Insights Unlocked
UserTesting
What does it take to create experiences customers love, craft campaigns that captivate, and drive measurable results?Insights Unlocked features candid conversations with the builders, creators, and innovators driving some of the world’s most impactful digital transformations. Tailored for marketing, product, UX and CX leaders, each episode delivers actionable insights to help you create customer-first strategies and stay ahead in today’s competitive landscape. Each episode is about 30 minutes long. From optimizing product launches to leveraging AI for smarter workflows, Insights Unlocked is your go-to resource for designing experiences that resonate, drive loyalty, and achieve business results. Guests include influential leaders like Brian Solis, April Dunford, Kate Towsey, Jacob Nielsen, Teresa Torres, and Judd Antin among others, offering their expertise in CX, UX, and innovation. The podcast also highlights strategies and success stories from leading brands such as Verizon, Signet Jewelers, Figma, Microsoft, Tesco Bank, and more.UserTesting leaders and industry experts join as guest hosts, alongside show producer Nathan Isaacs, award-winning journalist and Senior Manager of Content Production at UserTesting.Brought to you by UserTesting, the leader in human insights and proactive customer experience strategies, Insights Unlocked empowers CMOs and marketing teams to craft experiences that drive growth, loyalty, and impact.Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Show notes, curated clips and more at usertesting.com/podcast.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 2, 2023 • 25min
Uplevel your digital marketing with creative and prototype testing
In this week’s Insights Unlocked, UserTesting’s Paige Musto talks with Kristy, a senior manager for digital intelligence and optimization at F5. Their conversation was recorded at UserTesting’s The Human Insight Summit (THiS) in Seattle last month. They touch on various topics related to digital marketing, including creative and prototype testing, using qualitative insights to better understand the why behind web analytics, and more.
Sep 25, 2023 • 18min
Delivering a better omnichannel customer experience with Andy Parquette from Panera Bread
In this week’s Insights Unlocked, Liz Miller from Constellation Research chats with Andy Parquette, a senior UX designer at Panera Bread, about the ever-evolving landscape of experience research, innovation, and the challenges of designing digital experiences for diverse audiences. Their conversation took place at The Human Insight Summit (THiS) in Seattle last month.Panera's small UX team aims to support customers across their entire journey, from home or work to the restaurant and back; from research to visual design. “The sun never sets on what UX touches,” said Parquette, a senior UX designer at Panera Bread.That investment has paid off.According to its parent company, Panera Bread continues to expand its leading digital capabilities, which today account for 51% of total sales, while increasing its loyalty base to 53 million members and launching an innovative loyalty subscription model that has resulted in 25% of all Panera transactions now coming from Unlimited Sip Club members.
Sep 18, 2023 • 27min
How structured collaboration improve cross-team alignment in UX
In this week’s Insights Unlocked, UserTesting’s Sean Treiser talks with Deborah Roberts, about bridging the silos that can often occur within teams and departments. They offer up a range of actionable tips including using structured collaboration tools like FigJam, using visuals like journey maps or highlight reels and making sure to tie it all back to business goals. Deborah is a senior UX designer at UpTop, a Seattle-based agency where she has worked on projects that range from large online retailers and B2B technology companies to healthcare and fashion. Sean is UserTesting’s Insights Strategist and often can be found writing articles for the Center for Human Insights.
Sep 11, 2023 • 28min
Generative AI: hype or the future of customer experience?
