Awkward Silences User Interviews

In our Season 3 finale, Erin and Carol are joined by Caroline Morchio, Head of UX at Dashlane, a credential management platform. Their conversation explores UX research best practices at a security-minded organization like Dashlane, highlighting other what teams can bring to their own work.
Caroline shares the ways she structures the UX team to support the product landscape at Dashlane, their processes for empowering colleagues to contribute to research, and why she prefers a "decentralized" model. The conversation also unpacks the core skills that Caroline emphasizes no matter the company: storytelling, actionable insights, and templates. Together, these help her team maintain rigor while scaling to meet new user experiences opportunities.
Finally, Caroline discusses how to balance the security and usability when conducting UX research, and forecasts what the future of data privacy and security might have in store, like passwordless authentication. Episode Highlights
04:27 Implementing research in stages07:22 The strategic impact of UX on a business11:23 Focusing on ICP segmentation and user sophistication18:06 The importance of privacy and data security23:01 Decentralizing research processes30:17 The importance of research in complex technologyAbout Our GuestCaroline is a Design leader with experience in innovative companies transforming their industries. She has led design teams through all phases of product development and fostered a culture of open collaboration and feedback. Caroline was previously VP of Design at Handshake, Neuralink, and is now an AWS Design ambassador and Head of UX at Dashlane.
More Resources on Security in UXR
A Researcher's Guide to Data Privacy RegulationsNDAs and Consent Forms for UX ResearchExamining Ethical Design and Respectful UX

Erin and Carol are joined by Jo Widawski, founder and CEO of Maze, to discuss the major findings from their "Future of User Research" report, which unearthed three trends animating researchers, PMs, and founders alike: 1) the demand for research is growing, 2) research democratization empowers stronger decision making, and 3) new technology—like generative AI—allows teams to scale their research.
Erin, Carol, and Jo unpack each of these trends, flagging what they mean for both the work of researchers and the value of research more broadly. For example, these trends signal a rise in importance of the research generalist, the critical value of stakeholder influence, and the skills tomorrow's successful researcher must build today. Together, these trends and skills help create a roadmap for how researcher's can grow from a tactical resource to a strategic partner.
Episode Highlights
03:57 The nature of research in organizations11:01 Transitioning researcher roles: from operational to educational18:01 The importance of democratization in design22:43 Overcoming resistance to research in design30:25 AI's impact on user research trust37:59 Understanding competitive landscape in building productsAbout Our GuestJo Widawksi is the Founder and CEO at Maze. He’s a veteran Product Designer & former UX teacher. As a UX lead working with clients like McKinsey, Rocket Internet & PSG, he saw first-hand how hard it is for product teams to get the data, insights, and feedback they need to make confident design decisions. Now he’s co-founded Maze, the continuous product discovery platform for user-centric teams.
More Resources
Read the 2024 State of User Research Report (from UI)Read the Future of User Research Report (from Maze)Learn how to create stronger stakeholder relationships

Erin is joined by Auzita Irani, a research manager at AirBnB to discuss being a more efficient user experience researcher. In today's work world, resources—time, budget, headcount—always seem to be in limited supply. How can we balance these things along with other important elements of our research practices? Auzita has been thinking about "doing more with less" for a long time and shares practical strategies.
After discussing the challenges facing today's UX researcher, the conversation shifts to what Auzita has seen work for researchers, both those working in large and small companies. Erin and Auzita touch on tools (like AI), tactics (like prioritization frameworks), and collaboration approaches to work more productively with stakeholders and teammates. They also discuss burnout's effects and the ways of combatting it.
Finally, Erin and Auzita make some predictions on where UX is headed in the months and year ahead, and what these trends might mean for our work.
Episode Highlights
03:53: Challenges and strategies of "doing more with less"11:23: Addressing time and deadline constraints21:38: Failure modes and avoiding burnout32:05: Balancing tactical and strategic work38:21: Emphasizing your research's impact44:57: Adapting to blurred work boundariesAbout Our GuestAuzita has a background in computer engineering and Human Computer Interaction. She currently leads teams dedicated to optimizing customer support experiences and developing cutting edge AI tooling solutions at Airbnb. Prior to this she led the research and annotation teams at Sprig working on streamlining the process of obtaining real-time insights for product teams.
More Resources on Research Efficiency
Scaling yourself while combatting burnoutDoing user research on any budgetA blueprint for scaling UX research

