Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4l9JDil ----------------------- Got a question? Want to recommend a guest? Or do you want to tell me how the show can be better?  Send me a voice message via email at podcast@usertesting.com ----------------------- In this Insights Unlocked episode, UserTesting’s Jason Giles sits down with Dane Howard, Vice President of Product Design at G2, for a powerful conversation on the intersection of storytelling, design leadership, and purposeful innovation. With a career that spans design leadership at Amazon, eBay, and Microsoft, Dane brings a wealth of experience—and a passion for creating human-centered experiences. Dane discusses how G2’s visual customer journey map became a transformative internal tool, using storytelling metaphors like cities and theme parks to create clarity, alignment, and excitement across the organization. He also opens up about his personal “three-legged stool” approach to balancing full-time work, advocacy, and creative passion projects. Whether you're a product leader, UX professional, or design enthusiast, this episode offers actionable insights into how to keep your work rooted in purpose and aligned with customer needs—while also making space for your own growth and creativity. What you'll learn in this episode: Why storytelling is an essential leadership skill in design and CX How G2’s customer journey map turned into a city-wide metaphor that boosted internal alignment Tips on keeping internal artifacts like journey maps alive and evolving The power of framing design work through the lens of customer experience How to balance career, passion projects, and mentorship with intentionality Resources & Links: Connect with Dane Howard on LinkedIn Connect with Jason Giles on LinkedIn G2.com danehoward.com Dane’s LinkedIn article on G2’s Customer Journey Mapping project Learn more about Insights Unlocked: usertesting.com/podcast

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4l9JDil ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked, we’re joined by Regina DeMars, Director of Content Marketing and Social Media Strategy at First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO). With over 167 years of history, FNBO is one of the largest privately held banks in the U.S.—but that doesn’t stop them from thinking innovatively about customer engagement in the digital age. Regina shares how her team is transforming traditional banking touchpoints into rich, multi-channel experiences that prioritize customer trust, education, and community. From using employee storytelling to humanize financial topics, to tailoring content for platform-specific audiences, FNBO’s approach is as strategic as it is personal. You’ll hear how Regina and her team: Leverage real-time customer insights to guide content creation Build trust by consistently showing up with relevant, value-driven messaging Use content personalization to meet customers where they are—both in life and in channel Connect with younger generations through social-first campaigns like the “Be Kind” mural initiative Balance brand consistency with creative freedom across platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and blogs Whether you’re in financial services or not, this episode is packed with practical ideas on how to scale content without losing your brand’s human touch. Guest: Regina DeMars, Director of Content Marketing & Social Media Strategy, FNBO Host: Cornelia Klimek, Group Product Manager, UserTesting Producer: Nathan Isaacs, Senior Manager, Content Production, UserTesting Resources & Links: Connect with Regina on LinkedIn Connect with Cornelia on LinkedIn Explore FNBO’s content and campaigns on Instagram and YouTube Learn more about Insights Unlocked: usertesting.com/podcast

Episode web page: https://tinyurl.com/2b3dz2z8 ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked, we explore the evolving landscape of omnichannel strategies with Kate MacCabe, founder of Flywheel Strategy. With nearly two decades of experience in digital strategy and product management, Kate shares her insights on bridging internal silos, leveraging customer insights, and designing omnichannel experiences that truly resonate. From the early days of DTC growth to today’s complex, multi-touchpoint customer journeys, Kate explains why omnichannel is no longer optional—it’s essential. She highlights a standout example from Anthropologie, demonstrating how brands can create a unified customer experience across digital and physical spaces. Whether you’re a marketing leader, UX strategist, or product manager, this episode is packed with actionable advice on aligning teams, integrating user feedback, and building a future-proof omnichannel strategy. Key Takeaways: ✅ Omnichannel vs. Multichannel: Many brands think they’re omnichannel, but they’re really just multichannel. Kate breaks down the difference and how to shift toward true integration. ✅ Anthropologie’s Success Story: Learn how this brand seamlessly blended physical and digital experiences to create a memorable, data-driven customer journey. ✅ User Feedback is the Secret Weapon: Discover how continuous user testing—before, during, and after a launch—helps brands fine-tune their strategies and avoid costly mistakes. ✅ Aligning Teams for Success: Cross-functional collaboration is critical. Kate shares tips on breaking down silos between marketing, product, and development teams. ✅ Emerging Tech & Omnichannel: Instead of chasing the latest tech trends, Kate advises businesses to define their strategic goals first—then leverage AI, AR, and other innovations to enhance the customer experience. Quotes from the Episode: 💬 "Omnichannel isn’t just about being everywhere; it’s about creating seamless bridges between every touchpoint a customer interacts with." – Kate MacCabe 💬 "Companies that truly listen to their users—through qualitative and quantitative insights—are the ones that thrive in today’s competitive landscape." – Kate MacCabe Resources & Links: 🔗 Learn more about Flywheel Strategy 🔗 Connect with Kate MacCabe on LinkedIn 🔗 Explore UserTesting for customer insights for marketers

Episode web page: https://tinyurl.com/45pcxtn9 How can businesses move beyond traditional SEO rankings to create a truly engaging and high-converting user experience? In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Nathan Isaacs sits down with Georgia Tan, co-founder of Switch Key Digital, to discuss the future of search and the rise of Search Experience Optimization (SXO). Georgia shares how SXO integrates SEO, user experience (UX), and conversion rate optimization (CRO) to create a holistic search strategy that not only ranks well but also delivers meaningful engagement and conversions. As AI-driven search and multi-platform visibility become critical, Georgia explains why focusing on the user journey is the key to future-proofing your search strategy. She also walks us through real-world case studies, practical steps for businesses looking to shift toward SXO, and how to measure success beyond traditional keyword rankings. Tune in to learn: What Search Experience Optimization (SXO) is and how it differs from traditional SEO Why integrating UX and CRO is essential for long-term search success How AI-driven search and evolving user behaviors are shaping SEO in 2025 Actionable strategies to improve organic traffic and engagement Key metrics and a balanced scorecard approach to measure SXO success Real-world examples of businesses that boosted conversions with SXO 💡 "It's not just about ranking #1; it's about creating a seamless experience that keeps users engaged and converts them into loyal customers." – Georgia Tan Georgia Tan is the co-founder of Switch Key Digital and a seasoned expert in SEO, content strategy, and UX design. She developed the SXO framework to help businesses bridge the gap between search visibility and meaningful user engagement.

Episode web page: https://tinyurl.com/4txxcx83 ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked, we explore how marketing, UX, and customer experience teams can collaborate to craft impactful, data-driven strategies. Our guests—Emily Carrion, CMO at Entrepreneurs'​ Organization; Katie Karr, a Senior User Experience Designer at Workiva; and Kristy Morrison, Director of Digital Marketing at F5,—share insights on cutting through digital noise, optimizing messaging, and leveraging user testing to create seamless experiences that drive business success. What you’ll learn in this episode: The marketing challenge – Why understanding customer needs remains the foundation of great marketing, even as digital channels become increasingly noisy​. UX as a marketing advantage – How UX research and design play a critical role in communicating value to potential customers, especially since 80% of SaaS buyers research before speaking with sales​. The role of testing – How teams can use customer insights, A/B testing, and analytics (quant + qual) to optimize messaging, improve conversions, and enhance brand clarity​. Cross-team collaboration – Why breaking down silos between marketing, UX, product, and content teams leads to better customer experiences and stronger business impact​. Key Quotes from Our Guests: 💡 “There are some things in marketing that never change. Our job is to deeply understand our customer and connect their needs with our product’s value.” – Emily Carrion​ 💡 “Every good experience you create is part of your brand—so is every bad experience.” – Kristy Morrison​ 💡 “UX isn’t just a product function anymore. It’s critical in marketing to ensure we’re communicating the right message upfront.” – Katie Karr​ Episode links:  Emily Carrion on Linkedin Kristy Morrison on Linkedin Katie Karr on Linkedin Blog post: 31 Expert Opinions on the Importance of UX in Marketing

Episode web page: https://tinyurl.com/ywpva5x5 ----------------------- In this Insights Unlocked episode, host Michael Domanic sits down with Jack Mitchell, Head of Product and Operations at Zigzag, the #1 puppy training app. Jack shares how his team built Ziggy, an AI-powered virtual puppy trainer designed to provide personalized, science-backed training advice at scale. Jack explains that scalability was a major challenge for the certified B-Corp startup. Originally, Zigzag provided WhatsApp chat support with real dog trainers, but as the company grew, this wasn’t sustainable. They needed a way to offer science-backed, consistent training advice while still maintaining the personal touch that users valued​. Additionally, user behavior played a key role in the decision to develop an AI-powered chat. Zigzag found many customers hesitated to ask simple questions because they didn’t want to bother a human trainer—even though they were paying for the service. AI eliminated this friction by making users feel more comfortable asking quick, everyday training questions​. Zigzag is continuously refining Ziggy’s AI model based on user feedback, with a 96% positive rating of the feature. "Trust is key," Jack said. "Users need to know they’re getting the right advice—every time." Looking ahead, Jack said they aim to expand Ziggy’s capabilities and explore how AI can further improve the pet training experience. "The goal is to keep making the AI better, smarter, and more useful for puppy parents everywhere," he said. Key Takeaways: 🐶 AI as a training tool – How Zigzag built Ziggy to provide AI-driven, real-time puppy training advice. 📈 From concept to execution – The strategic and technical hurdles in implementing AI, from user feedback to content validation. 🔄 Engagement & retention – How and why AI chat features have increased user interactions and overall app retention rates. 🎯 Measuring AI’s business impact – The importance of A/B testing, user feedback, and ROI tracking to validate AI investments. 🚀 AI Beyond the product – How small teams like Zigzag use AI to streamline internal workflows and accelerate product development. Episode links:  🐾 Try ZigZag: Download the app (if applicable) 💬 Connect with Jack Mitchell on LinkedIn: Find him on LinkedIn 🏁 A comprehensive guide to A/B testing: A comprehensive guide on conducting effective A/B tests to enhance user experience and conversion rates.

Episode web page: https://tinyurl.com/2p9rbkfu ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this week’s Insights Unlocked, we look back at three past episodes discussing the importance of smart content—that strategically crafted, user-focused content that adapts to audience needs, enhances customer experience, and drives engagement through clarity and relevance. Industry experts Bobbie Wood, Natalie Dunbar, and Kelly Erickson share insights on the impact of well-crafted content, the power of user testing, and the evolving role of AI in UX writing. Whether you’re in marketing, CX, or UX, you’ll gain valuable takeaways on how content strategy can elevate your brand and improve the way customers interact with your products and services. Key Topics & Takeaways: 1. The Power of Content in Customer Experience Successful companies prioritize clear, user-friendly content to drive engagement and loyalty. Content strategy isn’t just about writing—it’s about delivering the right message at the right time in the right format. Microcopy, such as button text and CTAs, can make or break user engagement. 2. The Importance of Content Testing & User Research A/B testing and usability studies are essential to understand how users interact with content. Testing must go beyond isolated elements—content should be evaluated across the entire user journey to ensure consistency. Observing user reactions, especially when they stop interacting, can reveal pain points that need to be addressed. 3. Balancing Brand Consistency with Personalization A strong brand voice ensures content remains consistent across channels while still adapting to different user needs. Marketers and UX teams should define voice and tone guidelines that allow flexibility for various contexts. The right balance between structured brand messaging and personalized user interactions enhances engagement. 4. AI’s Growing Role in Content Creation AI tools can assist with content creation, but they lack the human empathy, nuance, and contextual understanding needed for great UX writing. The future of AI in UX writing is still evolving, and ethical concerns around AI-generated content must be considered. While AI can optimize workflows, human oversight remains crucial in crafting meaningful and relatable content. 5. Why Content Strategy Should Start Early in Projects Content strategists should be involved from the very beginning of product and experience design. Early collaboration ensures content aligns with user expectations, business goals, and overall design strategy. Mapping out content needs before development reduces the risk of last-minute changes and improves efficiency. Featured Guests: 🔹 Bobbie Wood on LinkedIn 🔹 Natalie Dunbar on LinkedIn 🔹 Kelly Erickson on LinkedIn

Episode web page: https://tinyurl.com/4rymcmrs ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In today’s crowded digital world, standing out on LinkedIn is more challenging than ever. With users scrolling through 300 feet of content daily and 1.5 million pieces of content being engaged with every minute, how can marketers cut through the noise? In this episode, Nathan Isaacs sits down with Purna Virji, a LinkedIn marketing expert and author of High Impact Content Marketing, to discuss proven strategies for LinkedIn success. From blending organic and paid content to leveraging thought leadership and short-form video, Purna shares valuable insights on building engagement, trust, and brand loyalty on one of the world’s most powerful professional platforms. Key Takeaways: 🔥 Why Consistency Matters: A common mistake brands make is only showing up when they have a big launch. Purna emphasizes the importance of continuous engagement—whether through organic posts, paid ads, or a mix of both. 🌱 Paid vs. Organic: Why You Need Both: LinkedIn research shows that users exposed to both organic and paid content are 61% more likely to convert than those who only see paid ads. Organic content nurtures your existing audience, while paid ads help you reach new ones. 📊 Testing and Learning: Your LinkedIn page isn’t just a broadcasting tool—it’s a dynamic testing ground. Brands should experiment with different types of content organically before investing ad dollars to boost their top-performing posts. 🎥 The Rise of Short-Form Video: Video consumption continues to surge, with LinkedIn seeing a 34% increase in video uploads year over year. Purna recommends embracing short, engaging videos to build trust and humanize your brand. 💡 Leveraging Thought Leadership: People follow people before they follow brands. Thought leader ads allow companies to boost employee and executive content, making it a powerful tool for credibility and reach. 📣 Beyond Vanity Metrics: It’s not just about likes and shares—success on LinkedIn should be measured by pipeline impact, engagement quality, and long-term brand trust. Episode Links: 📖 Purna Virji’s book: High Impact Content Marketing  💡 Follow Purna on LinkedIn: Purna Virji 📊 LinkedIn for Marketing: LinkedIn Business Page 🎧 More episodes of Insights Unlocked: UserTesting Podcast

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/3CBgLhw ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Jason Giles sits down with Alastair Simpson, VP of Design at Dropbox, to discuss his non-traditional career journey, scaling design teams, and the evolution of remote work. Alastair shares key insights on fostering a strong design culture, navigating hypergrowth environments, and leveraging AI to enhance UX research. Tune in to learn how Dropbox’s Virtual-First model is redefining collaboration, why outcomes matter more than process adherence, and how AI is reshaping design workflows. What You’ll Learn in This Episode 🎨 Alastair’s Unconventional Path to Design Leadership How he transitioned from aspiring professional footballer to UX design leader. The role of consumer psychology in his design approach. How early career experiences—like working in a call center—helped him develop core design skills such as listening, communication, and problem-solving. 🏗️ Scaling Design Teams in High-Growth Companies Lessons from leading design at Atlassian and Dropbox during rapid expansion. Why effectiveness matters more than efficiency when managing creative teams. The importance of regular critique and how Dropbox ensures continuous feedback. 🌍 Virtual-First Work & Remote Collaboration How Dropbox designed and implemented its Virtual-First model (90% remote, 10% in-person). The concept of "core collaboration hours" and why nonlinear workdays boost productivity. The impact of remote work on trust, culture, and cross-functional collaboration. 🤖 AI’s Role in UX and Research How Dropbox is using AI-powered agents to improve access to past research. AI’s role in summarizing usability studies and enhancing design iteration speed. The balance between automation and human judgment in crafting great experiences. Key Takeaways & Quotes 💡 “Design is about building strong foundations—color, typography, layout, and interaction design. AI can enhance our workflows, but it doesn’t replace good fundamentals.” – Alastair Simpson 💡 “We don’t focus on efficiency for efficiency’s sake. Instead, we prioritize outcomes and impact.” 💡 “Virtual work doesn’t mean no in-person connection—it means intentional gatherings that matter.” Resources & Links 📌 Connect with Alastair Simpson on LinkedIn 📌 Learn more about Dropbox Design: Dropbox.Design 📌 Explore UserTesting: UserTesting.com

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/3EGU4ZD ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Brent Leary sits down with Melissa Garber, Senior User Experience Researcher at Consumer Reports, to explore the evolving role of AI in UX research and how it’s shaping consumer interactions. From developing an in-house conversational AI agent to tackling data privacy concerns, Melissa shares insights on how research can proactively shape AI tools rather than just react to them. She also dives into the challenges of AI adoption, maintaining brand trust, and how understanding consumer journeys is more complex than ever. 💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode: ✅ How AI is being leveraged at Consumer Reports to enhance consumer insights and decision-making ✅ The importance of human-in-the-loop AI systems to prevent misinformation ✅ Why UX research should drive AI development—not the other way around ✅ Challenges in adopting AI within research teams and overcoming skepticism ✅ The evolving consumer journey and how AI can assist in predicting user needs 🎯 Who Should Listen? This episode is perfect for UX researchers, product leaders, marketers, and CX professionals who are interested in the intersection of AI and user experience, and how AI-powered insights can drive better customer interactions.

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4aP37nC ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked, Michelle Engle sits down with Andy O’Dower, Twilio’s VP of Product Management, to dive into the company’s game-changing approach to customer communication. From simplifying complex communication systems for developers to using AI to deliver personalized experiences, Twilio is leading the way in reshaping how businesses engage with their customers. Andy shares how Twilio’s platform enables real-time, omnichannel communication at a massive global scale, helping brands create trusted, seamless, and smart interactions. He also sheds light on how advancements in conversational AI, sentiment analysis, and voice intelligence are revolutionizing customer engagement and support. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: How Twilio empowers developers with simple APIs to integrate voice, video, email, and messaging capabilities. How AI tools like transcription, sentiment analysis, and virtual agents are redefining customer experiences. Why trust and privacy are essential in building AI-driven communication systems. The role of autonomous agents in creating personalized, frictionless interactions with customers. Twilio’s vision for the future of customer engagement, with AI and data at its core.

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4h5CI79 ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this special episode, recorded live at The Human Insights Summit in October, Amy Stillman, VP of Design at Cedar, and Logan Hartline, Senior Director of UX at HCA Healthcare, talk with host Lija Hogan from UserTesting about how healthcare leaders use storytelling and AI to improve UX, align stakeholders, and transform patient experiences. The episode focused on innovation and user experience (UX) in healthcare, emphasizing collaboration, insights, and the integration of AI. Key Themes: Collaboration and Success Stories: Amy shared Cedar’s efforts in creating tools to help patients identify Medicaid eligibility, simplifying a typically cumbersome process. The project highlighted the emotional and psychological barriers users face and how digital solutions can foster a more accessible and empathetic experience. Logan discussed a UX project improving emergency department operations. By shadowing staff and observing real-life workflows, the team uncovered critical design insights about the conflicting color codes across different systems, leading to improved coordination. AI and Innovation: Both leaders highlighted AI's role in their organizations. Logan described how predictive analytics are helping anticipate staffing needs in labor and delivery, balancing efficiency with human oversight. Amy discussed leveraging AI in call centers to improve data accuracy and reduce staff workload. By analyzing tone and call content, they enhanced both operational efficiency and patient satisfaction while maintaining sensitivity to user tolerance for AI interactions. The Power of Insights and Storytelling: Both speakers emphasized the importance of qualitative research and storytelling in aligning stakeholders and driving change. Using patient narratives and highlight reels, they built urgency and alignment among decision-makers, demonstrating the tangible impact of UX insights. Advice for UX Practitioners: Logan advised starting small with curiosity-driven research and democratizing UX practices within teams. Amy stressed the importance of aligning UX goals with measurable metrics that resonate with stakeholders, particularly in healthcare’s data-driven environment.

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/40y13N5 ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this special episode, recorded live from THiS 2024, we explore the biggest challenges women face in today’s workplace and the actionable steps needed to drive change. Our panel of inspiring women leaders dives into the persistent gender pay gap, the lack of leadership representation, the importance of mentorship and sponsorship, and achieving a sustainable work-family balance. From tips on negotiating salaries to navigating career growth with intentionality, this conversation offers practical advice and powerful insights for women looking to thrive in tech—and for organizations striving to create more equitable workplaces. Whether you're a leader, mentor, or someone starting your career, this episode provides valuable takeaways to help you advocate for yourself, build meaningful connections, and craft the career you want. Panelists included: Stacy Sherman, author and advisor, Doing CX Right Alita Joyce, UX Researcher at Google Cloud  Monique Lalonde, Director, Product Design at REI Lija Hogan, Principal, Experience Research Strategy at UserTesting What You’ll Learn in This Episode How to address the gender pay gap with practical negotiation strategies and pay equity policies. Why leadership representation matters and how to position yourself for growth. The critical role of mentorship and how to build relationships that empower your career. How to balance career and family with the right support systems and mindset. The power of asking for opportunities, setting goals, and creating your own communities for support. Key Topics Discussed Gender Pay Gap Women earn 84% of what men earn—how can we close this gap? Negotiation tips and strategies for pay equity. Leadership Representation How to find companies that prioritize women in leadership roles. Practical advice for setting and communicating leadership goals. Mentorship and Sponsorship The difference between mentors and sponsors—and why both matter. Proactive steps to find mentors and build supportive professional networks. Work-Family Balance Why it’s not about choosing “either-or”—you can thrive in both work and family life. Insights into planning and creating a sustainable support system.

