Awkward Silences

Ben Wiedmaier sits down with user research consultant Nikki Anderson to explore how researchers can stay relevant when budgets are tight and stakeholders are stressed. Nikki runs Drop in Research where she helps teams conduct research, facilitate better meetings, and build research practices from the ground up. She shares how companies are increasingly coming to her with validation requests rather than discovery work, driven by pressure to ship fast and hit numbers. The conversation reveals practical strategies for mixed methods research, using facilitation to drive action from insights, and leveraging AI tools without compromising research quality.Nikki explains why she creates forcing functions to slow stakeholders down when they want to rush into AI features without understanding the problem. She advocates for parallel convergent research design where surveys, interviews, and secondary research happen simultaneously to deliver insights faster. The discussion covers why synthesis remains a bridge too far for AI, how to turn research presentations into collaborative workshops, and specific ways researchers can demonstrate value through facilitation skills.Highlights00:00 Intro05:20 Mixed Methods and Data Triangulation10:07 Finding Small Tests When Teams Won't Wait14:46 Stakeholder Stress Driving Validation Requests23:30 Facilitation as Core Research Skill40:03 Using AI for Research Planning45:39 Demonstrating AI Skills to StakeholdersResources- AI for User Research 101 Course- 30+ Tools for every phase of UX Research- AI Context Engineering for Research Course

Kristen DeLap, fractional COO and operations leader who moved from interior design into product, shares how to gain influence without authority. She discusses decoding decision-making, translating design into business language, using customer stories to explain roadmaps, and treating colleagues like users. Practical tactics focus on ongoing stakeholder engagement, decision literacy, and orchestrating team alignment.

Laura Klein, Principal Experience Specialist at Nielsen Norman Group and UX author/educator, cuts through AI hype with a practical lens. She outlines a green/yellow/red framework for safe AI uses. Short takes cover where AI shines—transcripts, meta-analysis, tooling—and where to be cautious: synthesis, insights, and mentoring juniors. The conversation focuses on choosing tools, collaborative analysis, and realistic tradeoffs.

Baran Erkel, Chief Strategy Officer at UserTesting, aligns research, analytics, and product strategy; Basek Fakhoury, CEO of User Interviews, builds participant recruitment and insights tooling. They discuss how AI reshapes research methods and decision-making, building test-and-learn cultures, consolidating insights across teams, and making executive-ready findings actionable.

Karl Randay, Experience Director at 383, shares insights from his work with brands like Hilton and Jaguar. He discusses the vital role of designers in an automated world, warning against the "beige-ification" of design due to templated systems. Randay emphasizes the need for modern designers to blend creativity with business acumen and communication skills. He suggests using AI as a research copilot rather than a replacement, while promoting authentic, accessible user experiences. Career growth for designers hinges on developing T-shaped skills across multiple disciplines.

Maria Rosala, Director of Research at Nielsen Norman Group, and John Whalen, Founder of Brilliant Experience, share insights on the future of UX research and AI. They discuss the rising pressures of AI on research speed and inclusivity, emphasizing the need for governance in AI tool implementation. The duo also explores the concept of synthetic users for ideation while cautioning against their limitations. Hiring advice for new researchers highlights the importance of critical thinking and communication skills, as they predict a collaborative future between AI and human researchers.

Erin May sits down with Kate Towsey, founder of Cha Cha Club and author of Research That Scales, for Research Ops Appreciation Week. Kate shares insights from producing an audio documentary series on the future of research ops, including her fascinating experience co-creating content with AI. She reveals how research ops teams are increasingly surviving layoffs while research teams are cut, explaining that ops professionals focus on unblocking systems and delivering measurable business value rather than gatekeeping processes.Kate emphasizes the critical shift happening in research ops from administrative firefighting to strategic systems design. She discusses the importance of discovery over knee-jerk solutions when building research ops from scratch, advocating for focused problem-solving rather than generic panel and library building. The conversation covers the newly released research ops career ladder, the growing need for strategy skills in the field, and how to effectively communicate value to executives by aligning with existing business priorities and measuring concrete outcomes.Highlights03:54 Bringing past skills to research ops17:45 AI context and memory limitations26:37 Future vision for strategic research positioning36:28 Quality governance in AI era44:21 Strategy skills gap in research teams50:27 Translating research value to executivesResourcesStrategy ReferencesKate's MasterclassResearch That Scales (Book)Kate's SubstackThe ResearchOps Review

Lyndsi Lee, Senior Manager of UX Research at Turnitin, uses her diverse background in education and counseling to revolutionize user experience measurement. She critiques traditional metrics like NPS and CSAT for lacking depth and introduces an outcome-based assessment framework. Lyndsi explains how to define and prioritize specific user goals, using techniques like card sorting, and emphasizes collaboration with stakeholders. Her insights provide a practical roadmap for teams to achieve meaningful improvements that enhance user success.

In this insightful discussion, Shalin Pei and Natalie Golub from Coinbase Base share their experiences in the fast-paced crypto world. Shalin, a design and research leader, emphasizes overcoming impostor syndrome and the importance of curiosity in their field. Meanwhile, Natalie reveals innovative research strategies, like embedded sprints, to quickly align with user needs. They also explore the challenges of documentation in a rapid environment and the essential balance between short-term goals and long-term vision, especially as AI evolves.

Erin is joined by Samira Jain, Serena Hillman, and Jackie Ianni from Microsoft Azure Data to discuss how they built the Swift Research Lab over the past two years. The team shares their systematic five-step approach for creating research programs that result in stakeholder satisfaction while delivering insights every 1.5 weeks.The Azure Data team also break down their method for fostering relationships, building infrastructure and templates, measuring success, and continuously iterating. The discussion reveals how clear branding, stakeholder collaboration, and systematic infrastructure helped them action on high priority research requests while spotting cross cutting insights across Microsoft's product ecosystem.About Our GuestsDr. Serena Hillman is a Principal UX Research Manager in Azure Data at Microsoft. Her work focuses on Human-Data and Human-AI-Data Interaction, leading a team that explores how people engage with data and intelligent systems. She has studied user behavior across domains like video games, e-commerce, edTech, and enterprise cloud tools, and has published 40+ peer-reviewed papers presented at leading conferences and organizations including CHI, CSCW, Grace Hopper, Yahoo!, and Google.Samira Jain is a Senior UX Researcher on the Azure Data UX Team, where she has been for over five years. She leads SWIFT, a cross-team research program, which encompasses several key initiatives. With a foundation in product design, she brings dual fluency to her research practice—understanding why things matter from a user perspective and how they can be shaped from a design perspective. With extensive experience in both non-profit and enterprise research, Samira is dedicated to enhancing experiences for data professionals.Jackie Ianni is a UX Researcher on the Azure Data team at Microsoft, specializing in rapid evaluative and programmatic research. Before joining Microsoft, she worked as a researcher at both an agency and in-house, conducting global financial services research. Jackie is passionate about advancing UX research practice, exploring AI tools, and sparking conversations about the evolving role of research.Highlights05:47 Five Step Program Development Method09:02 Building Stakeholder Relationships15:39 Continuously Improving Research Programs18:37 Cross Product Insights and Breaking Silos23:24 Collaborative Team Success Formula33:58 AI Tools in Heuristic ReviewsResourcesBuilding a UX Research Team from ScratchCreate Long Term Impact with Strong RelationshipsThe Ultimate Guide to UX Research Strategy