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PODCAST

Awkward Silences

User Interviews

Welcome to Awkward Silences by User Interviews, where we interview the people who interview people. Listen as we geek out on all things UX research, qualitative data, and the craft of understanding people to build better products and businesses. Hosted by Erin May and Carol Guest, VPs of growth/marketing and product at User Interviews. Take this survey and let us know what topics you want to hear next! userinterviews.com/awkwardsurvey

technology

All Episodes

34:36

#51 - Uncharted Territory: AI & User Research with...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/10/14

AI is becoming a part of everything we do. With voice-activated smart homes, ad targeting algorithms, and increasingly smart cars, AI is more and more a part of the fabric of daily life. But how do we make sure AI is built in a way that is user-friendly, unbiased, and ethically sound? That's where user research comes in. Erin and JH chatted with Hana Nagel, a Service Designer at Element AI, about how she researches for AI, why inputs are just as important as outputs, and the ethics around

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40:28

#50 - To Manage or Not to Manage? UX Research Careers...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/09/30

It's time to take the next step in your research career, but is management right for you? Erin & JH chatted with Amber Davis, UXR Director at Audible, about her journey as a research manager, how to evaluate what you really want from your career, and who to talk to when you're ready to level up. Highlights[5:03] Even if you think you don't have management experience to look back on, research is full of management and leadership.[8:17] Being a manager gives you many more opportunities to

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28:47

#49 - The Magic of Diary Studies with Tony Turner

Awkward Silences ·

2020/09/16

Looking to add a new research method to your stack? Diary studies are a great way to get to know what your users are thinking in context, plus they can be run remotely! We chatted with Tony Turner, Lead UX Researcher at Progressive Insurance, about how his team uses diary studies to build out better customer experiences. He offered some tips on scaling up diary studies, which tools he uses to get the job done, and how he uses the data he gathers from diary studies to build out customer

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41:47

#48 - Rising to the Moment: UXR, Diversity, &...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/09/02

This week on the podcast, Erin and JH chatted with Randy Duke, Senior Research & Design Strategist at Cantina. They covered a topic that's on many people's minds right now, systemic racism and inequality, and how UX research can have a positive (or negative) impact on these systems. Randy talked with us about UXR's role in all this, how we can work to change the systems we work in, and how we can create more inclusive research.Highlights[4:58] A good place to start thinking about how to

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40:23

#47 - Up and to the Right: How Research Improves...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/08/04

We've been more and more curious about how user research can be used by more than just researchers. This week, Erin and JH chatted with Jon MacDonald, founder of The Good, about how marketers can use research to improve conversion rates. He talked about what conversion rate optimization really is, how to get stakeholders to see the value of research work, and why the key to conversion success is really just giving users what they came to your site for in the first place. Highlights[1:43]

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44:36

#46 - Creating Better Help Content with Andrew...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/07/15

When Andrew joined Adobe back in November, he faced an interesting design challenge. How do you manage a vast library of help content, spanning tons of different products in different industries, so that users can easily find what they need to know to fix their problems? Andrew has learned a lot about leveraging the power of community to problem solve, experimenting with different formats to make technical explanations more accessible, and proving the value of great help content. Erin and

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44:28

#45 - How Alignment Can Speed Up Your Work with...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/07/02

Jonathon Hensley spends a lot of time creating strategies for businesses. So Erin and JH chatted with him about what's changed since COVID-19 and why alignment matters more than ever right now. The takeaway? Everyone needs to be aligned around a common goal. They also need to understand how every project supports that larger goal. In a world that's moving faster than ever, user research is a pivotal part of making sure each effort is serving that goal well.Highlights[7:06] The key to

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31:36

#44 - Being Data-Driven vs. Data-Informed with Hannah...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/06/12

There's a lot of data out there. Keeping track of Google Analytics, NPS scores, site metrics, usability test results, industry data, and everything else can be downright overwhelming. Which is why Hannah Shamji, Head of Research at Copyhackers, likes to say she's doing data-informed work, not data-driven work.For Hannah, her team, and her clients, working with tons of data can be overwhelming. Since you can usually find at least one graph to support a research point, it's important to put

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50:20

#43 - UX Benchmarking: Demonstrate Design ROI with...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/05/29

UX benchmarking may seem like a lot of work, but Kate Moran is here to show you how to do it effectively. She's VP of Research & Content at Neilsen Norman Group and leads UX teams to better benchmarking, teaches newbies how to get started, and explains this complicated subject with clarity. She joined Erin and JH on our very first live episode to explain how UX benchmarking can help teams show the ROI of their work. She walked through how benchmarking can help get stakeholders on board,

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35:21

#42 - 2 for 1: Combining Customer Research & Sales...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/05/20

Sales demos are a great opportunity to get to know your customers. The person on the other end is interested in your product, looking for a solution to a problem, and likely have some pain points with their current solutions. That's why Jane Portman, co-founder of Userlist, uses demos as an opportunity to connect with potential customers, keep pain points top of mind, and learn how to make her product even better. She chatted with Erin and JH about why she's doing customer research and