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4gFlEVz ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Episode Summary: In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Nathan Isaacs chats with Kuldeep Kelkar, partner at UXReactor, seasoned UX researcher, and author of Strengthen Your User Research Superpowers. Kuldeep shares his journey through 25+ years in user research, his experiences shaping the industry, and how his new book is designed to empower researchers to amplify their influence within organizations. What You'll Learn in This Episode: The evolution of user research from a niche function to a critical part of product development. Key challenges faced by UX researchers, including gaining influence, communicating value, and driving business impact. How Kuldeep’s book provides practical, actionable skills in the form of "superpowers" to help researchers navigate these challenges. Why addressing sample size questions can be an opportunity to educate and build credibility. Highlights: Kuldeep’s Career Journey: From being one of the first researchers at PayPal in 2004 to his leadership role at UX Reactor. About the Book: Kuldeep’s book is structured like a deck of 52 cards, each focused on strengthening specific "superpowers" researchers need to succeed. Favorite Superpower: Learn why "sample size" is a topic Kuldeep now approaches with confidence and excitement. AI in UX Research: Insights into how AI tools like ChatGPT are being integrated into research and design processes, and the current limitations of AI-driven efficiencies. Industry Trends: Discover how budget constraints and resource cuts are influencing organizations’ approaches to UX and the growing demand for outsourced expertise. Customer Feedback in Action: A surprising story of how Kuldeep’s advice helped a client rethink usability testing timelines. Rapid-Fire Fun: Kuldeep shares his favorite word ("research"), a dream career (astrophysicist), and what role he’d take in a restaurant (chef—despite not cooking!). Memorable Quote: "The biggest challenge for researchers isn’t conducting research—it’s gaining influence and driving outcomes within their organizations." – Kuldeep Kelkar

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4gFlEVz ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this episode, Michael Dominic, Head of AI at UserTesting, and Mike Mace, a seasoned tech industry veteran, delve into the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on the workplace. From the evolution of AI to strategies for effective implementation, they explore how organizations can harness this powerful technology to drive productivity, innovation, and competitive advantage. Key Takeaways: The Two Waves of AI Hype: Explore the rise and fall of conversational AI tools during the first hype cycle (2015–2019). Learn how OpenAI's ChatGPT launched the second wave of rapid adoption in 2022. AI Adoption at a Glance: 66% of knowledge workers globally use generative AI tools like ChatGPT, making this the fastest adoption of a major tech product in history. Despite high adoption rates, only 20% of users maximize AI's potential as a daily productivity tool. Challenges in AI Integration: A significant gap in training leaves most users underutilizing AI. Companies must implement deliberate training and governance to reap the full benefits. Humanizing AI Interactions: Discover how users judge AI chatbots like they would human interactions—emphasizing tone, phrasing, and emotional resonance. Understand the importance of aligning AI interactions with brand voice and values. Strategies for Success: Choose the right AI model for your business needs. Set clear data governance policies to ensure security and compliance. Establish training programs to help employees integrate AI into their workflows effectively. Treat AI as a partner in strategy, not just a task-oriented tool. Actionable Insights: For Leaders: Empower your teams with AI training and clear guidelines to unlock its full productivity potential. For Product Teams: Test AI features for usability and emotional resonance to ensure they align with user expectations and your brand identity. For Organizations: View AI as an opportunity for competitive differentiation, not just a security challenge.

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/408ltw2 ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Nathan Isaacs talks with Mike McDowell, Senior Solutions Consultant at UserTesting, about his role, his new book Demotainment: The Art of Delivering Demos That Engage, Inspire, and Drive Results, and his approach to crafting compelling product demonstrations. Key Highlights: Role at UserTesting: Mike describes his role as a platform expert, guiding clients on effectively utilizing UserTesting’s tools. He supports sales processes and helps teams maximize value by aligning the platform with their business goals​. The Concept of Demotainment: Mike explains how his background in theater inspired him to transform product demonstrations into performances that captivate audiences. His philosophy emphasizes bringing energy, personalizing demos, and engaging customers​. Writing the Book: The book stemmed from a popular presentation Mike gave at Demo Fest. Encouraged by the reception, he expanded his ideas into a LinkedIn article and eventually a book. He shares the iterative writing process, from drafting chapters based on his presentation to weaving in anecdotes and pop culture references to make the book lively and relatable​. Impact on Sales Teams: The book aims to help sales professionals make their demonstrations more personalized and engaging, ultimately boosting success rates. Mike offers strategies for tailoring demos even with limited preparation​. Behind-the-Scenes of Writing: Mike talks about the discipline and creativity required to write a book while managing a busy schedule. He reveals how revisiting his material and getting reader feedback improved both his writing and professional approach to demos​.

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/3VNnj2G ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Kerry Johnstone welcomes Veronica Bogdacenco, Channel and Optimization Manager at Tide, a leading UK-based fintech company. Veronica shares her expertise in blending marketing insights with UX strategies to create seamless and effective user experiences. She delves into the challenges of maintaining agility in a fast-growing company, creative approaches to user testing, and how AI is reshaping UX research. From her innovative weekend testing methods to leveraging in-app notifications for user feedback, Veronica provides actionable tips for product teams navigating growth and tight deadlines. She also highlights the importance of quick, iterative research to de-risk decisions and ensure clarity in regulated industries like finance. Whether you're a UX researcher, product manager, or designer, this episode is packed with practical advice for building user-centric products efficiently. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: Blending Marketing and UX: How to use qualitative and quantitative data for deeper customer insights. Maintaining Agility in a Growing Organization: Veronica’s methods for decentralizing UX research and streamlining processes. Innovative Testing Techniques: The power of weekend tests, external testers, and in-app notifications to gather feedback without disrupting workflows. AI in UX Research: How AI can enhance UX processes by automating tasks like feedback summaries and detecting emotional responses. Working in Regulated Industries: Key considerations for ensuring clarity and transparency in customer-facing designs. Scaling UX Practices: Strategies to embed UX testing into workflows as teams and product portfolios expand.

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/3OQ2f80 ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Blair Fraser sits down with Dr. Sam Howard, Head of UX at Curio, to explore how AI is transforming the way people consume news. From Sam’s unique career journey—from academia to consulting to leading UX at a forward-thinking company—to Curio's mission of fixing fragmented and overwhelming news experiences, this conversation dives into the heart of user-centric design and AI innovation. Discover how Curio balances cutting-edge AI with trusted sources to deliver meaningful solutions, the challenges of creating archetypes in a rapidly evolving tech landscape, and why robust discovery research is more critical than ever. If you’re a UX researcher, designer, or product leader navigating the intersection of user experience and AI, this episode is packed with actionable insights and forward-thinking strategies. Key Themes & Highlights: The Power of User-Centered Design: Why embedding user insights at the start of product design leads to better outcomes. Sam’s approach to understanding and addressing user frustrations with traditional news platforms. AI in UX Research: How Curio blends AI personalization with reliable sources to maintain trust. The "Many Wizards of Oz" method: A groundbreaking approach to simulating AI experiences in user research. Tackling Behavioral Archetypes: Why Curio focuses on early adopters and behavioral archetypes instead of rigid personas. Addressing news avoidance and user anxiety through design thinking. Driving Impact in Organizations: How to align qualitative user research with quantitative data to influence stakeholders. Using video storytelling as a tool for fostering empathy and buy-in from business leaders. Future of UX and AI: The need to evolve UX methodologies for non-linear, AI-driven user journeys. Balancing transparency and value when communicating AI’s role to end users.

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/3Vlc2q8 ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Episode show notes In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Lija Hogan speaks with Kate Towsey, a leading voice in research operations, author of Research That Scales, and founder of the Cha-Cha Club for research ops professionals. Kate takes us through her fascinating journey to becoming a trailblazer in research operations. Along the way, she highlights the transformative power of systems thinking and strategic scaling in the evolving field of research. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: The Evolution of Research Ops: How research operations has grown from an overlooked role to a critical component of organizational strategy. Why nuanced job descriptions and specialized roles are becoming the norm in research ops. Scaling Research with Systems Thinking: The importance of scalable systems that create value efficiently rather than simply expanding headcount. How strategic thinking can prioritize impactful research aligned with organizational goals. Building Trust and Embedding Culture: Why trust is foundational for research outcomes to be accepted and acted upon. The cultural impact of well-integrated research tools and practices on organizational learning. Knowledge Management in Research: The contrast between collaborative "campfires" of learning and structured libraries for long-term access and utility. Practical advice for implementing effective research knowledge management strategies. The Role of AI in Research: How AI can enhance research operations, provided organizations foster trust in these technologies.

Episode web page ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes Join host Mike McDowell as he welcomes Ludwig Fichte, Staff User Researcher, and Aarjav Pandya, Senior Product Designer, both from Mozilla, to explore the fascinating world of UX research and its impact on product design. In this episode, they break down Mozilla’s approach to user research and benchmarking studies, revealing how insights drive innovation for Firefox Mobile and beyond. What You’ll Learn in This Episode How UX Research Shapes Product Design: Discover the critical role research plays in creating intuitive, user-friendly designs and how Mozilla translates insights into action. Benchmarking in Action: Learn how Mozilla compares Firefox to competitors like Chrome, Safari, and Brave, and how task-based benchmarking reveals areas for improvement. Designing for Familiarity and Innovation: Hear how Mozilla balances maintaining familiar design patterns with pushing the boundaries of usability. The Iterative Nature of UX: Explore why UX research is never "finished" and how continuous testing helps adapt to evolving user needs. Episode Links: Download Firefox – Experience the latest in browser innovation. Mozilla Blog – Stay updated on Mozilla’s projects and initiatives. Acorn Design System – Dive into Firefox's design approach. Research at Mozilla – Explore Mozilla’s research-focused initiatives. Ludwig Fichte on LinkedIn Aarjav Pandya on LinkedIn Mike McDowell on LinkedIn

In this episode of Insights Unlocked,UserTesting’s Sean Treiser sits down with Neeraj Ramesh, Executive Producer of Giving Experiences at Givelify, a mobile and online platform for charitable donations that has empowered over 1.5 million people to give more than $5 billion to causes they care about. Neeraj shares the story of Givelify’s journey from a simple idea sparked in church to a powerful tool reshaping the future of giving. Together, they explore the strategies and philosophies that make Givelify stand out, from leveraging user feedback to creating features that genuinely connect with the emotional and practical needs of donors. Neeraj discusses how Givelify listens to its users to develop features that foster trust and encourage consistent giving, all while balancing the needs of donors and charitable organizations. Key Themes: The Birth of Givelify: Givelify’s origin story is rooted in a moment of missed opportunity and inspiration, sparking the idea of a platform that would make charitable giving easy and accessible for anyone with a mobile device. User-Centered Design and Trust: Givelify puts donor trust at the forefront, emphasizing data security, transparent processes, and visual cues like familiar faces to help donors feel safe and assured in their giving. Emotional Connection in UX: Givelify’s approach goes beyond technical ease; they aim to create an experience that captures the “warm glow” of giving, ensuring donors feel positive and connected with each gift. Innovation in loyalty programs: Neeraj introduces Champions of Good, the first loyalty program in the giving sector, which rewards donors for consistent giving. The feature encourages engagement based on frequency rather than amount, supporting people’s desire to give at their own pace. Iterative development with user feedback: Givelify uses insights from UserTesting to understand both new and familiar users, continuously refining features to serve donors better. Testing has revealed valuable insights, such as the potential pitfalls of certain features like “Giving Streaks,” which needed careful adjustment to avoid discouraging users. Balancing stakeholder needs: Neeraj emphasizes the importance of prioritizing donors, even as Givelify works with a wide range of stakeholders, from religious organizations to nonprofits. Features are designed to empower donors while keeping the act of giving meaningful and fulfilling.

Episode web page ----------------------- 📢📣 NEW REPORT 📣📢 Are you wondering how people really feel about generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT? How are they being used in business? How are they changing productivity? What makes AI chat attractive or unattractive to users? And what does it all mean for a company building AI features? Check out our new global AI benchmark study, including a survey, a user shootout between the four top AI chatbots, and video of AI users sharing how they feel. The study included Australia and Singapore, so you’ll get results that are specific to our part of the world. Get your copy now >>> Generative AI chatbots: overhyped but still underestimated ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes In this episode of Insights Unlocked, UserTesting’s Blair Fraser dives into a fascinating discussion with Emma Whitby and Aleks Gojkovic from the BBC's User Experience and Design (UX&D) team. Emma and Aleks share insights from their work on a project designed to help one of the BBC’s most valued audiences—retirees—transition from traditional broadcast services to digital platforms. They reveal how combining empathy-driven UX research with big data insights has led to a deeper understanding of this generation's unique challenges and needs, and discuss the innovative storytelling and design approaches that help build inclusive, accessible digital experiences. Key Themes Discussed: Designing with empathy for retirees in a digital world Emma and Aleks share how they approached researching a user group that has long relied on broadcast services. Through community interactions and storytelling, they uncovered the daily reliance this audience places on TV and radio for structure, connection, and companionship. Emma and Aleks reveal how this research influenced their approach to human-centered design for a traditionally underserved audience. The power of storytelling in UX research UX research at the BBC goes beyond data points—Emma and Aleks highlight the importance of empathy and storytelling to convey user needs. They explain how using narrative alongside data helped them capture the attention of stakeholders and build emotional connections, transforming research findings into actionable insights. Using big data to drive strategic decisions Aleks discusses the role of big data in understanding and validating the significance of retirees as a core BBC audience. By blending quantitative data with qualitative insights, the UX&D team was able to highlight business opportunities and challenge common biases, underscoring how inclusive design can drive both user satisfaction and business success. Innovative collaboration with the BBC’s Blue Room Learn how the UX&D team partnered with the BBC’s Blue Room, a tech demo lab, to bring their insights to life through 3D digital recreations of retirees' living spaces. These interactive exhibits provide stakeholders with a firsthand look at the accessibility challenges retirees face, sparking innovation in designing user-friendly digital services. Shaping the future of inclusive design at scale Emma and Aleks discuss the ongoing impact of their project across the BBC, which has inspired collaboration and changes in product strategies. They share how, by focusing on retirees’ needs, they are challenging assumptions and advancing inclusive design practices that resonate with diverse audiences. Episode Links: BBC’s Global Experience Language (GEL) BBC What is UX&D? BBC UX&D on LinkedIn Aleks Gojkovic on LinkedIn Blair Fraser on LinkedIn

Episode web page ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes In this episode, we welcome Sharbani Dhar, a leading voice in customer experience design and founder of dotinfinity. She joins host Louis Granger to discuss the evolving role of design and AI in shaping meaningful customer journeys. With a career rooted in UX leadership, Sharbani brings a strategic, customer-first approach to AI, moving beyond the common “tech-first” mentality that often misses the mark on delivering real business value. Sharbani shares how dotinfinity was founded on the idea that design and research should be central to solving complex customer challenges, not just surface-level enhancements. She highlights the Responsible AI Canvas her team developed, which guides organizations in responsibly adopting AI with a human-centered lens. The conversation covers actionable insights into aligning AI with core business goals, the importance of employee engagement, and why effective AI implementation requires a focus on problem-solving, not just technology. Key themes and ideas: 1. Moving from transactional design to strategic influence Sharbani explains how design and research are often undervalued, perceived as transactional rather than strategic. She advocates for the integration of design as a driver of business outcomes and deeper customer connections. Quote: "It’s not just about making things look good – it’s about creating meaningful experiences that shape customer journeys and drive business results." 2. Responsible AI adoption: human-centric, problem-first AI implementation is more than adopting the latest tech trends; it requires a problem-first approach to identify where AI can genuinely solve challenges and deliver ROI. Sharbani introduces her team's Responsible AI Canvas, a three-step framework that helps organizations assess AI readiness, align technology with KPIs, and execute responsibly. Tip: Align AI initiatives with real organizational goals and assess readiness across people, infrastructure, and governance. 3. Building an AI-empowered workforce AI implementation requires both the right tech and the right people. Sharbani stresses training and workforce alignment, so employees not only support AI initiatives but grow with them. The episode highlights Australian government guidelines that Infinity follows: Responsible AI Training, Data & Governance Training, and Diversity & Fairness Training, each critical to minimizing biases and fostering ethical AI. 4. Effective metrics beyond NPS Sharbani shares her skepticism of Net Promoter Score (NPS) as a metric, noting it often fails to capture real customer satisfaction or journey pain points. Instead, she advocates for metrics that reflect customer engagement, trust, and brand loyalty. Quote: “NPS tells us how likely customers are to recommend a product, but it doesn’t reveal the whole story.” 5. Ecosystem thinking in AI implementation A siloed approach to AI often limits its potential impact. Sharbani advises organizations to adopt ecosystem thinking, which includes partnerships and integration across customer journeys. She shares a compelling example of a Canadian health insurer collaborating with supermarkets to reward healthy customer behaviors through AI. Takeaway: Look for opportunities to integrate AI solutions within a broader ecosystem that aligns with customers’ lives. Episode Links: dotinfinity’s Responsible AI Canvas Sharbani Dhar on LinkedIn dotinfinity website The Casks and Convos podcast

Episode web page ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes In this episode of Insights Unlocked, we sit down with Steve Portigal, a seasoned user researcher, author, and host of the Dollars to Donuts podcast, to discuss how the field of user research has evolved over the past 20 years. Steve shares his unique perspective on the significant changes that have shaped the industry, from the rise of in-house research teams to the impact of remote work on research methodologies. He also delves into the crucial difference between analysis and synthesis in research and offers practical advice for improving research outcomes. Whether you’re a new researcher or a seasoned expert, Steve’s insights will help you navigate the dynamic and sometimes challenging world of UX research. Key Themes and Ideas: The Growth of User Research: Steve reflects on how user research has grown from a niche, obscure practice to a well-established community of professionals. This growth has led to increased knowledge sharing through conferences, books, meetups, and podcasts, creating a stronger foundation for collective learning and debate. The Shift from Agencies to In-House Research Teams: One of the biggest shifts Steve discusses is the transition from research being outsourced to agencies and consultants to now being managed by in-house teams. While this change has brought research closer to the core of business decisions, it has also altered the dynamics of advocacy and how researchers communicate findings within organizations. The Impact of Remote Work and Research: With the rise of remote work, especially during the pandemic, remote research has become the default method. While this has expanded opportunities for inclusion and collaboration, Steve cautions that the loss of in-person interactions may limit researchers' ability to fully understand user behaviors and experiences. The Importance of Synthesis in Research: Steve emphasizes the often-overlooked distinction between analysis and synthesis in research. While analysis involves breaking down information, synthesis requires recombining that data into new insights and frameworks that can drive innovation. Steve provides tips on how researchers can improve their synthesis process by allowing time for deeper exploration and collaboration. Practical Advice for New Researchers: For those new to the field, Steve encourages embracing the growing community of UX researchers. He suggests seeking mentorship, engaging in networking, and experimenting with different ways of participating in the community, whether through writing, podcasts, or small peer groups. Looking Ahead: The Future of Research-Led Companies: Steve offers a thought-provoking idea about the possibility of research-led companies emerging in the future. He imagines a world where research isn’t just a service within organizations but a driving force behind product and service innovation. Episode Links: Steve Portigal’s Books: Interviewing Users and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries Dollars to Donuts Podcast Discount Code for Interviewing Users: Use "UNLOCKED" at checkout on Rosenfeld Media for 10% off Steve's Website LinkedIn

Episode web page ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes Podcast Episode: Understanding User Needs with Rhiannon White, Chief Product Officer at Clue In this episode of the Insights Unlocked podcast, host Kerry Johnstone from UserTesting sits down with Rhiannon White, the Chief Product Officer at Clue, a women's health app with over 10 million users globally. Rhiannon shares her journey from political marketing and roles at BBC to leading product development at Clue, offering a unique perspective on how diverse experiences shape great product leadership. Key Themes: Career Journey and Curiosity About People: Rhiannon discusses her eclectic career and the common thread of curiosity about human behavior that has driven her work. Whether in marketing or product management, understanding people’s needs, problems, and desires has been central to her approach to creating successful user experiences. Bringing Insights to Product Leadership: Rhiannon shares a key moment in her career when she realized that shipping products was not enough—she needed to bring deeper insights to the table. By reconnecting with her passion for user research, she now spends time every week directly interviewing customers, a practice she refers to as her “Friday treat,” to stay grounded in the user experience. Jobs to Be Done Framework: One of the focal points of the conversation is how Clue uses the “Jobs to Be Done” framework to guide product decisions. Rhiannon explains how Clue’s users have four core needs: trust, orientation (understanding what's happening to them), empowerment (knowing what actions to take), and comfort (feeling connected and not alone). These “jobs” help the team at Clue prioritize product features that address real user pain points and deliver meaningful value. Understanding Subjective User Needs: An interesting revelation from the framework was the subjectivity around accuracy, where users with highly regular cycles might have different perceptions of accuracy compared to users with irregular cycles. This insight has helped Clue refine its product approach, ensuring that the app remains valuable to a wide range of users. Combining Emotional and Functional Needs: Rhiannon discusses how Clue integrates emotional needs, like trust and comfort, with functional aspects of the product. She gives examples of product features, such as pain tracking, that help users feel validated and connected while also providing actionable insights to improve their health management. User Research as an Ongoing Practice: Instead of thinking of research as project-based, Rhiannon stresses the importance of continuous user research. This iterative approach, including fast unmoderated testing, allows Clue’s team to keep refining and improving their product without slowing down development. The Role of AI and Human Connection: While AI is seen as a useful tool for processing data, Rhiannon emphasizes the irreplaceable value of direct human connection in product development. She advocates for staying close to users and cautions against over-relying on abstracted data or tools that disconnect product teams from real user emotions and experiences.

