So you want to be a UXR...
Skills can be learned, but characteristics are what differentiate researchers and propel their success.
At Velocity Ave we're big supporters of recent grads and mid-career pivoters finding their footing in research. It’s personal; Maya left the art world in her late 20s to pursue a career in R&D. At Google and beyond, Maya mentored dozens of people and watched many like Kirby and Yinda (both of whom are featured in this article) flourish rapidly through a combination of aptitude and diligence. On the other end of the spectrum, Maya also supported plenty of individuals who theoretically wanted to make the transition, but lacked innate qualities. Shima is a former academic and anthropologist who leveraged their transferable skills to transition to UX Research in the last two years. Together, we bring perspectives from different entry points on the core characteristics (vs. skills) necessary to not only transition, but succeed as a UX researcher.
We’re going to steer clear of the buzzwords: empathy, rigor, and human-centeredness, advocate. Instead we’ll focus on the natural abilities that accelerate a career in UX, ease transitions and support adaptability.
Executive Presence: More Than Just Leadership
UXRs are storytellers and, at any level, strategic advisors, melding data with insight to guide multifunctional teams. Storytelling, while a reflection of the research learnings, is your pitch. Research like any function has a sales element. As UXers it’s our job to tell a narrative, position the insights in relationship to the product, vision, and roadmap. Strategy involves planning ahead, anticipating challenges, navigating stakeholders, and ensuring that ultimately, research gets the proper attention and resources to influence crucial business decisions. Reflecting on the journeys of Kirby and Yinda, their executive presence—comprising effective communication, strategic foresight, and influential decision-making—undeniably stood out and bridged gaps between research and impactful business strategies.
“While I was at Facebook, my core role was to keep monetized content safe on the platform which was primarily risk analysis. But I noticed the process was extremely manual - I thought if we had better tools we could increase our velocity in stopping bad actors. When I tried to recruit engineers to help build tools for months I was told “no”. It took numerous failures to eventually learn that I needed to bring compelling data to show why this problem was so important, build a story of why the solution would make an impact (and look impressive on their performance reviews). After I pivoted and brought structure to my pitch, I found an engineer to build my tool ARIS (ad reverse image search) which was eventually adopted by the entire business integrity organization. My background problem-solving in other parts of the business built a strong foundation for my leadership as a UXR.”
YINDA AYO-ANI
Think about your past experiences:
When did you use data to influence decision-making in an organization or a team? If the result was not what you anticipated, how could you have tweaked your strategy or storytelling tactic to achieve a better outcome?
Integrity: The Backbone of Trust
In the UXR realm, integrity isn’t just appreciated—it’s imperative. As you pivot or step into this field, remember: being forthright about your expertise, or the lack thereof in certain methodologies, establishes credibility. Identify your learning edges and seek mentorship or resources in those areas. A sibling of integrity, curiosity is often a dominant characteristic for UXRs that feeds growth and learning and keeps biases at bay.
“Curiosity has always been my north star; it’s an attribute that I identified as a core value early in my career and has really helped shape how I approach my work. When I reflect on my roles over the last decade, curiosity has been the through line across my impact in academia, applied health research, data analytics, and eventually, user experience research. Whether I was recruiting participants for a series of activity studies through my university (University of Illinois), sitting down with physicians and nurses to discuss their pain points with electronic medical record (EMR) data entry (Kaiser Permanente), or interviewing executive recruiters to understand their reporting needs for a hiring pipeline dashboard (Google), it was clear to me that I gravitated towards spaces that enabled me to learn more about the needs and behaviors of users. I came to view these roles as an invitation to check my biases and assumptions at the door, as my most impactful insights usually surfaced when I approached each problem with a willingness to be surprised.
Through the lens of early stage product design, my work was most impactful when I facilitated assumption exercises with cross-functional stakeholders (eg PM, Design, Eng) to ensure that the team was aligned on solving the same problems in a product space. As researchers on multi-disciplinary teams, we are best positioned to ask clarifying questions of our stakeholders and users, search existing product spaces and workflows to bridge knowledge gaps, and continually be learning about and experimenting with new methods. Rest assured that this 360° view of the workflow is a rare and critical asset to your team!”
KIRBY BROWN
Find your unique value add and super-strength. Ask yourself:
In which areas of research do I shine? What skills set me apart?
Documentation: The Silent Compass
The importance of meticulous documentation can’t be stressed enough. Organization and attention to detail when you are managing stakeholders, data, learning, and insights are critical. Data today is often worth more additively than in the moment. In our experience, people who don’t keep notes or any catalog of their activities and efforts, lack the capabilities needed to thrive as researchers at multiple altitudes.
“When running a study I always ask myself ‘if a stakeholder wanted to see how I got to this conclusion based on my study - what would I show them?’ It’s not enough to have a stellar presentation or set of insights at the end. You must be able to explain how you got to those conclusions if need be to those who are well-versed in UXR - and show evidence if need be (like any scientist).”
YINDA AYO-ANI
Consider the tools that have supported your past workflows:
How might organizational processes and patterns help you zoom in and out of details while evaluating the big picture?
