skills needed for user research

User Researcher Skills

Learn about the skills that will be most essential for User Researchers in 2024.

Getting Started as a User Researcher

• What is a User Researcher
• How To Become
• Certifications
• Tools & Software
• LinkedIn Guide
• Interview Questions
• Work-Life Balance
• Professional Goals
• Resume Examples
• Cover Letter Examples

What Skills Does a User Researcher Need?

Find the important skills for any job.

Types of Skills for User Researchers

Empathetic understanding and user advocacy, research methodology and design, analytical thinking and synthesis, communication and collaboration, strategic insight and business acumen, top hard skills for user researchers.

Empowering product design with rigorous UX research, insightful data analysis, and a deep understanding of user-centric design and accessibility principles.

• User Experience (UX) Research Methods
• Data Analysis and Statistical Methods
• User Interface (UI) Design Principles
• Prototyping and Wireframing Tools
• Usability Testing and Evaluation
• Survey Design and Analysis
• Behavioral Analytics and User Journey Mapping
• Quantitative Research and Data Collection Techniques
• Qualitative Research and Interviewing Skills
• Accessibility Standards and Inclusive Design

Top Soft Skills for User Researchers

Empowering product insights through empathy, analytical prowess, and collaborative communication, ensuring thorough, adaptable, and persuasive user research outcomes.

• Empathy and Emotional Intelligence
• Active Listening and Communication
• Collaboration and Teamwork
• Critical Thinking and Analytical Skills
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Problem-Solving and Creativity
• Attention to Detail and Thoroughness
• Time Management and Organizational Skills
• Storytelling and Presentation Abilities
• Stakeholder Management and Persuasion

Most Important User Researcher Skills in 2024

Empathy and user advocacy, quantitative and qualitative research methods, collaborative synthesis and analysis, strategic thinking and business acumen, communication and storytelling, technological proficiency, critical thinking and problem solving, cultural sensitivity and inclusivity.

Show the Right Skills in Every Application

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• Master Advanced Research Methodologies: Deepen your expertise in both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Consider specialized training in areas like ethnographic studies, longitudinal research, and advanced analytics.
• Adopt New Technologies and Tools: Stay abreast of the latest user research software and tools that can streamline data collection and analysis. Learn how to use AI-driven tools for more efficient user testing and data interpretation.
• Develop Data Storytelling Abilities: Enhance your ability to communicate complex research findings in a compelling and actionable manner. Seek workshops or courses that focus on data visualization and storytelling techniques.
• Expand UX Knowledge: Broaden your understanding of UX design principles and processes. This cross-disciplinary knowledge will enable you to provide more insightful recommendations and collaborate effectively with design teams.
• Engage with User Research Communities: Join online forums, attend meetups, and participate in webinars to exchange knowledge with peers and stay informed about emerging trends in user research.
• Explore Behavioral Science: Gain a deeper understanding of behavioral psychology to enrich your user research with insights into why users behave the way they do.
• Practice Ethical Research: Stay informed about ethical considerations in user research, including privacy concerns and consent. Attend workshops or courses on research ethics to ensure your practices are up-to-date.
• Build Cross-Cultural Competence: As products reach global markets, understanding cultural differences becomes essential. Upskill by learning about cross-cultural research methods and cultural nuances that affect user experience.
• Focus on Strategic Thinking: Improve your ability to connect research insights to business outcomes. Seek training that helps you align user research with company goals and product strategies.
• Enhance Collaboration Skills: Work on soft skills such as communication, negotiation, and teamwork to foster better collaboration with stakeholders and cross-functional teams.

Skill FAQs for User Researchers

What are the emerging skills for user researchers today, how can user researchers effectivley develop their soft skills, how important is technical expertise for user researchers.

User Researcher Education

More Skills for Related Roles

Shaping user experiences through intuitive design, bridging the gap between user and product

Uncovering user insights to shape intuitive, user-centric design experiences

Shaping user experiences, transforming ideas into visually compelling products

Designing engaging learning experiences, transforming complex info into digestible content

Shaping visual concepts that captivate audiences, driving brand identity and innovation

Start Your User Researcher Career with Teal

What is a UX Researcher? The Ultimate Guide for 2024

The role of the user experience (UX) researcher is becoming more prominent, more specialized, and more in demand.

Uncovering user behaviors, needs, and motivations in order to design products and services that provide value is the crux of user experience research. When performed correctly, these methods have a huge impact on business.

So what is a UX researcher?

In this guide, we’ll take a look at what a UX researcher does and the UX research career path.

Although there is no singular path, there are four main steps to move a UX researcher forward: expanding knowledge of the user research field ; obtaining foundational skills ; crafting a portfolio; and building a network of industry peers.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• What is a user experience researcher?
• What does a user experience researcher do?
• What skills are required for a career in UX research?
• How to expand your knowledge of the UX research industry
• How to obtain the necessary foundational skills
• How to craft a convincing portfolio
• How to build a solid network of industry peers
• Final thoughts

1. What is a user experience researcher?

A user experience researcher has their hand on the pulse of user needs and goals. They are the empathetic, organized, critical thinker whose day-to-day is about the first stage of the design thinking process : empathize .

This isn’t to say that UX researchers’ work is totally separate from the rest of the process, but their work has arguably the most humanizing effect on the process. Here’s why— UX researchers know how to:

• Understand the problem or challenge at hand
• Apply a variety of methods and approaches to finding out how their users tick in the context of this problem or challenge
• Listen, observe, and ask the right kinds of questions to gather insights that can be turned into actionable ideas
• Synthesize their findings and communicate them to the rest of the team and to key stakeholders in clear, actionable, and even engaging ways

2. What does a user experience researcher do?

The purpose of the UX researcher (also referred to as “user researcher” or “design researcher”) is to unearth human insights in order to guide the application of design.

According to a recent job posting by IBM, as a design researcher, you will “help provide actionable and meaningful data-driven insights that represent the voice of multiple users. You will collaborate across development, design, and marketing teams to evaluate current and upcoming user research needs that help to improve product definition and drive business goals.”

Some typical tasks and responsibilities of the UX researcher include:

Research Planning and Recruitment

• Develop a well-crafted research plan with clear research objectives.
• Write usability research screeners and discussion guides.
• Recruit targeted end-users for specific research studies.

Data Collection

• Moderate one-on-one basic usability sessions.
• Help develop and implement quantitative surveys.
• Conduct stakeholder and client interviews .

Data Analysis

• Extract insights about user behaviors from web instrumentation tools.
• Translate user insights into actionable recommendations for the product team.

Presentation of Insights

• Craft personas and other “information radiators” (e.g. journey maps) to communicate insights across the design and development teams.
• Present design research findings to the larger team in a clear and organized fashion.
• Work closely with the product team to identify research objectives.
• Establish and implement an overall research strategy.

These are just a handful of tasks that belong to UX research. Ultimately, your job as a UX researcher is to build up a picture of your target users based on their needs, wants, motivations, and pain points. These insights enable the wider design team to create user-friendly products based on real user feedback—not just your assumptions.

As with most UX design roles, the UX researcher means different things to different companies.

To learn more about what might be expected of you as a UX researcher, browse various job sites and see how different companies advertise and describe the role. Here are some useful job portals to help you get started:

• UX Jobs Board
• Just UX Jobs
• User Experience Professionals Association
• AIGA Design Jobs

3. What skills are required for a career in UX research?

Now we’re familiar with some of the key tasks and responsibilities, let’s consider what skills are required for a career in UX research.

As such, being a UX researcher typically requires knowledge or experience in a relevant field that studies human behavior, such as cognitive science, behavioral economics, anthropology, sociology, or psychology. Ultimately, it’s important to be adept at reading people and empathizing with the user, and equally at home handling data and analytics.

Ideal candidates are typically “passionate, curious, and self-driven team players” who have experience working in fast-paced environments while applying both generative and evaluative research methods to build a larger understanding of users.

It’s also important to have a solid understanding of the design thinking process, as well as a passion and know-how for influencing design strategy.

Obtaining these skills can be done through identifying research opportunities with a current employer, volunteering for a design project with an external organization (e.g. VolunteerMatch), or completing research for a personal project of your own.

Overall, practice makes perfect, and refining these skills as often as you can prepare you for your future role. You can even get a design thinking certification by taking a course or program in the discipline, to show potential employers and clients that you truly know your stuff.

4. How to expand your user research knowledge

As already mentioned, there are four key steps to forging a career in UX research:

• Expand your user research knowledge.
• Obtain the foundational skills.
• Craft a portfolio of experience.
• Build a network of peers.

Let’s start with that first step: Expanding your knowledge of the UX research field. In addition to browsing job descriptions, there are plenty of things you can do to learn more about the industry — but where to begin?

Start with the basics and learn all about UX design in this comprehensive guide , and understand the critical role UX research plays in UX design in this article.

From there, learn about the difference between qualitative , quantitative , attitudinal, and behavioral research. Next, you can familiarize yourself with some common UX research methods, such as card sorting, usability testing, and user interviews.

You’ll find an introduction to some of the most important UX research methods on the CareerFoundry YouTube channel (and be sure to take a look at these free UX research tutorials ).

Be sure to watch the video below, in which CareerFoundry graduate and professional UX designer Maureen Herben explains the different techniques and tools used in qualitative user research:

As part of your own research into the UX research field, you’ll also want to consider things such as salary and career options. Sites like Glassdoor and Payscale provide up-to-date salary reports for a range of different locations.

If you can, reach out to people who are already donning the UX researcher job title. Do they tend to work remote or in-house? What kinds of companies employ UX researchers? Again, job sites can help you out here if you don’t have any contacts in the industry (yet!).

Before you commit to the UX researcher route, it’s important to learn as much as you can about the industry and what the role entails.

5. How to obtain the foundational skills necessary for a career as a UX researcher

If you’re keen to forge a career in UX research, you’ll need to start learning some of the key skills. As with any profession, it’s important to build a solid foundation of knowledge before jumping into real-world problem-solving.

Assuming that you already have some knowledge in a related area (cognitive science, sociology, psychology, etc.), there are plenty of ways to learn the fundamentals of user research. Let’s consider those now.

• Human-Computer Interaction: An Empirical Perspective : learn about the foundational topics about one of the precursors to UX design. As well as being a neat introduction to HCI , this book includes historical context, the human factor, interaction elements, and the fundamentals of science and research.
• User Research: A Practical Guide to Designing Better Products and Services : learn about all the key research methods including face-to-face user testing, card sorting, surveys, and A/B testing.

Online resources

Industry blogs are a great way to start learning the ins and outs of the field. Some useful (and trustworthy!) sources include:

• Nielsen Norman Group
• UX Collective
• Inside Design

Conferences and meetups

If possible, consider attending a UX research conference or a local meetup. You’ll find a list of the top UX research conferences to attend in 2019 here , and can search for local UX research groups on meetup.com .

In addition to the examples above, finding an apprenticeship or a more senior researcher who is willing to let you shadow their process is a great way to immerse yourself in the context of a UX researcher while learning “on the job.”

6. How to craft a convincing UX research portfolio

As with any design role, a compelling portfolio is key to proving you’ve got the right skills for the job. So how do you go about creating a convincing UX research portfolio ?

As you practice refining your skills, keep a record of your work to present to future employers. Crafting an online portfolio is a great supplement to a resume or CV when highlighting case studies that show hiring managers what you can do. According to Senior UX Recruiter Tom Cotterill:

“Your portfolio should show cultural suitability for the company where you are applying. Don’t be afraid to add a touch of character or your own style to your portfolio. It’s your chance to wow the hiring manager and demonstrate that you stand out from the crowd. A good portfolio indicates, in short, that this person has taken time to represent themselves in the best possible light, and they’re clued up enough to showcase their most relevant work in an aesthetic and logical way.”

Ultimately, your portfolio should include the following sections:

• The problem or design challenge your research aimed to solve.
• The team you collaborated with.
• The research process (how did you go about solving the problem?).
• The tools you used to recruit, collect and analyze data, and present insights.
• The final outcome and the handoff of the design for development .

For more insight on how to refine a great UX research portfolio, check out How to Wow Me With Your UX Research Portfolio and How to Create a Powerful Case Study for Your UX Portfolio . Another great resource for inspiration is  Bestfolios , the largest curation of best UX research and designer portfolios, resumes, case studies , and design resources.

7. How to build a network within the UX research industry

You’re in the process of mastering the right skills and crafting your portfolio. Now it’s time to network! Networking is one of the best ways to meet people in the UX field and potentially land a new job.

Let’s consider some of the best opportunities for making industry connections.

Current Co-Workers

If you are currently employed, look to see if there are any user experience researchers in your organization, and ask them what it’s like! Also request to shadow them during a research session and take notes.

Future Employers

Informational interviews are also a great way to get candid feedback with people working at great companies, such as IBM, Google, or Amazon. Using LinkedIn or Twitter to find and invite UX researchers for coffee is a solid way to get an idea of what it may be like to work for your company of interest, and also how to get in the door.

Online UX Communities

Actively participate in online UX communities (e.g. Facebook groups) relevant to your professional interests and learning goals. Here are a few to start with:

• Useful Usability
• The UX School

UX Research Organizations

Lastly, join 1-2 user experience research organizations, such as the User Experience Research Professionals Association or the Design Research Society to see if there are any upcoming events you can attend.

8. Final thoughts

UX is a growing field, and the role of the user experience researcher is becoming more and more pivotal. Equipping yourself with the necessary skills and knowledge, and learning to conduct UX research like a professional , while surrounding yourself with peers in the field who you can learn from are essential to becoming a UX researcher yourself.

Overall, the value of understanding the needs of the customer cannot be ignored, and user experience researchers will have an increasingly valuable role to play in the future of design.

If you’d like to learn more about UX research, check out the following guides:

• What is the UX research salary?
• A 5-Point Roadmap For Any UX Research Project
• How to conduct a UX audit
• Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid in Your UX Research Portfolio
• Interview Toolkit: Top 5 UX Research Questions to Prepare For

What is a UX researcher? Roles, skills, and best practices

Last updated

18 January 2023

Reviewed by

Jean Kaluza

Not only does it play a significant role in customer service and satisfaction, but it also informs your design decisions and brings more value and trust to your brand. To do this properly, employers count on the skills and expertise of a UX researcher.

Here's everything you need to know about the position of UX researcher.

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• What is UX research?

UX research involves collecting, organizing, and analyzing data about the users of a company's products or services to inform the product design process and enhance user experience. It can be used to:

Understand a targeted demographic

Clarify priorities

Understand pain points in an existing process

Flush out new concepts into clear wireframes

For anything in a production process that needs clarification or validation, there is a UX research methodology to help.

What is UX research used for?

To better understand targeted users and their needs, UX researchers conduct a wide range of data-gathering tactics such as:

Ethnographic studies

User testing

They relay that information and insight to the product team who, in turn, can deliver a seamless experience to users.

Learn more about UX research platforms

Does ux research require coding and other specialized knowledge.

Knowledge of coding languages, such as Javascript or Python, is not necessary for a career in user research . However, many UX researchers have found it beneficial to have a basic understanding of both development and UI/UX design, since they often work closely with all members of the team.

Additionally, it’s helpful to understand the feasibility of a concept or feature, the existing design architecture, and business objectives and limitations. A good UX researcher doesn’t just deliver insights but also knows how to interpret them into useful and actionable data for their team.

What are the benefits of UX research?

UX research offers the following benefits to help lead a company to success:

Improved understanding of users

Development of a predictable, organic lifecycle of users

High ROI (UX investment can generate a 9,900% ROI)

Informed design-thinking process

More business objectives are reached with more predictable outcomes

Customers benefit from UX research in the following ways:

Better user experience

They can quickly locate what they're looking for

Trust in the business brand; feeling that the company “gets them”

Needs are met and, in many cases, exceeded

UX researchers benefit too:

The average UX research salary is higher than that of a UI designer

The job market will continue to grow (by at least 14.9% over the next ten years )

It is currently one of the most in-demand fields and is expected to continue into the future

• Best practices for UX research

Like any scientific role, UX research requires team members to follow expert practices identified as the most effective and efficient.

Let’s look at three of the most important UX research practices.

Go beyond what's right in front of you

One of the best things you can do as a UX researcher is to look beyond expected user behavior and what’s happening in front of you. User feedback and interviews can give you direct insight into why a typical user may behave a certain way. However, why are the other 20%–30% of users behaving differently?

