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Otherwise, keep reading for more information and useful resources related to the UX clues in this crossword.

UX terms to know

• Generative research (22 across) — Also called exploratory or discovery research, this type of research is all about identifying problems and insights. UX researchers use direct observation, deep inquiry, and careful analysis to understand their users—what they care about, how they think, and what motivates their behavior. This often happens in the early stages of a project, but can also be done continuously.
• IKEA effect (9 across) — Named for a certain assemble-it-yourself Swedish furniture giant, this is a cognitive bias in which people place more value on things they partially assemble or personalize themselves.
• Jobs to be done (32 across) — The Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework is used to identify and understand the high-level goals that customers want to accomplish and that might lead them to choose (or “hire”) your product. We've put together a bunch of JTBD, persona, and mental model templates to help you get started.
• Likert scale (3 down) — Named for their creator Rensis Likert, these survey question types use a 5- or 7-point scale ranging from an extreme negative opinion to an extreme positive opinion (often with a neutral point in the middle). They are used to measure perceptions or behaviors and offer more granular feedback than binary questions.
• Modal (31 across) — Modal windows are "child windows" that appear on top of a main webpage or app, and force the user to interact with them. Since they are inherently disruptive to the user experience, they're best reserved for important announcements and essential information.
• SVG (26 down) — SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphic, which is a pretty good description of what makes this XML-based image format so popular among designers. These images retain their quality, regardless of how big you make them.

Resources mentioned

• Awkward Silences (1 across) — Awkward Silences is a top-rated UX podcast from User Interviews. Since 2018, Erin May (5 down) and her co-hosts have been interviewing the leaders, doers, change makers shaping the fields of User Research, Ops, Product, Design, and CX.
• Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug (23 down) — Since it was first published in 2000, Steve Krug's guide to intuitive information design Don't Make Me Think has been read and recommended by thousands of designers and developers.
• Rosenfeld (16 down) — Rosenfeld Media publishes books on user research, usability, and design. They also have a full calendar of events, including the annual Advancing Research conference. AR2024 (sponsored by User Interviews) is happening March 25-27 in New York City—get your tickets now!

Tools mentioned

• Bard (17 down) — Bard is a chat-based AI tool from Google AI. It was a common write-in response among researchers who tool our 2023 AI in UX Research survey.
• Sprig (11 down) — Sprig is a user insights platform that enables research and product teams to launch targeted in-app surveys and collect rapid user insights. (Psst: Sprig integrates with User Interviews!)