Episode web page ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Sean Treiser sits down with Kelly Erickson, a content designer at Warner Music Group, to explore the nuances of content design and the critical role it plays in shaping user experiences. Kelly shares her career journey, starting as a sports writer and transitioning into content design roles in nonprofit, sports, and tech sectors. With over a decade of experience, she offers rich insights into how content design differs from other design disciplines and the immense value of user and content testing. From her time at Eventbrite, Kelly reveals surprising insights uncovered through content testing and how small changes in language can lead to significant improvements in user engagement. She emphasizes the importance of understanding user motivations and behaviors and how these insights can guide effective content design decisions. Listeners will learn how to balance qualitative and quantitative data, prioritize content testing in fast-paced projects, and maintain brand consistency across various touchpoints. Kelly’s practical advice for content designers and UX professionals highlights the long-term impact of a user-centered approach and offers actionable strategies for integrating content testing into design processes. Key Themes and Ideas Discussed: Content Design Journey: Kelly discusses her path from sports writing to content design, reflecting on how her love for words and human behavior led her into the field of UX writing and content design. The Role of Content Design in User Experiences: Kelly highlights how content design is fundamentally different from other design disciplines, emphasizing that without the right words, a design may lose its effectiveness. She underscores the importance of clarity and using language that speaks to the user intuitively and humanly. Power of Content Testing: One of the core ideas Kelly shares is the importance of testing content before it goes live. She provides examples of how simple wording changes during her time at Eventbrite significantly impacted user engagement, including a 30% increase in click-through rates from a headline change. Balancing Qualitative and Quantitative Data: Kelly discusses the balance between qualitative insights from content testing and quantitative data like click-through rates. She explains how each type of data informs content decisions and drives user-centric design. Designing for User Motivation: A key insight Kelly shares is understanding and addressing user motivations. She explains how focusing on what users are trying to accomplish, rather than just delivering a product, can elevate the overall experience. Consistency and Personalization in Content: The episode covers strategies for maintaining a consistent brand voice while tailoring content to different user scenarios. Kelly introduces the concept of a “tone dial,” where the intensity of the brand’s tone is adjusted based on the user’s interaction. Advice for New Content Designers: Kelly encourages content designers to start testing early, even with time constraints, and to focus on building strong relationships with cross-functional teams like engineers and product managers to drive AB testing and other content experiments. Episode links: Strategic Content Design by Erica Jorgensen Eventbrite’s publicly available style guide Find Kelly on LinkedIn: Kelly Erickson LinkedIn

Episode web page ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Cornelia Klimek sits down with Shannon Graf, Director of Design Research at Signet Jewelers, to explore her journey in UX research and how her work shapes the digital and in-store experiences for some of the world’s top jewelry brands, including Kay, Zales, and Jared.  Shannon offers a behind-the-scenes look at how Signet integrates consumer insights to lead with data-driven decisions that enhance customer satisfaction and drive business outcomes. The conversation covers a range of themes from digital transformation, personalized customer journeys, and the impact of in-store UX research to fostering a strong employee experience within a large organization. Whether you're in UX, product management, or simply interested in digital experiences, this episode is full of actionable insights. Key Themes: The Journey of Saying “Yes” Shannon talks about how saying “yes” to unexpected opportunities, like writing her first nonfiction book during the pandemic, helped her unlock new personal and professional achievements. She shares how this mindset extends into her UX research career and offers advice on how listeners can apply this philosophy in their own lives and work. Consumer Insights Driving Digital Transformation At Signet Jewelers, Shannon and her team leverage deep consumer insights to shape digital experiences for customers. This includes both e-commerce platforms and in-store technologies used by their jewelry consultants. Shannon emphasizes that leading with research and data helps businesses avoid costly mistakes, streamline decision-making, and deliver what customers really need. Personalization and Confidence in Digital Experiences Personalization plays a significant role in Signet’s success, especially in the competitive jewelry market where customers want tailored experiences. Shannon explains how their research reveals consumer preferences for personalized shopping journeys and how confidence in a brand can make or break a digital experience. The Importance of Employee Experience Beyond customer insights, Shannon’s team also focuses on employee experience research, working closely with internal teams to gather feedback that informs better organizational practices. This effort aligns with Signet’s broader vision of creating a positive and empowered workplace culture. Leadership and Aligning UX with Business Objectives Throughout the episode, Shannon shares strategies for connecting UX research outcomes to broader business objectives, helping researchers and designers align their work with what truly matters to the company’s bottom line. She provides tips on problem framing, prioritization, and the importance of cultivating strong internal relationships. Episode links:  Nothing but Pavement: Shedding the Should When the Path before You is Not Always the Path You Choose by Shannon Graf Signet Jewelers – Brands include Kay, Zales, Jared, and Banter. Instagram: @ShannonGrafCreative

Episode web page ----------------------- >>> Insights Unlocked audience survey <<< Link https://bit.ly/3y4u9IJ We're conducting a 6-question survey to learn more about our listeners, and we'd love your participation! Your feedback will help us tailor our content to better meet your needs and interests, ensuring Insights Unlocked continues to provide valuable and engaging episodes. Thank you for helping us improve the show! ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes In this episode, Michelle Engle sits down with Matt Harrell, a seasoned expert in product management and customer experience, to explore the power of user research and how to turn insights into tangible product improvements. As VP of Customer Experience at Givebacks, Matt shares his experience with developing customer-first products and discusses the impact of research on business outcomes. Key Themes: Customer-Centric Product Development: Matt highlights how integrating user experience (UX) with product design is critical for creating products that meet real customer needs. He discusses his journey from software development to customer experience, emphasizing the inseparable relationship between product and customer experience. Prioritizing Research for Business Impact: Matt explains how his team prioritizes research initiatives based on business goals and quarterly OKRs (Objectives and Key Results). This ensures that user research is aligned with strategic objectives, helping the team stay focused on what matters most to the business and its customers. The Importance of Pre-Research Alignment: Before conducting any user testing, Matt stresses the importance of aligning on what’s being tested and the expected outcomes. By ensuring all stakeholders agree on the research objectives upfront, his team avoids confusion and maximizes the value of their findings. Sharing Research Findings Effectively: Matt provides insights into how his team shares research results through detailed reports that include user insights, data visualizations, and highlight reels. This process helps stakeholders easily understand the key takeaways and encourages informed decision-making across the organization. Governance in User Experience: Governance plays a crucial role in ensuring consistency in design and messaging across digital experiences. Matt discusses how Give Backs implements governance strategies to keep their tools and customer interactions cohesive, ensuring a seamless user experience. Voice of Customer (VOC) Reports: A key tool in Matt’s approach is the Voice of Customer (VOC) report, which compiles feedback from various sources, including NPS scores and customer support data. These reports bridge the gap between raw user feedback and actionable business decisions, ensuring that all teams stay connected to the customer’s voice. Resources Mentioned: Learn more about Givebacks and how you can support causes through everyday purchases at Givebacks.com Connect with Matt Harrell on LinkedIn

Episode web page ----------------------- >>> Insights Unlocked audience survey <<< Link https://bit.ly/3y4u9IJ We're conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners, and we'd love your participation! Your feedback will help us tailor our content to better meet your needs and interests, ensuring Insights Unlocked continues to provide valuable and engaging episodes. Thank you for helping us improve the show! ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes In this episode of Insights Unlocked, hosts Nathan Isaacs and Lija Hogan sit down with Ashley Budd, Senior Director of Advancement Marketing at Cornell University, to explore the art and science of effective email marketing. Ashley, a leading voice in higher education marketing, shares insights from her experience, including strategies for building trust with audiences through authenticity, empathy, and logic—the pillars of her "trust triangle" framework. They also discuss how to optimize email engagement by connecting these principles to measurable outcomes, such as open rates and unsubscribe rates. Key Themes & Takeaways: The Trust Triangle Framework: Ashley introduces the concept of the "trust triangle," composed of authenticity, empathy, and logic. This framework helps marketers craft emails that build and maintain trust with their audience. By applying these principles, marketers can foster stronger relationships and drive higher engagement. Optimizing Email Communication: Emails are a powerful but cluttered communication channel. Ashley emphasizes the importance of creating clear, concise, and authentic messages that resonate with recipients. She explains how being honest about who is sending the email, avoiding exaggerated claims, and keeping content relevant can make all the difference in driving engagement. KPIs and Trust: Ashley ties her trust-building approach to measurable KPIs like open rates and unsubscribes, suggesting that audience trust directly influences these metrics. She shares how tracking these indicators can reveal whether email strategies are resonating or falling short. The Role of AI in Email Marketing: The conversation explores how AI is shaping email marketing by increasing the volume of emails sent and improving productivity. However, Ashley warns that AI-generated content often lacks the nuanced touch needed to build trust and suggests ways marketers can use AI tools without sacrificing quality. Notable Quotes: "The trust triangle—authenticity, empathy, and logic—is essential for building relationships, whether you're talking to a colleague or sending a marketing email." "We're all in a noisy inbox, and people are making split-second decisions about whether they trust you enough to read your email." "With AI, we're going to see more emails, but we'll also need to be more clear and authentic to avoid getting filtered into junk folders." Episode links: Mailed It – A practical guide for crafting emails that build relationships and get results. Visit ashleybudd.com for to sign up for Ashley’s newsletter Ashley on LinkedIn 8 usability testing tips to get the most out of your research

Episode web page ----------------------- >>> Insights Unlocked audience survey <<< Link https://bit.ly/3y4u9IJ We're conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners, and we'd love your participation! Your feedback will help us tailor our content to better meet your needs and interests, ensuring Insights Unlocked continues to provide valuable and engaging episodes. Thank you for helping us improve the show! ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes In this episode of Insights Unlocked, we sit down with Connor Joyce, a mixed-methods researcher and behavioral scientist with a rich background at companies like Microsoft, Twilio, and Deloitte. Connor shares his journey through behavioral science and product strategy, highlighting key themes from his new book, Bridging Intention to Impact: Transform Product Development through Evidence-Based Decision Making.  Key Themes Discussed: Behavioral Science in Product Development: Connor explains how behavioral science principles can help product teams create interventions that lead to lasting behavioral change, not just short-term engagement. The Output vs. Outcome Dilemma: Many companies mistakenly equate product usage with success, but true success comes from creating products that satisfy user outcomes. Connor explains how shifting from tracking outputs (e.g., clicks, retention) to outcomes (e.g., behavior changes) can transform product success. Ethical Product Design: Connor emphasizes the importance of ensuring interventions promote positive, long-term behaviors. He discusses how to create ethical designs that balance business needs with user well-being. AI and Empathy in Product Development: As AI becomes more integrated into tech, Connor explores its potential to enhance empathy and help product teams better understand user perspectives. He also touches on the ethical considerations around using AI in a responsible, human-centered way. Practical Frameworks and Tools: Drawing from his book, Connor introduces the User Outcome Connection and Feature Impact Analysis frameworks, which help product teams validate and measure the behavioral impact of their products. Actionable Insights: Focus on outcomes over outputs. Rather than simply tracking usage, aim to understand and influence the behaviors your users are trying to achieve with your product. Use behavioral science to create small interventions within your product that help users reach their goals. Incorporate ethical considerations into your design process by ensuring that your interventions promote positive, lasting behavior change. Explore the potential of AI to deepen empathy in product design and user experience. Episode Links: LinkedIn: Connect with Connor Joyce Book: Bridging Intention to Impact on Peach Pit Consulting: Desired Outcome Labs Behavioral science books like Nudge by Richard Thaler

Episode web page ----------------------- >>> Insights Unlocked audience survey <<< Link https://bit.ly/3y4u9IJ We're conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners, and we'd love your participation! Your feedback will help us tailor our content to better meet your needs and interests, ensuring Insights Unlocked continues to provide valuable and engaging episodes. Thank you for helping us improve the show! ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes In this episode, Nathan Isaacs sits down with Paige Musto, Vice President of Corporate Marketing at UserTesting, to discuss the upcoming Human Insight Summit. Key Takeaways: About the Human Insight Summit: The Human Insight Summit, hosted by UserTesting, is an annual conference that unites the UX, research, and product design community. This year’s event, held in Austin, Texas from October 28-30, will feature thought leaders and hands-on workshops focused on driving innovation through customer collaboration. Keynote Speaker: Adam Alter, NYU professor and behavioral scientist, will deliver a keynote on how hidden psychological forces shape decision-making, with actionable insights for UX design and product management. Workshops and Sessions: The conference will offer 15 breakout sessions across three main tracks: Elevating Experience Research, Insights-Driven Product Design, and Driving Growth and Innovation. In addition, attendees can participate in all-day workshops, learning how to get executive buy-in and evolving as a UX leader. Networking Opportunities: Paige emphasizes the importance of connecting with fellow attendees, noting that conference badges are a simple but effective tool for sparking conversations. Whether you’re a senior executive or early in your career, make the most of networking by focusing on both giving and receiving insights. How to Get the Most Out of the Summit: Paige offers practical advice for maximizing your time at the Summit: Identify Sessions Aligned with Your Business Goals: Before the conference, review the agenda and select sessions that best fit your organization’s needs. Be Engaged: Don’t hesitate to ask questions and engage in discussions during sessions. Leverage the Community: Make connections that can be valuable as your career grows. For senior attendees, focus on strategic networking and idea exchange. Junior attendees should be ready to absorb knowledge and make lasting connections. Conference Justification Template: For those needing to secure company approval to attend, UserTesting has created a justification template that outlines the ROI of attending the Summit. Visit usertesting.com/this/justification-template for more details. Special Discount Code: Use the code "unlocked" when registering at usertesting.com/this to get a $100 discount on your Summit ticket.

Episode web page ----------------------- >>> Insights Unlocked audience survey <<< Link https://bit.ly/3y4u9IJ We're conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners, and we'd love your participation! Your feedback will help us tailor our content to better meet your needs and interests, ensuring Insights Unlocked continues to provide valuable and engaging episodes. Thank you for helping us improve the show! ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes In this episode of Insights Unlocked, Jason Giles, VP of Design at UserTesting, sits down with Ryan Leffel, VP and Head of Design at Priceline. They explore what it takes to lead design teams during times of uncertainty, whether it's a global pandemic, economic shifts, or technological changes. Ryan reflects on his leadership journey, shares key lessons from managing through the COVID-19 crisis, and provides actionable insights for staying resilient, innovative, and customer-focused in turbulent times. Ryan's career spans roles at major companies like RGA, Yahoo, and Quora before landing at Priceline, where he leads design and research across multiple platforms. His experiences have shaped his ability to adapt, solve problems creatively, and maintain focus on user-centered design, even when the external landscape is constantly shifting. Key Takeaways: Leadership in times of uncertainty: Ryan emphasizes the importance of staying calm and resilient as a leader. Leaders who remain composed encourage their teams to stay focused and avoid panic. Staying true to your mission: Throughout times of change, it’s crucial to remain aligned with your company’s mission.  Creative problem-solving and efficiency: In today’s fast-paced environment, especially with fewer resources, creativity in how teams approach work is more important than ever. Embracing change as an opportunity: Ryan discusses the mindset of viewing change not as a disruption, but as an opportunity for innovation. Fostering a safe space for failure: Experimentation is a core part of design and research. By creating a culture where it's safe to fail, teams can iterate quickly and improve faster. The role of AI in design and research: Ryan touches on the growing influence of AI in design and research. While there may be some initial skepticism, he believes AI is a tool that can assist—rather than replace—designers and researchers. Cross-functional collaboration: One of the keys to building successful products is getting cross-functional teams involved early. This approach ensures alignment from the beginning and empowers everyone to contribute to the solution.

Episode web page ----------------------- >>> Insights Unlocked audience survey <<< Link https://bit.ly/3y4u9IJ We're conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners, and we'd love your participation! Your feedback will help us tailor our content to better meet your needs and interests, ensuring Insights Unlocked continues to provide valuable and engaging episodes. Thank you for helping us improve the show! ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes: In this episode of Insights Unlocked, host Nathan Isaacs sits down with Paul Strike, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Design Research, formerly at Goldman Sachs. With over 20 years of experience in design leadership, Paul shares his deep insights into how organizations can cultivate a progressive design and innovation culture. He discusses the critical role of leadership in fostering environments where design can thrive and highlights the importance of balancing strategic thinking with tactical execution. Paul also delves into the challenges of integrating design into core business strategies, offering practical advice on overcoming the disconnect between design and business goals. He introduces three key leadership roles—Architect, Bridge, and Catalyst—that are essential for driving design-centric innovation and creating a culture of continuous discovery and learning. Towards the end of the episode, Paul explores the future of design, particularly in the context of AI and the evolving employee experience, offering his thoughts on how these trends will shape the digital landscape in the years to come. Key Takeaways: Mature Design Culture: A mature, progressive design culture is marked by the ability to operate at both strategic and tactical levels, leveraging diverse skill sets to drive change at scale. Leadership's Role in Innovation: Effective leadership in a design-driven organization involves shaping cultures and capabilities, co-creating future visions, and fostering an environment that supports innovation at every level. Three Essential Leadership Roles: Architect: Focuses on building cultures and capabilities. Bridge: Leverages external expertise to complement internal efforts. Catalyst: Acts as a change agent to accelerate innovation across the organization. Authentic Leadership: Transparency and integrity are crucial for building a culture of trust and engagement. The HAL framework (Honesty, Authenticity, Integrity, Loyalty) is a powerful tool for leaders looking to foster open communication. Continuous Discovery and Learning: Successful design teams embrace a culture of continuous discovery, iterating and learning from failures to create superior products and services. Future of Design: The rise of AI and the evolution of the employee experience are poised to significantly impact the digital landscape, with design playing a central role in shaping these developments. Connect with Paul Strike: LinkedIn: Paul Strike on LinkedIn

Episode web page ----------------------- >>> Insights Unlocked audience survey <<< Link https://bit.ly/3y4u9IJ We're conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners, and we'd love your participation! Your feedback will help us tailor our content to better meet your needs and interests, ensuring Insights Unlocked continues to provide valuable and engaging episodes. Thank you for helping us improve the show! ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes: In this episode of Insights Unlocked, we sit down with Kasey Canlas, UX Research Manager at Genesys, live from a UX conference. With over five years of experience in research operations and three years as a manager, Kasey shares her expertise on how to strengthen collaboration within organizations to amplify the impact of UX research. Key Takeaways: Leveraging Internal Expertise: Kasey discusses the importance of looking beyond your immediate team to find and collaborate with experts in other departments. By harnessing the strengths of colleagues across the organization, UX researchers can improve their own work and drive more meaningful outcomes. Clear and Actionable Communication: One of the major themes Kasey emphasizes is the need for delivering research findings in a clear, concise, and actionable manner. Avoiding unnecessary complexity in presentations ensures that key insights are easily understood and applied by stakeholders. Building Genuine Relationships: Kasey highlights the value of forming genuine connections with stakeholders before critical needs arise. Regular, informal check-ins help in understanding their values and working styles, which can lead to more productive collaborations down the line. Creating and Maintaining Research Repositories: The episode touches on the challenges and successes of implementing research repositories in different organizations. Kasey stresses the importance of having the right processes and shared responsibility in maintaining these resources. Giving Stakeholders Grace: Kasey advises listeners to practice empathy with stakeholders, recognizing that everyone has different expertise and constraints. This approach fosters better communication and collaboration. Quotes from the Episode: “It’s about making everything you have—whether it’s findings or recommendations—actionable, clear, and easy to follow.” “Build relationships before you actually need anything from them. That’s how you create genuine connections.” Episode Links: Kasey Canlas on LinkedIn UXDX conference

