Insights Unlocked

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4hyuZBr Episode summary:  In this episode of Insights Unlocked, UserTesting’s Mike Mace talks with Julia Barham, product executive, longtime product leader and author of The Product Management Playbook, about what it takes to build products customers actually value—and how the role of product management is changing as AI accelerates the product development lifecycle. Julia argues that great product managers are ultimately managers of value: connecting customer needs and business goals while developing enough fluency across design, data and technology to make better decisions. She shares why strong PMs don’t need to be experts in everything, but do need curiosity, judgment and the ability to synthesize insights and work effectively across functions.  The conversation explores why continuous discovery and experimentation are becoming even more important as AI makes it easier to build and ship quickly. Julia explains why teams should embrace “strong opinions, loosely held,” increase their learning velocity and resist the temptation to turn faster development into an excuse to ship everything in the backlog. Instead, teams need to validate ideas, learn quickly and stay focused on the customer experience. Julia and Mike also discuss how AI could reshape the product manager’s role. As AI takes on more delivery and coordination work, Julia sees greater value shifting toward strategic thinking, discovery and human judgment. She also shares lessons from the cross-functional leaders she interviewed for her book—including why partners want PMs to bring them into the process early, provide business context and start with the problem rather than arriving with a predetermined solution.  You’ll learn Why product management is increasingly about managing value, not simply managing features or backlogs How PMs can build product sense across business, customers, design, data and technology without becoming experts in every discipline Why continuous discovery and synthesis should happen throughout the product lifecycle How “strong opinions, loosely held” can help teams experiment, learn and adapt faster Why faster AI-powered development makes customer validation and product judgment more important, not less Where product managers can focus their time as AI automates more delivery and coordination work What design, data and engineering partners want from product managers Why curiosity, influence and cross-functional collaboration remain essential product management skills How product leaders can identify skill gaps and coach their teams to become stronger product thinkers  Resources and links Listener offer: Use code UT20 when purchasing The Product Management Playbook directly from Rosenfeld Media for 20% off. Julia Barham on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-barham/) The Product Management Playbook from Rosenfeld Media (https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/product-management-playbook/) Author interview with Rosenfeld Media (https://rosenfeldmedia.com/master-every-dimension-of-product-management-with-julia-barhams-new-book-the-product-management-playbook-create-ship-and-optimize-winning-products/ ) Progressive Insurance (https://www.progressive.com/) Mike Mace on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemace/) Learn more about Insights Unlocked: usertesting.com/podcast

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4ddeZlN Episode summary In this episode of Insights Unlocked, Nathan Isaacs talks with media futurist and author Jack Myers about how leaders can embrace AI without outsourcing the distinctly human qualities that drive better decisions, stronger customer relationships, and meaningful experiences. Drawing from his book Your Third Brain, Jack explores how human intelligence and machine intelligence can work together to expand what people are capable of—not replace human thinking. Jack argues that one of the biggest risks of AI isn’t simply that machines are getting smarter, but that people may begin outsourcing judgment, curiosity, creativity, memory, and discernment to them. He explains the concept of the “third brain”: an intelligence that emerges when human experience, intuition, values, empathy, and imagination combine with AI’s speed, scale, knowledge, and ability to recognize patterns. The conversation also explores what the media industry’s decades of technological disruption can teach today’s product, marketing, UX, and CX leaders. Jack warns against gaining efficiency at the expense of the customer relationship, particularly as organizations increasingly turn to AI, synthetic research, and automated customer interactions. Nathan and Jack discuss why real human feedback remains essential even as AI becomes better at predicting behavior. Synthetic customers can help explore possibilities and prepare better questions, Jack says, but real people provide the context, emotion, contradictions, and unexpected insights that can reveal whether an organization is solving the right problem in the first place. Finally, they explore empathy as a practical leadership skill and how organizations can reinvest the time AI saves into listening, curiosity, creativity, and deeper human understanding. Jack encourages leaders to define the human outcome before choosing the technology—and to measure not only productivity, but also trust, well-being, and whether technology is strengthening or diminishing human capabilities. You’ll learn Why Jack believes AI should expand human intelligence rather than replace human thinking What the “third brain” is and how human and machine intelligence can complement each other Why outsourcing judgment, curiosity, creativity, and discernment to AI creates risks for organizations What the media industry can teach leaders about protecting direct customer relationships Why synthetic research can support—but shouldn’t replace—feedback from real people How empathy and human context can lead to better decisions and customer experiences How leaders can balance AI-enabled speed and efficiency with deeper human understanding Why organizations should measure trust and human capabilities alongside productivity Resources and links Jack Myers’ website: http://www.jackmyers.com/ Jack Myers’ books, including Your Third Brain: https://jackmyersbooks.com/ Nathan Isaacs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanisaacs/ Learn more about Insights Unlocked: https://www.usertesting.com/podcast