It's our 150th episode! To celebrate, we brought together three thought leaders for a discussion about UX research's future. Erin and Carol are joined by Judd Antin, Dave Hora, and Christiana Lackner, who bring over 40 years of combined experience in UX research, both as practitioners and leaders.
This wide-ranging conversation combines our guests' reflections on the trends that brought UX to its current moment with an analysis of what the future holds—and how we can prepare ourselves (and our teams) for it. From strategies on creating more business value for our work to tips for creating stronger cross-functional partnerships, this conversation will equip you with practical steps to future-proof your research practice.
Episode Highlights
09:28 - The evolution of the UX research industry15:48 - Adapting UX methods for team dynamics21:56 - Balancing our focus between the business and the user30:45 - The role of UX research in fostering shared understanding 41:18 - Planning strategically and anticipating team needs47:27 - The promise of AI for user experience professionalsAbout Our GuestsJudd Antin is an executive coach, consultant, advisor, writer, and teacher, leveraging his 15 years of experience as a research, design, and product executive at top companies (Meta, Airbnb) and his PhD in Social Psychology & Information Systems from UC Berkeley to help individuals and organizations achieve their goals and overcome their challenges.
Dave Hora is the founder of Dave's Research Co. where he helps product teams drive critical initiatives with the right mix of data, insight, and common sense. He began professional research work in 2011, eventually starting the practice as the first research hire at six companies, including PlanGrid and Instacart.
Christiana Lackner is a UX research leader and dot connector. She's building research maturity within organizations so that teams involve the right people, ask the right questions, and act on the answers.
More Resources on the Future of UX Research
The role AI will play in the future of UXRConnecting UX research to business revenueThe 2023 State of User Research Report

In this episode, Erin and Carol sit down with Tyler Wanlass, lead product designer at CommandBar, to explore practical strategies for conducting user research without a dedicated research team. They dig into techniques that designers and product managers can use to gather valuable insights efficiently, especially in resource-constrained environments. Tyler's approach is scrappy, flexible, and creative.
Tyler shares some of the tools that create his research toolkit, including efficient note-taking, creative approaches to participant recruitment, and mixed-methods continuous discovery methods. He explains how session recordings and account impersonation can offer deeper insights when primary research isn't possible. Tyler reinforces the value of proactive research, such as social listening and competitive analysis.
This is a useful conversation for anyone without "researcher" in their title, but who wants to increase their customer engagement, build more thoughtful products, and do so in a way that respects both budgets and timelines.
Episode Highlights
03:16 - The scrappy mindset: learning from real-life experiences10:21 - Broadening perspective through cross-industry inspiration16:12 - Proactive user research for connecting and learning24:17 - Streamlining customer feedback with TL;DR summaries36:51 - Tools and tactics for customer insights44:09 - The importance of pricing and packagingAbout Our GuestTyler design interfaces for software products, builds internet businesses, and occasionally writes books. In his off time he's renovating a 100 year old Victorian house in the Pacific Northwest. In a past life he designed video games.
More Resources on UX Research for Designers and PMs
The Product Manager's Guide to UX ResearchThe UX Designer's Guide to ResearchUncomplicated Recruitment for Non-Researchers"People Who Do Research," a Discovery Study

In this episode, Erin and Carol tackle one form of research impact growing in importance and necessity: revenue. Their guest is Claudia Natasia, co-founder and CEO of Riley AI. Before starting Riley, Claudia grew product teams at early-stage companies and worked in the financial industry. These experiences showed her the importance of linking user research outputs to the bottom line of a business.
During their conversation, Claudia breaks down what revenue typically looks like for a company and where you can find the specific revenue goals for your company. Then she digs into the important processes of weaving those revenue goals into a research strategy from the start, offering examples from her time on product teams.
The discussion also explores the importance of triangulation, or combining multiple data types to form a more complete whole. Claudia explains that user researchers should balance conducting primary research with existing information to help clarify how UX is linked with wider business goals. She offers suggestions for teams big and small looking to make impact with the highest level decision makers and company executives.
Episode Highlights06:07 - Strategic frameworks for company growth and revenue12:05 - Leveraging competitive analysis for market success22:06 - Creating meaningful insights for your business30:05 - Tracking research impact: Setting expectations and routine updates37:13 - Elevating projects: Moving from junior to senior stakeholders44:39 - Triangulating data: Connecting research to company success
About Our GuestClaudia is a leader with 10+ years experience leading product, strategy, and data teams across the enterprise and financial technology space. Her work has directly influenced companywide strategies, leading to a $5B total valuation, a successful international acquisition, and multi-million dollar growth fundraising rounds.  She advises and angel invests in early stage startups, in North America and Southeast Asia. Her areas of focus are enterprise, finance, and consumer AI-generated content.
Resources on Research Impact and Revenue
A guide to showing the value of user researchClaudia's textbook of choice for learning about revenueThe three aspects of high-impact UX researchThe Business of Research Slack Community