The User Research Round-Up: CW 47

"I am the user," "anyone can do research," The when & how of UXR, UX behavior change, and a UXR AI database

Remy 🩵

Hello curious human,

I’ve had a not-so-great week and had to say goodbye to one of my cats, Remy, on Monday. It was the hardest decision I’ve had to make in my life, but I am grateful she wasn’t suffering and was very peaceful. I’m slowly getting back to things and spending lots of cuddle time with Smash and Poncho.

In better news, the community space is popping! We’re having great convos in there about brand sentiment, incomplete research, walk-the-store interviews, and first 90-days as a UXR. I’m in the community answering questions every single day.

If you have a ton of questions that you want answered by a fantastic community and by me, consider becoming a paid member of the Substack and upgrading — you get invited to the community right away and you can start getting your questions answered by a supportive group of awesome UXRs!

I really appreciate the support from paid subscribers — it allows me to continue creating content for you and to experiment and give you highly valuable information without any constraints. Each paying subscriber makes a HUGE difference. I couldn’t do it without you, so a huge thank you for the 123 people currently paying to support my content! 🩵

Where I’m speaking:

I have some upcoming speaking engagements next year and would love to see you at them, so I’ll be advertising where I’m speaking as things come up!

• UX360 Virtual Research Summit (February 19th - 20th) — I’ve spoken at this conference quite a few times and it’s always lined up with amazing, thought-provoking talks…and you can wear sweatpants (lol, I’ll be!). You can grab 15% off your ticket with code NKA15.

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Top responses to the dreaded phrase: “I am the User” in UX, product and user experience teams (Video) by BlatzChatz

We’ve all heard it—someone on the team proudly declares, “I am the user!” as if that ends the debate. This video hilariously unpacks why this phrase is so frustrating for user researchers and UX pros alike. It offers smart, practical comebacks to help redirect these conversations in a way that educates and uplifts. Plus, it’s full of relatable moments that will have you nodding along. If you’ve ever felt the need to advocate for real user insights over assumptions, this is for you. Bonus: it might even help you laugh through the pain.

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