All Episodes
Research Ops 2.0, Episode 2: Leveraging AI for Research Superstardom
In just 10 years, ResearchOps has transformed from an obscure Silicon Valley speciality into a vibrant global profession. Despite economic headwinds, ResearchOps roles...
Special Release! Research Ops 2.0, Episode 1: The Evolution of ResearchOps
In just 10 years, ResearchOps has transformed from an obscure Silicon Valley speciality into a vibrant global profession. Despite economic headwinds, ResearchOps roles...
#172 - Summer Throwback: Caitria O'Neill on the Problems of Research Reports
Welcome to our final Summer Throwback. We're revisiting some of our favorite conversations and insights.We're closing with a topic that technology like AI—and shrinkin...
#171 - Summer Throwback: Kate Towsey on Starting a ReOps Practice
Welcome to Summer Throwbacks, where we revisit some of our favorite episodes. This week's guest is Kate Towsey, who helped spotlight the relevance, urgency, and import...
#170 - Summer Throwback: Andrea Amorós on Influencing Stakeholders with Strategic Research
Welcome to Summer Throwbacks, where we revisit some of Awkward Silences' most memorable episodes.This week, Andrea Amoros, a Senior Principal Researcher at Ingram Micr...
#169 - Summer Throwback: Eniola Abioye on Breaking into User Research
Welcome to Summer Throwbacks, were we revisit some of Awkward Silences' most memorable episodes.This week, Eniola Abioye, UX Researcher at Meta, discusses what it take...
#168 - Summer Throwback: Amy Chess on Asking Better Questions
Welcome to Summer Throwbacks, where we revisit some of Awkward Silences' most memorable episodes.This week features Amy Chess (then at Amazon) unpacking arguably the m...
#167 - Summer Throwback: Teresa Torres on Continuous Discovery Methods
Welcome to Summer Throwbacks, where we revisit some of Awkward Silences' most memorable episodes.This week brings back an evergreen conversation with Product Talk's Te...
#166 - Summer Throwback: Erika Hall on Why Surveys (Almost Always) Suck
Welcome to Summer Throwbacks, where we revisit some of Awkward Silences' most memorable episodes.This week features a conversation with Erika Hall on the misuses of su...
#165 - High Impact Research on Embedded Teams with Hannah Ghidey of Etsy
Embedded research teams—where UXRs are dedicated to a single product area—are popular. The proximity to design, product, and engineering stakeholders increases subject...
#164 - UX Lessons from a Decade Researching AI with Jess Holbrook of Microsoft
Much of the conversation around AI in UX involves how it will shape and change researchers' work. Today's guest, Jess Holbrook, who leads UX research for Microsoft AI,...
#163 - Creating Mindful Product Experiences with Jay Vidyarthi of Still Ape
In this episode, Erin and Ben chat with Jay Vidyarthi, designer, author, and founder at Still Ape. Jay is a leading thinker around designing mindful product experience...
#162 - Empowering PwDR Using Research Education with Daniel Gottlieb of Microsoft
Many research activities are completed by non-researchers, but whose work is benefited from user insights. Generally, these folks—designers, PMs, developers, among oth...
#161 - Learn More Faster About Customers with Michael Margolis of GV
This episode is all about learning from customers...early and often. Our guest, Michael Margolis, UX Research Partner at GV (formerly Google Ventures), has made a care...
#160 - Where Design Thinking Went Wrong with Brett Krajewski of Accelerant Research
In 2022, the UX community experienced a series of convulsions: layoffs, reorgs, and reduced budgets. A common thread throughout was accountability: user researchers fa...
#159 - Building Cross-Functional Research Impact with Judy Xu of Salesforce
Creating strong stakeholder relationships is important for UX researchers at any company. Doing this at "enterprise" companies—large organizations with many products a...
#158 - Leading Design as a Researcher with Emily Wurgler of McDonald's
Erin and Carol are joined by Emily Wurgler, Global Director of Experience Design at McDonald's, whose journey has had many moments of evolution and iteration. She star...
#157 - The Future of Design Collaboration with Andrew Hogan of Figma
Few companies are most closely associated with UX design right now than Figma, which not only helps designers get their work done, but serves as a bridge for others to...