Episode web page ----------------------- >>> Insights Unlocked audience survey <<< Link https://bit.ly/3y4u9IJ We're conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners, and we'd love your participation! Your feedback will help us tailor our content to better meet your needs and interests, ensuring Insights Unlocked continues to provide valuable and engaging episodes. Thank you for helping us improve the show! ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes: Key Themes & Topics:1. Introduction to Rory Madden Rory Madden's background and his roles as co-founder of UXDX and creator of Zero Blockers. His journey from big consultancies to startups to co-founding UXDX. 2. Zero Blockers Framework Purpose & Development: A framework designed to help companies maintain the agility of small teams while scaling. Challenges Addressed: Tackles issues such as team empowerment, funding, governance, and dependency management. Implementation: Built on insights from 800 real-world case studies, emphasizing practical solutions over theoretical concepts. 3. The Challenges with Agile Theory vs. Practice: Agile's brilliant theoretical foundation versus its practical difficulties in large organizations. Bureaucracy and Dependencies: How traditional agile frameworks add layers of management and slow down processes. 4. Insights from UXDX Conference Conference Evolution: From niche UX discussions to a comprehensive event covering product development, design, and teamwork. Format and Approach: Focus on case study-driven content, interactive forums, and cross-functional team collaboration. Upcoming Events: Details about the next UXDX conference in Dublin, Ireland, featuring diverse sessions and networking opportunities. 5. Practical Advice for Conference Attendees Setting Goals: Whether to learn industry trends, enhance skills, or network. Effective Networking: Approaching networking with a mindset of offering value and building meaningful connections. 6. Real-World Applications and Case Studies Examples and Takeaways: Stories from industry leaders and how they've applied the Zero Blockers framework. Listener Engagement: Encouraging listeners to visit the Zero Blockers and UXDX websites for further resources and to share their own case studies. Key Quotes: "Zero Blockers helps companies scale and maintain the speed of small teams by addressing challenges that other frameworks evade." "Agile is brilliant in theory, but when applied in practice, it often creates bureaucratic slowdowns due to dependencies." "At UXDX, we emphasize real case studies and practical solutions over theoretical discussions to foster better team collaboration." Episode Links: Rory Madden on LinkedIn UXDX conference Zero Blockers UserTesting’s The Human Insight Summit (THiS)

In this Insights Unlocked episode, Brian Walker shares expert insights on how retailers can master digital commerce this holiday season. From optimizing e-commerce fundamentals to navigating the complexities of retail media and omnichannel strategies, Brian shares invaluable tips to help you stay ahead in a competitive market. Whether you're a retail veteran or new to the game, you won't want to miss this episode!. Episode web page ----------------------- >>> Insights Unlocked audience survey <<< Link https://bit.ly/3y4u9IJ We're conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners, and we'd love your participation! Your feedback will help us tailor our content to better meet your needs and interests, ensuring Insights Unlocked continues to provide valuable and engaging episodes. Thank you for helping us improve the show! ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Key Topics Discussed: The Importance of Fundamentals: Brian emphasizes the need for retailers to focus on the basics, such as site speed, product discovery, and a seamless checkout process, to ensure a frictionless shopping experience during the holiday rush. Pull Quote: “It’s going to be important to really focus in on the fundamentals and the basics.” Common Digital Obstacles: Even large retailers face challenges like irrelevant search results and non-intuitive filtering options. Brian discusses the importance of seeing these issues through the customer's eyes and leveraging tools like UserTesting to identify and fix pain points. Pull Quote: “It really comes down to seeing it through the customer's eyes.” The Role of Retail Media: Brian highlights the rapid growth of retail media and the potential risks it poses to the user experience. He advises retailers to strike a balance between monetizing their platforms and maintaining a positive customer experience. Pull Quote: “The proliferation of retail media is going to have a pretty significant impact overall.” Omnichannel Challenges: The discussion also covers the complexities of providing a seamless omnichannel experience, where many retailers still struggle with siloed systems and inconsistent customer journeys. Pull Quote: “The customer doesn’t perceive it that way at all and hasn’t for a while.” Future Priorities for Retailers: Looking ahead to 2024, Brian advises retailers to invest in order management solutions, personalization strategies, and the integration of marketing with digital experiences to stay competitive. Pull Quote: “Personalization has been a key topic for 25 years... where marketers and merchants will start to pay closer attention is the intersection between their marketing and the digital experiences they’re delivering.” Episode Links: Substack: Cocktails and Commerce

In the latest episode of Insights Unlocked, Richard Dalton, Head of Design for Consumer at Verizon, shares his framework for designing sustainable customer experiences from how you build the team to nurturing a customer-aware organization.  Episode web page ----------------------- >>> Insights Unlocked audience survey <<< Link https://bit.ly/3y4u9IJ We're conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners, and we'd love your participation! Your feedback will help us tailor our content to better meet your needs and interests, ensuring Insights Unlocked continues to provide valuable and engaging episodes. Thank you for helping us improve the show! ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Show Notes: Introduction: Host introduces Richard Dalton, Head of Design for Consumer at Verizon. Richard’s role at Verizon involves overseeing the design of all consumer-facing interactions, including apps, websites, and physical interactions and store experiences. He leads a  team of 250 designers (and growing) who create human-centric experiences for over 100 million customers. Key Themes and Takeaways: Creating Effective UX Design Structures: Richard emphasizes that hiring talented designers is not enough; organizations must also invest in building internal design teams and supportive structures. The need for internal design of the organization to enable the creation of exceptional experiences for both employees and customers. Behavior-Based Metrics for UX: The limitations of broad metrics like Net Promoter Scores (NPS) for design purposes. Richard's preference for specific, behavior-based questions to measure customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Examples of actionable metrics, such as product usage patterns and customer behaviors. Extending UX Beyond Digital Interfaces: The misconception that UX design is limited to surface-level elements like colors and navigation. How every department in an organization, from legal to procurement, impacts the overall customer experience. The importance of a holistic approach to UX, ensuring all organizational decisions consider their impact on customers. Fostering a Customer-Aware Culture: Richard's vision of a future where all employees understand and prioritize customer impact in their decision-making. The dream of seeing policy discussions centered around customer impact even without a designer in the room. Visualization and Communication: The significance of visualizing complex information on a single page for better decision-making, inspired by Edward Tufte's design principles. The critical role of effective storytelling in ensuring that important information influences organizational decisions. Verizon's Design Team Expansion: Richard announces Verizon's plans to hire 180 designers. The goal is to increase the representation of full-time employees in the design team, reducing reliance on contractors and agencies. Episode Links: Richard Dalton on LinkedIn Verizon's careers page BLOG: A primer to design systems: Making yours in 5 steps GUIDE: The ultimate guide to user-centric product design

In this episode, Rebecca Goodman, the Chief Digital Officer at the FDIC, shares her advice for building a team from scratch. Episode web page ----------------------- >>> Insights Unlocked audience survey <<< Link https://bit.ly/3y4u9IJ We're conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners, and we'd love your participation! Your feedback will help us tailor our content to better meet your needs and interests, ensuring Insights Unlocked continues to provide valuable and engaging episodes. Thank you for helping us improve the show! ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Episode Description: In this insightful episode of Insights Unlocked, we sit down with Rebecca Goodman, the Chief Digital Officer at the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). Rebecca shares her journey and the monumental tasks she has undertaken to overhaul the FDIC’s digital presence. From building a digital team from the ground up to implementing a new content management system, Rebecca’s work is revolutionizing how the FDIC interacts with its stakeholders. Tune in to learn about the challenges and triumphs of driving digital transformation in a federal agency. Episode Highlights: Introduction to Rebecca Goodman (00:00 - 00:12) Rebecca’s role as the Chief Digital Officer at FDIC. Overview of FDIC’s mission to insure bank deposits. Rebecca’s Journey and Role at the FDIC (00:12 - 01:18) Her 13-year career in the federal government. Initial tasks at FDIC: overhauling digital properties and establishing a UX practice. Challenges of Digital Transformation in a Federal Agency (01:18 - 02:54) Managing extensive projects and avoiding overwhelm. Implementing a content management system and overhauling the intranet. Building and Leading a Digital Team (02:54 - 04:34) Hiring the first UX designer at FDIC. Recruiting for various roles including developers, UX researchers, and social media experts. Navigating the Federal Hiring Process (04:34 - 05:58) Challenges of federal hiring regulations. Importance of specialized experience and the direct hire process for certain roles. Creating a Seamless Digital Experience (05:58 - 07:24) Conducting stakeholder interviews across the organization. Designing an intranet that integrates multiple internal tools for ease of use. Advice for Digital Transformation Leaders (07:24 - 09:09) Importance of cultural fit and soft skills in building a team. Coaching existing teams to adapt to new digital processes. Motivation for Working in the Federal Government (09:09 - 12:34) Rebecca’s mission-driven approach and dedication to public service. The critical role of FDIC in maintaining financial security and public trust. Closing Thoughts and How to Connect with Rebecca (12:34 - 13:17) Rebecca invites listeners to reach out via FDIC’s social media channels or her LinkedIn profile. Resources Mentioned: FDIC Website: FDIC.gov Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn: Rebecca Goodman

In this episode, Nathan Isaacs talks with Anthony Maggio, VP of Product Management at AirTable, about building an AI-powered product development process. Episode web page ----------------------- >>> Insights Unlocked audience survey <<< We're conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners, and we'd love your participation! Your feedback will help us tailor our content to better meet your needs and interests, ensuring Insights Unlocked continues to provide valuable and engaging episodes. Thank you for helping us improve the show! Survey link https://bit.ly/3y4u9IJ ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Episode Links: Anthony on LinkedIn UXDX Airtable Join the Conversation: We’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s episode. Join the discussion on our social media channels or leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.

In this episode, Nathan Isaacs talks with Mamuna Oladipo, VP of Product at Shopify, about building trust within an organization. Episode web page ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- Episode Description: In this insightful episode of Insights Unlocked, we sit down with Mamuna Oladipo, the VP of Product at Shopify. Mamuna shares her wealth of experience from her journey through various tech roles and companies. She delves into the crucial topic of building trust within cross-functional teams and offers practical advice on networking within a company. Whether you’re a product manager, UX designer, or an executive, Mamuna’s insights on leadership and team dynamics are sure to resonate and provide valuable takeaways. Key Themes and Ideas: Introduction to Mamuna Oladipo: Mamuna introduces herself and shares her background in tech, highlighting her roles in design, product management, engineering, data, and research. Building trust in teams: The importance of building trust slowly and steadily. Tips on how to genuinely understand team dynamics and create personal connections. Emphasizing one-on-one meetings and being fully present to build strong relationships. Networking within a company: Mamuna’s strategy for building a robust internal network by meeting different people and seeking further introductions. The significance of maintaining these relationships and periodically checking in. Leadership concerns and strategies: Key concerns for leaders, including team impact and alignment with company goals. The necessity of continuous communication and staying deeply involved in team activities to prevent misalignment. Proactive steps to ensure teams stay on track and avoid long-term issues. Advice for leaders: The importance of knowing your team members and understanding their challenges and workflows. How this understanding drives both individual and team impact, aligning efforts with broader organizational goals. Notable Quotes: "Take the time to learn and understand your team, understand the dynamics. Understand how you can differentiate, just how the team has been operating." "Building a network within the company is vital. You need to have connections to understand the company culture and gather insights." "Ensuring continuous communication and staying ahead of potential issues by being deeply involved in team activities is crucial." Episode Links: Mamuna on LinkedIn Shopify UXDX The First 90 Days Join the Conversation: We’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s episode. Join the discussion on our social media channels or leave a review on your favorite podcast platform.

In this episode, Nathan Isaacs talks with Parisa Bazl from Commvault Systems about building scalable design systems that unite developers and designers. Episode web page ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- In this episode of Insights Unlocked, we sit down with Parisa Bazl, Head of UX at Commvault Systems, at a UX conference in New York City. Parisa shares her expert insights on creating scalable design systems that work seamlessly for both designers and developers. She delves into the importance of clear frameworks, the challenges of scaling in large enterprises, and the role of AI in design. Additionally, Parisa discusses the significance of diversity in tech and her efforts to create opportunities for underprivileged youths in the industry. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion on bridging the gap between design and development, and the human-centric approach to technology. Key Themes: Scalable Design Systems: Importance of frameworks in scaling design systems. Utilizing object-oriented development to organize patterns and components. Reducing the need for constant guidance between designers and developers. Challenges in Scaling: Addressing the resource disparity in design teams. Strategies to meet demands without extensive handholding. Importance of clear standards and empowering teams. Starting with Key User Flows: Focusing on specific use cases before abstracting patterns. Creating a reference system for future use cases. Overcoming Resistance: Speaking developers’ language to ease workload concerns. Ensuring designers understand their ongoing role amidst standardized systems. Role of AI in Design: Potential for automation in design decisions. Emphasizing the human aspect of technology. Using AI as a tool to deliver better user experiences. Diversity in Tech: Importance of diverse viewpoints in technology design. Creating pathways for non-traditional candidates. Parisa’s involvement with a program training underprivileged youths in technical skills. Human-Centric Approach: Keeping the focus on human experiences in technology. Adapting to the ever-evolving tech landscape. Guest Bio: Parisa Bazl is the Head of UX at Commvault Systems, specializing in enterprise software applications for data protection, cybersecurity, and cyber resiliency. With a strong background in UX design and a passion for bridging the gap between designers and developers, Parisa brings valuable insights into creating scalable and effective design systems. Episode links: Commvault Systems: Commvault Parisa’s LinkedIn: Parisa Bazl Follow Us: LinkedIn: Insights Unlocked Twitter: @InsightsUnlocked YouTube: Insights Unlocked Subscribe & Leave a Review: Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to Insights Unlocked on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review!

In this Insights Unlocked episode, T. Rowe Price’s Alex Wilson explains why you should take a business-centric approach to managing your design system. Episode web page ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. -----------------------

In this Insights Unlocked episode, Toast’s Jehad Affoneh describes the ‘pulling the thread’ methodology to solve complex problems. Episode web page ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Episode Description: In this insightful episode recorded at the UXDX conference in New York City, host Nathan Isaacs talks with Jehad Affoneh, the Chief Design Officer at Toast, to delve into an innovative methodology his team employed to enhance the customer experience for Toast's 100,000+ restaurant customers. Toast is a restaurant point of sale and management system that helps restaurants improve operations, increase sales and create a better guest experience. Key Themes: Pulling the Thread Methodology: Addressing complex problems by finding the right thread in a tangled ball of yarn and pulling it to untangle the complexity. Steps to Implement: Identify pain points from both customer and internal perspectives. Find themes within these pain points to locate scalable solutions. Test these solutions with a cohort of customers to validate effectiveness. Challenges in the Restaurant Industry: Restaurants operate in fast-paced, high-stress environments with frequent technical issues. Reflections on the Journey: The rewarding nature of working at Toast, making daily impacts on real people and communities. The satisfaction of seeing long-term projects come to fruition and positively affect customers. Additional Resources: Toast website UXDX Conference UserTesting Subscribe and Follow: Don't forget to subscribe to the Insights Unlocked podcast for more expert insights and tips on designing digital products that people love. Follow us on LinkedIn for updates and more content.

In this enlightening episode of Insights Unlocked, host Nathan Isaacs sits down with Karen Hawkins, Principal of Accessible Design at Level Access, during the UXDX conference in New York City. Together, they dive deep into the world of digital accessibility, exploring why it remains a critical yet often overlooked aspect of design. Karen shares valuable insights on how companies can create inclusive digital experiences and the importance of accessibility in today's digital landscape. Link to this episode's web page ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Episode Description: In this enlightening episode of Insights Unlocked, host Nathan Isaacs sits down with Karen Hawkins, Principal of Accessible Design at Level Access, during the UXDX conference in New York City. Together, they dive deep into the world of digital accessibility, exploring why it remains a critical yet often overlooked aspect of design. Karen shares valuable insights on how companies can create inclusive digital experiences and the importance of accessibility in today's digital landscape. Key Themes & Takeaways: Introduction to Digital Accessibility: Karen introduces herself and her role at Level Access. The discussion opens with an overview of digital accessibility and its importance in ensuring everyone can execute tasks efficiently, regardless of their abilities or characteristics. Current State of Accessibility: Despite existing laws and guidelines, accessibility issues persist, particularly simple ones like contrast problems. Karen references Web Aim’s annual survey, which highlights recurring accessibility issues on top websites. Challenges and Solutions: The need for both grassroots efforts and top-down support to drive meaningful change in accessibility. Importance of conducting audits focusing on people, processes, and tools to benchmark and improve accessibility. Setting realistic, incremental goals for continuous improvement in accessibility practices. Beyond Digital Products: Accessibility extends to organizational culture and practices, including hiring and travel policies. The discussion emphasizes that accessibility is a global issue, supported by laws like the European Accessibility Act and guidelines from the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Resources and Personal Responsibility: Karen recommends resources like the W3C’s introductory courses and Web Aim for those looking to learn more about accessibility. The importance of individuals taking personal responsibility for creating accessible digital content within their organizations. Call to Action: Karen encourages listeners to connect with her on LinkedIn for further resources and insights on accessibility. Final thoughts on fostering a culture of inclusivity and accessibility in every aspect of digital and organizational practices. Connect with Karen Hawkins: LinkedIn: Karen Hawkins (Note: Ensure you find the right Karen Hawkins, not the romance novelist!) Additional Resources: W3C Introductory Course on Accessibility Web Aim

Episode web page ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- Special Offer To celebrate her participation in the podcast, Caroline offers a 15% discount on her book "Surveys That Work" from Rosenfeld Media. Use the code CJFORMS24 at checkout, valid through July 2024. ----------------------- Episode Summary: In this episode of the Insights Unlocked podcast, hosts Nathan Isaacs and Mike McDowell are joined by Caroline Jarrett, a leading expert in forms and surveys. Caroline, the author of "Surveys That Work" and "Forms That Work," shares her extensive knowledge on designing effective surveys and forms that yield meaningful insights. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of her consultancy Effortmark, Caroline delves into best practices, common pitfalls, and the evolving role of AI in survey methodologies. Key Themes: Importance of interviews before surveys: Caroline emphasizes starting with interviews to understand the vocabulary and concerns of potential respondents. Interviews help refine survey questions and ensure they resonate with the target audience. Focus on the Most Crucial Question(s): The discussion highlights the need to identify and prioritize the most crucial questions in a survey. Avoiding lengthy and overwhelming surveys helps maintain respondent engagement and yields more reliable data. Iterative testing and design: Caroline and Mike stress the importance of iterative testing in survey design. Continuous refinement based on feedback ensures that surveys are effective and user-friendly. Impact of AI on surveys: The role of AI in surveys is explored, noting that while AI can enhance data processing, human oversight is crucial for interpreting complex responses. Caroline shares her early experiences with AI in forms, providing a historical perspective on its development. Practical tips for form design: The episode includes practical tips for optimizing form design, such as placing confirmatory fields below the initial input fields to reduce errors. Caroline advocates for avoiding placeholder text inside input boxes, as it can lead to confusion and mistakes. Guest Information: Caroline Jarrett on LinkedIn Website: Effortmark Social Media: Caroline is active on LinkedIn and Blue Sky, and occasionally checks Twitter as @CJForms. Special Offer: Caroline offers a 15% discount on her book "Surveys That Work" from Rosenfeld Media. Use the code CJFORMS24 at checkout, valid through July 2024. Additional Resources: Caroline's website provides access to various resources, including a free poster titled "Listen First, Ask Second." For more insights, listeners can explore Caroline's articles and presentations on form and survey design. Blog: 4 methods for designing truly engaging customer surveys Connect with Us: Nathan Isaacs: Senior Manager for Content Production at UserTesting Mike McDowell: Senior Solutions Consultant at UserTesting, known for his UX research videos on LinkedIn and YouTube. Subscribe & Follow: Stay updated with the latest episodes and insights by subscribing to Insights Unlocked on your favorite podcast platform. Follow us on social media for more updates and behind-the-scenes content.