“Documentation is only helpful if it’s accessible! In theory, it’s great to have intentions to document workflows and make work visible, but in practice, it can actually be full of pain points. Do your stakeholders have the necessary passwords and pins to access protected prototypes and participant interview sessions? Are your colleagues left constantly requesting view or comment access to your slide decks when trying to access or share your work? I find the tactical, nitty gritty logistics to be worth optimizing at the outset of joining a new project or team. Understand any workplace data and privacy policies that could impact file sharing, especially in larger organizations with an extended workforce. Discuss explicit expectations around communication and documentation with your teammates, which could involve but is not limited to: identifying centralized drives and/or folders to track and archive work, creating routine calendar reminders to contribute to said drives and/or folders (your manager will love you if they don’t have to constantly beg you to save and socialize your work), aligning on communication preferences (eg pings vs emails, expectations around responsiveness, crediting work, etc.) and discussing strategic opportunities to amplify each other’s work. My teammates and I have been at our strongest when we’re leading meetings with structured and accessible agendas, providing each other with weekly updates on a team project tracker, and calling out each other’s work in presentations and team forums.”
KIRBY BROWN
Navigating Change: The Constant Variable
The tech world is synonymous with flux and ambiguity. Adapting to unforeseen changes and embracing unknowns is the constant of this career. It’s rarely personal, so creating distance between the self and circumstances is key. Abandon all expectations; UXR is rarely linear, never adequately resourced, nor committed beyond 1-3 month roadmaps. Yes, the planning may occur, but it rarely sticks in the chaotic tech environment. Flexibility and nimbleness are keys to success.
“This is the snippet where I give you permission to be self-protective and put on your own oxygen mask instead of spiraling about structural dysfunction. While change and flux have been the standard in the industry, I think it’s also so important to address the realities of a landscape where individual contributors may have between 3-5 new managers within their first 6-12 months on a team, undergo dozens of reorgs (at the time of writing this, I went through seven re-orgs with the last year and a half on my most recent team before being placed on a 9-month delayed layoff), and be straddling demanding timezone and staffing challenges as organizations offshore roles and reduce FTE headcount to shave costs. These shifts have measurable equity impacts, specifically as it relates to mobility, compensation, and professional development among historically underrepresented employees. My advice is to do a gut check and seek out mentors who are willing to be blunt about resourcing, bridge opportunities, and org health. If a roadmap is shifting so often that it becomes difficult to tell a cohesive story about your impact in a performance review or you’re getting re-orged so often that it’s difficult to reliably name stakeholders for career feedback, I think it’s worth pursuing mentorship from leads in other product areas, as well as volunteering time on other projects to establish a solid portfolio of work to supplement the swirl of an unstructured workstream. In my experience, research leads in other product areas were always happy to have extra help with interview guides, research sessions, and shareouts. Beyond that, they were happy to give me first or second authorship on any of the artifacts we produced, which majorly helped me land a ladder transfer and two promotions to my current Senior UXR title.”
KIRBY BROWN
Cull those tense work memories:
Where in your past careers have you had to shift gears quickly, working under pressure or a tight deadline, and adapt to changing priorities?
Humility: A Seed for Growth
While we encounter an array of personalities in the professional world, humility paired with assertiveness fosters a productive environment for UXR. This humility facilitates continuous learning, collaborative interactions, and the advancement of a human ethos amidst potential misunderstandings of our field.
“The best Product Managers and Engineers I’ve admired are those who are willing to change their minds and don’t believe they are the smartest person in the room. They had an opinion but also listened to the expertise of their cross-functional partners. I adopted this ethos before joining Area 120 as a UXR which served me well. Stay somewhat detached from the work so you focus on doing the best for the company rather than standing on ego. It can be scary as a new UXR to ‘make the wrong move’ but honestly you just have to see failure as growth - rather than trying to be right or get everything right all the time. Become a sponge for knowledge - and you’ll become not only a great UXR but also someone others regard with respect.”
YINDA AYO-ANI
“This is where I have to come back to curiosity as a personal core value. As I’ve progressed through my career, it’s become so important for me to remain curious and open about the perspectives of my stakeholders and teammates. While it’s always easier said than done, I try my best to remain curious instead of assuming worst intent in scenarios where I wished an interaction would’ve gone differently. I like to talk through ways we might approach future collaborations and be forward-looking about partnering more effectively instead of over-indexing on the specifics of a moment that has already passed. Treating the discussion as a co-creation opportunity, and ideally aligning on a path forward by documenting any decisions made in a centralized 1:1 document or agenda, has always felt more empowering and productive than doubling down or holding grudges.”
KIRBY BROWN
Mentorship and Networking: Your Cheerleading Squad
Embarking on a UXR career is infinitely enriched by forging meaningful connections. We’ve witnessed the profound impact of mentorship, both as a mentee and mentor, and advocate for its pivotal role in career development. Simultaneously, purposeful networking, focused on cultivating genuine relationships rather than merely expanding your contact list, can unveil opportunities and insights that are otherwise obscured.
“I tried for many years to pivot into becoming an official UXR. It is sometimes easier if you are good at other roles for people to want to keep you there…it’s more of a headache to replace you. Don’t let that deter you! I built my network within Google which was how I was able to make the transition. Maya and my manager built out a comprehensive plan of what it would take for me to build the right skills, guided me in my first studies, and all the while supported my drive to make impact. You can only go so far in your career path alone. Your team is who will push you over the finish line.”
YINDA AYO-ANI
There’s no comprehensive list of characteristics required to be a UXR, but you won’t succeed with sheer technical expertise. In an industry where most people experience imposter syndrome it’s important to reflect, recognize your innate abilities, and elevate your differentiators. Embody your strengths and you’re likely to increase impact and feel more fulfilled.
Don’t be a stranger. Comment below with any missed characteristics you think are critical to transitioning into or thriving as a UXR.
We recommend you follow Kirby and Yinda in their career journeys.
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