Crucial "non-research" skills for UXRs

This week from People Nerds: transformative justice for designers, key skills for researchers, and recruiting for accessible research.

Be transformed by your work As UXRs, we have an immense opportunity (and responsibility) to create with equity. That's why we talked to social designer Sarah Fathallah about how she imbues her work with principles of transformative justice.    READ MORE "Non-research" skills researchers shouldn't neglect There's no clear roadmap for upskilling in user research. Too often, we can be quick to focus on technical capabilities, over key interpersonal ones. Here's a take from six lead UXRs on "non-research" skills that are critical for growth.   DRESS TO SKILL Accessible UXR Part 2: Recruiting and fielding To ensure your products are usable to all, you need to ensure your participants include users with access needs. In part two of our series, we take a closer look at what to consider when recruiting and conducting accessible user research.    LEARN MORE More we're discussing: Kicking off (or polishing) 2021 product strategy sessions? Try an ideation workshop, which—even remotely—is an engaging way to generate innovation. As the holidays approach and folks race to the new year, don't forget to check in on teammates. Use these tips for cultivating community from Google and our interview with Vivianne Castillo on the importance of self-care in UX research. How's headcount looking for 2021? Maybe it's time to engage your colleagues in a democratization practice to scale up without sacrificing rigor. Read Behzod Sirjani's suggestions for framing as a teacher, not an oracle. What we're hearing:   As you turn to user acquisition in 2021, Inside Intercom has a useful walkthrough on applying JTBD to a product onboarding experience. We're fans of fieldwork and ethnographic methods for user research. Design Thinkers Academy London has a succinct podcast exploring this method if you'd like to try it in 2021. A well-designed table is a Swiss army knife, supporting analysis, note-taking, share-outs, and a host of collaboration uses. UX Booth has a primer on creating user-friendly versions for your teammates. 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