The Learners Podcast

On the path to research impact, there are many pitfalls that can get in your way. Some of these challenges are beyond your control, but many are not! Marie of Google joins us to outline some of the key tactics she uses to make sure the research that's being done is timely, desired, and valuable to her cross-functional partners.

Mapping customer journeys is something we're all familiar with, but when was the last time you mapped your research practice? Every research practice has room for improvement, but identifying those opportunities for growth can be quite challenging when you can't see the big picture. Nicole joins us to share how she uses blueprints to find the next growth opportunity for her team.

When we're bogged down in week after week of tactical research, it can feel like there's no opportunity for blue-sky research. But, that's not true. At least not according to Sam. Join us as Sam shares her outline for a simple and easy strategic foresight project plan you can do in just a few hours a week.

There's no doubt that AI is changing the way we do research. New AI tools are popping up all the time, but sometimes they don't fit the bill of what we're looking for. Could there be an opportunity to build them ourselves? Christie thinks so. Join her as she discusses how her team has started to build multiple AI agents to support their research work.

With the growth of UX research, many new specialities have emerged. Are we ready for one more? Madeline is a UX Research Scientist at Meta - a new role that has one foot in UX research, and another in academia. Join us as Madeline tells us about the role, why it was created and how to know when your team is ready for a UX Research Scientist too.

The Oakland A's redefined baseball with their unique moneyball strategy: a statistical approach to baseball that used probabilities and a variety of unique metrics to deliver exceptional results. Could this work for UX research too? Joris thinks so. He was working for the Oakland A's on their Moneyball strategy (before Brad Pitt made it cool), and joins us to share how he applies the moneyball app...

As research teams change, the burden of research will end up distributed across a wider range of people, both researchers and non-researchers alike. How can we empower our entire team to develop the right skills to widen the range of projects we’re capable of doing? Tune in as Josh explores this very question.

When Nizar joined Snowflake as the company’s first user researcher, there were questions about the role of user research in driving product impact and business value. Fast forward to today, and the user research team is one of Snowflake’s fastest growing teams, expanding tenfold and playing a critical role in driving key product decisions. In this talk, Nizar discusses the driving principles and l...

If an insight is generated by a researcher, but a stakeholder isn't around to absorb it, does it really make an impact? Communicating new learnings with colleagues has long been a challenge for researchers. Lucky for us, George is one of the best at exactly that. In this talk, George walks you through some of his most trusted tactics for successfully communicating research insights.

If you're building generative AI applications for everyday consumers, there's room for error. Shipping something that's a bit half-baked, listening to feedback, and launching a better version is A-ok.  But, when it comes to generative AI in enterprise applications, it's a whole different story. How do we build great experiences for business customers with this early technology, without compri...

Researching a product that has a clear function is relatively straight-forward. Researching connection, fun, or even just 'vibes', is a lot less so. Kathryn leads research at Warner Music Group, and was previously a research leader at Instagram. These products are not used to accomplish a specific function, but rather to make people feel ways that are intuitively hard to research. Join Kathryn as...

Most of us are focused on tactical research to improve the products and services our organizations ship to market. But, product teams aren’t the only ones who need research. In this talk, Andy unpacks what it’s like doing research for executive and board-level stakeholders.

Getting out of the office to do research has always been a fantastic way to see beyond the customer interview. Watching a customer in their context provides insights for product teams that most users wouldn't even know to share with a research team. But, getting out into the 'field' to do research comes with unique challenges: some logistical, some strategic. Watch as Bri from Toast shares here ad...

You can't research social experiences like any other research project. Social experiences involve more than one person, and that adds a lot of complexity. Morgan from Snap and Cindy from CashApp join us to share their insights on managing research on social experiences.

There's no doubt that partnership between research and other functions is pretty important. But, in an enterprise, B2B context, it's even more true. How do you manage the complexity of customer relationships, customer success, engineering, and more, to make sure your research has the impact it should? Michelle and Warren join us to explore.

Planning for research at companies with millions, or even billions of users, can feel like an impossible challenge. There are so many people and so much to learn. But, with the right approach, we can set up our research function to get our partners in product what they need without boiling the ocean. Tune in to Megan's talk to hear about how she thinks through setting up her research practice.

One of the inherent challenges with research is the disconnect between the insights we generate and the impact of those insights on the metrics by which products and businesses are measured. In this talk, Christelle unpacks how you can use techniques from behavioural insights to design experiments that strengthen the causal relationship between research and it's business impact.

There’s no doubt UX Research is going through a transition right now. But, where are we transitioning from? And where are we moving to? In this talk, Judd shares his vision for how research can elevate itself as a practice, and deliver real impact for the teams and organizations we’re a part of.

As economic headwinds accelerate, the need to generate revenue growth is becoming more and more urgent for most businesses. What role can research play in improving the financial future of the organizations we’re a part of? According to Claudia, a very big one.

While often "the next step" on the career ladder, working as a manager couldn't be more different than being a senior IC. Working on performance reviews, hiring, firing, reporting to executives - it's a different job entirely. How do we find success in this new role? Join Nizar and Josh as they share their experience as managers and research leaders.

Trying to land your first or second research role? That's a tall task. The hiring process can be confusing, archaic, and arbitrary. In fact, many of the senior leaders that you look up to today had the exact same experience. In this panel, Zoë and Louise are here to unpack what you need to know as you're going through the application process, and how to best position yourself for success as an IC...

Stepping into a leadership role is more than just a switch from one type of manager to another. As a research exec, you're reponsibilities and influence are greatly increased, but so is the scrutiny. How can you convince a company that you can deliver in a research leadership role? What does it take to organize and manage an entire research function? This panel featuring Beth, Celeste, and Summer,...

Of all the roles in a tech organization, UX research might be the one most affected by advances in AI technology. That might leave you, and many others, more than a little concerned about what the future of UX research work and employment might look like. There are few people better to provide perspective on this important question than Pete Fleming, Director of UXR for Gemini. Join him in this fi...

There aren't a lot of UXRs who've been working in AI development for close to a decade, but there are a few. And one of them is Jessa. Jessa works at ServiceNow, where she leads research on a number of key experiences that leverages machine learning and AI to power the enterprise. Jessa joins us to share the key things you need to know about creating and evaluating AI experiences as a UXR.

AI has been around for a lot longer than you think - it just hasn't be advancing quite as quickly in the past as it has recently. As a UXR, what do you have to do with the history of AI development? As it turns out, it's probably more than you think. Ricardo joins us to explain.