Insights Unlocked UserTesting

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."