Another year, another round up!
Before we roll on into 2022, masks up and windows down, I wanted to take this last moment to look back at some of our greatest hits from 2021. Because once again, in spite of everything, 2021 was a great year for User Interviews. It was also my first full, calendar year as a UI-ite and I'm feeling proud of the great content we (emphasis on we) shipped over the last 12 months.
So without further ado, here's a short-and-sweet roundup of the content you loved, shared, and bookmarked in 2021.
📌 See also: The Best UX Research Content of 2022
January
💪 The Lone UXR: Being a UX Research Team of One with Izzy Nichols
Going it alone can be tough, but there are perks to being the first and only UX researcher, too. Izzy Nichols walked us through how being a solo researcher can help you level up your skills in this popular episode of Awkward Silences.
⚙️ Research Ops: What It Is, Why It's So Important, and How to Get Started
User research teams are leveling up. And as research matures, teams (should) start to operationalize. This comprehensive introduction to research operations covers the what, whys, and hows of starting a UXR ops practice at your own company.
February
🍋 The State of User Research 2021
The third annual State of User Research report (aka SOUR) included data from 525 user researchers around the world about their jobs and salaries, the tools and methods they use, and a wholesale shift to remote work.
(Our 2022 survey will be going out in January—we’d love to hear from you!)
🔎 Discovery Research and Interviewing Skills with Maria Rosala of NN/g
In one of the top Awkward Silences episodes of the year, Maria Rosala of Nielsen Norman Group joined our hosts live on the pod to explain why discovery research is non-negotiable, how to conduct great interviews, and her top tips and tools.
March
🎉 From Failed Startup to a $10M Series A with (Meta) User Research
We announced our Series A funding in March, and used the opportunity to bring our company story up to date. Not only is it the story of a successful startup, but it’s also a compelling case study on the power of discovery research!
🎙 The 16 Best UX and User Research Podcasts to Listen to in 2021
Who doesn’t enjoy a good listicle? This popular list of highly rated podcasts will help you level up your UX research knowledge and get inspired by leaders in design, research, and business.
(We’ll be updating this article in due time. Have suggestions? Let us know @userinterviews on Twitter.)
April
💻 How To Use Miro For More Collaborative UX Research
Miro’s popularity among our State of User Research respondents grew by a whopping 650% in 2020. So we paired up with Eduardo Gomez Ruiz, UX Research Lead at Miro and Jill Yee, UX Researcher at Airtable to show us how to use the flexible tool for user research in this information-packed webinar.
🏗 What Is Information Architecture, Anyway? with Page Laubheimer of NN/g
Information architecture is everywhere. Page Laubheimer, certified IA nerd, came by the podcast to explain how IA architecture fits into UX work, careers in the field, and what kind of research you need to create good IA.
May
✍️ How to Get More Value Out of Your User Research Recordings
Make the absolute most of research session recordings with these tools and tips for simplified notetaking, more compelling research reporting, and easier, more powerful qualitative analysis.
🕊 Growing a UX Research Startup with Basel Fakhoury of User Interviews and Benjamin Humphrey of Dovetail
In this special episode of Awkward Silences, two CEOs of user research companies brave the trans-pacific timezone differences to geek out about the challenges of building tools for user researchers and the future of UX research.
June
🚇 The 2021 UX Research Tools Map
To keep up with the fast-evolving tools landscape, the UX Research Tools subway system underwent a major public works project this year.
The third annual edition of the fan-favorite UXR Tools Map features 100 UX research tools plotted by their functionality to help teams navigate the software-scape and build their perfect toolkit. We also created a database with over 100 more options.
(The 2022 Tools Map will be released later this year.)
👎 6 Design Failures That Could Have Been Avoided with Inclusive UX Research
Jacquelyn Iyamah is a designer, author, educator, and Inclusive Content Designer at Uber. In this guest article, she looked at 6 examples of how unconscious biases and thoughtless UX research lead to products that exclude and harm.
