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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

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All Episodes

48:24

#131 - Designing Beyond the Product: Systems Thinking...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/07/19

In design and UX research, context is king. Your work doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it’s a part of a wider ecosystem of stakeholders, beneficiaries, and more.Sheryl Cababa, Chief Strategy Officer at Substantial, recognized a clear gap in design methods that only addressed the individual user and the immediate product benefits: designing beyond the product with a systems thinking approach. As the author of Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers, Sheryl says, “My goal is not to

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51:55

#130 - The Art of Great Facilitation for Better...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/07/05

There are 6 key qualities for great facilitation:Starting with your core beliefsMaintaining neutralityStanding in the stormHonoring the wisdom of the groupUpholding the agile mindsetHonoring the group’s agendaAccording to Marsha Acker, Founder, and CEO of TeamCatapult, “The job of facilitator is not to become the agile process police that says we have to have a daily standup and every day we have to answer these three questions…Facilitation is all about reading what's happening in a group,

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43:46

#129 - How to Upskill Product Teams in UX Research...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/06/21

How can UX researchers enable other teams to do research? Show, don’t tell.According to Helen Devine, UX Research Manager at The Economist, upskilling product people to do research means letting them observe, sit in, and be present during each stage of a research project—not just being told what to do.Helen went from doing scrappy research with 0 researchers to supporting 50 product people at The Economist to conduct great research with the help of 2 other UX researchers.Tune into this

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40:28

#128 - The Value of “Scrappy” Research with Varun...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/06/07

What does good “scrappy” user research look like?According to Varun Murugesan, Co-founder of Apple and Banana,“You could throw anything at Jason Bourne and he would solve it... Would it be effective? [Yes—and] that's what I think about. I don't need all the fanciest tools or software.”Being good at scrappy user research is like being the Jason Bourne of research: being effective with what you have, even if you’re shot down by a tight research budget or limited in bandwidth.Varun joins Erin

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45:22

#127 - The Power of Failure with Kevin Kelly,...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/05/24

“There’s a certain amount of forgetting that we need to do in order to learn something new.”– Kevin Kelly, Founding Editor of Wired magazineWhether you are designing a research project, prototyping a product, or carving out your career path, unlearning plays an important role in learning new things. But how do we embrace them in a practical way that leads to viable success?For Kevin Kelly, Publisher and Founding Editor of Wired, leaning on failure is a crucial aspect of the creative writing

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39:49

#126 - AI Anxiety: The Dangers (and Opportunities) of...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/05/10

AI has recently become hugely popular with the likes of ChatGPT becoming a staple in day to day life, and it looks like it is here to stay. Could it replace the job of a researcher completely? Mike Adams, CEO and Founder of Grain doesn’t think so. Join the conversation as they discuss the potential perks and limitations of utilizing AI in research and product development, tips for getting started in the world of AI, and an insight into the current shift in the roadmap for research

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42:40

#125 - What is UX Business Coaching? with Sylvana...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/04/26

Sylvana Rochet, Founder and Principal Coach at Elan Vital Coaching, visits the show to discuss what UX business coaching entails and how to maximize your professional growth opportunities with business coaching. Sylvana shares her past experiences coaching in the world of UX so you can learn what to expect from business coaching, how coaching works, and what the path of building a coaching career looks like.In this episode, we discuss:What does coaching entail?The individual benefits of

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55:58

#124 - Defining a Research Strategy with Devin Harold...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/04/19

A solid UX research strategy serves as the compass that guides research ops and helps ensure repeatable success. But how do you envision, create, and execute a strategy that helps you achieve your goals in the most effective way possible? In this episode of Awkward Silences, Devin Harold, Director of Research at Capital One, unpacks how to craft and refine a winning UXR strategy, including tips to help you make team playbooks, win stakeholder buy-in, and inform your strategy with maturity

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43:36

#123 - The Power of Atomic Research with Daniel...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/04/12

Maintaining a huge insights repository can be overwhelming. It’s even more difficult to extract the right insights from research findings. Atomic research is an approach developed concurrently by Tomer Sharon and Daniel Pidcock to manage and break down research knowledge to their smallest modular form. This week on Awkward Silences, Daniel Pidcock, the co-creator of atomic UX research and founder of Glean.ly, joins Erin and JH to explain this new approach to research knowledge management

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42:51

#122- Exploring UX Research Career Options with...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/03/29

What are the best UX career options? How do you vet a potential employer to ensure it’s the right fit? Should you join a smaller firm that offers plenty of autonomy and flexibility, or does it make more sense to work for a larger company with a ton of resources? Erin, JH, and Marieke McClosky, Director of UX Research at LinkedIn, address these questions, examining UX research as a career and a practice as they discuss Marieke’s journey as a UX researcher. In this episode, we