Episode web page ----------------------- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----------------------- SHOW NOTES:  Host: Andy MacMillan, CEO of UserTesting Guest: Jakob Nielsen, UX pioneer and founder of UX Tigers Summary: In this enlightening episode of Insights Unlocked, host Andy MacMillan converses with Jakob Nielsen, a renowned figure in the UX world. Known as the “King of Usability,” Nielsen shares his thoughts on the commoditization of UX, the role of AI in transforming digital experiences, and offers crucial career advice for UX professionals. Key Themes & Topics: AI as the Integration Glue: Nielsen explains how AI can unify fragmented digital experiences—improving the user’s experience—by integrating various applications and platforms, particularly through natural language processing and image recognition. “The hope is that AI can actually become the integration glue that will put this fragmentation together again, like a jigsaw puzzle” The Commoditization of UX: Nielsen discusses how AI-created efficiencies is dropping the costs for UX research, making it more accessible, reducing skill gaps and allowing a broader range of professionals to contribute to UX tasks. Career Advice for UX Professionals: Embrace the evolving nature of the industry and focus on becoming highly specialized in a specific domain. Join small, agile teams that are empowered and can move quickly, akin to superhero teams. “Try to get on some of those fast-moving, very high efficient, very empowered, augmented, accelerated product teams”​​. Democratization vs. Amateurization of UX: Nielsen prefers the term "amateurization" over "democratization," emphasizing that more people can now engage in UX without necessarily being experts. “I don't care what people's job title is. I care that they use these methods of user research and iterative design” . AI in UX Research and Design: AI significantly enhances ideation by generating numerous ideas rapidly, aiding in analysis by converting qualitative data into quantitative insights. “Ideation is free with AI, so just ask for as many ideas as you feel like having time to read” . Future of UX Teams: Nielsen predicts a shift towards more efficient, smaller teams with enhanced capabilities due to AI, reducing the need for extensive management hierarchies. “We will start having very, very efficient product teams, quite likely very small product teams that can accelerate immensely how fast they ship”​​. Quotes: "Accept how the world is evolving and find your best place in that rather than resist it" - Jakob Nielsen "AI can vastly increase usability by integrating fragmented user experiences" - Jakob Nielsen "The synergy of collaboration between human and AI is where the future lies" - Jakob Nielsen Where to Learn More: Follow Jakob Nielsen's latest insights on his new website, UX Tiger, and subscribe to his newsletter for weekly updates.

Episode web page The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. Episode Show Notes Hosts: Andy MacMillan, CEO of UserTesting, and Nathan Isaacs, Senior Manager for Content Production Guest: Judd Antin, Executive Coach, Consultant, ex-Airbnb, Meta, Yahoo Episode Summary: Join hosts Andy MacMillan and Nathan Isaacs as they engage in a compelling conversation with Judd Antin about the evolution of UX research. Judd, known for his influential article "The UX Research Reckoning Is Here," shares his insights on the necessary transformation within the UX research discipline. This episode delves into the balance between micro and macro research, the impact of AI, and the critical role of leadership in driving innovation and business value. Key Themes and Ideas: Introduction to Judd Antin: Overview of Judd’s extensive experience leading design research teams at major tech companies. Introduction to his article "The UX Research Reckoning Is Here" and its impact on the UX community. Reflection on the UX Research Reckoning: Judd’s reflections on the changes in the UX landscape since the publication of his article. Discussion on the evolution from middle-range research to a more balanced approach that includes both tactical (micro) and strategic (macro) research. Micro vs. Macro Research: Importance of micro-level research for direct business impact, such as usability studies and user sessions. The role of macro-level research in aligning with long-term strategic business decisions and engaging with executives. Challenges in the UX Industry: Ongoing economic uncertainties and shifts in focus affecting UX research investments. The necessity for UX researchers to align more closely with business needs and demonstrate clear value. AI and Its Role in UX Research: Judd’s measured view on AI’s impact on UX research, emphasizing that AI enhances rather than replaces human researchers. Discussion on how AI tools can make researchers more efficient, allowing them to handle more work effectively. Leadership and Influence in UX Research: The importance of building strong relationships and understanding social dynamics within organizations. Encouragement for researchers to see themselves as integral to decision-making processes and not just as providers of insights. Practical Advice for UX Researchers: Tips on building key relationships, starting with immediate superiors and expanding to allies and adversaries within the organization. Applying research skills internally to foster strong, influential relationships and drive business value. Looking Forward: Judd’s optimism about the future of UX research and the opportunities for growth and evolution. Encouragement for researchers to stay updated with new tools and adapt their practices to remain relevant. Conclusion: The episode wraps up with Judd sharing how listeners can stay connected with his work through his Medium site and personal website. He emphasizes the importance of ongoing engagement and dialogue within the UX community. Connect with Judd Antin: Medium: One Big Thought Website: JuddAntin.com LinkedIn: Judd Antin Subscribe & Follow: Don't miss out on future episodes of Insights Unlocked! Subscribe and follow us on your favorite podcast platform. For more UX tips and insights, follow UserTesting on Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

> Episode website < The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. Episode Overview: In this engaging episode of the Insights Unlocked podcast, Nathan Isaacs and UserTesting CEO Andy MacMillan welcome Dave Kerry, Global Value Engineering Director at UserTesting. They dive deep into the vital topic of quantifying and communicating the return on investment (ROI) of user experience (UX) research. Dave shares insightful strategies and real-world examples illustrating how UX research can directly influence business growth and product development. What You’ll Learn: The Role of Value Engineering in UX: Understand how Dave Kerry’s role as a value engineer helps bridge the communication gap between UX teams and executive leadership, ensuring that the value of UX research is recognized and properly utilized. Importance of Demonstrating UX ROI: Discover why it's crucial for businesses to see the tangible benefits of UX research, especially in securing continued investment and avoiding budget cuts or layoffs. Real-World Impact of UX Decisions: Dave shares a compelling case study from the banking sector, highlighting the consequences of neglecting user input in product development. Best Practices for UX Teams: Learn how to align UX research outcomes with broader business objectives and effectively communicate these benefits to stakeholders to secure buy-in and funding. Advice on Measuring and Reporting UX Impact: Gain insights into practical methods for measuring the impact of UX initiatives and how to present this data to resonate with an executive audience. Discussion on Trends in UX Research: Explore current trends in UX research and how companies can adapt to stay competitive by focusing on customer-centric product development. Featured Guest: Dave Kerry, Global Value Engineering Director at UserTesting Host: Nathan Isaacs, Senior Manager for Content Production at UserTesting Co-host: Andy MacMillan, CEO of UserTesting Episode Highlights: Dave's Background and Role: Introduction to Dave’s professional journey and his current role in making UX research indispensable to business strategies. ROI of UX Research: Dave shares insights from having worked with nearly 350 UserTesting customers and how they typically earn a 5x to 7x ROI on their UX investments through four primary value drivers.  Case Study – Banking Sector: A detailed look at how ignoring customer preferences in the digital space can lead to significant financial losses and brand damage. Strategies for UX ROI: Dave outlines strategies for UX teams to demonstrate their research's value, ensuring it aligns with and supports key business objectives. Future of UX Research: Discussion on the evolving landscape of UX research and the importance of staying ahead of the curve in a rapidly changing digital environment. Thank You for Tuning In! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your colleagues and friends interested in enhancing their UX strategies. Don't forget to subscribe to Insights Unlocked for more insightful discussions on UX research and digital product design. Links and Resources: UserTesting Website Connect with Dave Kerry on LinkedIn Follow Andy MacMillan on LinkedIn Follow Insights Unlocked on social media This episode is brought to you by UserTesting: Experience what your customer experiences with real-time feedback and insights from actual users.

Episode web page The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register.  Episode summary: Increasingly, brands are recognizing that customer feedback, traditionally important in UX design, is also crucial to shaping their marketing strategies. “We generally think about UX as a product role, but it’s really such a critical function for marketing now, too.” said Katie Karr, Senior User Experience Designer at Workiva. “It doesn’t matter how great our product offering is, if we aren’t communicating the right message to get users to see the value upfront.” In this week’s Insights Unlocked episode, Katie talks with UserTesting’s Nathan Isaacs about the global brand’s experiences using customer feedback to fine tune their marketing messaging. Featured: Guest: Katie Karr, Senior User Experience Designer at Workiva. Katie works on Workiva’s digital marketing team. Host: Nathan Isaacs, Senior Manager for Content Production at UserTesting and producer of Insights Unlocked.

> Episode website < The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. Episode Summary: In this enlightening episode of Insights Unlocked, UserTesting's Bailey Copithorne talks with Abby Covert, an esteemed information architect and author, to unravel the intricacies of information architecture (IA). They explore Abby's journey from graphic design to information architecture, the challenges to understanding information architecture, effectively introducing IA to teams where the concept may be new, and how to leverage AI in the field of information architecture. Guest bio: Our guest is Abby Covert. Abby is an information architect who helps people make sense of information. She writes books and teaches courses on information architecture. She is also the founder of The Sensemakers Club, a digital clubhouse where you can meet sensemakers with similar interests and challenges to your own. What You'll Learn: Abby's professional evolution: from aspirations in musical theater to information architecture, Abby shares how her career transitioned through various phases of graphic and digital design. Challenges in Information Architecture: understanding the common misconceptions that beginners have and how Abby's teaching approach addresses these challenges. Practical applications: insight into Abby's tenure at Etsy, including her innovative approach to implementing a voice of the customer program that reshaped how user feedback influenced product development. Future of Information Architecture: discussions on how information architecture is becoming increasingly crucial in the development and humanization of AI and machine learning technologies. The Sensemakers Club: Abby talks about her initiative to create a community for information architecture enthusiasts to connect, learn, and grow through The Sensemakers Club. Key Quotes: "Information architecture is not just about organizing data; it's about organizing it with intention." "Democratizing information architecture means making it a tool everyone can use to make sense of their messes, not just the trained professionals." Resources Mentioned: Abby Covert's Books: How to Make Sense of Any Mess and Stuck? Diagrams Help. The Sensemakers Club: www.thesensemakersclub.com Episode Timestamps: [00:00] Introduction to Abby Covert and the episode theme [05:22] Abby's journey from graphic design to information architecture [15:45] Common misconceptions and educational approaches in information architecture [25:30] Implementing customer voice at Etsy and its impact [35:50] The critical role of information architecture in AI and machine learning [45:10] Discussion on the future and democratization of information architecture [55:00] Conclusion and information about the Sense Makers Club Call to Action: Check out The Sensemakers Club and consider joining to connect with a community of like-minded professionals and enthusiasts. Read Abby's influential books to gain a deeper understanding and practical insights into tackling complex information architecture challenges. Further reading: For more information, read this UserTesting blog post, Information architecture: a comprehensive UX guide for beginners.

Join us for a profound conversation with Don Norman, a pioneer in user experience and human-centered design. In this episode, Don unpacks the essence of staying curious throughout life, rethinks traditional design principles in favor of humanity-centered approaches, and examines the evolving role of AI in design. Episode website  ---- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ---- Hosts: Jason Giles, Vice President of Design at UserTesting Lija Hogan, Principal for Experience Research Strategy at UserTesting Nathan Isaacs, Senior Manager for Content Production at UserTesting Guest: Don Norman, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group, and former Vice President of Apple In This Episode, You Will Learn: Lifelong Learning: Don Norman shares his personal journey and the importance of lifelong learning, detailing how he continuously adapts and acquires new skills to stay relevant and effective. Humanity-Centered Design: Norman critiques the traditional design paradigms that often focus on corporate profits at the expense of environmental and societal well-being. He advocates for a shift towards designs that consider their impact on society and the environment. The Role of AI in Design: Explore the dual-edged sword of AI in the design industry. Don discusses the powerful capabilities and potential risks of AI, urging a balanced approach that includes ethical considerations to harness AI for societal benefits. Advice for Designers: Norman provides actionable advice for designers to navigate their careers, emphasizing the need for ethical practice, continuous improvement, and the integration of human values into design processes. Featured Quote: "Don't work on just any technology, work on new technology that is humane, that is caring, and that makes a real difference." Episode links:  Don Norman Design Award - Learn more about how to participate or contribute. Books by Don Norman - Discover more of his works on design and human-focused practices. Subscribe and Share: Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to our podcast for more insights from leaders in user experience and design. Don't forget to rate us and share the episode with others who might find it valuable! Stay in touch: Feedback: podcast@usertesting.com Twitter: @UserTesting Website: www.usertesting.com/resources/podcast

Episode web page In this enlightening episode of Insights Unlock, we sit down with Jennifer Romano, a seasoned UX leader with experience at tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Instagram. Hosted by Lija Hogan, this discussion delves into the current challenges and promising future of the UX industry, the evolving job market, and the increasing relevance of mixed methods and AI in UX research. ---- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ---- Show Notes: Introduction: Introduction of Jennifer Romano, detailing her extensive background in the UX industry. Overview of Romano's roles and contributions to UX at major companies and in academia. Current State of the UX Job Market: Discussion on recent layoffs and the scarcity of entry-level roles in UX. Optimistic outlook for increased hiring and budget expansions in Q2 as companies recover from initial fiscal year planning. The Evolution and Future of UX: Exploration of how UX is still a burgeoning field with vast opportunities for growth. Insight into public misunderstanding of UX roles and the potential for industry expansion. Essential Skills for UX Professionals: Importance of adapting to versatile research methodologies. Emphasis on the need for UX professionals to acquire skills in both qualitative and quantitative research, including survey design and implementation. The Role of AI in UX Research: Discussion on the supportive role of AI in UX research, enhancing efficiency without replacing human researchers. Future predictions for AI's integration into UX practices and how it can help manage and synthesize large data sets effectively. Jennifer Romano's Current Projects: Information on Romano’s latest initiatives focused on training and coaching in UX. Highlight of a unique retreat aimed at bridging the gap between academic learning and real-world UX research experience. Closing Thoughts: Reflections on the importance of educating stakeholders about the value and methods of UX research. Encouragement for UX professionals to continually adapt and integrate new tools and methodologies.

Episode web page In this Insights Unlocked episode, UserTesting’s Andy MacMillan talks with David Rose about designing our augmented realities and what UX designers, product leaders and others should consider as they take on that challenge. ---- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ---- SHOW NOTES David Rose’s Journey in Tech Innovation David discusses his wide-ranging experiences in industries from healthcare to toys and tech, highlighting his award-winning entrepreneurial journey and his role as the CEO of Lookout—an AI-powered maritime navigation system. Seamless Integration of Technology Explore how David has successfully embedded technology into everyday objects to enhance user experiences without intrusion. Learn about his projects like Lego Mindstorms and GlowCap, which seamlessly combine functionality with simplicity. The Role of AR in Everyday Interactions Dive into the transformative potential of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in making everyday interactions more intuitive and engaging. David shares insights from his books and discusses how AR can reduce social isolation by enhancing real-world connections. Practical Applications of AR in Safety and Navigation Gain insights into Lookout, the AI camera system for boats, which David developed to improve maritime safety by providing navigational aids through augmented reality, showing how AR can address practical challenges in unstructured environments like open waters. Future of UX in Spatial Computing David discusses the future of user experience design in the context of spatial computing, offering advice for UX professionals on adapting to new tools and thinking paradigms to design more engaging and useful digital and physical products. Ethical Considerations and Social Impact of Tech The conversation also covers the ethical implications of technology, particularly the risks and benefits of AR and VR. David highlights the importance of designing technology that respects privacy and promotes social engagement.

Episode web page In this Insights Unlocked episode, UserTesting’s LeTisha Shaw talks with REI’s Monique Lalonde about their continuous interview program with customers to support the product development life cycle. ---- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ---- SHOW NOTES It shouldn’t come as a surprise that REI, the nation’s largest consumer co-op with some 23 million members, loves to talk with its customers. “As our product-led practice matured, we saw an opportunity to foster a habit of talking to customers on a regular basis in support of the product development cycle,” said Monique, REI’s Director of Product Design. “Layne Foit (REI’s senior manager of UX research & Content) developed a scalable framework for continuous customer interviewing with a goal to empower teams with just enough research skills so they feel comfortable talking to customers, are able to analyze what they hear, and use those customer insights to drive innovation and customer centricity.” Once a week, members from REI’s UX research and product teams meet up to talk with a customer about a specific problem they are experiencing. They then evaluate that interview together, listening for all the different things that people observed. We often talk about shifting left in the product development lifecycle when you’re talking with your customers and prospects. This helps you develop products your audience wants, needs and will pay you money. It also helps avoid or reduce the cost of rework (estimated at more than $1 trillion annually) because you built something no one wanted. REI is a purpose-driven specialty outdoor retailer dedicated to enabling life outside for all. The co-op was founded in 1938 as some mountaineering friends in the Pacific Northwest sought access to better climbing gear. As a co-op, with about 23 million members, they measure success differently than many companies.  “Our goal is to run a healthy business, which enables us to make a positive impact on our employees, members, and society,” Monique said. “Our product design practice plays a critical role in supporting our goals, measuring their progress and impact in all our experiences.” So far the program has been successful in conducting continuous research that can be measured and tracked, Monique said.  “This shared experience is helping in cross-functional alignment, promoting a user-centered culture, and understanding a holistic picture of our customer journeys,” she said. “An unexpected benefit has been team building. Our product teams are 100% remote and our pilot teams reported feeling more connected to their co-workers thanks to the program.”

Episode web page In this Insights Unlocked episode, Andy MacMillan, CEO of UserTesting, talks with Dave about the rapidly transforming UX research landscape, shedding light on how technological advances are reshaping our approach to understanding user experiences. ---- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ---- SHOW NOTES In this Insights Unlocked episode, Andy MacMillan, CEO of UserTesting, talks with Dave about the rapidly transforming UX research landscape, shedding light on how technological advances are reshaping our approach to understanding user experiences. Dave has written several essays on the subject over on his website. “What we're doing in user research compared to what we were doing 10 or 15 years ago is a much more understood set of activities,” Dave said. “And that means that the way that we undertake them, the amount of effort that it takes to undertake them is decreasing and the amount of knowledge that we as an industry have about how the craft of user research itself works is increasing.  “User research is only one small piece of the puzzle,” he said. “And the user of user research are the product teams who are actually taking these insights and are weaving them into our ongoing processes. So as we look to the future of user research, I think we actually need to shift our view a level higher and look to the future methods of product development that will unfold along with a now more commoditized version of research.” Dave suggests the future of UX research is to be closer aligned to the product development process.

Episode web page In this Insights Unlocked episode, UserTesting’s Sean Treiser talks with UI/UX and product designer Karla Fernandes about designing, developing, testing and launching products on your own. ---- The Human Insight Summit (THiS) PROMO Code The Human Insight Summit (THiS) is headed to Austin, Texas, this October 28-30. THiS is our annual, in-person customer conference dedicated to helping organizations understand their customers by showing and sharing, first-hand, the possibilities of using human insight across the business. Get $100 off your registration with the podcast listener code: UNLOCKED. Learn more or register. ----

In this Insights Unlocked episode, UserTesting’s CEO Andy MacMillan talks with Chris Messina, co-founder of the Ride Home AI Fund. They discuss AI’s rapid integration into our lives; ways in which AI will revolutionize work; the key elements of a successful product today; as well as Chris’s investment strategy for AI startups.

In this Insights Unlocked episode, Lawrence Williams talks with Dawn Procopio, founder and principal UX researcher at AI-Ethicist.com. They explore the critical role of UX researchers in ensuring that machine learning models are human-centered and ethically sound.

In this Insights Unlocked episode, UserTesting’s Lija Hogan talks with Jorge Arango, author of the new book Duly Noted: Extend Your Mind Through Connected Notes. They discuss the power of note-taking to help you be more knowledgeable and creative, both at a personal level and collaboratively with teams.

In this Insights Unlocked episode, Teresa Torres — author of Continuous Discovery Habits, which has now sold more than 100,000 copies — talks about the importance of customer input earlier in the product development lifecycle to better dial in product market fit and reduce wasted costs. Teresa has coached hundreds of teams at companies of all sizes, from early-stage startups to global enterprises, in a variety of industries. She has taught more than 11,000 product people discovery skills through the Product Talk Academy and her coaching practice.

In this episode of UserTesting’s Insights Unlocked podcast, Andy MacMillan talks with Pablo Stanley about AI’s impact on design. Pablo is the founder or co-founder of several design brands, most recently Bueno and the Musho AI plugin for Figma. Previously he was a lead designer at InVision, as well as a staff designer at Lyft and Udemy. He teaches art and design on his YouTube channel Sketch Together, as well as supports the Latinx community through his projects Latinx Who Design and Dreamer Stories. “I am a techno-optimist,” Pablo said. “I believe in the potential of these tools to enhance our lives in general and, specifically, that of creative individuals, assisting them in taking their creations to a different level.” The pace of the change is happening quickly, he said, and some people may get caught in that disruption, including on the creative side, and get left behind. “It would be naive not to see the challenges this brings,” Pablo said. “The pace of the AI evolution is making traditional systems and industries slow to adapt, sometimes causing an existential crisis. So, there's going to be a transition period where a lot of people will be affected by this shift.

