Awkward Silences

Onboarding is a customer’s first impression of your product. The way you research, design, and implement user onboarding can make or break the overall experience. So how do you refine this important aspect of your product’s UX?Pulkit Agrawal, Co-founder and CEO of Chameleon, joins us to discuss just that: How to optimize the user onboarding experience to get your customers off to a great start.In this episode:What is onboarding?Best practices for onboarding usersHow to integrate personality into onboardingHighlights:[1:24] What is onboarding in an app?[3:50] Measuring the onboarding trade-offs[6:24] Where should UXers start optimizing their onboarding?[8:42] Limited segmentation in onboarding[12:09] How can UXRs understand the customer's core issues?[15:06] Onboarding golden practices[18:01] Great onboarding examples[22:40] Increasing user motivation[26:55] Implementing the right triggers and motivations to match the user and the product[28:49] Onboarding mistakes UXers make[30:38] The big picture versus the details[33:06] Top tips and takeaways about onboardingAbout our guestPulkit Agrawal is the Co-founder and CEO of Chameleon, a product adoption platform for SaaS that helps companies create better user onboarding. He is also an Angel Investor at product-led startups and a part-time featured speaker at Product School. Before founding Chameleon, Pulkit was the UX and User Onboarding Mentor at 500 Startups.

Work smarter, not harder with the right UXR productivity hacks. Michele Ronsen, founder of Curiosity Tank and our first repeat guest, joins us for our landmark 100th episode to tell us about the best user research hacks she’s learned to increase productivity, reduce cognitive load, and save time. Make your life a little easier with these pro UXR tips on scheduling, archiving, recruiting, screening, and more.In this episode:What is a UXR productivity hack?UXR productivity hacks examples and tipsEnhancing productivityHighlights:[2:48] The stakeholder kickoff sheet[5:14] The right balance between setting up systems and doing research[8:08] Defining every section of your UX research plan template[11:55] Scheduling hacks[14:03] Core screening criteria[16:26] PII tips[19:01] Saving time for the archiving process[21:12] Files and folders[24:03] Reducing fraudulent participants[25:39] Making sure your participants are prepared[27:59] How to build your own pool of participantsSources mentioned in the episode:UXR Productivity Hacks Bundle (Curiosity Tank)Sample Stakeholder Kickoff Questions (Curiosity Tank)Research Countdown Planner (Curiosity Tank)Participant Question Starters Template (Curiosity Tank)“Ask Like A Pro” User research workshop series (Curiosity Tank)‍Team Training (Curiosity Tank)Note-Taking for UX Research: Templates and Methods (User Interviews)‍Google Workspace‍How to recruit qualified participants, fast (User Interviews)About our guestMichele Ronsen is the founder of Curiosity Tank, a consulting and education firm specializing in human-centered research, design development, and hands-on learning programs. Her clients include Slack, Zillow, Facebook, Microsoft, and others. Michele is also an Instructor, Content Creator, and Workshop Facilitator at General Assembly. Previously, she worked at Wells Fargo as the Vice President and Creative Director and the Senior Vice President and Creative Director and held two positions at the Bank of America.

Healthcare in the U.S. is expensive—and as a result, some communities struggle to afford medical services. This inequity has become increasingly apparent as underserved communities are disproportionately affected by things like the pandemic.  So, what can UXers do to help?Wendy Johansson, Co-Founder and Chief Product Experience Officer of MiSalud Health, believes the answer lies in health tech. In this episode, Wendy shares how the MiSalud app works and her approach to using qualitative research to help build a great product.Highlights:[1:10] Why MiSalud Health?[5:50] A unique UX research method[12:27] Learning and discovery before launching the app[15:38] How to ensure you get qualitative data[18:23] Improving the product through user interviews[28:04] How UXers can build trust with participants[31:20] The importance of building equitable teams[34:05] Getting doctors onboard[39:17] Monetizing the app[42:39] The future of health techSources mentioned in the episode:MiSalud HealthAbout our guestWendy Johansson is a global product experience leader and entrepreneur focused on the intersection of product and user experience and on scaling up high-performing global teams. She is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Experience Officer of MiSalud Health and an advisor for companies like Cerby, adplist.org, and Wizeline. Wendy has a background in design and product, focuses on building equitable teams and products, and supports underrepresented people in tech.

Let’s face it… most companies these days say they are customer-centric, but the reality just doesn’t bear that out. Because in order to be truly center-centric (or even “customer-obsessed”), you need to obsessively (i.e. continuously) gather and use customer insights.Ferdinand Goetzen, CEO and Co-Founder of Reveall, joins us to explain how teams can start actually centering their customers by adopting certain practices that will help you collect, analyze, and interpret customer insights on a regular basis.In this episode:How to gather and use customer insightsActive vs passive dataMaking the most of your dataHighlights:[1:06] Start simple[3:47] Rating feedback[5:13] Active vs passive data[7:15] Interpreting the data[13:22] Start getting insights centralized across departments[16:06] Creating a culture where people want to share feedback[20:27] Making the most of your large data sets[24:44] User stories[27:00] Challenges and solutions‍Sources mentioned in the episode:Recruit qualified participants fastGoogle Analytics🤔 Customer Success Teams: Are they a roadblock or a valuable resource for UX research?About our guestFerdinand Goetzen is the CEO and Co-Founder at Reveall - a platform that allows product teams to better prioritize what to build next with the help of customer insights. He was previously the Director of Growth at Hubs.com and the Chief Growth Officer at Recruitee (both exited in 2021). He is passionate about customer-led product development and growth.