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35:06

#121 - The UX files: Top Moments from YouX 2023

Awkward Silences ·

2023/03/22

YouX 2023 is a wrap! No big deal, just us and 3500 other UX-obsessed friends. The half-day virtual event featured breakout sessions and presentations conducted by some of the brightest minds in UX, who covered a number of topics from personal wellness and professional growth to work-life balance and community. We’d like to thank everyone who attended the event, especially our guest speakers, panelists, and moderators. It was a truly extraordinary YouXperience for everyone. Head over to our

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41:20

#120- Building a Healthy Research Culture with Mike...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/03/15

Whether you are a team of one or one hundred, cultivating a healthy research culture starts with strong leadership. Strong leadership encourages UXR teams to promote better research practices across teams and manage healthy conflict. But what does a healthy company culture look like IRL? And how do you promote best practices throughout the organization to help scale your research?Mike Oren, Head of Design Research at Klaviyo, has built and scaled several thriving research teams from scratch

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53:34

#119 - It’s Not Research, It’s You! with Holly...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/03/08

In this episode of Awkward Silences, Erin May and John-Henry Forster are joined by Holly Hester-Reilly, CEO and Founder of H2R Product Science. They delve into how research can go wrong, how bad research processes can give research a bad reputation, and how the methodology and timeline of your research can complement each other. Holly also outlines the best way to determine the right research method for your product. Tune in for an engaging conversation on research best practices with

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46:47

#118- The Product Launch Playbook with Derek Osgood

Awkward Silences ·

2023/03/01

According to Derek Osgood, it takes a "great product and product marketing collaboration" to get people to adopt products. But with such a small window of opportunity and many moving parts, it's easy to get it wrong. So how do massively successful brands execute a winning product launch?Join Erin and JH as they welcome guest Derek Osgood, CEO of Ignition, to examine the key components of a product launch. Derek shares his perspective on branding at scale as he outlines critical aspects to

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41:24

#117 - Understanding Growth Research with Carlos...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/02/15

Erin May, John Henry Forster, and Carlos Tellez, Growth Research Manager at Nubank, get to the bottom of growth research. This episode is focused on two of Erin's favorite things – optimization and research. They discuss how research informs growth teams as Carlos describes the moving parts involved in the research process. Listen to hear what Carlos loves the most about his job, the scope of growth research, research design methods, tools, and tactics.In this episode, we discuss:The value

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40:47

#116 - Emerging Trends in UX and CX with Alfonso de...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/02/01

UX is exploding! It's tremendously exciting. But much of the technology pushing the state-of-the-art has been around for over a decade. What are the key driving factors behind the rapid rise of new tools like Figma? What does this mean for the future of collaboration? How will this affect research practices?Alfonso de la Nuez, Co-Founder, CVO & BoD Member at UserZoom, and Dana Bishop, VP, Strategic Research Partners at UserZoom, drop by to discuss the evolution of the UX and muse on

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32:47

#115 - Optimizing In-Product Research with Ryan...

Awkward Silences ·

2023/01/18

In this episode of Awkward Silences, hosts Erin May and John Henry Forster welcome Ryan Glasgow, CEO of Sprig, to discuss the importance of in-product research. They dive into Sprig’s generative and evaluative research tools, as well as recruiting current customers and reaching out to prospective users for market research. The conversation concludes with a discussion about best practices for in-product research. In this episode, we discuss:What is in-product research? Why is it

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35:46

#114 - What Does a UX Research Chief of Staff Do?

Awkward Silences ·

2023/01/05

The rise of UX research was a game changer in software design and development. As UX continues to grow in nearly every industry, research ops experts with strong leadership skills are critical for companies working at scale.In this episode, A'verria Martin, Director, Chief of Staff, Head of Research Operations and Strategy at ServiceNow, provides a high-level overview of the UX Research Chief of Staff role and explains why this position is in high demand. As A'verria shares her journey, she

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23:10

#113 - Tacos and Tidepods: A Very Awkward Goodbye...

Awkward Silences ·

2022/12/27

Thomas Aquinas once said, “Tacos cannot exist without tide pods”. In this bittersweet edition of Tacos and Tidepods—Erin and JH say their goodbyes to Roberta and reflect back at her time at User Interviews. Roberta talks about her decision to pursue a career in coaching and leadership development training at Design Dept. From career challenges and memories to lessons she’s learned, Roberta shares her journey with User Interviews as Erin and JH do their best to make her cry.In this episode,

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35:17

#112 - Finding Your Best Customers with Andrew...

Awkward Silences ·

2022/12/21

Finding your dream customers can be tricky, and knowing which customers aren’t a good fit is important. That’s where customer profiles come in handy. In this episode of Awkward Silences, Andrew Michael, CEO of Avrio, discusses the importance of ideal customer profiles. Andrew draws upon his experience and shares insights on creating customer profiles, customer research methods, and tips on how to get started.In this episode, we discuss:The role of the ideal customer profile (ICP) in an

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192 results

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