The subtle art of rapport building

This week from People Nerds: How to build user rapport, usability testing tips, and democratizing research.

"How can I show up for you?"  Getting our users to be vulnerable during interviews is difficult, yet essential. Eniola Abioye, Sr. UXR at Silicon Valley Bank, talked with us about the art of holding space for our participants and the ways we can better build (and earn) rapport.    BUILD RAPPORT What's your preference? True comparative usability testing can provide more insight than typical preference or performance testing alone. Here's a look at getting started with this method and moving beyond unengaged "I like this" or "This looks good" user feedback.   FOR COMPARISON Start small, then grow There's a lot of debate about the extent to which we should democratize research. There's less discussion about how we should begin. Here's some pragmatic advice for getting your democratization practice off to the best possible start.  LEARN HOW More we're discussing: Manage deadline expectations with your stakeholders using these suggestions from leaders. They'll keep "scrappy" from turning into "crappy." Move at "the speed of trust" and leverage your research practice to forward transformative justice. Sarah Fathallah explores how. Make accessibility a priority in your product development with this three part guide, which outlines clear action items. What we're hearing:  Which UX skills are in demand this year? UX Planet conducted a content analysis to unearth trends from current job postings. Considering a pivot to freelance UX design? Adobe XD created a thorough guide to help make the transition a successful one. Land the product designer job—hooray! Now check out UX Collective's 30-60-90 plan for hitting the ground running. 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