The Learners Podcast

So much about successful research work comes down to great communication. But, how often do you get the chance to level up this crucial skill?Playing off the bestseller, 'The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts', watch as Vidhika outlines what she believes are the five key tenets to successful research communication and great stakeholder partnership.

Our work as researchers is more than just a job. For many of us, it feels like a calling, work we were always supposed to be doing.But, as with everyone, sometimes we lose that feeling. Falling into a rut is easy, and finding your way out can be much harder. In this talk, Satsuko introduces us to the Japanese concept of Ikigai, and outlines how to apply it to our own work to make sure our careers leave us feeling fulfilled.

Much of the research we do as UX researchers follows a fairly standard approach. Don't tell the user too much about what you're building so you don't bias them, do low fidelity research before testing engineered prototypes, etc. However, when you're working with expert users, that doesn't work anymore.Expert users are a type of user that are often highly technical and know way more about your product than you do. To do research with them, there are some key changes you need to make to get the insights you're looking for.In her talk, watch as Pacha outlines how she modified her research practice to do research with cyber security experts while working at TrendMicro.

The role of the UX researcher is evolving. There's less clarity about what it takes to get to the next stage of your research career. What skills am I missing today?In this talk, Dave outlines the key skills that make up the reserach role, how to map them out, and plan to acquire the ones you need next. It's an evidence-based approach that'll help you find clarity during the murkier stages of your career.

There's field research, and then there's field research. Lucky for us, Evelina is here to help us prepare for the latter.Evelina leads UX at Chai One, an agency that does research and design work with companies in the energy sector. That means much of her research has her doing field research in some truly challenging places, like oil rigs and nuclear reactors.Watch as Evelina outlines her checklist to prepare for research in the wild.

There's no 'one-size-fits-all' approach to leadership roles, and that holds especially true for research. So, how do you plan for and start practicing the approach to research leadership that's right for you?Join Loi, former research leader at Facebook, Trip Advisor, and Buoy Health, to learn more about different approaches to managing a research function and how to figure out which one is meant for you.

Let's face it, UX Researchers don't do enough accessibility research. We have lots of good excuses, but now it's a legal requirement to make sure our applications are compliant with key accessibility standards.Sheri Byrne-Haber has been an accessibility advocate and expert for years, and she's here to knock one excuse off our collective lists - knowing how to get started with the work in the first place.

Sourcing a tool to create a research repository is easy. Implementing a research repository in a way that's compliant with legal, is used in a consistent manner by researchers, and is accessed frequently and correctly by stakeholders... that's extremely hard.Meg knows this first hard. Join Meg as she walks you through a six month process to fully implement a research repository where team members can contribute effectively, and stakeholders get real value. It's harder than it looks!

Hardware research is infinitely more difficult to do than software research. You have a physical object to manage, that often has a digital component to it as well, which can break down and is very hard to update. But there's also another key consideration: how your hardware interacts with a diverse physical environment.Vanessa leads research for iRobot, makers of the Roomba. In her talk, Vanessa outlines how using ethnographic methods was key to the development of the Roomba, and how getting onsite to see different styles of homes helped shape the product.

One major critique of UX Research is that it's often "too obscure" to tie new insights back to the bottom line. How do qualitative insights translate into more growth or revenue for the company?Molly and Lukas lead the research and experimentation teams at Booking.com, and they're here to share with you how they join forces to measure the impact of key qualitative learnings the research team uncovers.