Awkward Silences

Ben is joined by Maria Rosala from Nielsen Norman Group and John Whalen from Brilliant Experience to wrap up 2025 and make some predictions for 2026. Maria and John share practical insights on everything from AI moderation tools to synthetic users, offering a balanced view of where these technologies excel and where human researchers remain irreplaceable.Maria and John also dig into the democratization of research across product teams, the importance of governance and strategy when implementing AI tools, and how researchers can position themselves as orchestrators of both human and artificial intelligence. Highlights08:22 AI tools creating pressure for faster delivery17:18 Governance and oversight for AI implementation24:55 Composite and synthetic users explained41:56 Hiring advice for new researchers44:27 Demonstrating AI proficiency in job applications49:25 Research industry predictions for 2026ResourcesResearch Wrapped 2025The State of User ResearchUltimate UX Jobs Board

Erin May sits down with Kate Towsey, founder of Cha Cha Club and author of Research That Scales, for Research Ops Appreciation Week. Kate shares insights from producing an audio documentary series on the future of research ops, including her fascinating experience co-creating content with AI. She reveals how research ops teams are increasingly surviving layoffs while research teams are cut, explaining that ops professionals focus on unblocking systems and delivering measurable business value rather than gatekeeping processes.Kate emphasizes the critical shift happening in research ops from administrative firefighting to strategic systems design. She discusses the importance of discovery over knee-jerk solutions when building research ops from scratch, advocating for focused problem-solving rather than generic panel and library building. The conversation covers the newly released research ops career ladder, the growing need for strategy skills in the field, and how to effectively communicate value to executives by aligning with existing business priorities and measuring concrete outcomes.Highlights03:54 Bringing past skills to research ops17:45 AI context and memory limitations26:37 Future vision for strategic research positioning36:28 Quality governance in AI era44:21 Strategy skills gap in research teams50:27 Translating research value to executivesResourcesStrategy ReferencesKate's MasterclassResearch That Scales (Book)Kate's SubstackThe ResearchOps Review

Ben talks with Lyndsi Lee, UX Manager at Turnitin, about moving beyond traditional metrics like NPS and CSAT to measure user experiences more effectively. The conversation centers on outcome-based assessment, a framework that breaks user experiences into atomic outcomes. Rather than asking broad satisfaction questions, this approach focuses on specific user goals like "users can complete repetitive tasks without friction." Lyndsi explains how teams can identify these outcomes through existing research and customer feedback, then prioritize them using methods like card sorting with actual users. The framework helps product teams move away from vague directives and toward specific, measurable improvements that directly impact user success. This episode offers practical guidance for researchers and product teams struggling to demonstrate impact beyond traditional satisfaction scores.Amazon Prime articleHighlights13:49 Complicated Opinion on NPS and CSAT18:51 Outcome Based Assessment Framework27:36 Getting Strategic with Stakeholder Buy-in32:00 Traffic Light System for Stakeholders38:57 Revisiting Outcome Statements Timeline41:40 AI's Role in Quantitative ResearchAbout LyndsiLyndsi is a Senior Manager of UX Research at Turnitin, where she leads efforts to make the student and educator experience more meaningful, measurable, and user-centered. She started her career in public education as a school counselor and School Psychological Examiner, working alongside educators to support students’ learning needs. Eventually, she found her way into UX research, where she combined her love of psychology, education, and technology. Lyndsi is passionate about helping teams stay focused on what truly matters to users, and firmly believes that good research is part art, part science, and part really well-organized sticky notes.ResourcesDefining UX Success MetricsUX ROI CalculatorGetting Started with Analytics

Ben is joined by Shalin Pei, Head of Design and Research and Natalie Golub, Head of UXR , both from Coinbase's Base product. Base is part of the crypto space, functioning as a network that offers secure and low cost ways to build decentralized apps, essentially helping create what they call the new internet.The conversation reveals how their small but mighty teams operate in one of the fastest moving industries. Shalin and Natalie share how they've weaved internal stakeholders with customers, played with their structure to maximize visibility and effectiveness, and enabled partners to get more involved. It's a practical conversation on the value of experimentation, cooperation, and building influence.Highlights14:00 Overcoming Impostor Syndrome in New Industries25:37 Embedded Research in Live Design Sprints32:33 The Power of Cross-Functional Collaboration36:21 Documentation Challenges in Fast-Moving Industries40:39 Partner-Led Research Methodology43:33 Future of AI in Design and ResearchResourcesThe Designer's Guide to ResearchAligning Research for More ROIEffective Product <> Research Collaboration

Erin is joined by Samira Jain, Serena Hillman, and Jackie Ianni from Microsoft Azure Data to discuss how they built the Swift Research Lab over the past two years. The team shares their systematic five-step approach for creating research programs that result in stakeholder satisfaction while delivering insights every 1.5 weeks.The Azure Data team also break down their method for fostering relationships, building infrastructure and templates, measuring success, and continuously iterating. The discussion reveals how clear branding, stakeholder collaboration, and systematic infrastructure helped them action on high priority research requests while spotting cross cutting insights across Microsoft's product ecosystem.About Our GuestsDr. Serena Hillman is a Principal UX Research Manager in Azure Data at Microsoft. Her work focuses on Human-Data and Human-AI-Data Interaction, leading a team that explores how people engage with data and intelligent systems. She has studied user behavior across domains like video games, e-commerce, edTech, and enterprise cloud tools, and has published 40+ peer-reviewed papers presented at leading conferences and organizations including CHI, CSCW, Grace Hopper, Yahoo!, and Google.Samira Jain is a Senior UX Researcher on the Azure Data UX Team, where she has been for over five years. She leads SWIFT, a cross-team research program, which encompasses several key initiatives. With a foundation in product design, she brings dual fluency to her research practice—understanding why things matter from a user perspective and how they can be shaped from a design perspective. With extensive experience in both non-profit and enterprise research, Samira is dedicated to enhancing experiences for data professionals.Jackie Ianni is a UX Researcher on the Azure Data team at Microsoft, specializing in rapid evaluative and programmatic research. Before joining Microsoft, she worked as a researcher at both an agency and in-house, conducting global financial services research. Jackie is passionate about advancing UX research practice, exploring AI tools, and sparking conversations about the evolving role of research.Highlights05:47 Five Step Program Development Method09:02 Building Stakeholder Relationships15:39 Continuously Improving Research Programs18:37 Cross Product Insights and Breaking Silos23:24 Collaborative Team Success Formula33:58 AI Tools in Heuristic ReviewsResourcesBuilding a UX Research Team from ScratchCreate Long Term Impact with Strong RelationshipsThe Ultimate Guide to UX Research Strategy