The Yzzi Research Podcast

Imani revisits guest interviews from season one and reflects on building domain vs. method expertise as a UX researcher, why research is both an art and a science, and UX research in the United States and Hungary.

Hosted by UX researcher, Imani Nichols, The Yzzi Research Podcast is the resource for people who research people. The first episode of the second season will be live on October 18, 2021. Visit yzziresearch.com and sign up for the mailing list to be updated about the podcast. Follow Yzzi Research on Twitter and follow Imani on LinkedIn.

Becoming a UX researcher can be tricky. There’s no clear path into the career and as a result, it can leave you confused and vulnerable. Considering such, coaching and mentorship are critically important. Keep listening to hear my thoughts on UX researcher career coaching and mentorship.

Iris Yim is a market researcher and principal at Sparkle Insights. She focuses on multicultural market research. Listen to her thoughts on doing good market research, creating engaging reports, creating a sound sample, and why she thinks MBAs are worthwhile for market researchers to pursue.

There are several personality traits that enable people to be good researchers … and there are a few bad ones that undermine the capacity to become a good researcher. Listen to Imani outline the personality of a good researcher.

How much money does a UX researcher make? What are the differences in the role of a user experience researcher and user experience designer? How should I feel about my team not applying my research? Stay tuned to hear Imani’s answers to these and other listener-submitted questions.

Imani met Asha Toulmin when she was interviewing for a UX researcher role. At the time of this recording, Asha was working as a Research Manager at CNN, but had been a UX researcher at Google, Airbnb, and Bloomberg previously. She’s conducted research and hired UX researchers. Asha is incredibly well rounded and has a lot to share about graduate education, career pathing, and hiring UX researchers.

There’s a shortage of UX research internships which makes it hard for aspiring researchers to test the field to see if it is what they want to do. It also makes it harder for people to become UX researchers considering that many UX researcher roles require direct UX research experience. If you do secure a coveted UX research internship, what should you expect? Imani analyzed 20 UX Research Internship job descriptions and this is what she learned.

Imani used academic research as a strong foundation to build a successful career in industry research as a UX researcher. Listen to this episode to hear what she learned during her time as both and how she was able to transition.

Michele McDonald is an experienced market research expert. Michele has been a mentor of Imani's for a few years. When Imani decided to produce this podcast, it was natural for Imani to invite her as Imani wanted to share Michele's expertise and wisdom with other people.