There are other ways to go beyond the obvious. For example, sometimes during user testing, users express things that contradict their actions. They may say, “This is so easy to use,” while taking a long time to find the button to complete the task at hand. A good UX researcher will recognize discrepancies like this and investigate, without bias, why it’s happening.

In short, constantly look out for the unexpected and dive deeper into why surprising behaviors occur.

Early and frequent user feedback is essential

The sooner you discover what your users like and dislike about your products or services, the sooner you can make improvements, saving significant time and money. It may even become clear that users don't like what you’re offering.

The benefit of testing early and often is that you become aware of these issues early enough to stand back and reevaluate your offer. This can save millions of dollars in development and resources and will keep you ahead of competitors in terms of speed and user intelligence.

In return, you have the unique opportunity to bring something bigger and better to the table, increasing customer satisfaction in the process.

Conduct research at every stage

Conducting UX research at every step of a product's development and design cycle is crucial for a successful user experience. Carrying out this research during phases of discovery, development, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline will provide you with a more holistic view of your scope and an in-depth understanding of how to meet your customers’ expectations.

Conducting research and collecting insights at every stage from people who represent your ideal user also allows you to examine progress over time and ensure you're on the right path. Usability naturally changes over time, and you want to address issues and concerns (especially those that need quick and easy fixes) as soon as possible to prevent terrible user experiences and costly, unnecessary reworking.

• What is a UX researcher?

User experience researcher jobs are very user-centric, as they examine the ideal user journey and identify ways to improve a customer’s experience.

They carry out tests and analysis on a specific group of people that have been identified as belonging to a targeted persona. Collecting this data can help to determine the worst problems that users experience, so the product team can rectify them.

UX researchers need to do the following and more to gain this insight:

Question the specific type of people or persona

Analyze data into user stories

Identify user errors and suggest improvements

Create objectives to assess a pass or fail of the product or service during testing

Obtain insights and metrics from business strategy

Evaluate the effectiveness of design improvements

Listen from a user perspective

Build personas to help identify shared characteristics of ideal users

Is a user researcher the same as a UX researcher?

Whether user research and UX research are the same depends on whom you ask. Some people consider them the same thing. Others separate them by categorizing user research as a broader examination of consumer behaviors and UX research as consumer experience with a product/service.

UX researcher vs. UX designer

Despite the common confusion, a user experience researcher and a user interface designer are different. A UX researcher conducts studies and interviews to examine the best ways to enhance the user experience by better understanding prospective users.

A user interface or UX designer , however, deals more with the aesthetics and visual design of the product. They work closely with the development team to put the insight they've acquired from the UX research team into action and tend to focus more on the pixels.

However, a flair for design can be useful to a user experience researcher. They can help create the design by developing wireframes based on data, or even implementing existing elements from a design library.

They also require a good amount of design thinking to address the needs of their users and explore the best ways to meet them. A designer uses this insight to improve the experience, so having a fair amount of design background can go a long way in improving the design experience, despite UX researchers not being as hands-on in the design process.

• UX research methods and approaches

There are two important approaches to take in a user experience researcher job when conducting your research: quantitative and qualitative . The first approach answers the question “What is happening?” while the second answers “Why is it happening?”

Quantitative

Quantitative research refers to methods that are number-based and universal. These will be the tests that deliver measurable results.

Quantitative methods include:

In-app data collection (such as Google Analytics)

Online polls

Systematic observations

Important skills you need to conduct quantitative research include:

Basic knowledge of statistics

Survey design

Survey analysis (Python or other data visualization coding a plus)

Proficiency in data analysis tools (Google Analytics, Tableau)

Ability to communicate results and give actionable suggestions (reporting)

Qualitative

Qualitative is more individual and personal than quantitative data collection. It focuses on an individual’s unique experience to assess and color the quantitative data.

Quantitative calculates how many/how much, what is happening, and how often. Qualitative addresses the ever-important “why” behind user behaviors to better know what to do about it. This approach can be used for many reasons, including:

Assessing “why” a problem keeps happening

Ensuring that  a user’s motivations are front and center

Identifying missed details and opportunities that quantitative capturing can miss

Common qualitative research methods include:

Face-to-face interviews

Focus groups

Ethnographic research

Cognitive walkthroughs

Diary study

Voice-of-customer sessions

To properly conduct qualitative research, experts recommend the following skills:

Staying curious

Understanding and recognition of all types of bias

Quick establishment of rapport and trust with users

Listening with intention (active listening)

Qualitative interviewing techniques

Ability to find the relationships between qualitative findings and quantitative

Advocating for users

• UX researcher role and responsibilities

A lot goes into the role and responsibilities of a UX researcher. Let’s look at the most important aspects.

Research planning and recruitment

Every great researcher begins the research process with extensive planning. This includes:

Creating a solid problem statement

Defining business objectives with measurable goal metrics

Aligning the proper research methods with those goals

Selecting participants who align with the business’s personas

Crafting your test plan

Locking in the timeline of your research project

Presenting your results and findings (prepare ahead of time so you can use the appropriate channels for your stakeholders)

Recruitment of users is a crucial part of UX research to get right because you don't want to base research insights on the wrong people. Multiple tools and skills are needed for this stage of the process, especially the skills to build relationships with end users and communicate effectively.

Data collection

Your role will require a mix of methods for data-collection strategies. This goes beyond gathering data from user interviews and surveys. It also includes, but is not limited to, assessing information from:

Survey results

Diaries from diary studies

Card sorting

Social media polling

Qualitative session recordings

Partnering with customer service teams for their insights

Social media posts

User-forum posts

Help section behaviors

Net Promoter Score (NPS) or other micro surveys

In-app paths and behaviors

In-app search queries

Google Analytics

Data analysis

In UX research—or any research—data analysis is the key to data-driven success. Collecting data is fine, but if you can't inspect, cleanse, and transform the data you retrieve to define actionable suggestions, you won't get the most reliable results.

You can have all the data in the world, but if you don't know how to turn it into helpful insights, it won't do the company (or user experience) any good.

Presentation of insights

The presentation of your insights can come in several ways, including reports, slides, and other online tools. Which data and the method you choose to present will depend on whom you're delivering your findings to, as you want to ensure they fully understand the results and insights you've uncovered.

According to the UX Design Institute , there are six components of an excellent presentation that shares designs with stakeholders:

Introduction

Research goals

Business value

Methodology

Key learnings

Recommendations

You must be able to develop and implement UX research strategies that aim to enhance user experience in a given timeline. These strategies will vary from company to company, as the right strategy differs by company size, business objectives, and business requirements.

According to Nielsen Norman Group , a solid UX strategy includes:

Proper planning: the path you will take

Goals: how you will determine progress

Vision: the future state of your user experience

• What skills are required for a career in UX research?

As the link between product and users, UX researchers need an arsenal of tools and skills. People who have natural empathy and critical-thinking skills, and who can identify and check their own bias, are perfectly primed for a career in UX research.

Design thinking

As a core component of improving user experience through innovation, the research process is more insightful and successful when backed by design-thinking skills. This is because design thinking takes you beyond user needs, to acknowledge what’s feasible for the development team to build and what your company can and should bring to market.

Design thinking helps you to understand the overarching design process, including:

Empathizing with your users

Defining the problem you plan to solve

Coming up with solutions

Testing prototypes of solutions

Testing and iterating until you have your solution

User-centered design research

The user-centered design process requires skills that allow you to tailor solutions to the needs and expectations of users. This puts the user at the forefront of the entire design process, including collaboration between teams to ensure the result adds value to your customers.

Persona creation

Creating a persona of your ideal users and participants allows you to pinpoint the right (and wrong) people to study and collect data from. This process requires a thorough understanding of certain aspects and how they relate to the company, such as:

Demographics

Psychographics

Motivations

Behavioral analysis

Geographics

Well-defined personas can start as hypotheses but should be validated through ethnographic studies.

UX mapping or user journeys

A visual representation of your end user’s experience is one of the best ways to understand where a customer may be coming from before entering your product’s experience.

You can find the answers to questions such as:

Are they already frustrated?

What do they already know?

Where are they hoping to go from here? 

The answers will help you patch together a UX map, also known as a user journey map , with actionable insights. This can give important relevant context to mobile solutions, such as users not having access to data when using specific features.

User testing, or usability testing, plays an important role in user-centered interaction design. You need the skills to test user flows on target users and collect feedback. This is usually done on a cycle basis, tweaking the process or design each time until results are within the desired metric or outcome.

Usability testing templates

InVision is a tool for building and testing your prototypes and exploring concepts. It's great for rapid prototyping. The tool was created by designers, for designers, to enhance the presentation of your work and give you more control over your design.

Figma is another popular tool, which allows multiple designers to work on the same design, pull from style libraries, more easily export designs to development teams, and more. Figma also allows you to share prototypes with users for their feedback.

User research tool

Soft skills.

UX researchers need to have soft and foundational skills like:

Strong empathy for groups you may not have otherwise interacted with

Communication and language skills

Time management

Critical thinking

Creative problem-solving

Ability to adapt to new or contradictory findings

Courage to share less-than-popular findings and data

Ability to navigate difficult political struggles that can come with championing your users

• How to become a UX researcher

To become a UX researcher, you must pursue the right courses and obtain a relevant degree (as detailed below). You will also need to develop and sharpen your user-research skills through CPD activities such as additional training and certifications, podcasts, blogs, and more.

Research experience is also important, so consider volunteering with smaller businesses or experimenting with your own ideas to build your portfolio.

What degree do you need to be a UX researcher?

To be a UX researcher, you will need one or more of the following degrees (bachelor's, M.S., or Ph.D.):

Human-computer interaction or human factors

Information science

Cognitive science, cognitive psychology, psychology, experimental psychology, behavioral science, social science, or anthropology

• UX researcher salary and job demand

There is significant demand for skilled UX researchers in today's job market, and this demand is expected to continue. As consumers constantly expect improved product or service experiences, companies prioritize making this happen.

LinkedIn's research suggests a growing demand for UX researchers, with 81% of executives reporting that user research makes their company more efficient and 86% citing that UX research improves the quality of their products or services.

The average salary for qualified UX researchers is on the higher end of wages in the U.S., with 50% of user researchers earning $88,600 (according to Onward Search's 2020 Salary Guide ). On average, those in the 75 percentile can expect $108,300 or more. The level of salaries will vary by location, seniority, and experience. Additional research puts the most common range between $88,000 and $134,000 .

A UX researcher collects, organizes, and analyzes data about the users of a company's products or services. This data informs the product design process and enhances user experience. 

UX researchers are in high demand as there is a potentially huge ROI to be gained from learning about what users want and how their experience can be improved.

If you are naturally empathic, have excellent communication skills, and can solve problems creatively, you may be well suited to the role of UX researcher.

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UX Researcher

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What Is a UX Researcher? How to Become One, Salary, Skills.

UX researchers are responsible for studying and understanding what users of a system or product need and want. UX researchers use their findings to improve the design of goods, software and services. Here’s what to know about a UX researcher’s salary, needed skills and how to become one.

What Is a UX Researcher?

UX researchers study user behavior to answer important questions about how digital products and services are designed and how customers interact with them. The goal of a UX researcher is to improve a product or service through their findings. Some of the key insights UX researchers must uncover about users include their demographic information, how they use a product, what they get from a product and what issues they may have with the product. 

What Do UX Researchers Do?

UX researchers are tasked with learning what motivations, needs and behaviors users have when interacting with a product or service. The two main types of UX research are quantitative and qualitative. The goal of quantitative research is to identify the experience of a user by looking at data, such as click-through rates on landing pages, for example. The goal of qualitative research is to understand why users behave the way they do, and for this, UX researchers rely on field studies, moderated usability tests and user interviews.

UX Researcher Responsibilities

• Design, organize and implement user research projects, including A/B tests, field studies, user surveys, user interviews and usability tests.
• Analyze and synthesize qualitative and quantitative research to create and report findings.
• Present findings to designers, developers, leadership and stakeholders. 
• Collaborate with product and design teams and provide actionable feedback. 

Day-to-Day Responsibilities of UX Researchers

• Craft user research plans.
• Develop budgets and timelines for research projects. 
• Recruit targeted users.
• Conduct user interviews. 
• Create user surveys. 
• Organize usability tests.
• Conduct field studies.
• Analyze results from interviews and surveys. 

UX Researchers Within a Company

UX researchers are typically part of the product development team within a company. They often collaborate with leaders on the product team and design to create research plans, analyze results and data from surveys and questionnaires and make product recommendations. 

Importance of UX Researchers

UX researchers help companies understand the needs and wants of their customers as they approach the product or service. Without thoughtful UX researchers, companies will overlook the most important part of the design process: empathy. 

What Skills Are Needed to Be a UX Researcher?

Qualifications to be a ux researcher.

• Experience designing and executing user research.
• Knowledge of UX design principles.
• Strong understanding of statistics and data.
• Experience with user research tools and software.

UX Researcher Prerequisites

• UX researchers usually hold a bachelor’s degree in psychology, statistics, human-computer interaction, information systems or a related field. 
• A portfolio of previous user research projects. 

UX Researcher Hard Skills

• Data analysis.
• Math and statistics.
• UX research methods and software tools. 
• User testing. 
• Basic design skills.

UX Researcher Soft Skills

• Empathy and curiosity.
• Interpersonal communication and writing skills.
• Problem solving and critical thinking skills.
• Collaboration and teamwork skills.

Tools and Programs UX Researcher Use

• Google Forms 
• Google Optimize
• Optimal Workshop

How to Become a UX Researcher

Ux researcher education and experience.

UX researchers can come from a variety of different backgrounds; there isn’t one set degree that is necessarily best for UX research. Studying technology or behavioral and social sciences can all be relevant to UX research, as an understanding of tech and how humans interact with it is central to the role.

Outside of education, volunteering to run UX research projects for local businesses and non-profit organizations, as well as participating in hackathons, may be helpful experience in developing a UX research portfolio.

• UX Researcher Certificates and Courses
• UX Bootcamps to Know
• Google UX Design Professional Certificate
• General Assembly UX Design Immersive
• Northwestern UX/UI Boot Camp

UX Researcher Career Path

Although UX researchers can come from many different educational backgrounds, starting a UX research career with an internship is a great first step in the field. UX researchers may later take on roles such as UX designer or UX engineer.

UX Researcher Salary and Job Outlook

UX research is a growing field, with 41 percent of researchers only having five years of experience in the field. But the size of UX researcher teams is expected to grow too. Of UX researchers surveyed by User Interviews , 71 percent said there are five or more researchers on their team.

The full compensation package for a UX researcher depends on a variety of factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s experience and geographic location. See below for detailed information on the average UX researcher salary.

Expand Your UX Researcher Career Opportunities

Build a multi-dimensional skillset by completing online UX and design courses through Udemy.

Are you interested in UX Design, but have no prior experience or an idea of where to start? You’ve come to the right place!

UPDATE (03/01/2016) : New Section!

• Just added a new section where we go over the most modern design and prototyping tools.
• We discuss design tools like Sketch 3, Photoshop, and Illustrator, so you can decide…

Your product won't be easy to use on accident.  The only way to deliver products and services that delight users is to  listen to them . If you want to learn how to do that, then this is the course for you.

2023 Edition.

You've just landed on Udemy's highest rated course on user experience (UX). Thousands of user researchers and designers have used this course to kick-start their career in UX. You can do it, too.

UX Researcher Certifications + Programs

Reignite your journey up the career ladder with Udacity’s online UX and design certifications.

General Assembly’s User Experience Design Immersive is a transformative course designed for you to get the necessary skills for a UX Design role in three months. 

The User Experience Design bootcamp is led by instructors who are expert practitioners in their field, supported by career coaches that work with you since day one and enhanced by a career services team that is constantly in talks with employers about their UX Design hiring needs.

What you'll accomplish

As a graduate, you’ll have a portfolio of projects that show your creative and technical ability to launch the next generation of successful apps, websites and digital experiences. Throughout this program, you will:

Identify and implement the most effective methods of user research to gain a deeper understanding of what users want and need.

Use interaction and visual design techniques to craft a dynamic digital product that brings delight and function to users.