In this bonus episode, we look back to our conversation from Season 6, Episode 53 with Monal Chokshi, Head of Research & Insights at Dropbox.  In this clip, Monal shares tips for anyone looking to build a research team from the ground up at a company, as well as tips for next leveling a research team that already exists. She also explains how she created an internal Insights Council to help inform and influence business decisions. Enjoy the episode.

In this bonus episode, we look back to our conversation in Episode 87 with Ari Zelmanow and UserTesting’s Michelle Huff. Ari is a former police detective turned UX researcher and now leads User Experience Research at Twilio.  In this clip, Ari explains why he thinks we need to reinvent UX researchers role within organizations to be less of a service provider and more of a consultant providing strategic advice.   Enjoy the episode.

Welcome back to Insights Unlocked. Our next season kicks off in a few weeks with some incredible guests such as Judd Antin, Jennifer Romano, Teresa Torres, and Pablo Stanley among others.  In this episode, we look back to our conversation in Episode 17 with Christian Idiodi, Partner at Silicon Valley Product Group. We ask him about how teams and individuals should think about innovation within their organizations.  Enjoy the episode.

Welcome back to Insights Unlocked and a very happy holidays to everyone. For many people, the holiday season is a time for taking a break from work as we visit friends and loved ones and otherwise recharge our batteries.  In this short encore episode, we listen to the conversation UserTesting's CEO Andy MacMillan had with Sarah Doody from Career Strategy Lab about making ourselves recession proof. One recommendation they had was investing time at least once a year in updating your LinkedIn profile, resume or CV.  Seems like these slow days between the holidays are a perfect opportunity to track your accomplishments over the past year, update your LinkedIn profile, and make a plan for the new year.  Enjoy the show.

In this episode, UserTesting’s Lija Hogan talks with Leeyat Tessler, Senior User Experience Researcher at Capital One's Innovation Lab. Leeyat provides an inside look into the Lab's purpose-built space, where groundbreaking digital products are born. From initial research to the Wizard of Oz testing, they explore the intricacies of UX research and digital product design.

In this Insights Unlocked episode, we talked with Siena Hickey from Sanzo Strategy Group about why startup founders should lean into talking with their customers more, and what the risks are if they don’t. Siena has consulted brands across America, Europe, Asia, and Africa on the nuances of product market fit. Customer feedback allows you to identify and remedy small problems before they have the chance to become critical issues down the line. “People hear that word feedback and they often assume that it’s inherently negative,” Siena said. “Customer feedback is the way to decide how your business moves forward, and it does take a different type of vulnerability to open up your hard work to the people that you want to like it the most.”

In this week’s Insights Unlocked, Alex Mullans, product lead at Figma, provides insightful perspectives and strategies for maintaining human connections in remote design teams during his conversation with Liz Miller, vice president and principal analyst at Constellation Research.

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In this week’s Insights Unlocked, we chat with Aline Thomé, a senior UX/UI designer at Raiffeisen Bank International about the challenges she faced introducing UX research to a large and established international organization, highlighting the importance of resilience. The Austrian banking group operates 13 subsidiary banks in Central and Eastern Europe and serves 16.3 million customers through more than 2,100 business outlets.  Aline has been there just over two years, but has been a UX designer since 2009. She quips that her relationship with her profession “is my most stable relationship.” “I love it, I love design. I went into this field because I love challenges and I love problem solving,” she said. “And what I really love about it is that you can make a true impact in people’s lives. We are using websites, we are using apps all the time. And we have the power to make them better, to make them more intuitive, to make them more accessible.” She’s developed a two-step matrix for helping her share user insights throughout the organization in a way that makes them more actionable.  The first step is to assess how critical a finding or issue discovered in the user feedback truly is. Mark it green if it is not too bad; yellow if it is medium; and red if it is really critical. The second step is to assess how much effort will be required to fix the problem. “I usually put small, medium, large and extra large,” Aline said.  For example, if you see something is red, but the effort is small then let’s tackle it right away. If a finding is green and requires a large effort, addressing it can be pushed out.   “This is a game changer because you can identify quick wins very easily,” she said. “And the stakeholders also appreciate it because it helps set priorities.”

In this Insights Unlocked episode, Liz Miller interviews UserTesting’s Chief Scientist Ranjitha Kumar about her unique perspective on integrating AI and machine learning (ML) into UX and experience research.

In this Insights Unlocked episode, Anne Wilbers, a Senior Design Researcher at Canopy, shares her experiences UX testing the new Canopy Pickup Cam system ranging from the installation guides, hardware, app, website landing pages and more. The Canopy Pickup Cam is a smart security camera that works for most trucks. Theft from trucks and other vehicles is a big deal. In fact, $7.4 billion was lost to auto theft and property stolen from vehicles in 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The company was spun out of Ford, where the initial research that went into the product was developed. In the episode, Anne shares her experiences over the past year getting the UX research program started, planning an internal alpha pilot and then a beta pilot with Detroit-area truck owners—a continent away from her offices in London. She includes her lessons learned, such as the benefits of having an alpha test. And be ready to plan more than you’d originally would expect, she said. For example, they rehearsed before the beta pilot launch, where they were able to address such details such as where would participants park their trucks, who would greet them, and was wifi available?

In this episode of Insights Unlocked, Liz Miller from Constellation Research talks with Dr. David Evans, a Senior Research Manager at Microsoft and author of Bottlenecks: Aligning UX Design with User Psychology. Listen to their conversation to get a better understanding on why certain designs work and others fail and what that may mean for your organization.

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In this episode, Constellation Research’s Liz Miller talks with Adobe’s Katie Cook about AI, how workflows are changing for designers and researchers, adn her tips for better cross-functional collaboration. Enjoy the show.

Teams often tell us they have trouble connecting the dots between business value and experience research.  Whether you’re a marketer, UX practitioner, or project manager, you should be working to match what you do with measurable business results. In this week’s Insights Unlocked, UserTesting’s Chief Operating Officer Josh Maltz talks with UpTop's Craig Nishizaki about getting executive buy-in for experience research.

In this week’s Insights Unlocked, UserTesting’s Paige Musto talks with Kristy, a senior manager for digital intelligence and optimization at F5. Their conversation was recorded at UserTesting’s The Human Insight Summit (THiS) in Seattle last month. They touch on various topics related to digital marketing, including creative and prototype testing, using qualitative insights to better understand the why behind web analytics, and more.

In this week’s Insights Unlocked, Liz Miller from Constellation Research chats with Andy Parquette, a senior UX designer at Panera Bread, about the ever-evolving landscape of experience research, innovation, and the challenges of designing digital experiences for diverse audiences. Their conversation took place at The Human Insight Summit (THiS) in Seattle last month. Panera's small UX team aims to support customers across their entire journey, from home or work to the restaurant and back; from research to visual design.  “The sun never sets on what UX touches,” said Parquette, a senior UX designer at Panera Bread. That investment has paid off. According to its parent company, Panera Bread continues to expand its leading digital capabilities, which today account for 51% of total sales, while increasing its loyalty base to 53 million members and launching an innovative loyalty subscription model that has resulted in 25% of all Panera transactions now coming from Unlimited Sip Club members.

In this week’s Insights Unlocked, UserTesting’s Sean Treiser talks with Deborah Roberts, about bridging the silos that can often occur within teams and departments. They offer up a range of actionable tips including using structured collaboration tools like FigJam, using visuals like journey maps or highlight reels and making sure to tie it all back to business goals.  Deborah is a senior UX designer at UpTop, a Seattle-based agency where she has worked on projects that range from large online retailers and B2B technology companies to healthcare and fashion. Sean is UserTesting’s Insights Strategist and often can be found writing articles for the Center for Human Insights.

In this episode, UserTesting’s CMO Michelle Huff talks with Liz Miller from Constellation Research about generative AI, unraveling misconceptions surrounding it, and exploring its profound impact on marketing and customer experience. Among the items they discussed, included: Misconceptions about generative AI Generative AI and storytelling Generative AI's role in customer experience Ethical considerations for brands when using generative AI Role of AI in design and content creation process How brands can ensure using AI fits with overall brand identity and values

In today's episode, UserTesting’s Lisa Lloyd talks with Behzod Sirjani about democratizing research across the org, measuring research’s impact, how to tackle diversity and inclusion in research practices, overcoming resistance to research, and creating a go-no-go decision making framework. Behzod is founder of the Yet Another Studio consultancy, working with a range of clients including Figma and Dropbox. Behzod is a research consultant, advisor, and investor. He is also an Executive in Residence and Program Partner at Reforge, where he built and leads the User Insights for Product Decisions program. Previously, Behzod led Research Operations at Slack and was a Senior UX Researcher at Facebook, where he co-founded the Research Associates Program. In their conversation, they discuss: What democratizing research means How to make teams aware they are already doing research every day Playing the Wheel of Fortune with your research and decision making Measuring research's ROI for the org How to get buy in for research diversity Is great research inconvenient? Humility in the research process Recognizing research is not always the answer Decision making frameworks Risk threshold conversations Best research advice

In this Insights Unlocked episode, Mike McDowell, a senior solutions consultant at UserTesting, interviews Mireya Arteaga from GoDaddy about actionable research tips any small business, side hustle or even Fortune 100 company can employ. Mireya is a lead CX researcher with GoDaddy with 12 years experience in customer experience, messaging, and optimizing marketing content.

In this week’s 🎙️🔓 Insights Unlocked, the topic of trust-building through internal research took center stage. The conversation between UserTesting’s Michael Mace and Adrian Howard shed light on the significant impact of understanding internal dynamics and using UX methodologies within organizations to foster collaboration, innovation, and success. One key theme discussed was the fear of being identified when providing honest feedback within an organization. Howard, a prominent figure in UX research and leadership coaching, shared insights into this common concern. "The fear of being identified really speaks to a valid worry that many individuals face when conducting research outside the realm of consumer products," he explained. "Honest answers can sometimes hurt people, especially when those in positions of power are uncomfortable with the feedback they receive."

In this episode of Insights Unlocked, UserTesting’s CMO Michelle Huff talks with Ari about why organizations should be turning their UX research function into future-ready strategic insight and foresight teams (SIFT). "Ari’s perspective challenges the status quo and encourages us to rethink how we approach UX research," Michelle said. "By transforming research teams into strategic insight and foresight teams, businesses can make informed decisions that align with both customer needs and business goals."

In this Insights Unlocked episode, Andy MacMillan talks with Laura Klein, a veteran in the experience research space, known for her expertise as an author, UX researcher, engineer, and product manager. They discuss the concept of designing for the smallest possible thing to avoid the cost of rework in product development. Laura emphasizes the importance of building the smallest thing needed to learn something or understand a problem better. It's not about building something small just for the sake of it; rather, it's about identifying the specific information that needs to be learned and finding the most efficient way to gain insights. "Build the smallest possible thing that you can to learn something or to understand something better," Laura said. They also touch on the challenges faced by UX researchers and the importance of including customer feedback in the product development process.

In this episode of the Insights Unlocked podcast, UserTesting's CEO Andy MacMillan talks with Ranjitha Kumar, UserTesting’s Chief Scientist about the evolving role of AI in the world of UX research, shedding light on how AI can revolutionize the way we design and optimize digital products. One of the key takeaways from the episode was the remarkable power AI holds in transforming the experience research landscape. By leveraging AI's capabilities, UX researchers and product managers can unlock deeper insights, automate mundane tasks, and streamline their workflows, allowing them to focus on more creative and innovative aspects of their work. The episode also brought up an essential point – the critical role of humans in the research process. While AI can be a valuable co-pilot, it should never replace the human touch, Ranjitha said.

From the C-suite to the front lines, everyone wishes life could be less complex, but that often feels impossible. Understanding the art of decision-making can shape your future path whether you're a tech professional, a business leader, or someone navigating life's many choices. In this week’s episode of Insights Unlocked, Janice Fraser, co-author "Farther, Faster, and Far Less Drama," discusses her four leadership motions, which she believes will help you achieve goals faster, make complex situations more manageable, and create momentum even during overwhelming circumstances. She and UserTesting’s CEO Andy MacMillan dive into the concepts she has employed consulting Navy SEALs, startup CEOs, and Fortune 100 executives.

Sarah Doody coaches UX and other tech professionals every day about what they need to do to take the next step in their careers. In this season’s first episode of Insights Unlocked, UserTesting’s CEO Andy MacMillan chats with Sarah about navigating your UX career over the next 1 to 2 years.

Welcome to Insights Unlocked, a new podcast from UserTesting. If you’ve listened to and followed our past shows, the Human Insights Podcast and UXpeditious, you will also love Insights Unlocked. Each episode brings you quick, insightful stories and interviews on how successful digital products and experiences are built and delivered through customer insights–from concept through execution. Every Monday we deliver you a 25-minute conversation packed with smart insights and ideas from innovative thinkers, leaders and practitioners across the digital experience industry. Hear how brands like IKEA, Grammarly, Atlassian and Capital One among others are tackling experience research challenges.

Jonathan Alloy is Vice President of Customer Experience and Innovation Consulting at Publicis Sapient; he's a transformative, innovative, and inclusive business and technology leader with both corporate and academic experience on his resume. In this episode Jonathan shares several tactical steps design, product and CX leaders can take to thoughtfully and effectively scale UX.

Tomer Sharon is the Co-founder and Chief Experience Officer of anywell. He’s had many professional achievements and worked in spirited companies like Google and WeWork. In this episode, we’re going to talk about one of his biggest contributions to user research, Atomic Research–a method of managing qualitative research knowledge in a more dynamic way. It helps teams across organizations share important findings quickly and across silos.

In this episode, Andy and Janelle recap the past season of the Human Insight Podcast. Thank you to all the listeners of the podcast, wherever you may be. And thank you to all the guests for making time for us and sharing their stories.

You will hear from C. Todd Lombardo, author of several books including Product Roadmaps Relaunched; Silicon Valley Product Group’s Christian Idiodi; Product School’s Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, Harvard Business School’s Julia B. Austin, Radhika Dutt, author of Radical Product Thinking; Teresa Torres, author of Continuous Discover Habits, Ignition’s Karthik Suresh, and IDEO’s Iain Roberts. How the role of product management evolving How the product leader’s role has changed Key skills product managers need to be successful 3 fundamental characteristics that makes a great product manager What makes a great product team Three pillars of radical product thinking What is continuous discovery Why customer feedback is critically important to your success Key elements for a successful product launch How do you include execs in a design sprint How do you know when you have good product market fit The seven diseases of  of product strategy & development The future of product

What is Human Insight? What can you do with human insight? And how do you get started gathering human insight?  Those are the big three questions the Center for Human Insight, presented by UserTesting, hopes to answer.  “People tend to think of user tests as being something just tied to usability when in fact it's a way to get broad feedback on anything that you need to get reactions to or input on in real time,” said Michael Mace, VP of the Center for Human Insight. “And the range of things you can do with it, the range of things you can learn are just amazing. We want to bring that to life for everybody so that they see what you can do.” Mace along with Michael Domanic, Head of Solutions Partners at UserTesting; and Sean Treiser, Insights Strategist at UserTesting, were guests on this week’s episode of the Human Insight Podcast.  In their conversation, they also discussed:  What is the Center for Human Insight Who is the center’s target audience How does someone submit an article or tip for gathering feedback to the center Links from the show Center for Human Insight Emailing the center: centerforhumaninsight@usertesting.com

Customer onboarding is critical to the success of a business not just in activation, but in the long-term retention of those users. Typically, we think of the example of when we sign up a new customer and then onboard them on our product or service.  But onboarding is more than that. You’ll need to re-onboard a once-every-few-months user every time they log on. And you’ll need to successfully onboard a customer every time you release a new product feature.  “If you don't,” says Pulkit Agrawal, cofounder and CEO of Chameleon, “that feature won't get adoption activation, retention, and won’t be part of the reason why customers stick around.” Chameleon helps companies build better onboarding experiences. Agrawal was this week’s guest on the Human Insights Podcast, joining co-hosts Andy MacMillan and Janelle Estes.  “User onboarding, while it's typically considered at the start of the product journey, really applies across the product lifecycle as you build functionality,” Agrawal said. “And in the world of product-led today, where really the companies that have the best products and the most usage in engagement are the ones that win, it's really vital that companies have a method, a process, a system and tooling to continue to onboard users onto features and continue to drive engagement adoption.” Listen to the episode and learn more about:  Why companies should focus on the why and not just the how with onboarding The importance of onboarding, especially in a usage-based pricing model How a friction log can help improve your customers’ onboarding experiences

Welcome to our second annual roundup of book recommendations from guests on the Human Insight Podcast.  It is a good mix of books, covering creativity, money, innovation and product development. There is even a children’s book recommendation, as well as one for a newsletter.  Brave New Work by Aaron Dignan Gerrard: My Autobiography by Steven Gerrard Nudge: The Final Edition by Richard H. Thaler Jonathan Livingston Seagull: The Complete Edition by Richard Bach Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making by Tony Fadell The Gruffalo in Scots by Julia Donaldson The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by Dalai Lama The Marginalian by Maria Popova Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. by Brené Brown The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness by Morgan Housel Birdgirl By Mya-Rose Craig End of Bias: A Beginning by Jessica Nordell Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky Permanent Record by Edward Snowden The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you by Rob Fitzpatrick Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace by Gordon MacKenzie The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham Lean Enterprise: How High Performance Organizations Innovate at Scale by Jez Humble Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships by Marshall Rosenberg And don’t forget, our own User Tested and The Digital Experience Company.

Timothy Embretson is Global Vice President of Experience Design and Karolina Boremalm is Global Head of Design Operations at Ingka Group, IKEA’s largest retailer. In this episode, they discuss how they are leading a digital transformation at a major global retailer. Scaling the design organizations and helping to make the special in-person IKEA experience just as delightful when a person is shopping online.

Julia Austin is a strong advocate for feedback never stopping, whether she is pushing her students to get out and talk with customers or talking with business leaders.  “I'll get this question, especially from founders early on, of ‘when do I stop talking to my customers and getting feedback and start building my product?,’” said Austin, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School’s Rock Center for Entrepreneurship where she currently teaches Startup Operations. “And I'm like, ‘Never ... You need to be talking to them all the time.” In this episode of the Human Insight Podcast, Austin joins UserTesting’s CEO Andy MacMillan and Chief Insights Officer Janelle Estes to discuss the importance of customer feedback, as well as:  What makes a great product manager? How do you know when you have product market fit? Her advice to legacy companies making the digital transition and developing new products or reinventing how their current products are offered in the marketplace?

Erin May and JH Forster of User Interviews and hosts of the Awkward Silences podcast, discuss the value of high-value research participants. Depending on where a product is in its lifecycle, an intentional pool of research participants can substantially impact the strategic direction of a product.

You have to understand how people work, and why, says Kaj van de Loo, UserTesting’s Chief Technology Officer, on this week’s episode of the Human Insight Podcast.  “What do they actually want to do or need to do to reach their goals, vs. what are they doing as weird workarounds or because they are being told to do,” he said. “Look at the former, and support it. In our case, every product manager, designer, and engineer wants to understand our customers and users and they all want to hear about how our product is being used, what people think of it, and how we can make it better. We lean into that.”  In their conversation with Kaj, co-hosts Andy and Janelle ask him about business workflows and how the pandemic and digital acceleration changed the way we think about processes and workflows.  The also discuss how understanding how people work, and how they leverage tools and technology, as well as customer insights, to launch products successfully.

Jesse James Garrett is a Design Leadership coach, author and speaker with over 25 years of experience in the UX industry. Jesse was part of the first wave of professional user experience designers and co-founder of one of the first user experience consultancies, Adaptive Path. In this episode, we talk with Jesse about what UX leadership needs in order to keep the industry thriving.

Producer’s note: This week’s episode is a conversation with futurist and author Brian Solis at The Human Insight Summit held in New Orleans in 2022. Do you know how your customers experience your brand today? Do you know how they really feel? Do you know what they say when you're not around? You think you know your customers, but you really have no idea–until you talk to them! Brian Solis, author of X: The Experience When Business Meets Design, joined Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer and co-author of User Tested, met onstage in a fireside conversation at The Human Insights Summit last week in New Orleans to discuss the importance of customer understanding and empathy in an always-on world, and why today customer experience is your brand. Solis is a world-renowned digital anthropologist, futurist, 8x best-selling author, and international keynote speaker. He serves as VP, Global Innovation at Salesforce and has consistently been recognized as one of the world's leading voices in innovation, business transformation, and leadership for over two decades. Leveraging insights from each of their books and professional experiences, Brian and Janelle spoke about the parallels in their books and beliefs on powering customer-centric experiences.

Malini Leveque is VP of User Insights and Research at SAP. A huge multinational software company, SAP has over 100,000 employees. In this episode, Malini shares how she’s leading product teams throughout the organization using big data, analytics, and live user insights to drive actions that generate real business value.

