Tune into this episode to learn how she established UX research as a valued discipline at The Economist, plus how to balance developing research as a craft while supporting non-researchers at the same time. 👇Highlights: [00:04:11] From 0 researchers to 3 UXRs and 50 product people [00:13:30] The art of observation and note-taking during moderated interviews [00:18:59] Generative research? Bring in a pro researcher[00:24:34] Helen’s biggest wins in instructing others on how to do research better[0:31:07] Researchers develop the craft, but they don’t own it. [00:33:54] Actionable tips on setting guardrails for non-researchers’ researchSources mentioned in the episode:userinterviews.com/awkwarduserinterviews.com/awkwardsurveyAbout Our GuestHelen Devine, UX Research Manager at The Economist, is a user-focused research expert with experience in insight, ethnography, design, and user research across commercial, government, and non-profit sectors. Her current role involves telling user stories that uncover opportunities and inspire action across the organization’s portfolio of digital properties. Before joining The Economist, Helen has had an illustrious career involving positions at The Guardian, a housing and homeless charity shelter, Lloyds Banking Group, and Asda. Recently she spoke at the Insight Innovation Exchange 2023.

What does good “scrappy” user research look like?According to Varun Murugesan, Co-founder of Apple and Banana,“You could throw anything at Jason Bourne and he would solve it... Would it be effective? [Yes—and] that's what I think about. I don't need all the fanciest tools or software.”Being good at scrappy user research is like being the Jason Bourne of research: being effective with what you have, even if you’re shot down by a tight research budget or limited in bandwidth.Varun joins Erin and JH to discuss his tips for doing scrappy research, advice for finding and utilizing creative techniques in research, and the potential positive and negative effects of the AI explosion.Highlights: [00:01:38] The value of “scrappy” research in tough economic times[00:05:50] Being “scrappy” is about speed[00:08:51] Innovating with scarce resources during the pandemic[00:17:33] Enhancing creativity through messiness[00:21:40] Sources of inspo for creative research[00:25:07] Re-evaluating your work and success[00:31:03] Research during the AI explosion[000:35:55] 7 years strong doing research, plus new opportunities for the futureSources mentioned in the episode:userinterviews.com/awkwardfruitful.appleandbanana.orgAbout Our GuestVarun Murugesan is the Co-Founder of Apple and Banana, a UXR training and development company helping to build better products through fruitful research. He is also the author of Fruitful, an online UX research library and toolkit of resources for researchers and UX teams aimed at conducting user experience research that drives impact. He is also the Senior UK Researcher of SeatGeek, a mobile ticketing marketplace. Before these positions, Varun worked in UXR roles at Best Buy and Facebook. An entrepreneur, author, and researcher, Varun has spent his career immersed in psychology, technology, and design, and has been featured on a various media platforms sharing fruitful research and his personal UXR career journey.A gift from Apple & Banana and Awkward SilencesInterested in trying Apple & Banana for your next research project? Use our code AWKWARD-FRUITS-35 to save 35% on Fruitful, an advanced UX research repository used by 100s of teams around the world.