The Learners Podcast

As we develop new products with AI built into them, the capabilities and uniqueness of each experience expands dramatically. Given that, how should our research methods change to adapt to this new technological shift? At Instagram, Sheana is a researcher who's done extensive research on Meta's new AI experiences, and joins us to share some of the new and innovative methods their team has designed...

When you think of AI development, you're probably imagining a bunch of machine learning researchers and software engineers writing code, not something that speaks to the skillset of UXRs. However, this picture couldn't be further from the truth. In the case of Cruise's self-driving car technology, the UX research team played a vital role in helping the ML researchers and engineers build the techno...

More than ever before, humans are going to be interacting with robots and AIs in a human-like way. As researchers, now is the time to start thinking about how it feels to interact with these machines. Lauren leads research at iRobot, where she thinks a lot about how humans interact with machines. Join her as she explores how to research the personalities of machines in automated experiences.

When dealing with individuals from marginalized or disadvantaged communities, it's important to be extra cautious with how you recruit, look, and behave. Not just for the benefit of the participant, but also to make sure you limit the bias you introduce into your research. If you're not from a low-income community yourself, understanding the right way to interact with low-income folks might feel a...

As UX researchers, we're often doing work on new features. New additions to the product, new products for new users... new, new, new, and add, add, add. But, what if we could make our products better by taking things away? That'd be a novel idea. Here to explore that idea with you, is Emily.

Often, when it comes to executive stakeholder relationships, we feel like we're speaking a different language. And most of the time, we are. Executives love to talk numbers. But how do we do that, when our qualitative work has little that's quantitatively measured? Hannah from AWS is here to unpack how to use metadata from your qualitative research to speak the language of executives.

There has never been more choice for researchers when it comes to tooling than there is today. Tools are more powerful, convenient, and cost-effective than ever before. But, that leads us to some important questions: are we too dependent on tools, and could we do our work without them? In this talk, Josh is here to ask the question, do we have too many tools?

For UX researchers, our work can be an emotional sink. That makes career planning extra hard, when you're constantly worrying about relationships with managers, stakeholders, and the customers you work with. Heather has dealt with this first-hand. Today, she's here to help you reflect and reorient towards building a values-aligned career in research.

AI is going to change the research game, there's no doubt about that. The questions we have on the forefront are now: how will research change, and where will our careers end up? Savina is a UXR at Meta working directly with AI engineers, and she's here to tell you what to expect from new AI tooling and how research will change in the coming years.

One of the greatest levers for impact within a company is making improvements to monetization. Updating pricing, repackaging the product, etc. But, where does research fit in to this conversation? In this talk, join Jordan as she shares her learnings from her time doing monetization research at Adobe.

Tensions still run high when it comes to discussing 'research democratization'. Should we let our teammates do research, or not? Lauren argues that the real question is: can we actually prevent our teammates from doing research? And if the answer is no, how do we support them in doing it the right way?

There are few research executives that are as experienced as Christina Janzer. Christina was tasked with building the original Facebook research team, before moving on to do the same at Slack a few years later. Christina is here to share her lessons from building up the research function in two very different environments.

Relationships are key to research impact, mostly because, as researchers, we're used to influencing decision making, not necessarily making decisions ourselves. Join Janna as she shares her view on building and maintaining relationships with our stakeholders, managers, partners, and other colleagues.

As a former ReOps leader at Slack, and having worked with dozens of tech executives, Behzod has developed a strong taste for research. How should it work? What does it feel like when it's successful? What is good research? In this talk, join Behzod as he explores these questions to help us figure out what "good research" actually looks like.

At the end of the day, it's the leader of the company, often the CEO, who holds the power in the organizations we work in. That means all of our work ultimately flows from initiatives and directives set from the top. What do leaders think about research? How has it helped, how has it hindered, and where do they see the most value? Evan, CEO of Getro, joins us to share his point of view.

There are few people who've built a research practice from scratch, and even fewer who've done it at a company as iconic as Figma. But, that's exactly what Cristen did. She's here to share her experience and learnings from building the research practice at Figma, and what she thinks you should do, as you build yours.

The majority of the time, UX research sits within the context of a for-profit business, often a corporation. So, it stands to reason that if you want to be a good partner in your role as a researcher, you need to know a little bit about the business. In this talk, Alec shares his cheat sheet for understanding the basics of how companies are structured and what matters within them.

How do you know that you're doing the right research? What are the factors that might indicate your research is successful? What are the signals that your work matters? Before starting to do the research, it's important that you understand the context you're operating in, and how to make your work matter within it. In this talk, Justin unpacks what you need to do to prepare for successful research...

Most people who start off in research know how to have a conversation and ask the important questions they've prepared, so doing a user interview can feel pretty natural. But, how do we make sense of all the words we hear in those interviews? Analyzing qualitative data is a tough task. Join Emily in this talk, as she walks us through her approach.

Over the past few years, a lot has changed in the world. COVID, lockdowns, economic turmoil, and more. How does research need to adapt? In this talk, Raz outlines her perspective on a changing world and the changing research practice.

Doing the research is only part of the work. Planning the research... well that's a whole other ballgame altogether, and one you deeply need to understand to be effective as a researcher. In this talk, join Raz as he outlines the key things you need to know to effectively plan and execute quality UX research projects.

As designers, we wireframe products... but, what about wireframing companies? Can we take the same ideas we use to conceptualize new experiences for customers, and use them to design companies for growth? Join Lucy, Head of Design at Dovetail, as she talks about how they've designed both their product and company for breakout growth.

We all know that designers can make amazing founders, just look at mega-prolific companies like Airbnb. But, even though we see the archetypical design founder on the rise, the process for raising capital as a designer might feel more than a little mysterious. In this talk, join Rachel Renock, a designer turned CEO, as she sits down with investor Konval Matin to talk about the fundraising environm...

As designers, the "business side of things" can feel a bit arbitrary, confusing, and, sometimes, just downright unpleasant. But, having a solid understanding of your companies economics can be incredibly helpful when making design decisions. In this talk, Patrick provides a few heuristics for designers on how to understand what matters most to your business.

As creative professionals, we're often putting a lot of ourselves into our work. And usually that's great! Until it's not. Pressure from team members, the influence of stakeholders, being pulling in many different directions at once... all of this can feel particularly overwhelming for creatives. Join Nova as she outlines how we can take better care of ourselves, so we be more successful in our wo...