Conduct usability testing to make product experiences more accessible for diverse user populations and environments.

Learn best practices for working within a product team, employing product management techniques and evaluating technical constraints to better collaborate with developers.

Produce polished design documentation, including wireframes and prototypes, to articulate design decisions to clients and stakeholders.

Prepare for the world of work, compiling a professional-grade portfolio of solo, group, and client projects.

Prerequisites

This is a beginner-friendly program with no prerequisites, although many students are familiar with common tools for graphic and web designers and some may have had exposure to UX concepts in the past. The General Assembly curriculum helps you gain fluency in end-to-end UX processes, tools, and documentation and put them to work on the path to a new career as a User Experience Designer.

Why General Assembly

Since 2011, General Assembly has graduated more than 40,000 students worldwide from the full time & part time courses. During the 2020 hiring shutdown, GA's students, instructors, and career coaches never lost focus, and the KPMG-validated numbers in their Outcomes report reflect it. *For students who graduated in 2020 — the peak of the pandemic — 74.4% of those who participated in GA's full-time Career Services program landed jobs within six months of graduation.  General Assembly is proud of their grads + teams' relentless dedication and to see those numbers rising. Download the report here .

Your next step? Submit an application to talk to the General Assembly Admissions team

Note: reviews are referenced from Career Karma - https://careerkarma.com/schools/general-assembly

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Latest ux and design jobs, companies hiring ux researchers, most common skills for ux researcher, related design careers.

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User Research

What is user research.

User research is the methodic study of target users—including their needs and pain points—so designers have the sharpest possible insights to make the best designs. User researchers use various methods to expose problems and design opportunities and find crucial information to use in their design process.

Discover why user research is a crucial part of the design process.

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User Research – Get to know your Users, and What They want

To call user research a crucial part of an interaction design process might seem overly obvious. Indeed, it’s the only way to discover exactly what these users need, having first found out precisely who they are. To set out to generate these facts, you must gather data from your users through a structured approach . First, you must choose methods that 1) suit your research’s purpose and 2) will yield the clearest information. Afterwards—to get the insights you want—you’ll need to interpret your findings from all that data, which can be tricky . You can apply user research anytime during the design process. Typically, researchers begin with qualitative measures, to discover users’ needs and motivations . They might later test their results by using quantitative measures .

“Research is creating new knowledge.” – Neil Armstrong, the First person to walk on the Moon

User research essentially splits into two subsets:

Qualitative research – Ethnographic field studies and interviews are examples of methods that can help you build a deep understanding of why users behave the way they do (e.g., why they leave a website so quickly). For instance, you can interview a small number of users and get sharp insights into their shopping habits by asking them open-ended questions. Usability testing is another dimension of this type of research (e.g., examining users’ stress levels when they use a certain design). Qualitative research requires great care. As it involves collecting non-numerical data (e.g., opinions), your own opinions might influence findings.

Quantitative research – With more-structured methods such as surveys, you gather measurable data about what users do and test assumptions you developed from qualitative research. An example is to use an online survey to ask users questions about their shopping habits (e.g., “Approximately how many items of clothing do you buy online per year?”). You can use this data to find patterns within a large user group. In fact, the larger the sample of representative test users is, the more likely you’ll have a statistically reliable way of assessing the target user population. Regardless of the method, with careful research you can gather objective and unbiased data. Nevertheless, quantitative data alone cannot expose deeper human insights.

We can also split user research into two approaches:

Attitudinal – you listen to users’ words (e.g., in interviews).

Behavioral – you watch their actions through observational studies.

Usually, you can get the sharpest view of a design problem when you apply a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative research as well as a mixture of attitudinal and behavioral approaches.

© Interaction Design Foundation, CC BY-SA 4.0

Leverage User Research Methods throughout Development

Industry-leading user experience consulting organization the Nielsen Norman Group names appropriate user research methods for you to use during your project’s four stages . Here are key methods:

Discover – Determine what’s relevant for users.

Diary studies – Have users log their performance of activities or record their daily interactions with a design.

Contextual inquiries – Interview suitable users in their own environment to find out how they perform the task/s in question.

Explore – See how to address all users’ needs.

Card sorting – On cards, write words and phrases and then let participants organize these in the most meaningful way and label categories to ensure your design is logically structured.

Customer journey maps – Create user journeys to reveal potential pitfalls and crucial moments.

Test – Evaluate your designs.

Usability testing – Make sure your design is easy to use.

Accessibility evaluations – Test your design to ensure everyone can use it.

Listen – Put issues in perspective, uncover any new problems and spot trends.

Analytics – Gather analytics/metrics to chart (e.g.) website traffic and generate reports.

Surveys/Questionnaires – Track how users’ feel about your product/design via these.

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However you approach user research, always consider the pros and cons of each technique . Card sorting is cheap and easy, for example, but may prove time-consuming when you proceed to analysis. Moreover, it might not provide in-depth contextual meaning. The resources available to you are another constraint. These will decide when, how much and which type of user research you can actually do. Therefore, carefully choose only the most relevant method/s for your research . Also, get stakeholders from your organization involved early on . They can reveal precious insights and help keep your research on track regarding business goals. Overall, user research is a valuable way to validate the assumptions the design team makes concerning users in the field , cut the expense of the best deliverables and keep your product’s demand high and ahead of competitors’ in the marketplace.

User research methods have various pros and cons and involve activities ranging from observations of users in context to controlled experiments in lab settings.

Learn More about User Research

For a fuller grasp of user research, take our course here .

See the Nielsen Norman Group’s list of user research tips .

Find an extensive range of user research considerations , discussed in Smashing Magazine.

Here’s a convenient and example-rich catalogue of user research tools.

Questions related to User Research

User Research is a fulfilling career for individuals driven to comprehend user behaviors and work collaboratively with teams. As a User Researcher, you're instrumental in steering teams towards crafting user-centric solutions. If you're intrigued by a career that combines both analytical and creative insights, consider delving into this field. For a comprehensive understanding, explore the User Researcher Learning Path on our platform.

User Researchers are seeing competitive pay in the industry. On average, they can earn from $92,000 to $146,000 annually. In some smaller firms, user research duties might be combined with a broader UX role. To understand how salaries can differ by region or delve into a broader perspective on UX-related pay, check out this detailed guide on UI UX Designer Salaries for 2023 or Glassdoor's breakdown of User Experience Researcher salaries .

While both are integral to the user experience, User Research and UX Design serve different purposes. User Research delves deep into understanding user preferences and needs, paving the way for informed design strategies. In contrast, UX Design is about sculpting a product based on that insight, ensuring it's both user-centric and aesthetically pleasing. 

Sometimes, especially in compact teams, the roles might blur with a designer handling research. Want a comprehensive insight? Dive into User Experience: The Beginner's Guide to explore their interconnected dynamics.

Yes, there is! Think of UX research as a subset of user research. While both focus on understanding users, user research casts a broader net, examining topics like pricing or delivery preferences. UX research, meanwhile, zeroes in on how users interact with a product and their experience doing so. In short, user research looks at broader interactions, while UX research specifically studies product use. To dive deeper, check out our course on User Research Methods and Best Practices .

User research utilizes varied techniques such as usability testing, A/B tests, surveys, card sorting, interviews, analytics analysis, and ethnographic studies. Every approach brings unique insights and is ideal for specific situations. It's essential to choose the proper technique based on your research goals and your audience. Discover these techniques further in 7 Great, Tried and Tested UX Research Techniques . 

For a comprehensive understanding of usability testing, a popular user research method, check out our course on User Research Methods and Best Practices .

While a related degree can be beneficial, it's not strictly required to become a user researcher. Many successful user researchers have degrees in diverse fields like psychology, design, anthropology, statistics, or human-computer interaction. What's crucial is a mix of relevant education, hands-on experience, and continuous learning. Even if some employers might favor candidates with a bachelor's degree, it can be in something other than a UX-focused area. Only some degrees specifically target user research. To strengthen your knowledge, consider courses like Data-Driven Design: Quantitative Research for UX or User Research Methods and Best Practices .

While each user research project is unique, some standard steps guide most endeavors:

Determine the research question.

Choose the proper research technique.

Find participants.

Execute the research.

Evaluate the gathered data.

Share the results.

For a thorough understanding of these steps and more, check out User Research – Methods and Best Practices .

There's a wide array of user research tools to pick from, tailored to your research goals, organizational size, and project specifics. Some popular choices include:

For surveys: Typeform or Google Forms.

Card sorting: Tools like Optimal Workshop, Maze or Trello.

Analyzing user activity: HotJar or CrazyEgg for heatmaps.

Usability evaluations: Platforms like Userlytics or Lookback.

Analyzing qualitative data: Miro or Lucidchart for affinity diagramming.

Crunching numbers: Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel for quantitative insights.

Usability testing on prototypes: Tools like Adobe XD or Figma.

Presenting findings: Use Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Prezi.

These tools often boast extra features to amplify your research.

Dive deeper into their applications with User Research – Methods and Best Practices .

User research is paramount in creating products that align with users' genuine needs and preferences. Instead of basing designs on assumptions, it provides factual insights into how users feel and interact with products. By engaging in user research, designers can spot usability challenges, collect feedback on design ideas, and validate their design decisions. For businesses, this not only refines product offerings but also strengthens brand loyalty and reputation. A standout user experience gives a company a competitive edge and lowers the chances of product setbacks. Dive deeper into the significance of user research in design with Data-Driven Design: Quantitative Research for UX and User Experience: The Beginner’s Guide .

Literature on User Research

Here’s the entire UX literature on User Research by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about User Research

Take a deep dive into User Research with our course User Research – Methods and Best Practices .

How do you plan to design a product or service that your users will love , if you don't know what they want in the first place? As a user experience designer, you shouldn't leave it to chance to design something outstanding; you should make the effort to understand your users and build on that knowledge from the outset. User research is the way to do this, and it can therefore be thought of as the largest part of user experience design .

In fact, user research is often the first step of a UX design process—after all, you cannot begin to design a product or service without first understanding what your users want! As you gain the skills required, and learn about the best practices in user research, you’ll get first-hand knowledge of your users and be able to design the optimal product—one that’s truly relevant for your users and, subsequently, outperforms your competitors’ .

This course will give you insights into the most essential qualitative research methods around and will teach you how to put them into practice in your design work. You’ll also have the opportunity to embark on three practical projects where you can apply what you’ve learned to carry out user research in the real world . You’ll learn details about how to plan user research projects and fit them into your own work processes in a way that maximizes the impact your research can have on your designs. On top of that, you’ll gain practice with different methods that will help you analyze the results of your research and communicate your findings to your clients and stakeholders—workshops, user journeys and personas, just to name a few!

By the end of the course, you’ll have not only a Course Certificate but also three case studies to add to your portfolio. And remember, a portfolio with engaging case studies is invaluable if you are looking to break into a career in UX design or user research!

We believe you should learn from the best, so we’ve gathered a team of experts to help teach this course alongside our own course instructors. That means you’ll meet a new instructor in each of the lessons on research methods who is an expert in their field—we hope you enjoy what they have in store for you!

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How to conduct user research: A step-by-step guide

This is part one of a guide to User research.

Continue with part two: How to conduct user research: A Step-by-step guide

Continue with part three: What is exploratory research and why is it so exciting?

What user research did you conduct to reveal your ideal user?

Uh-oh. Not this question again. We both know the most common answer and it’s not great.

“Uhm, we talked to some users and had a brainstorming session with our team. It’s not much, but we don’t have time to do anything more right now. It’s better than nothing.”

Let’s be brutally honest about the meaning of that answer and rephrase it:

“ We don’t have time to get to know our actual user and maximize our chances of success. We’ll just assume that we know what they want and then wonder why the product fails at a later stage.”

If that sounds super bad, it’s because IT IS. You don’t want to end up in this situation. And you won’t.

After reading this guide, you’ll know exactly how to carry out the user research that will become your guiding star during product development.

On this page

Why is user research so important?

Step #1: define research objectives.

Go ahead – create that fake persona

Step #2: Pick your methods

Qualitative methods – the why, quantitative methods – the what, behavioral and attitudinal methods, step #3: find your participants, how to recruit participants, how many participants, step #4: conduct user research.

Focus groups

Competitive analysis

Field studies

What’s next?

User research can be a scary word. It may sound like money you don’t have, time you can’t spare, and expertise you need to find. That’s why some people convince themselves that it’s not that important.

Which is a HUGE mistake.

User research is crucial – without it, you’ll spend your energy, time and money on a product that is based around false assumptions that won’t work in the real world.

Let’s take a look at Segway, a technologically brilliant product with incredible introductory publicity. Although it’s still around, it simply didn’t reach initial expectations. Here are some of the reasons why:

• It brought mockery, not admiration. The user was always “that guy”, who often felt fat or lazy.
• Cities were not prepared for it. Neither users nor policemen knew if it should be used on the road or on the sidewalk.
• A large segment of the target market comprised of postal and security workers. However, postal workers need both hands while walking, and security workers prefer bikes that don’t have a limited range.

Segway mainly fell short because of issues that could’ve been foreseen and solved by better user research.

Tim Brown, the CEO of the innovation and design firm IDEO, sums it up nicely:

“Empathy is at the heart of design. Without the understanding of what others see, feel, and experience, design is a pointless task.”

? Bonus material Download User research checklist and a comparison table

Never forget – you are not your user.

You require proper user research to understand your user’s problems, pain points, needs, desires, feelings and behaviours.

Let’s start with the process!

Before you get in touch with your target users, you need to define why you are doing the research in the first place. 

Establish clear objectives and agree with your team on your exact goals – this will make it much easier to gain valuable insights. Otherwise, your findings will be all over the place.

Here are some sample questions that will help you to define your objectives:

• What do you want to uncover?
• What are the knowledge gaps that you need to fill?
• What is already working and what isn’t?
• Is there a problem that needs to be fixed? What is that problem?
• What will the research bring to the business and/or your customers?

Once you start answering questions like these, it’s time to make a list of objectives. These should be specific and concise .

Let’s say you are making a travel recommendation app. Your research goals could be:

• Understand the end-to-end process of how participants are currently making travel decisions.
• Uncover the different tools that participants are using to make travel decisions.
• Identify problems or barriers that they encounter when making travel decisions.

I suggest that you prioritize your objectives and create an Excel table. It will come in handy later.

Go ahead, create that fake persona

A useful exercise for you to do at this stage is to write down some hypotheses about your target users.

Ask yourself:

What do we think we understand about our users that is relevant to our business or product?

Yes, brainstorm the heck out of this persona, but keep it relevant to the topic at hand.

Here’s my empathy map and empathy map canvas to really help you flesh out your imaginary user.

Once you’re finished, research any and every statement , need and desire with real people.

It’s a simple yet effective way to create questions for some of the research methods that you’ll be using.

However, you need to be prepared to throw some of your assumptions out of the window. If you think this persona may affect your bias, don’t bother with hypotheses and dive straight into research with a completely open mind.

Alright, you have your research goals. Now let’s see how you can reach them.

Here’s the main question you should be asking yourself at this step in the process:

Based on our time and manpower, what methods should we select?

It’s essential to pick the right method at the right time . I’ll delve into more details on specific methods in Step #4. For now, let’s take a quick look at what categories you can choose from.

Qualitative research tells you ‘why’ something occurs. It tells you the reasons behind the behavior, the problem or the desire. It answers questions like: “ Why do you prefer using app X instead of other similar apps?” or “What’s the hardest part about being a sales manager? Why?” .

Qualitative data comes in the form of actual insights and it’s fairly easy to understand.

Most of the methods we’ll look at in Step #4 are qualitative methods.

Quantitative research helps you to understand what is happening by providing different metrics.

It answers questions such as “What percentage of users left their shopping cart without completing the purchase?” or “Is it better to have a big or small subscription button?”.

Most quantitative methods come in handy when testing your product, but not so much when you’re researching your users. This is because they don’t tell you why particular trends or patterns occur.

There is a big difference between “what people do” and “what people say”.

As their names imply, attitudinal research is used to understand or measure attitudes and beliefs, whereas behavioral research is used to measure and observe behaviors.

Here’s a practical landscape that will help you choose the best methods for you. If it doesn’t make sense now, return to it once you’ve finished the guide and you’ll have a much better understanding.