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4hjhw0g Episode summary In this special episode of Insights Unlocked, host Nathan Isaacs sits down with CEO Eric Johnson and Chief Marketing Officer Johann Wrede to introduce Auros, the new parent brand for UserTesting, and explore why the company is expanding its focus as AI reshapes how products and experiences are built. Eric and Johann explain why the UserTesting name no longer captured the full scope of the company’s ambitions. While UserTesting and User Interviews will continue serving the research, UX, and insights communities, Auros reflects a broader mission: bringing human intelligence into the development, training, testing, and evaluation of AI. They also share the story behind the Auros name and why the company believes its network of more than 7.5 million people can play a larger role in an AI-enabled world. You’ll learn: Why UserTesting is becoming part of a new parent brand, Auros What the Auros name represents and why the company chose a broader identity Why UserTesting and User Interviews will remain important parts of the business How AI is shifting the experience question from usability to trust Why human judgment and expertise matter when training and evaluating AI How a global network of more than 7.5 million people could support AI development What the evolution means for UX researchers, designers, product teams, and other enterprise leaders Why Eric and Johann see human intelligence as an essential part of building safer, more trustworthy AI Resources & links:  Auros Eric Johnson on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ebjohnson1/) Johann Wrede on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannwrede/) Nathan Isaacs on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanisaacs/) Learn more about Insights Unlocked (https://www.usertesting.com/resources/podcast)

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4AkBzTc Episode summary: In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Jennifer Artabane talks with Ranjitha Kumar, UserTesting’s Chief Scientist, and Jason Giles, UserTesting’s Vice President of Customer Intelligence, about a question that becomes more important as AI makes it easier for anyone to create: How do you know whether what you’ve created is actually good? Ranjitha and Jason explore the increasingly important role of human expertise, taste, craft, and judgment in an AI-powered workplace. They discuss why powerful AI tools can produce very different results depending on the expertise of the person using them, and why knowing how to interrogate, critique, and improve AI-generated work matters as much as knowing how to generate it. The conversation also examines AI’s ability to quickly get teams from zero to 80%—and why the remaining 20% may become a critical source of differentiation. Ranjitha and Jason share how leaders can help the next generation develop judgment without using AI to bypass the experiences that build expertise, and why curiosity, critique, experimentation, and uniquely human perspectives will remain essential as AI reshapes how we work. You’ll learn: Why expertise matters even more when powerful AI tools are available to everyone How taste differs from expertise—and why personal experience helps shape it Why AI-generated output still requires human judgment, critique, and attention How the final 20% of craft can differentiate experiences in a “sea of sameness” How AI can be used to strengthen learning and critique instead of shortcutting them Why the ability to evaluate and improve work may become as important as the ability to create it Why curiosity and uniquely human experiences remain valuable skills in an AI-powered world Resources and links Ranjitha Kumar on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ranjithaskumar/) Jason Giles on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaygiles/) Jennifer Artabane on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jartabane/) AI-related resources on UserTesting (https://www.usertesting.com/blog/ai-resources-human-insight) Learn more about Insights Unlocked: https://www.usertesting.com/podcast

