Original research: How 900+ Americans feel about brands right now

This week from People Nerds: Gen Z refuses to be defined, how COVID-19 changed how we use products, and our WFH webinar with Google.

"Zoom has literally changed my world." The pandemic drastically altered many aspects of our lives. Along with our travel plans, the way we work, and our relationships, it's changed the products we use—and how we use them. We explored how in the third wave of the COVID Diaries.   READ MORE Defining the fluid generation  Gen Z refuses to be placed into neat boxes of identifiers.That's what Zeus Jones discovered when they dove deep into a sub-set of users who are changing the way they define themselves—and the world-at-large.     DIVE IN How Google nails WFH culture In our next webinar, we're showing you how to build a bulletproof work from home system with Margaret Lee, Google's Director of UX Community and Culture. She's helped grow the company's distributed team—and she wants to share her best strategies for success with you.   WORK ON More we're discussing: We had a great time talking "business strategy for UXRs" on our last webinar. We posted this recap of the Q&A in our slack community earlier this week (join the community here).  There's a lot on everyone's mind right now. Here's some advice for getting your team to keep thinking about research and about your users.  Your newly remote research practice might have you working with surveys more than usual. Here's a guide to writing better questions. What we're hearing:  A few new options for UXR mentorship: UX Coffee Hours and UXPA International's mentorship program. "If the data doesn't exist, you don't exist." Here's a necessary read on big data and disparity that you might've missed from AIGA. Microsoft design published a prediction for "the next wave of design thinking." Read their take on responsible innovation. dscout is a company composed of People Nerds working to make context-rich human insight an everyday habit across organizations. The dscout platform—Diary, Live, Recruit, and Express—enables remote qualitative research that brings researchers into the moments experienced and shared by real people. Curious about the platform or working with dscout? Talk to an account executive.  dscout, 222 North LaSalle St. Suite 650, Chicago, Illinois 60601, (312) 880-9715 Unsubscribe Manage preferences

11 ways to make more of an impact with UXR

This week from People Nerds: How to create fans, lessons learned from 15 years of covering tech, and the best ways to keep UXR top-of-mind

Not keeping office hours? You should.  So you want your org to keep baking user research into their projects, but you can't always be there to remind them. Here are 11 solid ways you can remind people of the value of UXR—and why they should keep it top of mind.      BE MINDFUL Tech isn't an industry. It's a layer.  Dan Frommer has seen the world of tech grow from its infancy to the unwieldy giant it is today. Now at the helm of his new publication The New Consumer, he wants to explore the world of modern commerce—even if doing so means going it alone.   DIVE IN How to create (and keep) fans When users have a voice in your process, impact increases. When users are involved in each piece of the process, impact explodes. Here's how Don Hall of Ten Gun Design leveraged strategic customer input to create fans from an existing user base.   BUILD BETTER More we're discussing: For those career searching right now: how to optimize your resume and find your UX niche. It's always worthwhile to remind yourself what cognitive biases might be impacting your work. Here are 10, in particular, that UXRs should be aware of. If there's still a need for research at your company, but your resources are starting to thin, here's how the experts at Google, AirBnB, and LinkedIn tackle the rising demand for insights.  What we're hearing:  A few presenter resources to follow up on from our Business Essentials for UX Researchers and Designers webinar: The Intersection of UX and an MBA, and How Ethnographic Praxis Can Move Beyond Research. Here's a useful (and charmingly illustrated) guide to running remote retrospectives with UXers. dscout is a company composed of People Nerds working to make context-rich human insight an everyday habit across organizations. The dscout platform—Diary, Live, Recruit, and Express—enables remote qualitative research that brings researchers into the moments experienced and shared by real people. Curious about the platform or working with dscout? Talk to an account executive.  dscout, 222 North LaSalle St. Suite 650, Chicago, Illinois 60601, (312) 880-9715 Unsubscribe Manage preferences

See an in-home product trial in dscout? (free webinar)

Hi Wanto,

Wanted to offer a chance to see the dscout platform in action Thursday at 11AM Central.

I'll be hosting a free demo webinar with my teammate Andrew Schinkai of an in-home product trial project—we sent participants French presses for coffee-making, and dug into their processes, preferences and feedback. 

You can register here!

If you're curious about how research in dscout might work, look or feel, it's a low-pressure chance to see the tool in action and shoot us any questions. We'll answer what we during the session!

Register to get free access to the sample project as well, so you can explore the insights yourself after the webinar! (And as always, we'll send all registrants the recording if the live timing doesn't work.)

Hope to see you Thursday,

Ben Wiedmaier
Research evangelist, dscout

dscout,
222 North LaSalle St. Suite 650,
Chicago,
Illinois

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How UX leads at Google win at WFH

This week from People Nerds: Getting stories out of surveys, writing a winning research résumé, and how to work together while apart.

Survey for stories With a survey done well, you get more than a collection of data. You get a stockpile of user stories you can collect and analyze en masse. Here are a few ways to take your survey writing to the next level.    LEVEL UP It all starts with a good first impression If you're looking to take the next step in your career, it might be time to go back to the fundamentals. Here are exact steps to take to develop a CV or portfolio that'll get the attention of recruiters and impress hiring managers.    LEARN HERE How to work together (while we're apart) For the past 10+ years, Margaret Lee has led and grown UX teams at Google, forging community and culture across a largely distributed workforce. In our next webinar, she and Google Design Manager Mike Buzzard share their strategies for remote work and management success.    WORK SMARTER More we're discussing: Feeling creatively stuck? Try "body-storming." Dr. Simon Roberts explains how. Yes, running a workshop remotely is a challenge, but it can still be an effective vehicle for collaboration. Here are some tips for hosting a virtual workshop effectively.   A short cut for your next study: this guide to writing a user research brief (with free research plan templates).  What we're hearing:  UXRC just released their salary report—breaking down what researchers get paid, and which factors (location, experience, education, etc.)  most strongly impact salary. From jobs stories to needs statements, this deep dive from A List Apart does a great job detailing how to effectively share and use Jobs-to-be-Done data. Here's a solid, two-part guide from Microsoft Design on conducting informal cognitive walkthroughs for more agile UX research: Part I, Part II. dscout is a company composed of People Nerds working to make context-rich human insight an everyday habit across organizations. The dscout platform—Diary, Live, Recruit, and Express—enables remote qualitative research that brings researchers into the moments experienced and shared by real people. Curious about the platform or working with dscout? Talk to an account executive.  dscout, 222 North LaSalle St. Suite 650, Chicago, Illinois 60601, (312) 880-9715 Unsubscribe Manage preferences