Source: Nielsen Norman Group

I’ll give you my own suggestions and tips about the most common and useful methods in Step #4 – Conducting research.

In general, if your objectives are specific enough, it shouldn’t be too hard to see which methods will help you achieve them.

Remember that Excel table? Choose a method or two that will fulfill each objective and type it in the column beside it.

It won’t always be possible to carry out everything you’ve written down. If this is the case, go with the method(s) that will give you most of the answers. With your table, it will be easy to pick and choose the most effective options for you.

Onto the next step!

This stage is all about channeling your inner Sherlock and finding the people with the secret intel for your product’s success.

Consider your niche, your objectives and your methods – this should give you a general idea of the group or groups you want to talk to and research further.

Here’s my advice for most cases.

If you’re building something from the ground up, the best participants might be:

• People you assume face the problem that your product aims to solve
• Your competitors’ customers

If you are developing something or solving a problem for an existing product, you should also take a look at:

• Advocates and super-users
• Customers who have recently churned
• Users who tried to sign up or buy but decided not to commit

There are plenty of ways to bring on participants, and you can get creative so long as you keep your desired target group in mind.

You can recruit them online – via social media, online forums or niche community sites.

You can publish an ad with requirements and offer some kind of incentive.

You can always use a recruitment agency, too. This can be costly, but it’s also efficient.

If you have a user database and are changing or improving your product, you can find your participants in there. Make sure that you contact plenty of your existing users, as most of them won’t respond.

You can even ask your friends to recommend the right kind of people who you wouldn’t otherwise know.

With that said, you should always be wary of including friends in your research . Sure, they’re the easiest people to reach, but your friendship can (and probably will) get in the way of obtaining honest answers. There are plenty of horror stories about people validating their “brilliant” ideas with their friends, only to lose a fortune in the future. Only consider them if you are 100% sure that they will speak their mind no matter what.

That depends on the method. If you’re not holding a massive online survey, you can usually start with 5 people in each segment . That’s enough to get the most important unique insights. You can then assess the situation and decide whether or not you need to expand your research.

Finally! Let’s go through some of the more common methods you’ll be using, including their pros and cons, some pro tips, and when you should use them.

Engaging in one-on-one discussions with users enables you to acquire detailed information about a user’s attitudes, desires, and experiences. Individual concerns and misunderstandings can be directly addressed and cleared up on the spot.

Interviews are time-consuming, especially on a per participant basis. You have to prepare for them, conduct them, analyze them and sometimes even transcribe them. They also limit your sample size, which can be problematic. The quality of your data will depend on the ability of your interviewer, and hiring an expert can be expensive.

• Prepare questions that stick to your main topics. Include follow-up questions for when you want to dig deeper into certain areas.
• Record the interview . Don’t rely on your notes. You don’t want to interrupt the flow of the interview by furiously scribbling down your answers, and you’ll need the recording for any potential in-depth analysis later on.
• Conduct at least one trial run of the interview to see if everything flows and feels right. Create a “playbook” on how the interview should move along and update it with your findings.
• If you are not comfortable with interviewing people, let someone else do it or hire an expert interviewer. You want to make people feel like they are talking to someone they know, rather than actually being interviewed. In my experience, psychologists are a great choice for an interviewer.

Interviews are not really time-sensitive, as long as you do them before the development process.

However, they can be a great supplement to online surveys and vice-versa. Conducting an interview beforehand helps you to create a more focused and relevant survey, while conducting an interview afterwards helps you to explain the survey answers.

Surveys are generally conducted online, which means that it’s possible to gather a lot of data in a very short time for a very low price . Surveys are usually anonymous, so users are often more honest in their responses.

It’s more difficult to get a representative sample because it’s tough to control who takes part in the survey – especially if you post it across social media channels or general forums. Surveys are quite rigid and if you don’t account for all possible answers, you might be missing out on valuable data. You have to be very careful when choosing your questions – poorly worded or leading ones can negatively influence how users respond. Length can also be an issue, as many people hate taking long surveys.

• Keep your surveys brief , particularly if participants won’t be compensated for their time. Only focus on what is truly important.
• Make sure that the questions can be easily understood. Unclear or ambiguous questions result in data on which you can’t depend. Keep the wording as simple as possible.
• Avoid using leading questions. Don’t ask questions that assume something, such as “What do you dislike about X?”. Replace this with “What’s your experience with X?”.
• Find engaged, niche online communities that fit your user profile. You’ll get more relevant data from these.

Similar to interviews. It depends on whether you want to use the survey as a preliminary method, or if you want a lot of answers to a few, very focused questions.

Focus Groups

Focus groups are moderated discussions with around 5 to 10 participants, the intention of which is to gain insight into the individuals’ attitudes, ideas and desires.

As focus groups include multiple people, they can quickly reveal the desires, experiences, and attitudes of your target audience . They are helpful when you require a lot of specific information in a short amount of time. When conducted correctly, they can act like interviews on steroids.

Focus groups can be tough to schedule and manage. If the moderator isn’t experienced, the discussion can quickly go off-topic. There might be an alpha participant that dictates the general opinion, and because it’s not one-on-one, people won’t always speak their mind.

• Find an experienced moderator who will lead the discussion. Having another person observing and taking notes is also highly recommended, as he or she can emphasize actionable insights and catch non-verbal clues that would otherwise be missed.
• Define the scope of your research . What questions will you ask? How in-depth do you want to go with the answers? How long do you want each discussion to last? This will determine how many people and groups should be tested.
• If possible, recruit potential or existing users who are likely to provide good feedback, yet will still allow others to speak their mind. You won’t know the participants most of the time, so having an experienced moderator is crucial.

Focus groups work best when you have a few clear topics that you want to focus on.

Competitive Analysis

A competitive analysis highlights the strengths and weaknesses of existing products . It explores how successful competitors act on the market. It gives you a solid basis for other user research methods and can also uncover business opportunities. It helps you to define your competitive advantage , as well as identify different user types.

A competitive analysis can tell you what exists, but not why it exists. You may collect a long feature list, but you won’t know which features are valued most by users and which they don’t use at all. In many cases, it’s impossible to tell how well a product is doing, which makes the data less useful. It also has limited use if you’re creating something that’s relatively new to the market.

• Create a list or table of information that you want to gather – market share, prices, features, visual design language, content, etc.
• Don’t let it go stale. Update it as the market changes so that you include new competitors.
• If you find something really interesting but don’t know the reason behind it, conduct research among your competitor’s users .
• After concluding your initial user research, go over the findings of your competitive analysis to see if you’ve discovered anything that’s missing on the market .

It can be a great first method, especially if you’re likely to talk to users of your competitors’ products

Field Studies

Field studies are research activities that take place in the user’s context, rather than at your company or office. Some are purely observational (the researcher is a “fly on the wall”), others are field interviews, and some act as a demonstration of pain points in existing systems.

You really get to see the big picture –  field studies allow you to gain insights that will fundamentally change your product design . You see what people actually do instead of what they say they do. A field study can explain problems and behaviours that you don’t understand better than any other method.

It’s the most time-consuming and expensive method. The results rely on the observer more than any of the other options. It’s not appropriate for products that are used in rare and specific situations.

• Establish clear objectives. Always remember why you are doing the research. Field studies can provide a variety of insights and sometimes it can be hard to stay focused. This is especially true if you are participating in the observed activity.
• Be patient. Observation might take some time. If you rush, you might end up with biased results.
• Keep an open mind and don’t ask leading questions. Be prepared to abandon your preconceptions, assumptions and beliefs. When interviewing people, try to leave any predispositions or biases at the door.
• Be warm but professional. If you conduct interviews or participate in an activity, you won’t want people around you to feel awkward or tense. Instead, you’ll want to observe how they act naturally.

Use a field study when no other method will do or if it becomes clear that you don’t really understand your user. If needed, you should conduct this as soon as possible – it can lead to monumental changes.

We started with a user persona and we’ll finish on this topic, too. But yours will be backed by research 😉

A persona outlines your ideal user in a concise and understandable way. It includes the most important insights that you’ve discovered. It makes it easier to design products around your actual users and speak their language. It’s a great way to familiarize new people on your team with your target market.

A persona is only as good as the user research behind it. Many companies create a “should be” persona instead of an actual one. Not only can such a persona be useless, it can also be misleading.

• Keep personas brief. Avoid adding unnecessary details and omit information that does not aid your decision making. If a persona document is too long, it simply won’t be used.
• Make personas specific and realistic. Avoid exaggerating and include enough detail to help you find real people that represent your ideal user.

Create these after you’ve carried out all of the initial user research. Compile your findings and create a persona that will guide your development process.

Now you know who you are creating your product for – you’ve identified their problems, needs and desires. You’ve laid the groundwork, so now it’s time to design a product that will blow your target user away! But that’s a topic for a whole separate guide, one that will take you through the process of product development and testing 😉

PS. Don’t forget -> Here is your ? User Research Checklist and comparison table

About the author

Oh hey, I’m Romina Kavcic

I am a Design Strategist who holds a Master of Business Administration. I have 14+ years of career experience in design work and consulting across both tech startups and several marquee tech unicorns such as Stellar.org, Outfit7, Databox, Xamarin, Chipolo, Singularity.NET, etc. I currently advise, coach and consult with companies on design strategy & management, visual design and user experience. My work has been published on Forbes, Hackernoon, Blockgeeks, Newsbtc, Bizjournals, and featured on Apple iTunes Store.

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How to Become a User Researcher

User researchers work with companies to make suitable product designs based on their studies of the potential pain points and needs of their target users. These experts benefit from high starting salaries and strong job growth projections.  

If you are hoping to enter this field, this guide covers everything you need to know about how to become a user researcher. You will learn more about the job requirements, salary expectations, job growth statistics, and other important information.  

What Is a User Researcher?

User researchers are important assets businesses use to develop a product design that satisfies the needs of their real users. Working on both physical and digital products, these researchers are responsible for identifying who the users are and what they need. They do this by systematically studying the target users, collecting and analyzing data to help inform the design process. 

User Researcher Job Description

One of the most important tasks in a user researcher position is to define and drive the future of products. They work with different teams to reveal the needs of users by conducting research and performing usability studies. 

Their responsibilities may also include delivering presentations, coming up with bold new ideas, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative data. They also help the UX team to understand what will make the user experience seamless and more intuitive. 

User Researcher vs UX Researcher: What’s the Difference?

The roles of a user researcher and a user experience (UX) researcher don’t just sound similar; they are also very closely related. So much so in fact that they can be very difficult to distinguish. Some even venture to claim they are the same role. However, most experts on the matter would agree that there are some differences.

These roles will vary depending on the organization, which makes the distinction even less clear-cut. Generally speaking, however, we can say that UX research is a sub-field of user research. Another difference people commonly agree upon is that while user research is more about talking to people about their behavior using a product, UX deals more with learning about users’ experiences with a particular product.

The work of a user researcher informs the work of a UX researcher and vice versa. Both roles are critical which means that these professionals need to cooperate to come up with insights that result in the best possible product for the consumer. If you want to learn how to become a UX researcher, check out this article . 

User Researcher Salary and Job Outlook

User researchers earn well over the national average. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, user researchers earn a median salary of $65,810 per year in 2020. This figure generally increases as the professionals gain experience.  

The job outlook is also quite impressive as employment is projected to grow by 18 percent from 2019 to 2029. This growth is driven by the increasing reliance on market research and data across several industries.

Top Reasons to Become a User Researcher in 2021

There are a lot of reasons to become a user experience researcher aside from the relatively high salary. The field also allows you to build highly transferable skills that can lead to opportunities in a wide range of career paths. Since these professionals deal with data, they have an easy time transitioning into other data-related fields. Read below for more reasons to become a user researcher. 

• Create relevant designs. As a user researcher, you have the ability to make use of your creativity to create designs that better meet user needs. 
• Shape the future. In this job, you’ll play a small part in shaping the future as your research informs the designs of new products.
• Help companies maximize profit. These experienced researchers play an important role in helping companies retain their existing customers while attracting new ones. 
• Job growth.  The job growth for this field is 18 percent, which shows that you will have plenty of job opportunities now and in the years to come.

User Researcher Job Requirements

Due to the vast array of tech companies and their differing needs, the job requirements for user experience researchers will often vary widely. However, most user researcher positions share some basic requirements regardless of the specific job title. 

• Relevant experience. In most cases, employers prefer candidates that have considerable experience in this or a similar field.
• Bachelor's degree. Employers may also require a Bachelor's Degree in Human Behavior or another relevant field. 
• Research skills.  The candidate is also expected to know how to perform research-related tasks and use findings to create the best possible products.  
• Knowledge of computer science. Potential employers may also require some knowledge of computer science since candidates will work with data and databases.

Types of User Researcher Careers

The field of user research is very broad and can lead to many different careers. User research covers different specialist roles with unique requirements. When you've gained the necessary training and skills, you can work in any of the following user research roles.

Usability Analyst

These experts are also called UX analysts and they focus on one specific aspect of the user experience, usability. People in this career path deal with how user-friendly the product is and how memorable, efficient, and easy it is to navigate.

The UX writer role combines aspects of copywriting, user experience design, and branding. Users often rely on written copy to guide them while navigating digital services and products. UX writers craft these documents to ensure that users get the best experience. 

Information Architect

Information architects are digital librarians. They structure content on apps and websites to make the information more accessible and organized. This significantly improves the user experience.

User Researcher Meaning: What Does a User Researcher Do?

The roles that UX researchers fill may vary depending on the organization they work for. However, no matter what field you are in, some tasks are commonplace for anyone who holds a user research job. These tasks include the following. 

Data Collection

User researchers conduct user testing to collect data. They analyze this information to inform the design of future products. These professionals moderate usability sessions, conduct client and stakeholder interviews, and develop quantitative surveys. 

Research Planning and Recruitment

User researchers develop well-crafted plans that serve their research objectives. These experts also recruit endusers and target them for specific studies. Likewise, they write usability research and discussion guides. Common UX research methods include user interviews and usability testing.

Presentation of Findings

These experts present insights to the development and design teams. To come up with these insights, they need a deep understanding of the business’ needs and the ability to design effective research studies.

Essential User Researcher Skills

Throughout their careers, user researchers develop a long list of soft skills that help them perform their jobs. Below are some of the main core skills required to become a successful user researcher. 

Communication Skills

The job involves working with other members of the design team so strong communication skills are necessary to ensure everyone is on the same page. These experts also frequently have to touch base with research participants.

Critical Thinking

These experts also need to think critically to create new designs that solve problems for their users. User researchers should be able to exercise their intuition to recognize patterns during their research. 

Collaboration

This is a critical skill because user researchers work with designers, developers, stakeholders, and product managers. They need strong teamwork skills to bring the needs and ideas of all these people together to design the best possible products. 

How Long Does It Take to Become a User Researcher?

It may take four years plus to become a user researcher if you want to start your career by earning a bachelor’s degree. You may also be required to have some experience in the field before qualifying for some higher-level roles.  

However, there are alternative educational pathways that allow you to enter the job market in less time. People who attend coding bootcamps can be ready for the workforce within a few weeks or months. These programs are intensive and cover the essential skills needed to thrive in the field. 

Can a Coding Bootcamp Help Me Become a User Researcher?

Coding bootcamps can help you to become a user researcher. The short programs provide an immersive educational experience and equip you with the skills needed to enter tech fields. The best bootcamp programs consist of practical training to give you experience and help you build a portfolio. 

Since bootcamps have online, part-time, and full-time programs, they are more flexible than universities. Some bootcamps have programs, such as UX design, that teach the fundamentals needed to thrive in the field. Coding bootcamps are ideal for students who are already working professionals and don’t have time to attend a degree program.

Can I Become a User Researcher from Home?

There are a lot of learning opportunities to help you become a user researcher from home. You can either join a coding bootcamp that offers remote training or enroll in online courses that offer time-constrained learners an opportunity to pursue a new career. In no time, you will be qualified for entry-level positions.

How to Become a User Researcher: A Step-by-Step Guide

There is no singular path to become a user researcher, as the steps will vary for each person depending on their user research experience and career goals. For example, you can choose to get a degree in a university or community college, attend a coding bootcamp, or learn online. This guide will cover how to become a user researcher with a degree.

Step 1: Degree in Technology 

Most user researcher positions require applicants to have a bachelor’s degree. However, this degree doesn’t have to be in UX. Any degree in technology, social sciences, or behavioral sciences would do. 