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4ywaHhh Episode summary In this episode of Insights Unlocked, Mike Mace, Director of Solution Marketing at UserTesting, talks with veteran product leader, author, and executive coach Rich Mironov about what AI-powered development really means for product teams—and why dramatically faster coding doesn’t automatically translate into better products, happier customers, or more revenue. Rich argues that as AI removes engineering constraints, the bigger challenge becomes deciding what is actually worth building. He explores the risks of “cognitive surrender,” where teams equate faster output with better outcomes, and explains why product management, UX research, customer discovery, business judgment, and taste become more important—not less—as organizations gain the ability to build at unprecedented speed. He also challenges the growing enthusiasm for synthetic users, warning that plausible AI-generated feedback can reinforce what teams already believe rather than uncover the unexpected insights that emerge from conversations with real customers. The conversation also examines why “10x coding speed” won’t produce 10x revenue, how AI shifts bottlenecks from engineering toward customer adoption and go-to-market execution, and why product managers may need to become more “barbell shaped”—spending more time understanding meaningful customer problems at the front end and turning products into business results at the other. Rich also shares ideas from his book Money Stories, including why product teams need to communicate the financial value of their work in language executives understand. You’ll learn Why faster AI-assisted coding doesn’t necessarily create better products or more revenue How “cognitive surrender” can cause teams to prioritize output over customer and business outcomes Why human discovery, judgment, empathy, and taste become more valuable as building gets easier The risks of replacing conversations with real customers with synthetic users Why product waste is fundamentally different from engineering waste How AI shifts product bottlenecks toward discovery, customer adoption, sales, and go-to-market execution Why product managers may need to become more “barbell shaped” in an AI-driven environment How “money stories” can help product teams connect their work to revenue and business impact Resources and links Rich on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/richmironov/) Rich’s Product Bytes (https://www.mironov.com/) and Substack (https://richmironov.substack.com/)  The Art of Product Management (https://www.amazon.com/Art-Product-Management-Lessons-Innovator/dp/1439216061) Money Stories: Communicating the Value of Product Work (https://www.amazon.com/Money-Stories-Communicating-Value-Product-ebook/dp/B0GJTS2CW6) Our past interview with Rich on product waste and how to prevent it (https://www.usertesting.com/blog/how-prevent-product-waste) Mike Mace on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemace/) Nathan Isaacs on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanisaacs/) Learn more about Insights Unlocked (https://www.usertesting.com/resources/podcast)

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4cqygzK Episode summary:  In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Jason Giles talks with Roger Wong, former Head of Design at BuildOps and an independent design consultant whose career spans Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, and startups, about what AI is (and isn’t) changing about product design.  Roger says that while AI can dramatically accelerate how teams research, prototype, and build, the fundamentals remain the same: understand the customer, solve the right problem, and use strong judgment to turn insights into better outcomes. Drawing on his work at BuildOps, Roger shares how his team stays close to commercial contractors and field technicians to uncover problems AI alone can’t see. He describes how observing technicians in their real working environments led to an AI-powered visit summaries feature that lets technicians dictate notes after a job, reducing the burden of typing after a long day in the field. The lesson: customers may not be asking for AI—they want reliable products that solve real problems, and trust has to be earned before teams introduce more ambitious AI experiences. Roger and Jason also explore how AI is reshaping the design process itself. Faster prototyping can tighten customer feedback loops and improve collaboration with engineers, but generating more output doesn’t necessarily create a better product. Roger discusses why teams need to measure outcomes rather than velocity, why people must take ownership of AI-generated work, and why craft, empathy, systems thinking, and judgment are becoming even more important as AI tools become widely available. The conversation closes with a challenge for design and product leaders: treat AI as a new design material and experiment with it firsthand without abandoning the foundational skills that make great designers great. Roger also raises an emerging concern for the profession—how junior designers will develop those skills and judgment if AI increasingly takes over the “grunt work” that traditionally helped early-career designers learn their craft. You’ll learn Why faster product development doesn’t necessarily lead to better customer outcomes How firsthand customer research can uncover AI opportunities teams might otherwise miss Why trust starts with reliability—not flashy AI features How AI is accelerating prototyping and tightening customer feedback loops Why teams need human ownership and judgment over AI-generated work What skills Roger looks for in designers as AI tools become ubiquitous Why design leaders should treat AI as a new material and experiment with it themselves How AI could reshape the way the next generation of designers develops its craft Resources and links Roger Wong on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerwong/ ) RogerWong.me (http://RogerWong.me ) Roger Wong’s Substack newsletter (https://newsletter.rogerwong.me/ ) Jason Giles on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaygiles/ ) Learn more about Insights Unlocked at UserTesting.com/podcast