Roberta Dombrowski, VP of UX Research at User Interviews, is back for the second instalment of Tacos and Tide Pods with Erin and JH. In this episode, they discuss the importance of an effective personal productivity process, overestimated expectations, and the (very Tide Pod-y) state of the global economy.In this episode:Creating a research repository at User InterviewsSetting up an effective personal productivity processOverestimated expectationsMeetings vs asynchronous collab

Most people—including product people—don't think of their career as a product. And even the best researchers often neglect to do the research to identify suitable roles and opportunities. The result? They stay in roles for too long, or accept one that simply doesn't align with their career goals, interest, or values. They burn out and feel stuck. Sarah Doody, Founder and CEO of Career Strategy Lab, joins us to share why you should start thinking of your User Research career as a product and how you can start doing so today.In this episode:How to treat your UX career like a productHow to build (and follow) your career roadmapManaging the UX role application processHighlights[1:05] What does it mean to treat something like a product?[3:59] How to start treating your own career like a product[10:02] Understanding the UX market[17:44] Uncovering UX hiring processes and principles[24:05] Do UXers still need resumes?[29:29] Tailoring your application to the role[36:06] The “career value criteria document”[39:01] Asking the right questions[44:32] “There's a time to earn, and there's a time to learn”[45:56] Are there any downsides to treating your UX career like a product?[49:02] How to take ownership of your education🏆 Looking for more ways to learn and connect? Follow these Top UX Research Leaders on Linkedin.Sources mentioned in the episodeRecruit qualified participants fast (User Interviews)Career Strategy Lab's UX workshops, courses, and trainings (UX Portfolio Formula)How to ask someone to review your UX portfolio or resume (UX Portfolio Formula)How to find a UX mentor (Sarah Doody)UX Recruiter & Hiring Manager Interviews (Sarah Doody)About our guestSarah Doody is the Founder and CEO of Career Strategy Lab, a job search accelerator and UX recruiting agency for UX and Product professionals. In 2017, she founded The UX Portfolio Formula, a UX career accelerator that helps UX professionals create, cultivate, and achieve their career goals. 

In the world of product design, wordsmiths go by many names—UX writers, content strategists, product writers, and so on. But whatever you call them, these folks play an important role in developing seamless user experiences.Yuval Keshtcher is the Founder of the UX Writing Hub, an online education platform helping hundreds of people perfect their UX writing. He joins us to explain the difference between UX writing and content design, how the discipline is growing, and his favorite writing resources. In this episode:Creative ways to do research for UX writingHow the UX writing process works in theory and practiceWhat makes a great UX writeHighlights[2:00] Are UX Writing and Content Design the same?[6:27] Where do UX writers sit in an organization?[8:40] To be a great UX writer, you need to master research.[11:05] How to use conversation mining to communicate better with users.[17:23] How many emojis can we really use in UX copy?[25:04] How easy is it to change product copy later?[28:37] If you don't have a UX writer, start with a content design system.Sources mentioned in the episode​​Top 16 Content Style Guides 2022 (and How to Use Them)Words Matter: Testing Copy With ShakespeareAbout our guestYuval Keshtcher is the founder of the UX Writing Hub. UX Writing Hub is an online education platform for all things UX writing. The UX Writing Hub has helped hundreds of professionals transition into UX writing and content design. He also hosts the Writers in Tech podcast.

We’re changing things up a bit! Introducing a brand new series: Tacos and Tide Pods! Every month or so, Erin and JH will chat with User Interviews’s VP of Research, Roberta Dombrowski. They’ll talk about what’s going on behind the scenes at User Interviews, reflect on recent lessons learned, share their thoughts on the UXR space right now, and discuss what they're hoping to see more of in the future.

Context acts as the bridge between an abstract idea (’a comfortable user experience’) and a tangible design (‘cushioned, breathable running shoes’). Although gaining context through remote research can be tricky, our UXR friends with an anthropological background know the solution: Digital ethnography.This week, we’re joined by Megan McLean, User Researcher at Spotify. Megan shared the who-what-and-how of digital ethnography, what she’s learned about mapping the digital landscape, and how she ensures her ethnography projects succeed.Highlights[03:55] The core tenets of ethnography[06:50] Spend more time with your data throughout your study to get the most out of it.[10:01] What is digital ethnography anyway?[14:09] How Megan gets her participants to go deep on the subjects she wants to learn about[16:05] Pros and cons of the pandemic’s effect on research[19:28] How Megan recreates more real life context in her interviews[23:20] How does the audio first platform of Spotify change the way you look at things?[27:17] Who is digital ethnography a good fit for?[30:28] How Megan makes things simpler for her participants[36:36] The difference between writing analysis for usability studies and for ethnographies[39:14] What Megan’s learned about people and technology through her workAbout our guestMegan McLean is a User Research Manager at Spotify. Before Spotify, Megan received a Masters in Anthropology, worked in academia, and on UX research teams at places like Ipsos. 

Public libraries have been using insights repositories for decades—and it’s time user research teams catch up. This week, we’re joined by Nada Alnakeeb, Head of Design and Research Operations at DoorDash, and Joanna Perez, Sr. Taxonomy Strategist/Digital Archivist, Studio Production at Netflix. Nada and Joanna shared learnings from their experience building the insights repository at Meta, using familiar organizational patterns to reduce mental load, tips for effective taxonomies, and more.Highlights[00:01:34] Their experience building the repository at Meta[00:05:54] How to archive fleeting or one-off insights[00:07:59] Tools and teams required to build a minimum viable repository[00:09:10] Building a low-budget repository[00:11:20] What is an ‘insight’?[00:13:23] Using familiar organizational patterns to reduce mental load[00:24:53] Buying vs. building in-house[00:33:29] Considerations for scale[00:36:52] Measuring success and value