Step 2: Gain UX Research Experience

After getting a degree, the next step will be to acquire invaluable experience in the field of UX research. You can do this by searching job postings for entry-level user researcher jobs, or you can consider an internship to get hands-on experience. 

Step 3: Build Your portfolio

Once you have experience, you need to continue to build your portfolio. If possible, volunteer or take classes. You can even consider freelancing. There are a lot of websites that give prospective employers easy access to your portfolio, such as GitHub and LinkedIn. 

Best Schools and Education for a User Researcher Career

There are many educational pathways you can take to acquire the training you need to become a user researcher. Your options include coding bootcamps, universities, and community colleges. 

User Research Bootcamps

These short, immersive programs can teach you the required skills to enter the workforce in this field. In tech bootcamps, students learn in-demand skills such as Agile practices and user-centered approaches. They are ideal because they take less time, are more affordable, and offer flexible schedules for working professionals. 

Vocational School

Vocational schools prepare people to work as technicians, artisans, or tradespersons. They are also called trade schools. These programs are different from university education as they focus more on practical learning. You cannot become a user researcher by attending a vocational school. This type of institution does not typically offer the training needed to break into the field.

Community College

Community colleges offer training for students who want to pursue a career in user research. The programs take around two years to complete, and students can study computer science, human-computer interaction, statistics, psychology, design, information systems, or anthropology. Some colleges offer online degrees as well.

These courses give students the necessary background to take on user researcher and similar roles. Sometimes, they offer internship opportunities to help you get on-the-job experience. The credits you earn at community colleges are also transferable if you want to go on to earn a more advanced degree.

User Research Degrees

Universities offer degrees in user research-related fields. However, a degree in social science, cognitive science, behavioral sciences, or technology can be enough to prepare you for the field. The programs often last four years with an option to pursue graduate studies. 

Some universities even offer remote training, and working professionals can also benefit from part-time schedules. In most cases, these programs end with students completing a capstone project. 

The Most Important User Researcher Certificates

To open up higher-level user researcher job opportunities, or to become a senior researcher, you may want to consider gaining a certification. While certification is not essential, it is recommended because it enhances your resume and shows that you have the skills hiring managers are looking for. Here are some of the most important user researcher certificates to consider.

Certified Usability Analyst 

The Certified Usability Analyst (CUA) certification from HFI, a leading user-centered firm, is an excellent program for candidates who are new in the user research field. Those who want to move to UX, or demonstrate their mastery of the principles of UX to an organization, can also get the certification. 

Certified User Experience Analyst 

The Certified User Experience Analyst (CXA) certification is for people with a UX design foundation who want to enroll in advanced-level courses. To qualify for the exam, candidates must have the CUA certification.

UX Master Certification

The UX Master Certification is for practitioners who want to showcase their achievements in user research and differentiate themselves from the competition. Before taking the exam, you will have to complete 15 of the training courses offered by the certification provider, Nielsen Norman Group.

How to Prepare for Your User Researcher Job Interview

The user research interview process can be technical in nature, so you will want to ensure you are well prepared and have a solid foundation in the necessary technical skills. However, you can expect behavioral questions as well. Here are some sample questions you can practice to ace your user research interview .

User Researcher Job Interview Practice Questions

• How can you determine a user’s attitude about a feature or design?
• What is your impression of this product? (the interviewer may show you a product during the interview and ask for your opinion)
• What is your impression of this particular feature?
• Where do you think a person will use such a feature or product?
• If you could change anything about this design, what would you do?

Should I Become a User Researcher in 2021?

A career in user research is people-focused and analytical and offers a good average salary. This means that it is an excellent career if you love to study people and find out what they prefer and why. If you are a creative individual who has a flair for handling data and creating strategic insights, then a career as a user researcher might be right for you.

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IT CAREER GUIDES

User Researcher Career

What is a user researcher.

User researchers—sometimes called “market research analysts” or “consumer analysts”—specialize in learning the motivations of users when they interact with businesses. User researchers accomplish this task through various experimental and observational methods. They use data-driven approaches to learn whether or not a product or service fulfills user needs. User researchers typically apply a human-centered, empathetic mindset while striving to remove existing biases against users.

If a user researcher has succeeded in their role, they’ll be able to draw upon empirical evidence rather than mere opinion about users. This evidence can then be used to optimize the way an organization conceptualizes, creates, and distributes a product or service, whether it be physical merchandise, digital software, written content, or any number of other things.

Both qualitative and quantitative research methods—including usability testing—play a crucial role in studying user behavior. The end goal of many user researchers is to improve user satisfaction and, by extension, the organization serving users.

RESPONSIBILITIES

What Does a User Researcher Do?

To get a comprehensive understanding of user needs and behaviors, researchers rely on several methodological practices. These typically involve user surveys, user interviews, focus groups, A/B testing, card sorting, and more. User researchers work alongside product designers, content marketers, user experience (UX) designers, search engine optimization (SEO) specialists, and other developers to create and deploy marketing strategies.

The day-to-day job responsibilities of a user researcher usually include the following:

• Identifying and enlisting users for study
• Defining user needs by compiling research questions
• Conducting research via qualitative and quantitative testing
• Using data analysis software to interpret research results
• Sharing findings with key designers, developers, leaders, and stakeholders
• Participating in user research conferences, trainings, and other group events
• Maintaining a high standard of ethics in user research

No matter the industry they work in, user researchers convert their findings into deliverables designed to strengthen the ideation, development, launch, and sale of products.

EDUCATION & BEST DEGREES

How do i become a user researcher.

As you prepare for a career in user research, keep in mind that there is not one set path to follow. Some user researchers are designers who want to understand how to better market their work. Others come from different professional backgrounds, applying their skills in behavioral science or web analytics. Many receive some form of higher education.

To become a user researcher, consider taking the following steps:

• Earn a bachelor’s degree in social science, psychology [hyperlink to WGU page], UX design, or a similar subject.
• Decide whether earning a relevant master’s degree aligns with your goals. A graduate degree could increase your earning potential or qualify you for higher-level job roles.
• Spend time gaining personal and professional experience in user research. For example, you might attend an online UX bootcamp, earn a UX certificate, or find a part-time or full-time job in user experience.
• Maintain a robust portfolio that showcases your work in user research. This resource could help you stand out to potential employers.

Best Degrees for a User Researcher

An online psychology program for students who want to make a difference in...

An online psychology program for students who want to make a difference in their life, and the lives of others.

• Time:  95% of students finish similar programs in less than 4 years.
• Tuition:  $4,085 per 6-month term.
• Courses:  34 total courses in this program.

Skills for your résumé included in this program: 

• Social psychology
• Consumer psychology
• Adult psychology
• Mental health awareness
• Psychopathology

This degree allows you to gain valuable knowledge and experience in the field of psychology and can prepare you for additional certifications or careers.

You're a creative and tech genius who wants the bigger opportunities....

You're a creative and tech genius who wants the bigger opportunities.

• Time:  60% of graduates finish similar programs within 35 months.
• Tuition:  $3,985 per 6-month term.
• Courses: 36 or 38 total courses in this program depending on your track.

Certifications included in this program at no additional cost are:

• CompTIA Project +
• AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner 
• ITIL®1 Foundation Certification

Skills for your résumé that you will learn in this program:

• Scripting and programming
• Web development
• Mobile application development 
• User experience design
• Software quality assurance

How Much Does a User Researcher Make?

The income that user researchers earn varies depending on their specific field and level of expertise. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the average annual salary in May 2022 for market research analysts was $68,230 . The lowest 10% of these analysts earned less than $38,280, and the highest 10% earned more than $131,850.

What Is the Job Outlook?

The BLS states that employment of market research analysts is projected to grow by 13% from 2022 to 2032, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. Around 94,600 openings for market research analysts are projected each year on average over the decade. Steady growth in digital technologies like e-commerce and increased demand for UX research are contributing to this healthy job outlook.

What Skills Does a User Researcher Need?

User researchers practice a wide variety of skills that help them engage with and understand their target audience. These skills may include:

• Foundational knowledge of UX design
• Empathy toward users
• Problem-solving
• Understanding of human-computer interaction
• Critical thinking
• Research skills
• Communication skills
• Willingness to innovate
• Understanding of the scientific method

Our Online University Degree Programs Start on the First of Every Month, All Year Long

No need to wait for spring or fall semester. It's back-to-school time at WGU year-round. Get started by talking to an Enrollment Counselor today, and you'll be on your way to realizing your dream of a bachelor's or master's degree—sooner than you might think!

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Interested in Becoming a User Researcher?

Learn more about degree programs that can prepare you for this meaningful career.

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Qualities of Effective User Researchers

Practical usability, moving toward a more usable world.

Perhaps you’re thinking about a career specializing in user research. Perhaps you’re looking to hire a user researcher. Or perhaps you manage or work with user researchers. If so, you might be thinking about what qualities lead a person to succeed in user research. While others have written about this topic—notably Demetrius Madrigal and Bryan McClain in a 2010 column on UXmatters —I want to add my own perspective based on what I’ve observed specializing in user research over the past 17 years.

The following list of characteristics may seem daunting, but you don’t have to be a perfect ten in all of them. There are certainly areas in which I have strengths and weaknesses. We all have room for improvement. But the more of these qualities you possess, the more well suited you are for a career in user research. In this column, when I refer to a user researcher , I mean both user-research specialists and generalists who do both user research and design.

In examining the qualities of effective user researchers, we can group them into two categories: soft skills and hard skills. Soft skills are the personal characteristics that make someone effective in working with a wide variety of different people. Hard skills are the qualities that make a person particularly well suited for the main activities of user research—such as effective note-taking and analytical skills.

Soft Skills

First, let’s examine the soft skills—the personal characteristics that make someone especially well suited for user research.

User researchers spend many hours interviewing people and observing their behavior, then many more hours analyzing the resulting data, so must have intense curiosity about people and their problems. User research can sometimes be repetitive and monotonous, especially when observing many people performing the same tasks. Genuine curiosity and a real desire to understand users, clients, and stakeholders is what motivates researchers to keep going.

Some people are fascinated by how machines work, so become engineers. Others are fascinated by how the world works and go into a scientific field. User researchers are primarily interested in people and their problems.

Curiosity About People

User researchers are curious about people and their needs. They want to learn about how users think, their goals, their tasks, and why they behave as they do. That’s why people so often come to the field of User Experience from psychology, sociology, or anthropology.

Curiosity About Problems

User researchers are also interested in understanding problems, what causes them, and how to solve them. Identifying previously undiscovered truths and making insightful connections excites researchers. They want to dig beneath surface explanations to understand the answers to these questions:

• What do people really need?
• How do users really use this product?
• What are the real problems?

Idealism and the desire to improve people’s lives is another strong motivator for the best user researchers. User Experience is an idealistic profession. At times, it even feels like a noble calling. User researchers represent the users, who companies have all too often forgotten, maligned, or taken for granted. Our goal is to create technology that makes people’s lives easier and more satisfying. Even when we make small improvements to a product—for example, an enterprise application—we feel like, in a small way, we’re making the world a better place.

Idealism should be tempered by pragmatism. User researchers can’t exclusively represent the users. They also have to consider business needs and find solutions that satisfy both business and user goals.

While there are ideal UX processes and practices, we rarely have all the time and money we would like to have to conduct ideal user research. Instead, it’s often necessary to be practical and make the most out of the time and resources we’re given.

Persuasiveness

Persuasion is a very important skill for user researchers—precisely because user research is the UX activity that most often gets left out of projects. First, user researchers often have to evangelize the value of user research and persuade clients to include it on their projects. Next, they must persuade people to participate in the research. Then, during research sessions, researchers have to persuade the participants to perform the research activities according to the instructions. Finally, when presenting their findings, user researchers must be able to persuade stakeholders that the information is correct and their recommendations will solve the problems. As their team designs and develops the product, researchers must persuade designers to make design decisions that will best meet both business and user needs.

Open-Mindedness

It’s important to go into user research with an open mind and objectivity—minimizing cognitive biases such as confirmation bias , in which people seek out and interpret data that confirms their beliefs, while downplaying data that doesn’t conform to their preconceptions. So the best user researchers tend to be open-minded rather than especially opinionated. That doesn’t mean user researchers don’t have opinions, but they’re able to see shades of gray in most issues rather than seeing everything as black and white. Perhaps this is why answers to questions about the user experience so often begin with it depends .

During a study, user researchers look for trends and patterns, but try not to jump to conclusions. They strive to keep an open mind until it’s time to analyze all the data. While some designers feel defensive about their designs, a good user researcher tries to think independently and be indifferent about designs during research.

Open-mindedness also applies to research methods. The best researchers don’t assume that they know everything or their methods are the only way to do things. They’re open to new ideas and to trying new methods.

Ability to Learn Quickly

User researchers need to be quick learners. Researchers who work for agencies or who are consultants continually work on new projects and often with clients in different industries, or domains, and on different types of technologies. With such varied subject matter as the focus of their research, user researchers must have the ability to learn quickly. They don’t need to become subject-matter experts, but they do have to gain basic knowledge about a new domain or technology rather quickly, so they can understand the users and their tasks when conducting research.

Organizational Skills and Attention to Detail

Because user research requires managing a lot of complex elements, good organizational skills and attention to detail are important during each phase of a study. Planning involves listing, organizing, and prioritizing tasks and questions. Contacting, screening, recruiting, and scheduling participants requires the ability to coordinate many people’s schedules. When conducting research sessions, researchers need to coordinate materials, manage recording equipment, handle observers, and interact with the participant, while carefully observing the user’s interactions and taking notes. Analysis requires focusing on the details in a large mass of data from many different participants—eventually organizing them into common patterns and themes.

Time-Management Skills

User research is a type of activity that could easily expand to fill whatever time we allot to it. Since there’s often less time than we’d like for user research, good time-management skills are necessary to accomplish effective research within the allotted timeframe.

Collaboration

User research is most effective when a team conducts research as a collaborative effort. It’s least effective when a researcher conducts the research in isolation, and the rest of the team learns about the findings only through a report or presentation. Stakeholders learn the most from user research when they actively participate in research as a collaborative effort.

The best researchers involve clients, designers, and other project team members in helping to plan the research, observing the sessions, and analyzing the findings. It’s especially important to involve designers in user research. In the best situations, researchers and designers work together on both research and design, instead of just passing information from one role to the other.

Empathy is key to understanding people and their needs. Empathy enables user researchers to be more observant, ask better questions, and discover deeper insights. Without empathy, a researcher can gather facts about what people do and say during a session, but cannot truly understand what those facts mean. The ability to empathize helps researchers to connect those facts and truly understand people’s behavior, needs, and goals.

Friendliness

Of all the roles on a project team, user researchers have to interact with the widest variety of people—clients, stakeholders, project team members, and research participants. It’s important to seem friendly, likable, informal, and nonthreatening. This doesn’t mean researchers have to be especially extroverted. Many researchers are introverted people. But researchers must like people, and other people must feel comfortable talking with them.

To avoid biasing research participants, user researchers must maintain a neutral demeanor and avoid displaying positive or negative reactions to what participants say or do. That doesn’t mean they don’t have opinions, but they’re able to hide them behind a neutral exterior.

Trying to be both friendly and neutral at the same time can be difficult to balance. It’s kind of like trying to be Oprah Winfrey and Sigmund Freud at the same time. On the one hand, researchers want to be like Oprah—friendly, welcoming, empathetic, and understanding—to get participants to feel comfortable and be willing to open up. On the other hand, they need to be like Freud, the archetypal psychologist—neutral, simply listening dispassionately, not expressing judgment. Going too far in one direction or the other can make participants feel uncomfortable or even bias the research findings. So researchers must strike a careful balance between these opposite demeanors.

Perceptiveness

User research primarily involves observing and listening. But researchers aren’t simply human recording devices, absorbing sights and sounds and quickly writing them all down on paper. Researchers must also be able to mentally process the large amounts of data they are seeing and hearing, perceiving what is important, filtering out extraneous information, and focusing on the important elements. Perceptiveness is especially important during research sessions—as opposed to realizing something later on when reviewing notes—because it enables researchers to ask questions in the moment, about things they’ve just observed.