In this episode, UserTesting’s CMO Michelle Huff talks with Liz Miller from Constellation Research about generative AI, unraveling misconceptions surrounding it, and exploring its profound impact on marketing and customer experience. Among the items they discussed, included:
Misconceptions about generative AI
Generative AI and storytelling
Generative AI's role in customer experience
Ethical considerations for brands when using generative AI
Role of AI in design and content creation process
How brands can ensure using AI fits with overall brand identity and values
Sep 4, 2023 • 32min
Unleashing the power of research across your organization
In today's episode, UserTesting’s Lisa Lloyd talks with Behzod Sirjani about democratizing research across the org, measuring research’s impact, how to tackle diversity and inclusion in research practices, overcoming resistance to research, and creating a go-no-go decision making framework.Behzod is founder of the Yet Another Studio consultancy, working with a range of clients including Figma and Dropbox. Behzod is a research consultant, advisor, and investor. He is also an Executive in Residence and Program Partner at Reforge, where he built and leads the User Insights for Product Decisions program. Previously, Behzod led Research Operations at Slack and was a Senior UX Researcher at Facebook, where he co-founded the Research Associates Program.In their conversation, they discuss:
What democratizing research means
How to make teams aware they are already doing research every day
Playing the Wheel of Fortune with your research and decision making
Measuring research's ROI for the org
How to get buy in for research diversity
Is great research inconvenient?
Humility in the research process
Recognizing research is not always the answer
Decision making frameworks
Risk threshold conversations
Best research advice
Aug 28, 2023 • 23min
Mastering market research on a budget
In this Insights Unlocked episode, Mike McDowell, a senior solutions consultant at UserTesting, interviews Mireya Arteaga from GoDaddy about actionable research tips any small business, side hustle or even Fortune 100 company can employ. Mireya is a lead CX researcher with GoDaddy with 12 years experience in customer experience, messaging, and optimizing marketing content.
Aug 21, 2023 • 26min
Unlocking insights through strategic internal research
In this week’s 🎙️🔓 Insights Unlocked, the topic of trust-building through internal research took center stage. The conversation between UserTesting’s Michael Mace and Adrian Howard shed light on the significant impact of understanding internal dynamics and using UX methodologies within organizations to foster collaboration, innovation, and success.One key theme discussed was the fear of being identified when providing honest feedback within an organization. Howard, a prominent figure in UX research and leadership coaching, shared insights into this common concern. "The fear of being identified really speaks to a valid worry that many individuals face when conducting research outside the realm of consumer products," he explained. "Honest answers can sometimes hurt people, especially when those in positions of power are uncomfortable with the feedback they receive."
Aug 14, 2023 • 22min
Why you need to build a future-ready strategic insight and foresight team
In this episode of Insights Unlocked, UserTesting’s CMO Michelle Huff talks with Ari about why organizations should be turning their UX research function into future-ready strategic insight and foresight teams (SIFT)."Ari’s perspective challenges the status quo and encourages us to rethink how we approach UX research," Michelle said. "By transforming research teams into strategic insight and foresight teams, businesses can make informed decisions that align with both customer needs and business goals."
Aug 7, 2023 • 22min
Avoid costly rework by designing for the smallest possible thing
In this Insights Unlocked episode, Andy MacMillan talks with Laura Klein, a veteran in the experience research space, known for her expertise as an author, UX researcher, engineer, and product manager. They discuss the concept of designing for the smallest possible thing to avoid the cost of rework in product development.Laura emphasizes the importance of building the smallest thing needed to learn something or understand a problem better. It's not about building something small just for the sake of it; rather, it's about identifying the specific information that needs to be learned and finding the most efficient way to gain insights."Build the smallest possible thing that you can to learn something or to understand something better," Laura said.They also touch on the challenges faced by UX researchers and the importance of including customer feedback in the product development process.
Jul 31, 2023 • 29min
Automating the mundane: how AI elevates UX researchers' impact
In this episode of the Insights Unlocked podcast, UserTesting's CEO Andy MacMillan talks with Ranjitha Kumar, UserTesting’s Chief Scientist about the evolving role of AI in the world of UX research, shedding light on how AI can revolutionize the way we design and optimize digital products.One of the key takeaways from the episode was the remarkable power AI holds in transforming the experience research landscape. By leveraging AI's capabilities, UX researchers and product managers can unlock deeper insights, automate mundane tasks, and streamline their workflows, allowing them to focus on more creative and innovative aspects of their work.The episode also brought up an essential point – the critical role of humans in the research process. While AI can be a valuable co-pilot, it should never replace the human touch, Ranjitha said.