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33:30

#41 - 10x: User Research for Growth with Aazar Shad...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/05/07

We’ve heard from a lot of designers and user researchers on the show, but we’re always looking for fresh perspectives on how research can help your business. So this week, Erin and JH chatted with Aazar Shad, Head of Growth at Userpilot, about how research methods are essential to his growth strategy.Aazar started using research methods to find our who his users were, but continued using them to grow Userpilot’s business. He talked about how secondary research helped him find the best ways

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49:21

#40 - Dream Stack: ROI-Driving Research Toolsets with...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/04/30

With so many research tools on the market, it can be hard to nail down exactly which ones are right for your team. This week on the pod, Erin and JH chatted with Daniel Loewus-Deitch and Leo Smith, who are the Directors of User Experience and Research, respectively, at a large insurance company. They wanted to learn more about how Daniel and Leo choose the tools with the best ROI for their team.Daniel and Leo have spent a lot of time building out their tool stack. Since they have a lot of

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31:18

#39 - Interviewing Users Every Day for A Year with...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/04/17

After three failed MVPs, Jonathan Anderson and the team at Candu realized they needed a better strategy for understanding how users interact with their product. So they started doing some user interviews. And they kept doing them. Every day for a year before launching their product. Jonathan chatted with Erin and JH about what he learned from those interviews, how it changed the direction of his company, and how he went from a total newbie to a research pro.Highlights[5:36] Doing one

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34:48

#38 - Accessibility, User Research, and Inclusive...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/04/10

This week on the pod, Erin and JH talk to Cat Noone, CEO of Stark, a suite of tools designed to help teams ship accessible work. They chatted about how accessibility is constantly evolving, what teams can do to get started, and inclusive design. Highlights[1:50] Accessibility is continually changing and evolving, so it's important to think of it that way.[3:01] Accessibility is a side effect of inclusive design.[12:59] Identify other people in your organization that may be able to work with

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47:01

#37 - Using Research to Write Next Level Copy with...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/03/25

This week on Awkward Silences, Erin and JH chatted with Joel Klettke, who has 6+ years of experience writing killer conversion copy for clients like Hubspot, Scott's Cheap Flights, and WP Engine. His first piece of advice? All the best copy [is] words you've stolen from the customers themselves.He also stressed the importance of meeting your customers where they are, involving copy from the start of any new project, and structuring your user research so it's easy to pull out the best

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32:05

#36 - User Research as a Growth Engine at Early Stage...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/03/19

One of the key tenets of the Lean Startup approach is ensuring you have product-market fit. To find it, you'll need to talk to potential users, and get them to confirm your product is something they really need, and are willing to pay for. Loic Alix-Brown started doing user interviews to learn if he had product-market fit for his Instagram hashtag startup Flick. But he didn't stop doing research after the MVP, it became an integral part of the way he's built his business. This week on

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31:32

#35 - Democratizing Research in Large Enterprise...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/03/12

This week on the pod, Erin and JH chatted with Luke Fraser, Founder & CEO of Stepwise Innovation (formerly Paper Ventures). They work with insurance innovation and product development teams to get products to market faster. Before starting Stepwise Innovation, Luke worked at IDEO's Design Lab and Liberty Mutual Insurance as a Product Manager. All in all, he's spent a lot of time working with teams at large enterprise companies, with lots of red tape around user research. He chatted with

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39:17

#34 - Self Care As A UX Researcher with Vivianne...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/02/14

Vivianne Castillo’s career has always been human-centered. She started off as a counselor, helping people navigate through complex issues, but eventually found her way to UX research, helping companies better understand their users. Though she loves user research, she’s found it frustrating that it doesn’t adopt the same standards of care for its practitioners that counseling and other human service work does. Since researchers deal with the messy task of human emotion, all those sessions

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33:33

#33 - Using Session Replay Tools to Supercharge Your...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/01/31

This week on the pod, we chatted with Elyse Bogacz, who has worked on product on Drift, Runkeeper, and now NDVR. She walked us through how she uses session replay tools like FullStory to supercharge her user research. She talked about how she shares replays with developers and stakeholders, how she deals with privacy issues, and how other teams can use session replay tools to add to their user research programs. Highlights[1:11] Tools like FullStory hand Hotjar have helped Elyse learn

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42:34

#32 - 7 Reasons Not To Do User Research with Michele...

Awkward Silences ·

2020/01/07

Erin and JH chat with Michele Ronsen, founder of Curiosity Tank and General Assembly instructor. Michele talks to a lot of different people about user research, and she's found there are some situations where user research is (😱) not the best move forward. In fact, there are 7. Michele walked us through each one, and what teams should do instead. About our guestMichele Ronsen is a UX and design researcher, founder of Curiosity Tank (formerly Ronsen Consulting) and an instructor at General

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