Patience is necessary to sit through many sessions, with similar people, asking the same questions, hearing similar answers, and observing the same tasks over and over again. At times, conducting user research can be a monotonous, repetitive, and mind-numbing experience. Field studies offer more variety than usability testing, but even then, the tasks aren’t always fascinating, especially when they’re repetitive. Don’t get me wrong. Research is often fascinating and interesting, but enduring repetitive research sessions without showing boredom or becoming frustrated requires a lot of patience.

Mental Agility

Facilitating a user-research session can be extremely complicated and requires the researcher to balance many different, sometimes competing demands. Effectively handling all of the following activities at the same time requires extreme mental agility:

• understanding
• determining whether and when to ask questions
• determining how to formulate questions
• assessing how well a session is going
• keeping track of time
• managing observers
• recording the session
• taking notes

Having the native ability to make quick decisions is helpful in handling all of these activities, but researchers can learn and improve with practice. For further advice on this topic, see my column “ Handling the Competing Demands of Field Studies .”

Flexibility and Adaptability

The activities I’ve just listed under “Mental Agility” are only the standard activities that a user researcher needs to be able to handle during a research session, assuming everything goes exactly as planned. But researchers must also be able to handle the unexpected issues that may arise during a session. User research rarely goes exactly as planned—especially field studies. Researchers must expect the unexpected and need to be flexible to adapt their approach when unexpected issues arise.

Good Memory

Having a good memory is important for user researchers—both when facilitating a research session and during analysis. When facilitating, researchers can’t continually refer to a list of questions, but need to be able to remember the questions they wanted to ask and the tasks they wanted to observe. Of course, new questions occur throughout a session, but there’s not always time to ask them immediately. So researchers need to be able to remember those questions and ask them at a later point during the session.

A good memory is also helpful when reviewing and analyzing notes during analysis, when researchers need to remember the details of what they’ve observed during the sessions. Even if a researcher is able to take very detailed, accurate notes, it isn’t possible to capture everything. Much of what a researcher hears and observes will remain only in memory. While session notes provide effective support for their memory, a good memory is necessary to understand shorthand notes and fill in the gaps.

Research Skills

Next, let’s examine the hard skills —the skills that we traditionally associate with conducting user research.

Effective Notetaking

The ability to take notes quickly, accurately, and effectively—capturing the important details—is essential. Taking too many notes can distract researchers’ attention from observing and listening, interfere with their ability to interact with participants, and make it difficult to make sense of their notes later. It’s better to perceive and note the important things rather than trying to write down everything. If researchers tend to rely more on recording research sessions than on taking notes, they should be aware that they won’t always have time to review the recordings. So good note-taking skills are essential.

Analytical Skills

Good analytical skills are necessary to make sense of the huge amount of data user research generates. This is especially true of qualitative user research, for which the data consists of what participants said and did. Analysis is the process of examining the data, determining what’s important, noting patterns, and coming to conclusions. Good analytical skills are necessary to distinguish the important issues and problems within the data.

Problem Solving

User researchers can’t just point out the issues and problems they’ve found. They need to make recommendations for solving those problems. Otherwise, the research findings are no more than interesting information. So researchers need to have good problem-solving skills to devise effective solutions to the problems they identify. Ideally, researchers and designers should work together to understand the users and design solutions to address the problems they discover.

Design Skills

Of course, many UX designers also conduct user research, but even user-research specialists need to have some design skills. That doesn’t mean all researchers have to be designers, but all researchers need to have at least a good sense of design. The whole point of conducting user research is to gain an understanding of users’ needs and what to design to satisfy them. Making effective design recommendations requires an understanding of design principles and best practices.

Writing Skills

User researchers do more writing than any other role on a project team. So they need good writing skills to effectively convey their findings through research deliverables such as reports, presentations, personas, scenarios, and use cases. Perhaps even more important is the extremely careful wording that is necessary in writing recruiting email messages, screeners, surveys, questionnaires, interview questions, and usability-testing tasks. Researchers also use their writing skills in evaluating the content in user interfaces, including labels, instructions, error messages, and Help text.

Communication Skills

Because user researchers interact with so many different types of people, they must possess excellent communication skills. When communicating with clients and stakeholders, they must be able to explain their methods, persuade them of the importance of conducting user research, and clearly communicate their research findings and recommendations. When communicating with research participants, they must describe what will happen during the research session, clearly explain what they want participants to do, and ask the right questions.

How Did You Match Up?

I have been working in user research for over a decade and still lack of some characteristics you mentioned. But I guess they could be trained up. Nice article. Thanks!

Thanks for this very comprehensive list! This will come in handy when interviewing user-research candidates. And, like you said, it’s useful for a user researcher’s career development.

Thanks for writing this, Jim! I am an Aussie, starting out on my UX journey from a background in architecture and psychology studies. The skills you’ve outlined resonate with me as ones that are both intrinsic to my personality and developed throughout my experiences thus far. It instills a great sense of confidence that this career will be one I am fit for and can positively contribute to. I appreciate your work. :)

Join the Discussion

Principal UX Researcher at AnswerLab

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Other Columns by Jim Ross

• Changes Over the Last 25 Years of UX Research
• Updating My Career Advice for User Researchers
• Wrangling Difficult Usability Testing Participants, Part 2
• Learning Complex Subject Matter

Other Articles by Jim Ross

• Review of Information Architecture Evaluation Tools: Chalkmark and Treejack
• Eyetracking: Is It Worth It?

Other Articles on Soft Skills

• From Surface to Core: The Uncharted Path of Domain Expertise in UX
• Embracing Introverted Strengths, Part 2
• Embrace Silence to Enlighten Your UX Research Skills
• Embracing Introverted Strengths, Part 1

New on UXmatters

• Misinformation and Disinformation Online: What Design Can Do to Remedy This Problem
• The Psychology Behind Successful User Onboarding: Leveraging Cognitive Biases
• 3 Crucial Steps in Designing Conversational AI
• Inclusive Digital Experiences: Redesign Strategies for Addressing Diverse Abilities and Accessibility Challenges, Part 1
• User Experience in the Era of AI: Enhancing Human-Machine Interactions

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UX Research Cheat Sheet

February 12, 2017 2017-02-12

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User-experience research methods are great at producing data and insights, while ongoing activities help get the right things done. Alongside R&D, ongoing UX activities can make everyone’s efforts more effective and valuable. At every stage in the design process, different UX methods can keep product-development efforts on the right track, in agreement with true user needs and not imaginary ones.

In This Article:

When to conduct user research.

One of the questions we get the most is, “When should I do user research on my project?” There are three different answers:

• Do user research at whatever stage you’re in right now . The earlier the research, the more impact the findings will have on your product, and by definition, the earliest you can do something on your current project (absent a time machine) is today.
• Do user research at all the stages . As we show below, there’s something useful to learn in every single stage of any reasonable project plan, and each research step will increase the value of your product by more than the cost of the research.
• Do most user research early in the project (when it’ll have the most impact), but conserve some budget for a smaller amount of supplementary research later in the project. This advice applies in the common case that you can’t get budget for all the research steps that would be useful.

The chart below describes UX methods and activities available in various project stages.

Each project is different, so the stages are not always neatly compartmentalized. The end of one cycle is the beginning of the next.

The important thing is not to execute a giant list of activities in rigid order, but to start somewhere and learn more and more as you go along.

When deciding where to start or what to focus on first, use some of these top UX methods. Some methods may be more appropriate than others, depending on time constraints, system maturity, type of product or service, and the current top concerns. It’s a good idea to use different or alternating methods each product cycle because they are aimed at different goals and types of insight. The chart below shows how often UX practitioners reported engaging in these methods in our survey on UX careers.

If you can do only one activity and aim to improve an existing system, do qualitative (think-aloud) usability testing , which is the most effective method to improve usability . If you are unable to test with users, analyze as much user data as you can. Data (obtained, for instance, from call logs, searches, or analytics) is not a great substitute for people, however, because data usually tells you what , but you often need to know why . So use the questions your data brings up to continue to push for usability testing.

The discovery stage is when you try to illuminate what you don’t know and better understand what people need. It’s especially important to do discovery activities before making a new product or feature, so you can find out whether it makes sense to do the project at all .

An important goal at this stage is to validate and discard assumptions, and then bring the data and insights to the team. Ideally this research should be done before effort is wasted on building the wrong things or on building things for the wrong people, but it can also be used to get back on track when you’re working with an existing product or service.

Good things to do during discovery:

• Conduct field studies and interview users : Go where the users are, watch, ask, and listen. Observe people in context interacting with the system or solving the problems you’re trying to provide solutions for.
• Run diary studies to understand your users’ information needs and behaviors.
• Interview stakeholders to gather and understand business requirements and constraints.
• Interview sales, support, and training staff. What are the most frequent problems and questions they hear from users? What are the worst problems people have? What makes people angry?
• Listen to sales and support calls. What do people ask about? What do they have problems understanding? How do the sales and support staff explain and help? What is the vocabulary mismatch between users and staff?
• Do competitive testing . Find the strengths and weaknesses in your competitors’ products. Discover what users like best.

Exploration methods are for understanding the problem space and design scope and addressing user needs appropriately.

• Compare features against competitors.
• Do design reviews.
• Use research to build user personas and write user stories.
• Analyze user tasks to find ways to save people time and effort.
• Show stakeholders the user journey and where the risky areas are for losing customers along the way. Decide together what an ideal user journey would look like.
• Explore design possibilities by imagining many different approaches, brainstorming, and testing the best ideas in order to identify best-of-breed design components to retain.
• Obtain feedback on early-stage task flows by walking through designs with stakeholders and subject-matter experts. Ask for written reactions and questions (silent brainstorming), to avoid groupthink and to enable people who might not speak up in a group to tell you what concerns them.
• Iterate designs by testing paper prototypes with target users, and then test interactive prototypes by watching people use them. Don’t gather opinions. Instead, note how well designs work to help people complete tasks and avoid errors. Let people show you where the problem areas are, then redesign and test again.
• Use card sorting to find out how people group your information, to help inform your navigation and information organization scheme.

Testing and validation methods are for checking designs during development and beyond, to make sure systems work well for the people who use them.

• Do qualitative usability testing . Test early and often with a diverse range of people, alone and in groups. Conduct an accessibility evaluation to ensure universal access.
• Ask people to self-report their interactions and any interesting incidents while using the system over time, for example with diary studies .
• Audit training classes and note the topics, questions people ask, and answers given. Test instructions and help systems.
• Talk with user groups.
• Staff social-media accounts and talk with users online. Monitor social media for kudos and complaints.
• Analyze user-forum posts. User forums are sources for important questions to address and answers that solve problems. Bring that learning back to the design and development team.
• Do benchmark testing: If you’re planning a major redesign or measuring improvement, test to determine time on task, task completion, and error rates of your current system, so you can gauge progress over time.

Listen throughout the research and design cycle to help understand existing problems and to look for new issues. Analyze gathered data and monitor incoming information for patterns and trends.

• Survey customers and prospective users.
• Monitor analytics and metrics to discover trends and anomalies and to gauge your progress.
• Analyze search queries: What do people look for and what do they call it? Search logs are often overlooked, but they contain important information.
• Make it easy to send in comments, bug reports, and questions. Analyze incoming feedback channels periodically for top usability issues and trouble areas. Look for clues about what people can’t find, their misunderstandings, and any unintended effects.
• Collect frequently asked questions and try to solve the problems they represent.
• Run booths at conferences that your customers and users attend so that they can volunteer information and talk with you directly.
• Give talks and demos: capture questions and concerns.

Ongoing and strategic activities can help you get ahead of problems and make systemic improvements.

• Find allies . It takes a coordinated effort to achieve design improvement. You’ll need collaborators and champions.
• Talk with experts . Learn from others’ successes and mistakes. Get advice from people with more experience.
• Follow ethical guidelines . The UXPA Code of Professional Conduct is a good starting point.
• Involve stakeholders . Don’t just ask for opinions; get people onboard and contributing, even in small ways. Share your findings, invite them to observe and take notes during research sessions.
• Hunt for data sources . Be a UX detective. Who has the information you need, and how can you gather it?
• Determine UX metrics. Find ways to measure how well the system is working for its users.
• Follow Tog's principles of interaction design .
• Use evidence-based design guidelines , especially when you can’t conduct your own research. Usability heuristics are high-level principles to follow.
• Design for universal access . Accessibility can’t be tacked onto the end or tested in during QA. Access is becoming a legal imperative, and expert help is available. Accessibility improvements make systems easier for everyone.
• Give users control . Provide the controls people need. Choice but not infinite choice.
• Prevent errors . Whenever an error occurs, consider how it might be eliminated through design change. What may appear to be user errors are often system-design faults. Prevent errors by understanding how they occur and design to lessen their impact.
• Improve error messages . For remaining errors, don’t just report system state. Say what happened from a user standpoint and explain what to do in terms that are easy for users to understand.
• Provide helpful defaults . Be prescriptive with the default settings, because many people expect you to make the hard choices for them. Allow users to change the ones they might need or want to change.
• Check for inconsistencies . Work-alike is important for learnability. People tend to interpret differences as meaningful, so make use of that in your design intentionally rather than introducing arbitrary differences. Adhere to the principle of least astonishment . Meet expectations instead.
• Map features to needs . User research can be tied to features to show where requirements come from. Such a mapping can help preserve design rationale for the next round or the next team.
• When designing software, ensure that installation and updating is easy . Make installation quick and unobtrusive. Allow people to control updating if they want to.
• When designing devices, plan for repair and recycling . Sustainability and reuse are more important than ever. Design for conservation.
• Avoid waste . Reduce and eliminate nonessential packaging and disposable parts. Avoid wasting people’s time, also. Streamline.
• Consider system usability in different cultural contexts . You are not your user. Plan how to ensure that your systems work for people in other countries . Translation is only part of the challenge.
• Look for perverse incentives . Perverse incentives lead to negative unintended consequences. How can people game the system or exploit it? How might you be able to address that? Consider how a malicious user might use the system in unintended ways or to harm others.
• Consider social implications . How will the system be used in groups of people, by groups of people, or against groups of people? Which problems could emerge from that group activity?
• Protect personal information . Personal information is like money. You can spend it unwisely only once. Many want to rob the bank. Plan how to keep personal information secure over time. Avoid collecting information that isn’t required, and destroy older data routinely.
• Keep data safe . Limit access to both research data and the data entrusted to the company by customers. Advocate for encryption of data at rest and secure transport. A data breach is a terrible user experience.
• Deliver both good and bad news . It’s human nature to be reluctant to tell people what they don’t want to hear, but it’s essential that UX raise the tough issues. The future of the product, or even the company, may depend on decisionmakers knowing what you know or suspect.
• Track usability over time . Use indicators such as number and types of support issues, error rates and task completion in usability testing, and customer satisfaction ratings, to show the effectiveness of design improvements.
• Include diverse users . People can be very different culturally and physically. They also have a range of abilities and language skills. Personas are not enough to prevent serious problems, so be sure your testing includes as wide a variety of people as you can.
• Track usability bugs . If usability bugs don’t have a place in the bug database, start your own database to track important issues.
• Pay attention to user sentiment . Social media is a great place for monitoring user problems, successes, frustrations, and word-of-mouth advertising. When competitors emerge, social media posts may be the first indication.
• Reduce the need for training . Training is often a workaround for difficult user interfaces, and it’s expensive. Use training and help topics to look for areas ripe for design changes.
• Communicate future directions . Customers and users depend on what they are able to do and what they know how to do with the products and services they use. Change can be good, even when disruptive, but surprise changes are often poorly received because they can break things that people are already doing. Whenever possible, ask, tell, test with, and listen to the customers and users you have. Consult with them rather than just announcing changes. Discuss major changes early, so what you hear can help you do a better job, and what they hear can help them prepare for the changes needed.
• Recruit people for future research and testing . Actively encourage people to join your pool of volunteer testers. Offer incentives for participation and make signing up easy to do via your website, your newsletter, and other points of contact.

Use this cheat-sheet to choose appropriate UX methods and activities for your projects and to get the most out of those efforts. It’s not necessary to do everything on every project, but it’s often helpful to use a mix of methods and tend to some ongoing needs during each iteration.

