Dear Growing UX Researchers,

Our Ask Like A Pro cohort just summarized their top reflections from their user research workshops in the series thus far. Here are 20 tips they identified as key takeaways. I hope they help you as well!

1. Focus on the journey, not the destination

2. Progress is more important than perfection

3. Listen more and talk less

4. Pilot everything, even your pilots

5. Strong stakeholder relationships build trust and credibility

6. Align on what are you looking to learn and how the learnings will be applied

7. Inclusion equals buy-in

8. Agree on what level of confidence the team needs and when

9. Hone your mindset (it’s more important than your skillset)

10. Never compromise your ethics or ethical responsibilities

11. Nurture your UX network, continuously

12. Learn how to ask better questions. Better questions will yield better learnings

13. What people do NOT say can be just as important as what they do say. Look for the void.

14. Know and be able to articulate the difference between a finding and an insight

15. Focus on “people problems”

16. Assumptions are not facts (and they are dangerous if treated as such)

17. If you don’t have two hours to author a research plan, or your stakeholders don’t have time to provide feedback on your plan, do not conduct the study. Do not proceed.

18. Make sure research goals tie into your business goals

19. Learn the lingo!!!!

20. Sometimes taking a step back is just what's needed to take that next step forward AND THAT'S A-OK!