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4gt1TTy Episode summary: In this episode of Insights Unlocked, Nathan Isaacs sits down with UserTesting Chief Scientist Ranjitha Kumar and Vice President of Customer Intelligence Jason Giles to explore how AI is reshaping the product development lifecycle—and what happens when the traditional boundaries between designers, engineers, and product teams begin to blur. Ranjitha and Jason discuss how AI is making it easier for people to move beyond their functional lanes, from designers building working prototypes to engineers taking a more active role in design. But greater access to the tools doesn’t eliminate the need for expertise. As building becomes faster and cheaper, they argue that craft, judgment, decision-making, and understanding what customers actually need may become even more valuable. The conversation also explores how teams can use AI to accelerate experimentation and learning without simply creating more things, why human feedback remains critical as organizations test new AI experiences, and where AI still falls short. Ranjitha and Jason also weigh in on AI slop, agentic AI and guardrails, and why teams should stay mindful about where AI genuinely improves their work—and where it may actually slow them down. You’ll learn: How AI is blurring the traditional boundaries between design and engineering Why expertise and craft still matter when anyone can create prototypes and code How AI could enable smaller, more collaborative product teams Why faster execution makes decision-making and customer understanding more important How teams can turn faster prototyping into faster learning and experimentation Why AI won’t necessarily accelerate every part of the product development process How human judgment, guardrails, and customer feedback can help teams use AI responsibly Resources and links Ranjitha Kumar on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ranjithaskumar/) Jason Giles on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaygiles/) Nathan Isaacs on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanisaacs/) Learn more about Insights Unlocked: https://www.usertesting.com/podcast

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4qpHthC Episode summary: In this episode of Insights Unlocked, Lija Hogan chats with Nick Cawthon, founder of Gauge and a veteran UX researcher, designer, and strategist, about what happens to UX research when AI makes it dramatically faster and easier to build digital experiences. Nick explains why speed alone isn’t a competitive advantage. As AI accelerates prototyping and product development, teams need the humility to test, iterate, and make sure they’re solving the right problems—not simply moving faster in the wrong direction. That makes human insight and strategic research more important, not less. The conversation explores where AI can create meaningful efficiencies in research, from transcription and tagging to indexing qualitative data, and where Nick believes humans should remain firmly in the loop. He also shares how researchers can make insights more accessible across an organization, demonstrate their connection to business outcomes, and evolve from gatekeepers of research into educators and strategic partners. Finally, Nick offers advice for researchers thinking about the future of their profession: learn the new tools, invest in human connection, and make yourself indispensable by becoming the connective tissue between customers, product teams, designers, engineers, and business leaders. You’ll learn: Why faster product development makes human insight even more important How AI can help teams prototype, test, and iterate at greater speed Where AI can eliminate tedious research work—and where human connection still matters Why researchers need to look beyond tactical usability questions to the broader customer experience How research repositories can make customer insights more accessible to leaders and teams Ways UX researchers can connect their work to business outcomes and product metrics Why human connection and cross-functional influence can help researchers future-proof their careers Resources & links Nick Cawthon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickcawthon-ux-digital-agency-product-design-leadership/ Gauge: http://Gauge.io Nick Cawthon’s website: http://nickcawthon.com/ Lija Hogan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lija-hogan-894769/ Learn more about Insights Unlocked: https://www.usertesting.com/podcast