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User Experience Researcher skills for your resume and career

User experience researchers rely on a wealth of technical skills to do their job effectively. They must be proficient in conducting research methods such as user research, quantitative research, and contextual inquiry. They also need to be able to analyze data, including quantitative data, and conduct a/b testing to determine what works best for a particular product or service. They also need to be familiar with design tools like Sketch.

Soft skills are equally important for user experience researchers. They must be able to communicate their findings effectively to cross-functional audiences. They also need to be able to work collaboratively with a variety of professionals, including designers, product managers, and engineers. Finally, they need to be able to analyze large amounts of data, including qualitative and quantitative data, and use this information to inform their research.

15 user experience researcher skills for your resume and career

1. user research.

User research is the process of gathering insights about people's behavior, preferences, and needs. User experience researchers use user research to identify user requirements and inform product development strategies. They recruit participants for studies, analyze data, and communicate findings to developers. This helps them design products that are user-friendly and meet their customers' needs. They also conduct competitive analysis and UX strategy to improve digital products.

• Lead user research initiatives to identify user requirements and inform product development strategies for cross-functional teams.
• Recruited participants for user research studies and assisted other researchers in relaying study findings to developers.

2. User Experience

User experience refers to the way a user interacts with a product, system, or service. User experience researchers use user experience by conducting research to understand how users interact with products and services, identifying problems and opportunities for improvement, and providing recommendations to enhance the overall user experience. They use various methods, such as interviews, usability testing, and information architecture, to inform their design and strategy decisions.

• Used generative and evaluative research methods to inform user experience strategy and business opportunities for enterprise applications.
• Evaluated the user experience of new mobile application concepts provided recommendations for usability improvements.

3. Research Methods

Research methods are a way of gathering and analyzing information. User experience researchers use research methods to identify what delights their practitioners. They also use eye-tracking and co-design research methods to understand customer sentiment and feedback. They apply research methods based on the specific project needs and collect, aggregate, and structure results for content generation.

• Research methods included interviews, surveys and usability testing to identify content that will delight practitioners.
• Used eye-tracking research & also co-design research methods to understand customer sentiment and feedback.

4. Research Findings

Research findings are the discoveries and insights gained through analyzing data. User experience researchers use research findings to provide sustainable alternatives to environmental degradation and to improve the user experience. They analyze and communicate research findings through reports and presentations to stakeholders and product teams. They also use them to inform UX strategy and design. They even present research findings through poster presentations at conferences.

• Analyzed research findings to provide sustainable, culturally sensitive alternatives to revert pollution trends and prevent future environmental degradation.
• Produced and distributed succinct reports summarizing research findings and highlight videos to guide stakeholders through design decisions and recommendations.

5. Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is a method used to collect and analyze data in a way that can be measured and compared. User experience researchers use quantitative research to better understand the behaviors and goals of their users. They conduct both qualitative and quantitative research to gain a comprehensive understanding of their users' needs and preferences. For example, they may use surveys and statistical analysis to understand how users interact with a product or service. This information helps them to design and improve the user experience.

• Conducted extensive qualitative and quantitative research in cross-cultural education at Webster and Murdoch University business schools in Thailand and Australia.
• Conducted both qualitative and quantitative research to better understand the unique behaviors and goals of those with diabetes and hypertension.

6. Design Research

Design research is the process of gathering insights and information through observation, interviews, and other methods to inform design decisions. User experience researchers use design research to understand user needs and preferences and develop solutions that meet those needs. They conduct usability studies, user surveys, and ethnographic studies to gather data and inform the design of products and services. For example, a user experience researcher may lead global design research and UX strategic planning, focusing on connectivity and advanced design innovations. They may also conduct and supervise user and design research for a health and wellness wearable device with an accompanying iPhone application.

• Lead global design research and UX strategic planning focusing on connectivity and advanced design innovations.
• Conducted highly valid design research studies and rapidly analyzed study data.

Choose from 10+ customizable user experience researcher resume templates

7. human centered design.

Human-centered design is a design approach that focuses on understanding people's needs and behaviors. User experience researchers use human-centered design principles to design user experiences for children users and prepare research objectives. They also use this approach to conduct research.

• Designed user experience using human centered design principles for children users
• Prepare research objectives, use the human centered design approach for the research that we do.

Sketch is a digital design tool. User experience researchers use Sketch to create wireframes and interactive prototypes. They use it to translate business requirements into prototypes and to design training curriculum materials.

• Sketch, Illustrator, Photoshop, Participated in a UX research team to assess current event engine of AADL.
• Used Sketch and Invision to design, test and iterate interactive UI prototypes.

9. User Behavior

User behavior is how people interact with products and services. User experience researchers use user behavior to understand how people use products and identify areas for improvement. They conduct user testing and gather feedback to inform product development and ensure that products meet user needs. For example, they might design and conduct usability tests to understand how people interact with a new app or website. They also use analytics reports to understand user behaviors and needs, which helps them make informed decisions about product development.

• Researched and described user behavior for security, privacy and online safety interactions.
• Led worldwide UX research to understand user behavior + needs, gather customer feedback on key device attributes and use cases.

10. B Testing

B testing, also known as split testing, is a method of comparing two versions of a product to see which one performs better. User experience researchers use b testing to optimize content, design, and messaging on websites. They conduct usability testing, user interviews, and surveys to understand how users interact with a product and improve its overall experience. For example, they might use b testing to compare two different website designs to see which one is more user-friendly.

• Improved usability of website design by conducting A/B testing
• Led 3 rounds of iterative customer research to optimize content, design & messaging prior to A/B testing.

11. Data Analysis

Data analysis is the process of examining data sets to draw conclusions. User experience researchers use data analysis to understand user behavior, identify trends, and improve product usability. They analyze data from user testing, surveys, and other sources to inform design decisions and provide insights to stakeholders. They also use data analysis tools like NLTK to process and analyze data.

• Worked on literature review, proposal writing, laboratory experiment, data analysis and report writing.
• Perform quantitative and qualitative data analysis of user testing and survey results.

12. Product Development

Product development is the process of designing and creating a product. User experience researchers use product development by conducting usability research to support hardware and software product development. They also connect user-centered design and lean UX approach with product development strategic planning and business needs. They create test plans to gather feedback at all stages of product development and lead product development workshops for several business units.

• Designed and carried out usability research to support hardware and software product development.
• Connect user-centered design and lean UX approach with product development strategic planning and business needs.

UI stands for "user interface," which refers to the way a user interacts with a digital device or application. User experience researchers use UI to create an intuitive and user-friendly design. They collaborate with information architects on ontology structure, conduct research on initial user impressions, and manage the UI design team to create the best possible user experience. They also conduct surveys or focus groups to get feedback from users regarding certain UI features.

• Collaborated with information architects on ontology structure as it relates to the UI design/usability of the faceted search/navigation functionality.
• Developed and conducted a semantic differential study to analyze initial user impressions for Sony UI designs.

14. Quantitative Data

Quantitative data refers to numerical data that can be measured and analyzed. User experience researchers use quantitative data to analyze trends and patterns in user behavior. They collect and clean this data, often through live interviews, surveys, or other methods. They then use it to inform the development roadmap, or to provide market insights to their clients.

• Collected, organized, and cleaned data, transcribed interviews, and analyzed qualitative and quantitative data.
• Collected quantitative data in the form of live interviews.

15. Contextual Inquiry

Contextual inquiry is a method of gathering qualitative data about users' contexts in which they use technology. User experience researchers use contextual inquiry to conduct interviews with users, observe their behavior, and analyze the data to gain insight into how they use technology. They use contextual inquiry to understand how users select and play different games, or to gather data on how executives and staff use technology.

• Conducted worldwide contextual inquiry interviews and data modeling.
• Work included contextual inquiry interviews of the CEO, supporting staff and senior executives throughout the company.

5 User Experience Researcher Resume Examples

Build a professional user experience researcher resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 5 + resume templates to create your user experience researcher resume.

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List of user experience researcher skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a user experience researcher resume and required skills for a user experience researcher to have include:

• User Research
• User Experience
• Research Methods
• Research Findings
• Quantitative Research
• Design Research
• Human Centered Design
• User Behavior
• Data Analysis
• Product Development
• Quantitative Data
• Contextual Inquiry
• Usability Studies
• Market Research
• Usability Tests
• Develop User
• Prototyping
• Interaction Design
• Visualization
• Data Collection
• Design Decisions
• User Interviews
• End User Experience
• Statistical Analysis
• Research Results
• User Interface
• Design Process
• Pain Points
• Qualitative Data
• In-Depth Interviews
• Client Facing
• Analyze Data
• User Personas
• Competitor Analysis
• User Feedback
• Emerging Technologies

Updated February 16, 2024

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

User Experience Researcher Related Skills

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What is UX Researcher? Skills, Salary, Responsibilities

Home Blog Web Development What is UX Researcher? Skills, Salary, Responsibilities

In today's digital age, user experience (UX) is more important than ever. In order to create a positive user experience, it's essential to have a good understanding of what UX research is and how it can be used to improve your product. This complex and hugely important role requires technical skills, creativity, and business savvy. But what does all that mean? And how can you become a UX researcher yourself? This comprehensive guide will teach you everything you need about UX research and how to use it in your projects.

What is a UX Researcher?

UX Researchers are involved in studying how users work with products & doing user research to help improve the user experience. They use various methods, including interviews, surveys, focus groups, and usability testing, to understand the needs and wants of users. They then use this information to make recommendations to designers and product teams on how to improve the user experience.

In addition to their research skills, UX Researchers must also be excellent communicators, able to present their findings clearly and concisely. As the field of user experience continues to evolve, user experience researchers will play an increasingly important role in helping companies create products that meet the needs of their users.

Who Can Become a UX Researcher?

UX Researchers come from various backgrounds, but all share a passion for understanding how people interact with technology. While some researchers have formal training in psychology or human-computer interaction, others come to the field with experience in design, anthropology, or even education. The one common thread is a desire to use their skills to improve the user experience.

If you're interested in becoming a user experience researcher, the first step is to comprehensively understand the UX research process. This means learning to define research objectives, plan studies, and collect and analyze data. You'll also need to know the latest UX research methods and tools. While there's no one-size-fits-all formula for becoming a UX Researcher, developing these core UX Researcher skills will give you a strong foundation on which to build your career. To polish your skills, keeping your UX Researcher career path in mind, go for the Best Full-stack Developer course with placement and level up your skills.

What Does a UX Researcher Do?

UX researchers work to understand how people interact with technology, and they use that information to design better user experiences. They conduct user research through various methods, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, and usability studies.

They also analyze data to identify trends and user needs. UX researchers work with designers, developers, and product managers to create products that are both useful and easy to use. They also collaborate with other researchers to ensure that the user experience is consistent across all products. In addition, they often work with marketing teams to ensure that the products they create are successful in the marketplace. Ultimately, UX researchers play a vital role in ensuring that technology meets users' needs.

Types of UX Research

As a user experience researcher, it is important to be familiar with the different types of research in order to know when and how to use them. Follow the two major types of user research below.

1. Quantitative Research

As a UX researcher, there are many different types of research that you can use to gather data about your users. One type of research is quantitative research. This involves collecting numerical data about user behavior through surveys or EEG/eye-tracking studies.

This data can be useful for understanding how users deal with your product and identifying potential improvement areas. However, it is important to keep in mind that quantitative data is often limited in its ability to provide insights into users' motivations and preferences. As a result, it is often used in conjunction with other research methods, such as qualitative research .

2. Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is another common type of UX research. Unlike quantitative research, which focuses on numerical data, qualitative research emphasizes collecting user feedback through interviews, focus groups, and usability testing.

This type of research can be extremely valuable for gaining insights into why users behave the way they do and what they think about your product. The difficulty of analyzing qualitative data often outweighs the convenience of analyzing quantitative data. Therefore, it is often combined with other research methods like quantitative analysis.

Technical Skills to Become a UX Researcher

1. Qualitative Research

In order to become a user experience researcher, it is important to have strong qualitative research skills. This includes the ability to design and conduct studies, analyze data, and draw conclusions from it. Qualitative research is used to understand human behavior and emotions, which is essential in UX research. It can be conducted through interviews, focus groups, or ethnographic studies.

UX researchers must be able to use qualitative data to identify user needs and pain points, understand how they make decisions, and determine what motivates them. Without strong qualitative UX researcher skills, it would be difficult to effectively design user-friendly products.

2. Understanding UI Design

Becoming a UX researcher requires different skills, both technical and non-technical. One of the most important technical skills is understanding UI design. This involves understanding how to design user interfaces that are both intuitive & powerful. It also requires an understanding of how users engage with interfaces and how to optimize those interactions.

Without this fundamental skill, it would be difficult to effectively research and understand user experience. Therefore, anyone hoping to become a UX researcher should have a strong understanding of UI design.

3. Creating User Personas

Creating user personas is a critical skill for any UX researcher. A persona is a fictional character representing a specific type of user and helps guide the research process by providing a concrete target to keep in mind. Personas are typically developed through a combination of market research, surveys, and interviews with actual users.

Once a persona has been created, the researcher can use it to inform everything from the design of the user interface to the questions asked during an interview. By taking the time to create accurate and detailed personas, UX researchers can ensure that their work is targeted and effective.

4. Producing User Journey Maps

User journey maps are a valuable tool for any UX researcher. They help to visualize the user's experience, track their progress, and identify potential pain points. To produce a user journey map, the researcher must first understand the user's goals and needs. They then need to map out the steps that the user will take to achieve those goals.

As the map is complete, the researcher can use it to identify areas where the user might experience difficulties or get frustrated. By producing user journey maps, UX researchers can help to improve the user experience & make it more efficient and enjoyable. 

5. Generating Insights from Data

As a UX researcher, one of your key tasks will be to generate insights from data. This will involve synthesizing data from multiple sources, identifying patterns and trends, and drawing conclusions that can guide decision-making.

To be successful in this area, you will need strong analytical UX Researcher skills and a willingness to dig deeply into the data. You should also be comfortable with statistical concepts and the ability to use data visualization techniques to present your findings in an accessible way. With these technical skills, you will be well-positioned to uncover actionable insights that can improve the user experience.

6. Empathy Mapping

UX researchers need to have excellent technical skills in order to be effective in their roles. A key skill for UX researchers is empathy mapping. Empathy mapping is a technique used to help UX researchers understand the needs, wants, and motivations of users. It involves creating a map that outlines user goals, pain points, and areas of delight. This map can then be used to make design decisions and improve the user experience.

In order to create an effective empathy map, UX researchers must be able to put themselves in the shoes of their users and understand their needs. They must also be able to translate this understanding into a visual format that others can easily understand. While empathy mapping may seem like a simple concept, it is a complex and critical skill for UX researchers. Without it, they would be unable to effectively understand and meet the needs of users.

7. Creating Prototypes and Wireframes

Any   UX researcher must be familiar with creating prototypes and wireframes. Prototypes help you to test ideas and gather feedback from users, while wireframes help you to build a detailed plan for your research project. Both of these skills are essential to create a successful research project. Creating prototypes can be done with many different software programs, such as Adobe Photoshop or Sketch.

Wireframes can also be created with software programs, but they often require more planning and detail than prototypes. To create a successful wireframe, you need to have a clear understanding of your research goals and the user flow. Once you clearly understand these things, you can start to build your wireframe. Building a prototype or wireframe is not easy, but it is an essential skill for any UX researcher. With practice, you can build prototypes and wireframes that are both user-friendly and informative. Moreover, you can add to your skill set with the online course Web Design and Development and take a big leap toward the diverse industry of UX Researcher.

8. Usability Testing

Usability testing is a key skill for any UX researcher. It helps to assess how easy it is for users to interact with a product and can identify areas where improvements need to be made. Several methods can be used for usability testing, including think-aloud protocols, eye tracking, and user interviews. To be effective, usability testing needs to be conducted regularly, and the results should be analyzed and used to inform design decisions.

Gain an understanding of the Essential Tools

When it comes to being a UX researcher, having the right tools can make all the difference. While there are many different UX Researcher   tools available, there are a few essential tools that every researcher should have in their toolkit.  

• One of the most important tools is a good user research platform. This platform will allow you to track user behavior and generate insights that can be used to improve the user experience.  
• Another essential tool is a survey tool. This tool will allow you to collect data from users through surveys.  
• Finally, a good prototyping tool is essential for any UX researcher. This tool will allow you to quickly create prototypes of your designs to test them with users.

