Revealing 3 myths about user research and start easy

In this episode, I chat with Jason Giles — a VP of Product Design at UserTesting.com. We dove into his journey, from working as an electronic musician to becoming a leader in the tech industry. Jason shares his unique story about transitioning into the UX field during his time at Microsoft, his experiences with design leadership, and how human-centered design became his foundation. We also dive into the importance of research, debunking 3 myths about its cost and time, and Jason’s insights into democratizing research within organizations.

Key Takeaways:

- How Jason transitioned from music to UX design;
- The role of human-centered design in successful products;
- Revealing 3 myths about User Research and sharing actionable tips:

1) Research takes a lot of time, it’s expensive, and we basically don’t have resources for that. 
2) Research doesn’t give any measurable impact and it’s impossible to to measure
3) It’s risky to democratize research, as it can become a weapon in the “wrong” hands

- Quantifying the ROI of user experience research
- Democratizing research across teams for better user insights

—

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
📕 Get The Holistic Growth Playbook: https://growthmates.club/playbook
👉 Sponsored by Command.ai — a user-focused platform offering an AI “Copilot” for enhanced user experience and simplified tasks: https://command.ai

What we’ve covered in this episode:

[00:00] Introduction and welcome to the conference
[00:07] Jason’s journey: From electronic musician to UX designer
[00:20] Joining Microsoft and the early stages of his career in UX
[01:04] Transitioning to design leadership and working on products like Office 365 and Xbox
[03:00] Joining UserTesting and how the mission aligns with his personal goals
[05:30] The myths about UX research and the challenges of starting with limited resources
[09:30] Conducting research with minimal budget and engaging customers
[12:41] Measuring the ROI of UX research
[16:00] Case study: Saving $1.2 million by using validated designs
[20:00] The role of democratizing research within teams
[24:00] How leadership can support a user-centric mindset
[26:30] Audience Q&A: Advice on how to involve the entire team in UX research
[31:00] Final thoughts and closing remarks

Subscribe to the show on growthmates.club and get the free playbook with frameworks and insights. If you find this valuable, please share it with your friends and colleagues, and subscribe to this show on your favorite platforms to get new episodes. Let’s keep growing together!

For sponsorship and other inquiries reach out to [email protected]

—

#Growthmates #UXDesign #ProductManagement #UserResearch #HumanCenteredDesign #Microsoft #ProductDevelopment #B2BSaaS #CustomerAnalytics #UserExperience #Jason #KateSyuma #Entrepreneurship #StartupJourney #UXResearchROI