Amanda Renteria, the CEO of Code for America, joined the Human Insight Podcast to talk about using technology AND regularly talking with your audience to reimagine government to better serve communities.  Amanda has worked in the financial sector, been a teacher in her hometown, and spent most of her career in the public sector, from serving as Chief of Operations at the California Department of Justice to being national political director for Hilary Clinton’s 2016 US presidential campaign. And, oh yeah, she ran for the U.S. Congress and for California’s state governor. Among the topics discussed include:  Simplifying tax filing Code for America’s Safety Net Innovation Lab What is human-centered government  Amanda’s thoughts on Hispanic Heritage Month following her recent appointment by President Biden to his Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics.

Kate Towsey is Research Operations Manager at Atlassian. In this episode, Kate challenges how we think about Research Ops, saying it’s not an administrative effort. It’s foundational in providing the necessary tools and training to make sure research can be democratized while maintaining the highest quality insights.

The digital acceleration is changing everyone’s lives, especially for designers who are more and more in demand across companies, industries and geographies.  The past decade has seen incredible changes to design, and who is a designer. In fact, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics this year officially recognized the job of “web and digital interface designer,” says Andrew Hogan, who leads insights and analysis at Figma and was this week’s guest on the Human Insight Podcast.  “And there’s also this realization that design can impact things at a business level, call it Big D design,” Hogan said. “It’s not just about moving pixels, it’s also about solving business problems.” Podcast co-hosts Andy MacMillan and Janelle Estes talked with Andrew before Adobe’s announced its intentions to acquire Figma for $20 billion. In addition to discussing how much design has changed, as well as what’s ahead, they also discussed what are the best practices across the industry, especially as it pertains to big, global, and/or enterprise organizations.

Joaquín Márquez Correa is Global Head for UX and Design at Banco Santander, one of the largest banks in Spain. In this episode, Joaquin reminds us how prevalent financial services are in our day-to-day lives and how Santander is betting big on great user experience to better service their customers.

Kausamby Manjita joins the Human Insight podcast this week to discuss her work bringing the complex technologies that Walmart, Alibaba and Amazon use to the rest of the retail world. Kaus is CEO and co-founder of Mason, an all-in-one platform that helps entrepreneurs automate their online stores. Currently, she said, about 98 of every 100 people who land on any online store (that is not big tech) usually drop off before buying anything compared to the 15 of every 100 for a big retailer. She wants to help close that gap for entrepreneurs, especially when the cost of acquiring web traffic to your store is increasing. Additionally, Kaus outlined the specific challenges these owners face, whether that was in sales and promotions, personalization, or data-driven merchandising. She also discussed how she helps these vastly different online businesses connect with their audiences in a way that is authentic.

In this bonus episode celebrating International Podcast Day 2022, 12 past guests on the show share their tips and advice for convincing others to invest in customer feedback. In order of appearance are:  Ep. 48: Wesley Faulkner Ep. 46: Patrick Quattlebaum Ep. 17: Christian Idiodi Ep. 47: Karthik Suresh Ep. 20: April Dunford Ep. 45: Radhika Dutt Ep. 41: Bobbie Wood Ep. 40: C. Todd Lombardo Ep. 28: Jennifer Lee Ep. 15: Susan Rice EP. 18: Catherine Richards Ep. 26: Brent Leary

Pablo Sanchez Martin is Senior Vice President and Head of Design at Lightstream. In this episode, Pablo shares some compelling thoughts on how UX insights and data have the power to transform business. He advocates that business leaders need to lean into their research teams, giving them the space to ask hard questions and influence strategic directions.

"When you're thinking about measuring a community, usually what you measure is what you effect," said Wesley Faulkner, Senior Community Manager at Amazon’s AWS. "So, if you're not measuring the success of the people who are in the community, if that's not part of the measurements, then you're really not going to be tracking that. Thus, you may lose sight of what makes your community good." Wesley talked with Andy MacMillan, UserTesting's CEO, and Janelle Estes, UserTesting's Chief Insights Officer, in this episode of the Human Insight Podcast.  Wesley is a first-generation American, public speaker, and podcaster. He is a founding member of the government transparency group Open Austin and a staunch supporter of racial justice, workplace equity, and neurodiversity. His professional experience spans technology from AMD, Atlassian, and Dell among others. Wesley is currently . He also co-hosts the developer relations focused podcast Community Pulse and serves on the board for SXSW. He said measuring what makes a sponsored community successful can be complicated. Ask the sales team and they want to know how many leads are coming from the community. Ask customer service and they want to know how many tickets are being diverted to and answered in the community.  "But if I had to boil it down to anything," Faulkner said, "it is what does the community itself say its worth?" Listen to the episode to hear Faulkner's tips for putting metrics to that measurement.  Additionally, they discuss:  What do Faulkner mean when he says community shapes us?  What are the benefits of a community to those within the community, and what are the benefits to the sponsoring organization?  How do you authentically build an audience, especially as everything seems to shift to more digital, more remote, and more global?

Episode web page: https://tinyurl.com/2p9rbkfu Natalie Marie Dunbar is the former Senior Manager of UX Content Strategy at Walmart. This episode we talk with her about the growing discipline of integrated user experience content strategy. And how this budding discipline is starting to get a seat at the table along with design, research and product.

This week on the Human Insight Podcast, Karthik Suresh joins Andy and Janelle to discuss just what goes into making a successful product launch. Suresh is co-founder and CPO/CTO of Ignition, a collaborative hub for product teams to plan, execute, and measure the GTM side of launching a product. In their conversation, they discuss: What are some ways to ensure you successfully launch? Whether that changes  based on the business size (small or large), or model (B2B or B2C) What are the elements of a GTM plan? What are the key ingredients in building a culture of innovation? How can digital product leaders best support a culture of innovation?

Devin Harold is the Director of UX Research for Financial Services at Capital One. This episode we chat with Devin about UX research processes, specifically rapid research. Devin is an experienced UX leader who has leaned into the rapid research process to scale user insights and drive some big initiatives.

We all have special moments. There are signature moments, critical moments, key moments, moments that matter, moments of truth and so forth. For this week's episode of the Human Insight Podcast, we talk with Patrick Quattlebaum, Co-founder and CEO of Harmonic Design and author of Orchestrating Experiences.  Quattlebaum believes moments are a powerful concept worth exploring.  "What I have been fascinated by is this concept of moment and how it can be an architectural element that we can think about: this moment occurs and this event occurs that we can actually observe and that we can collect data on and that we can then do additional research to then really understand the dynamics around that moment," he said. "And that taps into some systems thinking in terms of drilling into structure and mental models and can we then start to see moments as a design target together?  "We can measure it, we can try to understand it, understand how moments are connected to one another.  And if we start using that similar language, and using the term the same way, it can unlock that cross functional collaboration that companies find it really hard to get everybody focused on the same thing." Besides the concept of moments, we also discussed:  How do you engage more stakeholders in the process, especially when not everyone is a designer? The concept of zooming out The role storytelling in sharing insights across the organization

Amy Deschenes is the Head of UX & Digital Accessibility for Harvard Library. In this episode, we talk about the value of UX accessibility. Amy and her team led an accessibility audit of 14 websites, she shares what they learned and what the future state of accessibility could look like.

We talked with Radhika Dutt in this week’s episode of the Human Insight Podcast. Radhika is an engineer, entrepreneur and product leader who has participated in four acquisitions, two of which were companies she founded. She has built products in industries including broadcasting, media, advertising technology, government, consumer, robotics, and wine. She is currently Advisor on Product Thinking for the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Singapore’s central bank and financial regulator.  She is also the author of Radical Product Thinking: The New Mindset for Innovating Smarter.  Among the topics discussed included:  Why do you think iterative product design is a bad thing? How can product team leaders best mitigate risk in developing products? What are the challenges with Lean and Agile with product development? What are the seven diseases of product strategy & development? What are Three Pillars of Radical Product Thinking?

Fanny Pourcenoux is the Director of Global Design at Contentsquare. Fanny is leading Contentsquare’s redesign and rebranding efforts and she’s leaning heavily on data informed design decisions. On this episode, Fanny talks about using data to make design and content decisions and how data can support UX Research efforts.

Monal Chokshi is the Senior Director, Head of Research & Insights at Dropbox. She has built and led UX teams for over 10 years, including those at Lyft, Intuit, and SoundCloud. On this episode she reflects back on some of her past talks about leadership and shares ways researchers can build a team from the ground up as well as elevating research teams that already exist.

Alec Levin is the Co-Founder and CEO of Learners, a community that provides professional education to UX Researchers, designers, and product managers. In this episode, we hear about the value of engaging in a multidisciplinary community and why in order to be a strategic researcher, it’s necessary to understand the economics of business.

In this episode, we talk with Beverly May, VP of Research and Design at Allstate about her efforts leading a large design platforming initiative. And we hit on a hot topic in our industry: CX. Hear how Beverly is defining customer experience and how it’s helping to deliver insights at scale.

Andrew Schall is the Senior Director of Experience Design Research at Mayo Clinic, where he’s working with his team to create the next generation of healthcare technology. He has over 20 years of professional experience in user experience with expertise in eye tracking. This episode we hear how and when a UX Researcher could use eye tracking technology.

Christian Rohrer, Vice President of Experience Design at TD Bank shares his expertise in UX measurement, specifically the PURE Method. Pure stands for Pragmatic Usability Rating by Experts and is a usability-evaluation method that attempts to quantify how difficult a product is to use and provides qualitative insights into how to fix it, without costing a lot of time or money.

Susana La Luz-Hawkins is the Research Department Director of Design & Customer Experience at J.P. Morgan Chase. Susana gave a talk at the Epic Conference 2015 titled “The Missing Tool in the Design Leadership Toolbox: Integrating Conflict Management into Collaborative Design.” As design and UX teams continue to grow, managing conflict might be even more critical today, and in this episode, Susana shares some best practices for managing conflict.

Kevin Newton is Manager of UX Research Practice at LinkedIn; in this episode, he shares insights on how he’s scaling a research team at a large and growing company. His team is also working on a unique effort to quantify what it means to have a “simple” user experience, and its relationship to LinkedIn's metrics and revenue.

Temitayo Olasimbo is instrumental in advocating for measured Inclusion and Diversity goals with Best Buy's research platforms, as well as leading the work on exploring inclusive terminology to implement in Best Buy's I&D roadmap. In this episode, we talk with Temmy about doing the good and difficult work of DE&I and how it impacts research and larger strategy design and business decisions.

Jakob Nielsen takes us on a journey into the history of UX from the past, the present, to the beyond--offering predictions of what UX will look like in 2050. Last year, Nielsen gave a keynote speech titled UX 2050; sharing fascinating predictions about what the UX profession might look like in just a few decades. Nielsen predicts growth from the current 1.5 million UX professionals to a monumental 100 million over the next 30 years. We dig into that prediction and what it means for innovation, research and the world economy.

Announcing the launch of UXpeditious: A UserZoom podcast, bringing you quick, insightful interviews with design, product, and UX leaders. Check out the trailer, and please click subscribe to make sure you don't miss our first episode featuring Jakob Nielsen, dropping June 21st.   For more information, visit UserZoom.com   Help us improve the show and suggest topics or guests! Click here to take our quick survey. https://s.userzoom.com/m/MSBDMzAxUzI4NyAg

Today we’re recapping our fifth season of the Human Insight Podcast. Maybe the biggest change to the podcast this season you’ll have noticed is we started including into episodes more clips from our opt-in contributor network. These are people from around the world, responding to questions we asked either related to that episode’s guest and topic, or to a current news event or trend. This season's episodes:  Ep. 39 Dan Misener - Growing your audience with an "Only we" strategy Ep. 40 C. Todd Lombardo - Delivering value to both your customers and your business Ep. 41 Bobbie Wood - Understanding the accessibility and usability of UX writing Ep. 42 Adam Thomas - The three survival metrics for building better products Ep. 43 Ethan Song - Building deeper web3 relationships between creators and their fans Thank you to all the listeners of the podcast, wherever you may be. And thank you to all the guests for making time for us and sharing their stories.

Ethan Song, Co-founder and CEO of RareCircles, joins the Human Insight Podcast this week.  Ethan was previously the co-founder and CEO of Frank And Oak, a leading direct-to-consumer brand, and he’s an active investor in Web3. As the RareCircle’s CEO, Ethan empowers a new generation of entrepreneurs and brands to build deeper relationships with their communities through NFTs and blockchain technology. Its intuitive platform allows anyone to make, sell and manage powerful NFT memberships under one operating system. We asked Ethan about what brands and the general public should know about NFTs, as well as:   How creating a community is the foundation to today's businesses  How does he connect with his customers? And why that is important How brands may start to include NFTs in the products and services they offer their customers How NFTs will be integrated into our real life experiences

Adam Thomas believes the role of a product manager is one thing only: how do you help the organization make better decisions consistently?  Part of that is knowing when to stop work on a product idea, when to pivot on a product, and when to double down on a product initiative. Adam, lead product manager at SmartRecruiters, as well as a speaker, consultant and technologist, has developed what he calls  Survival Metrics to help product managers do just that.  Adam joined Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, on this week’s episode of the Human Insight Podcast. They talked about his Survival Metrics, the difference between them and success metrics, and more.

Good UX writing begins with usability and accessibility.  Bobbie Wood, founder and CEO of UX Content Collective, joins the Human Insight Podcast this week to discuss UX writing and the importance of making it inclusive to everyone and all abilities.  Bobbie and co-host Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, also discuss how Artificial Intelligence will impact UX writing. We also solicited feedback from UX writers and content writers from around the world, asking their thoughts about AI and how it may affect their careers. You can watch highlight reel videos of what they said. In the first, they answer whether AI will take their job. And in the second, we ask what advantages do you think humans have over AI when it comes to writing.

One of the rules of product research is “insights are best shared,” says C. Todd Lombardo. The subtext is never write a report that no one is going to read.  C. Todd is the vice president of product and design at Openly, an insurance-tech company empowering agents to deliver a higher standard of service through cutting-edge technology and comprehensive options. He joined UserTesting’s CEO Andy MacMillan on the Human Insight Podcast to talk about all things product management, such as how he shares insights and aligns the company with what customers want.  Instead of writing reports, C. Todd said, product leaders should ask themselves how do you bring people along for the ride? How can you share the insights you’re getting from your customers? Can you involve others in your organization before the insights are even generated?  For example, he is often asked how he involves an executive in a design sprint.  His strategy, he said, is to apply a multitouch inclusion strategy. Include them the first half hour of the first day when you are doing your assumption storming and trying to understand the problem you are solving so that they have the opportunity to co-create with you and shape the problem you’re trying to solve.  Bring them in again at the end of the third day when you’ve gotten your sketches ready and your starting prototyping. “These are the solutions we think we’re going to to try and build, prototype and test, what do you think.” And then bring them in again at the end of the last day. “We tested this and here are some of the videos from our conversations, these are some of the things we learned.” By doing that, they’ve had more visibility — and buy in — into the whole journey. It’s not easy, C. Todd says, but it’s the best way he’s seen teams get executives involved.  Listen to the episode to get more insights from C. Todd. Also, in a new podcast segment we’re calling UserTesting Insights, you can also hear what podcast listeners thought about the Human Insight Podcast’s old introduction and its replacement.

What makes a podcast worth listening to? That is an overarching question we’ll be asking as we kick off Season 5 of the Human Insight Podcast. After four seasons, we're reaching out to listeners to see what's working and what needs improvement. In this episode, we interview Dan Misener, Director of Audience Development at Pacific Content. Pacific Content helps brands—such as Ford, Charles Schwab, Adobe, Mozilla and many others—develop and produce award-winning podcasts. If anyone knows what makes a great podcast, it will be Dan and the team at Pacific.  We also asked avid podcast listeners from around the world what they like and dislike about podcasts; whether that is show notes; how they discover new shows; whether they leave a rating or review and many other questions. We’ll be sharing those insights with you throughout the season.  In his conversation with Janelle Estes, Chief Insights Officer at UserTesting, Dan explains the “Only we” strategy for creating a podcast. And it is advice you could apply to just about any endeavor.  “Only we is the idea that podcasters of all stripes should make the show only they are uniquely suited to make,” Dan says. “What is the show only we could make? What is the show no one else could make even if they wanted to?” Sometimes the “only we” is the access you have; it could be a point of view or a world view; it could be that you’re the subject matter expert on a particular topic.  “Could someone else make this show and would it be the same?” Dan said. “If the answer is yes, I don’t think your show is designed especially well.” Listen to the episode to get more insights from Dan. In addition to expanding on the “Only we” strategy, Dan responds to UserTesting contributors sharing their thoughts on how they find a podcast, and whether they leave reviews. You can watch the videos, too! See and hear what podcast listeners say about how they discover podcasts, and whether they leave reviews.

In this episode, cohosts Andy MacMillan and Janelle Estes recap Season 4 and talk about what to expect in the next season.

Nick Mehta, CEO at Gainsight, believes there are three pillars to a great customer experience and he points to Peloton as an example.  One thing great about Peloton is they combine human and digital, Nick said.  First, you need a human connection. That could be a customer success manager at a B2B tech company. And for Peloton, it is the relationship with a coach. Nick’s favorite instructor Cody Rigsby for example.  The second pillar is the product. Nick said Peloton’s digitally-connected product delivers what he (the customer) needs and wants to know for a workout.  The third pillar is a community of other human beings. This is the leaderboard, which allows you to compete with the rest of the Peloton users in the same class as you and your type of equipment. “That triad is the future,” Nick said. In this bonus podcast episode, a previously recorded LinkedIn Live conversation, Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO, talks with Nick to discuss what makes a great customer experience and why that's so important for today's businesses. Their conversation was part of the User Tested book tour. Listen to the episode for further insights.

If you asked someone shopping for a new truck whether they would purchase an electric truck what do you think would be the answer? Now ask those same potential customers if they want to run their power tools off the bed of the truck? Or in an emergency, would they want to be able to power their homes off their truck so the ice cream doesn’t melt? “That insight is the beauty of understanding customers in a way that isn’t just what they say and do but in what they think and feel,” said Iain Roberts, Chief Operating Officer at IDEO, a global design and consulting firm; which counts Ford and others among its longtime clients In this bonus podcast episode, a previously recorded LinkedIn Live conversation, Roberts joined Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO, to discuss the concept of design thinking and why it’s so important for businesses. Their conversation was part of the User Tested book tour. The new book was co-authored by Andy and Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer.   Roberts said design thinking allows companies to drive real growth by seeing through your customers eyes.  According to its press release introducing the electric F-150 Lightning, Ford relied on its deep understanding of its truck customers to inform the design of the all-new F-150. “We see it as our duty to deliver not just what our customers want and need, but what they might have never thought possible,” said Craig Schmatz, Ford F-150 chief engineer. Early results are impressive. Ford has reported they have more than 200,000 reservations for the electric truck, of which 75% new customers to Ford.  Listen to the episode for further insights.

During the writing and editing of User Tested, coauthor Janelle Estes reached out to Jim Kalbach to review draft chapters and share his feedback.  Kalbach, the Chief Evangelist at MURAL and author of several books, loved the book but wanted more stories and proof points.  In this bonus podcast episode, a previously recorded LinkedIn Live conversation, Kalbach and Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, discuss the writing of User Tested and the importance of talking with your customers.  Kalbach reviewed the first two chapters on why Human Insights are important, and the last two chapters on how to make this happen in any organization. He said his advice could be applied to anyone writing a book. He wanted more stories— or evidence— as a way to connect to a larger audience, who may be unfamiliar with incorporating testing and customer feedback into their business processes. Kalbach said you want to be able to talk with these people in a language they can understand. Ignore them, and you’re just talking with folks in an echo chamber who already believe and support your point of view. It is a challenge many in the UX industry have experienced, explaining the need for user insights. But as Tamara Adlin in Episode 12 of the Human Insight Podcast said, you need to talk in a language your audience will understand.  Listen to the episode for further insights.