With these essential UX Researcher tools, you will be well on your way to becoming a successful UX researcher.

Tasks and Responsibilities of a UX Researcher

UX researchers have a lot of responsibility. They are accountable for conducting research, analyzing data, and making recommendations to improve the user experience. They also need to be able to communicate their findings to others in a clear and concise manner. Here are some specific UX researcher roles and responsibilities: 

• Conducting research: This includes conducting surveys, interviews, focus groups, and usability tests. It also includes analyzing data from these sources. 
• Analyzing data : This includes identifying trends and patterns in the data. It also includes making recommendations based on these findings. 
• Making recommendations: This includes suggesting ways to improve the user experience based on the research findings. It also includes presenting these recommendations to others in a clear and concise manner. 

As you can see, UX researchers have a lot of responsibility. They are responsible for conducting research, analyzing data, and making recommendations to improve the user experience. If you're considering a career in UX research, be sure you're up for the task, and this will surely fulfill your UX Researcher job description.

UX Researcher Salary

A UX researcher studies the behavior of users and designs user interfaces to help them achieve their goals. As a result, they need to have a deep knowledge of human psychology and behavior. They also need to be able to use various research methods, such as surveys, interviews, and usability testing. In terms of salary, a UX researcher's salary ranges between $50,000 and $80,000 per year.  

However, experienced researchers with advanced degrees can earn upwards of $100,000 annually. Additionally, many companies offer annual bonuses and other benefits, such as stock options and 401(k) matching. Consequently, a career in UX research can be both financially and professionally rewarding.

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UX Researcher Job Outlook

There is no doubt that the field of user experience research is on the rise. UX researchers play a vital role in helping companies design products that are both user-friendly & effective. As more and more businesses realize the importance of UX research, the demand for qualified UX researchers is only going to increase. 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of market research analysts is projected to grow 20 percent from 2016 to 2026, which is much faster than the average for all occupations.1 And as companies increasingly rely on user experience research to guide product development, the demand for UX researchers is expected to grow even further. 

If you're considering a UX research job, now is an excellent time to get started. With the right training and experience, you can position yourself as a highly sought-after UX researcher. And with the demand for UX researchers on the rise, you can expect to enjoy strong job prospects and earn a competitive salary in this exciting field. 

A UX researcher is responsible for a lot of different things, all relating to the user experience of a product. They work with design and development teams to ensure that the products they create are effective and appealing to users. This can involve research, analysis, prototyping, testing, and more. If you're interested in pursuing a career in UX research, then this guide has hopefully been helpful in giving you an idea of what the role entails. There's a lot of important work that goes into creating successful products, and UX researchers play a vital part in that process. If you're interested in getting a   User Experience researcher job, or if you're already working in the field and want to learn more, you can opt for KnowledgeHut’s Best Full Stack Developer course with placement and get expert assistance today.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

To quote the UX researcher qualifications, you will need a minimum of a bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, or human-computer interaction. You will also need strong research skills and experience, as well as excellent communication and interpersonal skills. In some cases, a master's degree or doctorate may be required. 

Additionally, many employers will prefer candidates who have experience working in the field of user experience or with specific UX research methods. However, the most important qualification for any UX researcher is a passion for understanding how people interact with technology and a commitment to using that knowledge to improve the user experience.

Both UX researchers and UX designers play important roles in the field of user experience. Researchers help to identify user needs and assess how well a product meets those needs. Designers then use that information to create designs that are both effective and appealing to users. In many cases, both researchers and designers will work together closely to ensure that a product provides an excellent user experience.

However, there are some key differences between the two roles. Researchers typically have more training in areas such as anthropology and sociology, while designers tend to have stronger skills in visual design and interaction design. As a result, each role brings unique perspectives and skills to the table, making them both essential members of any UX team.

The UX research career path is a great fit for people who have a passion for understanding human behavior and who enjoy working with others to solve problems. In addition, people who are interested in UX research should have strong analytical and communication skills. If you possess these UX Researcher skills and qualities, then a career in UX research may be right for you.

A career in user experience (UX) research may seem out of reach if you don’t have prior experience, but there are several ways to get your foot in the door. Start by reading UX research articles and books to learn the basics of the field. You can also attend conferences and meetups or join an online community of UX researchers.

Once you have a firm understanding of the basics, you can start volunteering or interning with a UX research team. This will give you the opportunity to gain hands-on experience and build your portfolio. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, you can definitely become a UX researcher without any prior experience.

Abhresh Sugandhi

Abhresh is specialized as a corporate trainer, He has a decade of experience in technical training blended with virtual webinars and instructor-led session created courses, tutorials, and articles for organizations. He is also the founder of Nikasio.com, which offers multiple services in technical training, project consulting, content development, etc.

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A “Growth-at-All-Costs” Mindset Can Stall Your Company

If leaders don’t consider employees in their growth strategies, then disengagement, burnout, and lack of innovation will persist.

The strength of any organization depends on its people. Research has found a strong positive relationship between employee well-being and firm performance. When people feel healthy and engaged, their work performance improves, their relationships are stronger, and they’re better motivated to impact change. This is what’s at the heart of “human sustainability”— a concept introduced in Deloitte’s “2023 Global Human Capital Trends” report. It’s about creating value in people’s lives — from their physical and mental well-being to their career skills and overall sense of purpose. It starts with individuals, but ultimately has a ripple effect to the people they encounter and the organizations they’re part of. Research shows that a focus on human sustainability drives stronger business results. All organizations need a business growth strategy where people feel they’re prioritized. Before you launch your next growth initiative, make sure you’re not sabotaging your employees, and your company in turn. This article offers five questions to ask yourself as you’re setting your own growth strategy.

Sustainable growth can be elusive. Research has shown that only about 15% of the companies in the top growth quartile in 1985 were able to sustain their top-quartile performance for at least 30 years. While factors such as operating systems, financial health, and internal processes are all critical in determining whether growth can continue, studies show that of all the resources a company has, human capital is the most important. In other words, consistent and profitable growth is never easy, but it’s nearly impossible without “the quality, talent, and mindset of its people.”

• Jenn Lim  is a global workplace expert , one of the World’s Top 50 Keynote Speakers, the bestselling author of Beyond Happiness , and CEO/Cofounder of Delivering Happiness .
• Jen Fisher  is Deloitte’s Human Sustainability leader in the United States. She’s also the bestselling author of the book,  Work Better Together , a  TEDx speaker , the  Human Sustainability Editor-At-Large for Thrive Global , and the host of the  WorkWell podcast series .

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9 hot AI jobs you can get without knowing how to code

• Jobs in the booming AI sector that don't require coding expertise are on the rise.
• Recruiters say companies want employees with soft skills who understand the tech and its use cases. 
• Here are nine  AI jobs that don't require programming skills, from policy analysts to sales engineers.

Companies are jostling to hire highly coveted AI talent as the sector grows — and they're not just looking for people who know how to code.

While many AI-related jobs posted on Indeed and LinkedIn are for software developers and machine learning engineers with advanced degrees , some don't require a technical background. Organizations want to use AI tools in their workflows to boost productivity, save time, and make more money — but they also need workers who can link the very technical side and the business side.

"Companies are desperate to get people figuring out AI for their organizations," J.T. O'Donnell, a career coach at Work It Daily, told Business Insider.

That's leading to a whole new subset of roles in the emergent tech sector . While some of them can be more undefined — "A lot of the jobs have the term AI in it as they try to figure out what to call you," O'Donnell said — others are easier to understand.

Business Insider searched job sites for such positions that didn't require programming skills and also consulted Alex Libre, principal recruiter for Einstellen Talent, a service that matches job candidates with generative AI startups, about which non-technical roles in the industry are in demand.

Here are nine AI-related jobs you can get without knowing how to code — and how much Libre says they typically pay. Salary estimates vary based on the company's size and how much experience a candidate has.

AI product manager

Companies are looking to hire professionals who can bridge the gap between technical AI development and business acumen. Product managers familiar with AI can help do just that.

They're "the key people responsible for bringing AI products to market, which is a lot harder than most people think in a world full of businesses run by people who don't really understand AI," Libre, the tech recruiter, told BI.

Salaries typically range from $120,000 to $400,000 a year.

AI ethics specialist

The need for ethics specialists is expected to grow as AI evolves and becomes a greater part of people's lives.

"They're responsible for ensuring that AI is developed and deployed in an ethical, responsible, and transparent manner," Libre says. "These should be viewed more as risk mitigators than ethicists, frankly."

Demand for ethics specialists, he says, will become increasingly important in healthcare , finance, and government — industries where the stakes of deploying AI are high because the tech could have major societal consequences if not used properly.

AI ethics specialists can typically make between $90,00 and $150,000 annually.

AI sales engineer

Sales engineers at AI companies who understand machine learning can use that knowledge to sell the most relevant tools to other firms.

Ideal candidates combine a deep technical understanding with "strong sales and communication" skills to demonstrate value to potential clients.

"As AI continues to advance and become more widely adopted, the need for skilled AI sales engineers who can articulate the business value of AI will only continue to grow," Libre says.

Sales engineers can make anywhere between $100,000 to $200,000 a year.

AI business analyst

Companies new to AI may wonder just how and where to deploy the technology. That's where analysts can help.

Employees in this role are responsible for "analyzing business processes" and "identifying areas" where AI can help "drive efficiencies, reduce costs, and improve outcomes," the recruiter says.

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Success in this position requires a combination of corporate savviness, strong communication chops, and technical understanding.

AI business analysts can earn between $80,000 and $150,000 annually.

AI data annotator

AI models only produce useful outputs if they're trained on high-quality data. Data annotators play a critical role in that process.

Annotators are tasked to label and categorize vast amounts of information to train models to be "accurate, consistent, and free from biases."

"While these roles may not require advanced degrees or technical skills, they do require a keen eye for detail, a strong work ethic, and the ability to work independently," Libre says.

Data annotation jobs — many of which are part-time or contract-based — pay between $40,000 to $80,000 a year on average, the recruiter says.

Prompt engineer

Want to make a living getting AI chatbots to sound more human? A job as a prompt engineer may be the job for you.

Seen as one of the hottest jobs in AI, prompt engineers develop queries on the back end of AI models to ensure they produce desirable outputs. Doing the job well requires a deep understanding of how models work, and solid communication and collaboration skills.

"You need to have a strong understanding of how humans actually think to interact effectively with these machines, however counterintuitive that may sound," Libre says.

Prompt engineers can make anywhere between $100,000 to $180,000 a year.

AI product designer

AI tools need to be simple, intuitive, and engaging. Product designers help make that possible, as they're responsible for creating the user interface of AI tools and making them enjoyable and easy to use.

But the job is "much harder" than "simply making things look pretty," Libre says. They must possess a "deep understanding of user-centered design principles" and an "understanding of the capabilities and limitations of AI" and its models.

"AI designers typically have to focus more on function than form," the recruiter says.

AI product designers typically get paid between $90,000 to $250,000 a year.

AI policy analyst

Expertise in public policy may help you land a job as an AI policy analyst.

People in these roles work on regulations that govern the technology's development and deployment. According to job listings, understanding AI's capabilities, societal impacts, and legal issues is required.

Anthropic is hiring a policy analyst responsible for making its AI comply with global regulations, offering a base pay of up to $260,000 a year . A nonprofit focused on emerging technology is looking to fill a similar role for an analyst who will conduct research into policy proposals around AI , among other tasks, for up to $95,000 annually.

Sector AI specialist

If you know how to apply AI to your workflows, you may be able to get a job as an AI specialist.

At its core, specialists use AI to automate tasks and deliver better results. For instance, a recruitment firm has a job posting for an AI marketing specialist role for a candidate who would automate and optimize email programs using the technology. A senior presales AI specialist listing says the software company is looking for a candidate who could develop strategies for selling its generative AI products.

Even the Biden administration wants AI specialists to steer the technology toward responsible use. A specialist for the CIA can earn between $64,957 to $172,075 per year deploying machine learning techniques to the federal agency's data collection efforts.

Watch: AI expert explains how to incorporate generative AI into your business strategy

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IFAC Identifies Key Areas Accountants Need to Update their Knowledge & Skills to Prepare for Increasing Sustainability Demands

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has released a new publication setting out four key areas where accountants need to update their knowledge to meet the growing demand for high-quality sustainability-related information. Equipping Professional Accountants for Sustainability: What's New and What Hasn't Changed speaks to the vital role accountants play in producing reliable sustainability-related data, reporting and assurance, as well as the importance of education and training in ensuring professional accountants are able to meet society’s needs.

Much of what accountants already do is transferable to sustainability; however, new topics and challenges require new ways of thinking and working. The framework aims to help professional accountants as well as professional accountancy organizations close any gaps between known and needed technical expertise, business acumen, behavioral competence, and ethics and professional values.

The publication was developed following previous sustainability and education research as part of work to revise the International Education Standards and with the support of the IFAC International Panel on Accountancy Education.

The publication is available on the IFAC website and complements IFAC's existing resources on sustainability, including webinars, podcasts, and publications, all of which are available on the IFAC Knowledge Gateway.

About IFAC IFAC  is the global organization for the accountancy profession dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. IFAC is comprised of 180 members and associates in more than 135 jurisdictions, representing millions of professional accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

About the International Education Standards The  International Education Standards (IESs) , issued by the International Federation of Accountants, set forth the principles that professional accountancy organizations should follow to build a national accountancy profession that is fully capable of fulfilling the complex demands economies and societies place on it. The IESs are authoritative and are used by IFAC member organizations when setting education requirements for professional accountants and aspiring professional accountants.

Tiny Tots Help Teach Real-Classroom Concepts

Monday, Apr 08, 2024 • Written by Monique Bird :

Dr. John Romig, an assistant professor of special education, recently begun inviting his young children to campus to help UTA students learn. Among the concepts, “SPED 4301: Strategies for Teaching Individuals with High Incidence Disabilities: Reading and Writing” teaches UTA students to explicitly teach basic reading and writing skills and administer curriculum-based measurements – a method of monitoring a child’s progress – as that child learns to read and write.

Often lacking children to work with, the UTA students were typically asked to practice with one another. However, starting last year with a campus visit from now 5-year-old Jack, Romig’s students can train in more meaningful ways. 

“Having a real kid made the practice more authentic because he made mistakes like real kids make,” said Romig. “When they practice with each other, they don't make the mistakes that a kid would make. Because they each got to practice with him, they were able to see how his scores fluctuated from administration to administration, discuss why that might be happening, and learn about various data principles.”

The unique project is becoming a small tradition.

The latest visit in March marked Jacks’ third campus visit and 3-year-old Will’s first visit.

“Textbook reading tells me what I’m going to be doing or learning, but I don’t see how it’s going to happen in real life,” continued Tillman. With the kids’ visits, “I get to see how the student is not always going to give me the response that the textbook has.”

During the lesson, the UTA students got hands-on practice teaching phonemic awareness to Will. For Jack, Romig asked his class to teach him a lesson using scripted activities in the textbook, “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.” The goal was to help Jack develop the skills needed for a strong reading foundation – phonics, fluency, vocabulary, phonemic awareness, and comprehension – as well as writing, Romig told his classroom.

“Writing is not one of the five building blocks, but research shows that if you can spell a word then you can read it,” added Romig. “And you can read every word you can spell, but it doesn’t work the other way around.”

“I love the idea of having the lessons be scripted,” said Tillman. “Being a first-time teacher, I’m feeling very nervous about what I am supposed to be doing.”

Separately, Romig had his students practice collecting data to monitor Jack and Will’s progress.

“Collecting this data is kind of cognitively overwhelming,” added Romig. “You have to read standardized instructions, time the student, listen to what they are saying, and record their responses. So, it's challenging for beginning teachers to keep it all straight. The practice was for them to become more comfortable with administering and scoring the assessments.”

Romig's students, who are pursuing special education teacher certification through UTA’s Bachelor of Science in Education, also get experience with content planning, curriculum development, instruction, assessment, and data collection for elementary and secondary students with mild disabilities.

As for the kids’ thoughts on the activity, Romig said his sons’ experiences on campus have been exciting.

“They took a little while to warm up to the students at the beginning, but they definitely enjoyed it in the end,” Romig said. “Jack still talks about ‘the college students with the letters,’ as he calls them.” 

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