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4wqOtMn Episode summary In this episode of Insights Unlocked, UserTesting’s Mike Mace sits down with AI product strategist, UX thought leader, and UX for AI author Greg Nudelman to explore how AI is reshaping the role of UX and product professionals—and what teams need to do differently to build AI products that deliver real customer and business value. Greg argues that simply using AI to work faster isn’t enough. As traditional UX tasks become easier to automate, the bigger opportunity is for UX researchers, designers, and product leaders to move upstream: uncover customer needs, frame the right problems, understand how AI systems work, and rapidly validate working concepts with customers. He shares his “snowball sprint” approach, where teams start small and continuously add capabilities only after validating that they’re solving the right problem. The conversation also explores why speed can become a liability when teams rush into AI development without considering real-world consequences. Greg discusses the importance of evaluating ROI and risk before building, including his use of a value matrix to examine what happens when an AI system gets something right—or wrong. For AI products with increasingly consequential actions, customer-centered design and responsible product leadership become more important, not less. Ultimately, Greg believes the companies that succeed with AI will be those that stay focused on customers and use the technology to empower people. For UX and product professionals, that means rediscovering their core strengths in empathy, problem-solving, discovery, and strategic thinking—and applying them to a new generation of AI-powered experiences. You’ll learn: Why UX professionals need to move beyond simply using AI to make existing workflows faster How customer discovery and strategic problem framing become even more valuable as AI accelerates product development Why Greg believes UX professionals should become AI product and relationship designers, not just interface designers How the “snowball sprint” approach keeps customers involved throughout AI product development Why teams should evaluate AI ROI, risk, and the consequences of incorrect outputs before they build How rapid prototyping and real-world customer feedback can help teams avoid expensive AI product failures What will separate the companies that succeed with AI from those that fall behind Resources & links Greg Nudelman on LinkedIn UX for AI book UX for AI website Greg’s “Iceberg UX” post Mike Mace on LinkedIn Learn more about Insights Unlocked: usertesting.com/podcast

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4hS9ls9 Episode summary In this episode of Insights Unlocked, Rachel Blackburn sits down with Marc Majers, Head of User Research at Progressive Insurance, UX educator, author, and host of the UX Pathways podcast, to explore what separates great user experiences from merely functional ones. Drawing on more than two decades in UX, Marc shares how empathy, curiosity, and continuous learning have shaped his career—and why understanding people remains the foundation of effective design, even as AI rapidly transforms the industry. Marc discusses how UX professionals can thoughtfully integrate AI into their workflows without losing sight of the human perspective, why organizations should view UX as a strategic business advantage rather than a design function, and how speaking the language of business helps teams demonstrate measurable impact. He also offers his perspective on synthetic users, the future of AI-powered experiences, and why testing should become an organization's default mindset. The conversation wraps with an unexpected look at the parallels between UX and Marc's work as a wedding DJ, revealing how both disciplines rely on understanding human behavior, anticipating needs, and designing experiences that keep people engaged. You'll learn: Why empathy and curiosity remain the most important skills in UX—even in the age of AI How UX professionals can adopt AI thoughtfully without replacing human judgment Practical ways to communicate the business value of UX to executives and stakeholders Why continuous testing creates better products and stronger organizational cultures How synthetic users can complement—but not replace—real customer research Why the future of UX depends on balancing technological innovation with human-centered design What designing great digital experiences has in common with keeping a wedding dance floor full Resources & links Marc Majers on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmajers/ UX Pathways: https://www.uxpathways.com/ Rachel Blackburn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/racheleblackburn/ Learn more about Insights Unlocked: https://www.usertesting.com/podcast