UX Research Trends

Key Insights

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  UX research roles were nearly non-existent when Janelle started, often merged with design or other roles.

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  Rapid evolution in the last 4-5 years has led to UX research teams growing from solo practitioners to hundreds.

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  Centralized UX research teams benefit from shared knowledge but risk being 'request takers' disconnected from business context.

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  Embedded researchers have more direct business impact but sometimes must compromise research rigor due to time constraints.

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  Democratizing research requires careful guardrails, thoughtful training, and clear boundaries to prevent bad data and rogue work.

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  Effective democratization often focuses on evaluative, lower-risk research phases with designers, while strategic early-phase research remains researcher-led.

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  There is a trend toward centers of excellence using 'change agents' embedded in teams to spread research practice in large organizations.

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  Inclusive and diverse research is crucial to avoid designing only for a narrow audience; UX researchers must champion this.

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  The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated organizations' focus on real-time customer insights to navigate rapid behavior changes, exemplified by Skyscanner.

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  Successful UX research programs embrace flexibility in methods and organizational structures rather than rigid, one-size-fits-all approaches.

Notable Quotes