When T. Rowe Price rolled out a new process for creating an online investment account, they discovered a 37% drop off on the very first step after users opened the webpage. They needed to know “why behind the what” and for that they turned to UserTesting. Within hours they’d identified the problem and were making fix recommendations to product owners.  The T. Rowe Price story is one of many shared in User Tested and that is being featured in Season 4 of the Human Insights Podcast. The book was authored by podcast hosts Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, and Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO. You can order the book here or on your favorite book seller’s website. Harsha Thayi, Senior Manager of UX Research at T. Rowe Price, shares their story and other insights in his interview. In their conversation, he and Janelle discuss:  How Thayi partners with other teams within T. Rowe Price to ensure they create and deliver exceptional experiences for T. Rowe Price customers  What metrics or KPIs does Thayi’s team directly or indirectly influence and how that maps to company strategy and purpose How they are building a “shared understanding” of T. Rowe Price’s customers across the organization

Ben Hoggan's team at the Notre Dame's IDEA Center has mentored close to 200 startups and would-be startups  from concept to revenue over the last four years. The best way, he said, to know if a company will be successful is by talking with its customers and potential customers. And after more than 6,000 customer interviews on behalf of those startups, he should know. "It is very selfish to invest in customer research," said Hoggan, the Director of De-Risking at The IDEA Center. "You're saving yourself time. You're saving yourself money." Standing for Innovation, De-Risking, and Enterprise Acceleration, the IDEA Center works with faculty, student, community, and alumni entrepreneurs on their commercially viable, early-stage product ideas and innovations. The IDEA Center's story is one of many shared in User Tested and that are being featured in Season 4 of the Human Insights Podcast. The book was coauthored by podcast hosts Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, and Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO. You can purchase a copy of the book here or on your favorite book seller’s website. Listen to the episode to learn more about:  Ben's work as Director of De-Risking at The IDEA Center at the IDEA Center What are some strategies he and his team use to identify if startup ideas will *stick* or be adopted by the market? What metrics or KPIs does the IDEA Center own? And how does Ben's team work ties to those metrics?

In this episode, Janelle Estes talks with Tom Lorusso, the Principal User Research Lead for Xbox and gaming across Windows products and devices. Tom has been working in games for over 7 years, with 15 years in the user research field on phones, operating systems and portable ultrasound. Tom and his Xbox Experiences team tackle a variety of research questions in social gaming, community, monetization, communication, cross-platform gaming, video consumption, accessibility, and inclusivity. Tom's story at Microsoft is one of many shared in User Tested and that are being featured in Season 4 of the Human Insights Podcast. The book was co-authored by podcast hosts Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, and Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO.  You can order the book here or on your favorite book seller’s website. Listen to the episode and learn how Tom and his team at Microsoft and Xbox tackle:  What strategies Tom and his team use to identify shifting behaviors and expectations in the gaming space With all the changes (technology, pandemic, and so forth) happening in recent years, how does Tom and his team prepare and plan for the future How Tom and his team partner with the other teams within Microsoft to ensure they create and deliver an exceptional  experience for Xbox customers

This week on the Human Insight Podcast, we are excited to have James Villacci joining us to discuss how HelloFresh is scaling customer insights across the organization.  As the first UX Researcher at HelloFresh, James Villacci established the value of conducting studies on the company’s online and offline projects. He is now head of Global UX Research at the company, which is the largest meal-kit provider in the world.  He evangelized the power and impact of getting fast customer feedback through what has become “The Insights Show,” an internal watch party of customer insights that draws 100+ employees. The HelloFresh story is one of many shared in User Tested and that will be featured in Season 4 of the Human Insights Podcast. The book was authored by podcast hosts Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, and Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO. The book is being released on February 15th, but you can pre-order it today here or on your favorite book seller’s website. Listen to the episode to learn James’ recipe for democratizing insights across an organization. In their conversation, they discuss:  How HelloFresh’s insights show came to be How James and his UX team partners with the product organization to ensure they create and deliver a great experience for HelloFresh customers How James and his UX team built the case for UX research at HelloFresh, from business metrics to storytelling

In this week’s episode, James Lane shares the evolving story of how AAA is becoming a design-driven organization. James, a Senior Product Design Manager at AAA Club Alliance, joins host Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, and Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO, to share AAA’s story, which is one of many being shared in the upcoming User Tested and that will be featured in Season 4 of the Human Insights Podcast. The book was authored by podcast hosts Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, and Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO. The book is being released on February 15th, but you can pre-order it today here or on your favorite book seller’s website. James said becoming a design-driven organization is similar to how organizations evolved into being data-driven, moving data insights from just the math wizards in a corner office to enabling everyone in an organization to use data to inform and improve their work.  “We can all use design processes, just as we all use data, to understand our world a little better, as a process for exploring what customers are looking for,” he said.  The results are impressive. Following their customer-informed design changes, organic conversions for the website were up 30%, including a 55% lift for Premier memberships (AAA's top-tier membership type), a 39% lift in revenue for this channel. In their conversation, they go on to discuss:  Going from pilot to launch What he means by design-driven And how customer insights are informing new initiatives, such as a recently rolled out new website

2022 may turn out to be the big bang of the metaverse, but no matter the reality- augmented, virtual, extended or mixed- doing business in an increasingly digital world needs to begin the human experience. This week on the Human Insight Podcast, Krikey co-founders Jhanvi Shriram and Ketaki Shriram join host Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, to share how they are putting customers first for their mobile augmented reality (AR) gaming app. Jhanvi, the CEO of Krikey, and Ketaki, the CTO, have been featured in the Forbes 30 under 30 list, and Fast Company’s Best Apps and Games of 2020. Krikey’s story is one of many shared in the upcoming User Tested and that will be featured in Season 4 of the Human Insights Podcast. The book was authored by podcast hosts Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, and Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO. The book is being released on February 15th, but you can pre-order it today here or on your favorite book seller’s website. With insights from UserTesting, Krikey has surpassed more than 2 million users, saw a 45% increase in app conversions, and they are now bringing their app to new markets worldwide.  Listen to their interview to hear how the Krikey co-founders:  How and why they started the business How customer feedback fits into Krikey’s business priorities How testing the user experience helped evolved their offerings How customer feedback is tied to user growth, retention and engagement

In this episode, Jennifer Lee, UX Research Lead at Wise, shares her experience being the company’s first qualitative researcher to scaling insights across the company. Wise (formerly known as TransferWise) is a publicly-traded, London-based technology company founded in 2011. Wise is building the best way to move and manage money around the world, helping a community of over 10 million like-minded people and businesses. Wise’s story is one of many shared in the upcoming User Tested and that will be featured in Season 4 of the Human Insights Podcast. The book was authored by podcast hosts Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, and Andy MacMillan, UserTesting’s CEO. The book is being released on February 15th, but you can pre-order it today here or on your favorite book seller’s website. The book gives both individual contributors and executives an approachable, pragmatic playbook for stepping beyond standard business metrics and infusing real human insight into every business decision, design, and experience. In her interview with, Jennifer tells Janelle and Andy about holding monthly UX Research 101 classes that anyone at Wise could join to learn about qualitative research. This began the democratization of the research function, as requests to get involved came from their HR/People Team, Engineering, Project Management, Marketing, Design, and more.  In their interview, they go on to discuss:  What role does the user experience play at Wise in securing and retaining customers? How her team partners with the product organization to ensure they create and deliver an exceptional experience for Wise customers? What metrics or KPIs does your team directly or indirectly influence? How to build the case for customer listening?

Join Andy MacMillan, CEO of UserTesting, and Janelle Estes, Chief Insights Officer at UserTesting, as they recap Season 3 of the Human Insight Podcast.  And in January, Season 4 of the podcast launches with a focus on the success stories, examples and playbooks from User Tested, the new book co-authored by Janelle and Andy, now available for pre-order.

This week on the Human Insight Podcast, we interview Brent Leary, CRM industry observer, author and speaker.  Leary is co-founder and Managing Partner of CRM Essentials LLC, an Atlanta based CRM/CX advisory firm covering tools and strategies for improving business relationships. He writes regularly for CRM Magazine and ZDNet, and is a founding member of Newseek's Expert Forum. He hosts the weekly One on One conversation series for Small Business Trends, the A Few Good Minutes livestream series, co-hosts The CRM Playaz show, and is a regular on the Gillmor Gang show on TechCrunch. In his conversation with Janelle Estes, UserTesting's Chief Insights Officer, Leary discusses:  Can a company actually be customer centric? Or are they just data centric about their customers? The tension between tracking our customers and transparency of what that information is being used for? Building stronger customer relationships How technology is making things easier to do, except it doesn’t seem to be getting any easier to find, catch and keep good customers. Why?

You could design UX for a B2C to increase conversions. Or you could oversee UX for health tech company and, ultimately, save or improve lives. For Andrew Frueh it was an easy choice.  Frueh is the senior vice president of UX design at Health Catalyst, a leading provider of data and analytics technology and services to healthcare organizations.  This week, he joins Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, on the Human Insight Podcast where they talk about:  What metrics or KPIs does his UX team directly or indirectly influence? How does that map to his team’s strategy and purpose? When it comes to customer-centricity and experience, what is unique about the healthcare space? How does it compare to other industries, such as retail or financial services? Is there a difference between UX in B2B vs. B2C? If so, what are those differences?

If you're a regular listener to the show, you know Janelle asks our guests about a book they’ve recently read and would recommend. In this episode, we’ve rounded up all those recommendations from the past year and share them with you, whether you are looking for a holiday gift, you’re planning your 2022 strategy and are looking for some help, or just want to get in some quality reading over the holidays. Before we jump into our guest recommendations, I should also note that five of our past guests are also authors of some great books.  Teresa Torres, author of Continuous Discovery Habits John S. Couch, author of The Art of Creative Rebellion  Tamara Adlin, co-author of The Persona Lifecycle Jim Kalbach, author of The Jobs to Be Done Playbook April Dunford, author of Obv!ously Awesome Here are the other recommended books:  Tiny Habits Turning Pro User Friendly UX Pioneers  Never Split the Difference Never a Dull Moment The Jobs To Be Done Playbook No Rules Rules Caste: The origins of our discontent Creativity, Inc. Snowcrash Gentleman in Moscow Klara and the Sun Who Not How Think Again Connect

This week on the Human Insight podcast, we interviewed Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, Founder and CEO of Product School.  Product School is the global leader in product management training with a community of over one million product professionals. Product School instructors are real-world Product Leaders working at top companies including Google, Facebook, Netflix, Airbnb, PayPal, Uber, and Amazon. In his interview with Janelle Estes, UserTesting's Chief Information Officer, Carlos discusses:  The role of a product manager in today’s world The skills and experiences product managers need to be successful  The role customer feedback plays in a product manager’s day-to-day life

This week on the Human Insight podcast, we interviewed Teresa Torres, author of Continuous Discovery Habits.  Teresa teaches a structured and sustainable approach to continuous discovery that helps product teams infuse their daily product decisions with customer input. She’s coached hundreds of teams at companies of all sizes, from early-stage start-ups to global enterprises and has taught over 6,500 product people core discovery skills through the Product Talk Academy.  In her interview with Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, Teresa discusses: What is continuous discovery? What role does customer input and feedback play in a product manager’s day-to-day life? Who should manage continuous customer feedback?  What do we do with those customer insights? How do we align those insights with business goals?

This week on the Human Insight podcast, we interviewed Emily Carrion, VP of Marketing at Esper and veteran of the Seattle startup scene.  In her interview with Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, Carrion discusses: Her observations on the progress being made in getting more women startup founders, board members, and senior leaders The marketing challenges she is addressing this quarter Why it’s important to hear directly from customers, in their own voices What startups should prioritize with their customer feedback and testing? Her advice developing continuous engagement with customers

This week on the Human Insight podcast, we interview April Dunford, a tech executive, board member, CEO and founder of Ambient Strategy, and author of Obv!ously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get It, Buy It, Love It. In her interview with Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, Dunford discusses:  Is positioning just for startups How has the pandemic changed the role of positioning  How our biases inhibit our positioning efforts Who should be involved in positioning The importance of customer feedback in developing your positioning And how to identify your best fit customers

In this episode, Andy and Janelle recap highlights from Season 2 of the Human Insights Podcast, as well as offer a sneak peak at what’s in store for season three, which kicks off in September.

Catherine Richards said one way Tesco Bank builds a CX culture is through positive disruption. “And what I mean by that is, as leaders, you need to know when to make a call to positively disrupt how you're working,” said Richards, who is head of design at Tesco Bank.  An example was introducing Customer Wednesdays, a day dedicated in the week to spending time with the bank’s customers. They started that four years ago, bringing in customers to get feedback early in the design process. That’s continued during the pandemic, just that now they get that feedback remotely.  “When you tell a story about a customer that you've seen, or you've spent time with, there's just something about that, that people remember. They remember the customer stories,” Richards said.     In her conversation with Janelle Estes, Chief Insights Officer at UserTesting, Richards goes on to discuss: What is the role of leadership in driving customer-centric design and experiences What metrics or KPIs does her team directly or indirectly influence How has the financial services/bank customer experience evolved over the course of your career?

Christian Idiodi has led or consulted on nearly 200 successful product launches for a range of companies from startups to big banks. So, you’d think he always wanted a career in product management, right?  “Actually, I wanted to be a doctor,” said the partner at Silicon Valley Product Group, a global product consulting firm. “I wanted to solve hard problems like cancer or HIV. That was always what I had dreamed and aspired to be.” Idiodi joined the Human Insight Podcast to discuss what makes a great product manager, how companies and managers should invest in coaching their product managers, and how product managers work with teams to ensure customer satisfaction.  In his conversation with Andy MacMillan, CEO at UserTesting, and Janelle Estes, Chief Insights Officer at UserTesting, Idiodi discusses: His role today at SVPG His new initiative, Innovate Africa How the product world has evolved over the years Best practices for developing and coaching product managers and leaders Staying close to the customer Balancing processes and innovation

As Jim Kalbach likes to say, work is not an office, it is what we accomplish together.  As many companies are now planning if and when their employees return to offices, the questions of what work is and how we accomplish it are top of mind.  This week’s Human Insight Podcast dives into the topic in a roundtable discussion with Mariano Suarez-Battan, co-founder and CEO at MURAL; Kalbach, Chief Evangelist at MURAL; Andy MacMillan, CEO at UserTesting, and Janelle Estes, Chief Insights Officer at UserTesting.  In their conversation, they discuss:  Distributed collaboration Digital Transformation Diversity & Inclusion

How do you build a customer-focused design team that scales? Susan Rice has done it three times. She’s the Vice President of UX at Workiva, a global SaaS reporting compliance platform that enables the use of connected data and automation for reporting across finance, accounting, risk, and compliance. In her Human Insight Podcast interview with Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, Rice discusses:  Building a customer-focused team Her favorite UX design KPI UX design differences between B2B and B2C Advice for those embarking on a design career

The pandemic has changed so much about retail, but some retail trends will outlast the pandemic, such as providing a personalized experience, says Sean McKee, the former Director of eCommerce and CX at UK footwear retailer, Schuh. In his Human Insight Podcast interview with Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, McKee discusses:  His 25-year career at Schuh from storeroom to boardroom The biggest changes to retail and ecommerce over that time Keeping a customer focus in a sea of ecommerce data points “What retailers have to think about is the question of experience and what experience looks like because if doing things that were at the experiential end of the spectrum were important before COVID, they're even more important now,” McKee said. “Customers really need to have a compelling reason to visit your store because they've just had an education that tells them they can do other things. So, the experiential stuff is important.”

Dan Storms, CookUnity’s Chief Product Officer, said adding steps to their sign up process had a positive result on the business.  It was a counterintuitive action from a design perspective. Usually, you want to eliminate steps. But listening to their best, most raving fans, yielded insights that a few added questions initially would result in an even better experience for customers.  And it was great for CookUnity, too. They saw a 50% increase in conversions.  The three-year-old startup is a direct-to-consumer meal delivery platform that allows its customers to choose a range of ready-to-eat meals from celebrity and up-and-coming chefs. It’s based in New York City, recently opened its second community kitchen in Los Angeles, and delivers to twenty-seven states. In his Human Insight podcast interview with Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, Storms goes on to discuss:  How they leveraged two bestsellers to create a framework for customer listening that they then applied to their product and market strategy How to validate customer feedback with surveys Insights on planning the NY Product Conference

Are you speaking the language of your executives?  If you’ve been sending them a doc to explain your latest great idea, you’re not.  Because they speak in the language of spreadsheets.  In Episode 12 of the Human Insight #podcast, @Tamara Adlin discusses the importance of understanding your audience, especially when your audience are your executives. In this episode, you'll learn: Her seminal book, The Essential Persona Lifecycle: Your Guide to Building and Using Personas Her magic trick to achieving executive alignment Startups and the Catch 22 of the MVP

When John S. Couch started at Hulu as Vice President of UX and Design in January 2016, one of the first things he wanted to do was produce a vision video.  Design is a lot like the parable of the elephant and the blind men, said Couch, author of The Art of Creative Rebellion. In the story, the blind men have never come across an elephant before so each man feels and describes only one part of the elephant, like its trunk or tail—unable to describe the elephant in its entirety  “They're all correct, but they're looking at it only through one slice,” Couch said. “And what I wanted to do was make a short film, which described the end result. What the whole elephant looked like.” “And there was an immediate mental shift,” Couch said. “From ‘We're not really sure’ to ‘Oh, that's the elephant.’” In Episode 11 of the Human Insight Podcast, Couch goes on to talk about his career path (such as exaggerating his skill sets to land a job at Wired to the evolution of his role now as a Mr. Wolf—consulting companies on their UX and design problems).

Edtech is booming.  In this episode of the Human Insight podcast, we interview Raina Mehta who is vice president and head of product and UX at Kaplan. In her interview with Janelle Estes, UserTesting’s Chief Insights Officer, Raina shares how Kaplan is accelerating edtech and the challenges they–and all edtech–have to address to engage with today’s online learners.

In this season of the Human Insight podcast, Andy MacMillan and Janelle Estes will be talking with some incredible experts and thought leaders who believe in, value, and invest in human insight to get a holistic understanding of their customers. That includes Raina Mehta, head of Product and UX at Kaplan; John Couch, author of The Art of Creative Rebellion, and Dan Storms, Chief Product Officer at CookUnity, and many others.  On the show, we’ll shed light on trends; explore how we can learn and get better, and elevate the work of leaders and experts pushing the boundaries of our industry. The Human Insight podcast is an original series from UserTesting. Follow us wherever you get your podcast. Talk with you soon.

Stephanie Nguyen, Research Scientist, MIT Media Lab and Nick Sinai, Senior Advisor, Insight Partners and Adjunct Faculty, Harvard Kennedy School join UserTesting CEO, Andy MacMillan, and Chief Insights Officer, Janelle Estes.

Kate Lawrence, Senior Director, User Experience at Akamai Technologies, joins UserTesting CEO, Andy MacMillan, and Chief Insights Officer, Janelle Estes, to discuss user experience in B2B.

UserTesting's Chief Insights Officer, Janelle Estes, and Head of UX Research at Humu, Marieke McCloskey, discuss the parallels between UX/CX and employee experience.

UX leader Paul Stonick joins UserTesting's CEO, Andy MacMillan, and Chief Insights Officer, Janelle Estes, to discuss harnessing customer emotion to create meaningful experiences.

Rothy's Product Designer, Gina DeMatteo, joins UserTesting CEO, Andy MacMillan, and Chief Insights Officer, Janelle Estes, to discuss taking a proactive approach to understanding and addressing customer needs and building a customer-centric culture.

Diya Loney, Costco Travel Product Manager, joins Chief Insights Officer, Janelle Estes, and guest co-host VP, Market Strategy, Michael Mace, for a discussion about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted travel industry consumer behavior.

Tomer Sharon, Managing Director, Head of User Research & Metrics at Goldman Sachs, joins UserTesting Chief Insights Officer, Janelle Estes, to discuss measuring user happiness.

Episode web page: https://bit.ly/4aRBpGV ----------------------- Rate Insights Unlocked and write a review If you appreciate Insights Unlocked, please give it a rating and a review. Visit Apple Podcasts, pull up the Insights Unlocked show page and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Below the trailers, you'll find Ratings and Reviews. Click on a star rating. Scroll down past the highlighted review and click on "Write a Review." You'll make my day. ----------------------- In this episode, we’re joined by Michael Mackert, a leading expert in health communication, to explore how communication can bridge gaps in healthcare and improve patient outcomes. From simplifying complex medical information to the rapid adoption of telemedicine, this conversation dives into the critical role communication plays in shaping the future of healthcare. Michael shares actionable insights on how organizations, brands, and healthcare providers can create meaningful connections with their audiences, even in moments of crisis. He also discusses the evolution of telemedicine, its unexpected benefits, and why it’s here to stay as part of healthcare's future. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: The science behind health communication: Why effective communication is more than just being "good at talking." The importance of evidence-based approaches in health messaging. Health communication during COVID-19: The challenges of messaging in a constantly changing pandemic environment. The need for clarity, simplicity, and engaging design to reach diverse audiences. The rise of telemedicine: How telemedicine went from a niche tool to a mainstream solution during the pandemic. Unexpected benefits for both patients and providers and where telemedicine is headed next. Lessons for brands and healthcare providers: How companies can adopt user-centered design to improve healthcare messaging. Why policy changes, not just communication, are sometimes the best solution to health challenges.

UserTesting's Chief Insights Officer, Janelle Estes,‍ hosts a discussion with CEO and Founder of Motivate Impact, Mona Patel, on messaging and brand during the COVID-19 pandemic.