Dear Nikki - A User Research Advice Podcast

In this episode, I answer the question of why I hate the two words preference and validation, including what to do if you are asked to answer those questions with qualitative user research

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In this episode, I talk through a slightly different approach to tracking impact at your organization by looking at how your research can impact individual colleagues and decision making.

Formulas I mentioned:

• (time saved) x (employee cost) x (# of employees) = cost savings
• (# of errors) x (avg. repair time) x (employee cost) x (# of employees) = cost savings

In this episode, I talk through different approaches you can use to practice your user research skills in low-stakes environments to feel more confident using different methodologies

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In this episode, I talk through the question of, when you are working with skilled PMs (or other stakeholders), who is meant to own discovery work?

In part two of this episode, I talk about the other five top mistakes I have made as a user researcher and how I shifted them into learnings

In part one of this episode, I talk about five (out of the ten) top mistakes I have made as a user researcher and how I shifted them into learnings

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In this episode, I talk through how to think about creating research questions and then how that can help you choose an appropriate method!

In this episode, I answer a question about what to do if you need to conduct a field study in someone's home and also strategies if, for whatever reason, you aren't able to visit them in their home!

In this episode, I talk about recent UXR lay-offs and my recommendations for staying competitive in a tough market

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In this episode, I answer a question/concern I have been hearing about a lot: will AI take over our job as user researchers? Spoiler: no :) listen to learn why!

In this episode, I talk through tips and best practices when you have a limited number of users you can engage with and are concerned about "UXR fatigue"

In this episode, I recommend the following resources:

In this episode, I discuss the two main approaches to mixed methods research design and when a quantitative- versus qualitative-first approach is most applicable!

In this episode, I respond to a question about how to produce weekly insights and if you should really be striving to do that, as well as the difference between continuous discovery and continuous research

In this episode, I talk through if a research repository makes sense (and the questions to ask yourself to find this out) and, if it does, the importance of approaching a repository as a product!

Today I talk about how to fit user research into an agile environment (namely two-week sprints) through looking into four different research types and how they work on top of or within an agile framework

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I talk through some concrete tips of what you can do if you have downtime as a user researcher and still want to have impact across your teams and organization!

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In this episode, I talk through the major struggles I had within my first job as a user researcher and how I overcame and worked through them

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In this episode, I talk through my thoughts on impostor syndrome and how we can consider reframing our mindset on it.

In this episode, I talk about the differences (or lack thereof 😉) between a UX researcher, user researcher, and design researcher

In this episode, I talk through what internal testing is, when to use it, and when it might be a good idea to skip it!

In this episode, I take a real-life example project about testing font styles and whether preference testing is a good fit for that particular project.

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In this episode, I talk through my thoughts on freelancing as a UXR and how to navigate that space!

In this episode, I walk through my definition of a pure concept test, when and how I use them as well as the common misconceptions I see between concepts tests and other methodologies

In this episode, I talk through strategies for working with colleagues who see you as an "expert" or "person with all the answers" - almost as if you are the actual "user." 

Going a bit off-brand in the episode (no question, just a riff) about how important it is to own and build our research processes. You don't have to copy and paste something, you don't have to feel bad if the "ideal" research process doesn't work for you - in fact, it doesn't exist! I hope this helps and is inspiring!

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In this episode, I tackle the question, "what do you do when you're working in a team with UX researchers who are not as competent?" and give very concrete strategies to make your team more open to feedback, as well as mechanisms to put into place for continuous feedback.

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In this episode, I talk through strategies and tips of when and how to challenge stakeholders' plans and ideas, as well as the important difference between reactive and proactive research.

In this episode I talk about tips on recruiting b2b participants and also how to utilize those participants to build a panel!

In this episode I respond to how to answer a job interview question about working cross-departmentally as a user researcher and how to engage others in your research process.

STAR Method: https://www.themuse.com/advice/star-interview-method

Working cross-departmentally as a user researcher: https://dscout.com/people-nerds/user-research-across-departments

In this episode, I discuss how user researchers can better work with engineers/developers in a two-step process.

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In this episode, I talk through my step-by-step process in prioritizing different user research projects, especially as a user research team of one.

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Today's episode covers:

- How to get included in stakeholder rituals

- How to get UXR included in the process

- How to treat stakeholders as users 

- How to know when it's time to move on 

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