July
🤔 How to Ask Great User Research Questions with Amy Chess of Amazon
Great user research starts with a great research question. It’s what drives your research forward, informs when you’re ready to wrap up your project, and it’s what gets everyone involved on the same page. In this Awkward Silences episode—the year’s most popular—Amy explains how to get this important part of the UX research process right.
💼 UX Career Growth Crossroads: Should You Take the Manager or IC Path?
It’s a common misconception that the only way to level up is to become a manager. That’s one way forward, but it’s definitely not the only one, and it’s definitely not for everyone. If you’re a UX professional looking to take the next step in your career, you have options.
August
💡 Building and Managing a Participant Panel for Faster, Easier Research
A research participant panel is a must-have for organizations that regularly do research with customers or teams that want to talk to the same group of people over time—either as part of a long-term research project, or to investigate a variety of different topics with a consistent group of participants.
This guide to building your own research panel includes tools and tips on recruiting participants, panel management, research incentives, and more.
🗺 From Generative Interviews to a Strategic Roadmap with Atomic UX Research
Lucy Denton, Product Design Lead at Dovetail, walked us through how her team turned a mountain of qualitative data from 45 user interviews into a clear and actionable product roadmap using the Atomic Research approach.
September
📑 31 Creative UX Research Presentations and Reports – Templates and Examples
We put together this collection of 31 templates and great examples of user research reports, summaries, case studies, and slide presentations to make it easier for you to share research findings with your stakeholders and teammates.
🕵️ Debunking UX Research Myths with Zach Schendel of DoorDash
As a seasoned UXR leader, Zach Schendel has tons of first-hand experience doing quant, qual, and mixed methods research in different contexts. He's also come up against every type of skeptical stakeholder you can imagine.
In this popular episode, he debunked 4 of the most common UX research myths he’s come up against.
October
📐 A Framework for Decision Driven Research
I love a good framework, and this one from our VP of User Research, Roberta Dombrowski, is no exception. Decision Driven Research is a five-stage framework that is centered on the belief that the purpose of research is to enable decisions for your company, product, or service.
Read all about this UXR-tested-and-approved method for doing more focused and impactful user research that will banish stakeholder skepticism for good.
🦾 Accessible UXR: Recruiting and Researching Participants with Disabilities – with Samuel Proulx of Fable
I said it at the time and I’ll say it again—this podcast episode featuring Samuel Proulx, Accessibility Evangelist at Fable, is truly essential content for anyone who researches, designs, or cares about the user experience.
November
🙅 How to Conduct a Terrible Focus Group Study for UX Research
Chaos, bias, conflict, and superficiality: Surely, these are the ingredients for insightful user research.
This fun-but-informative guide to focus groups—a much-maligned but useful tool to have in your user research toolbelt—will help you design a guaranteed-to-fail focus group study.
📂 How to Build a Strong UX Research Portfolio – with Examples
In September, Eniola Abioye, User Experience Researcher at Meta and career coach, joined Erin and JH for a live episode of Awkward Silences in which she took questions from aspiring UX researchers about breaking into the field.
In this followup piece, Eniola shares her top tips for creating a standout portfolio.
December
🧑🏾💻 Being Black in UX Research with Dr. Lisanne Norman of Gusto
What’s it like to be Black in UX right now? Are companies sticking by their plans for diversity and inclusion? How do researchers ensure their work is as inclusive as possible? How can Black people in UX connect with each other and build community?
Dr. Lisanne Norman, UX Research Lead at Gusto, joined Erin and JH to talk about her own experience in the field, and how we can create inclusive research environments, for participants and practitioners.
📖 The UX Research Field Guide
Last but certainly not least, we re-launched the UX Research Field Guide! This comprehensive how-to guide to user research includes chapters on everything from planning a study to conducting sessions to analyzing and reporting your findings.
Updates will be rolling out over the next few months, and new chapters will be released throughout the year. Subscribe for updates and get the Field Guide delivered straight to your inbox
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