We hope you and yours are holding up to the best of your ability. We're in San Francisco and started our mandated "shelter in place" at midnight last night. These are certainly strange times and we're sending you and your family safe and healthy thoughts.

Here are some updates and hopefully welcome distractions.

Our Curiosity Tank PLAN workshops have new start dates.

Wednesday, March 25th
and Friday, April 3rd

These one-day, deep dive sessions WILL NOW TAKE PLACE on Wednesday, March 25th and Friday, April 3rd. REPEAT: We will sill be holding classes. Please let us know if you have questions and keep in mind:

These classes were originally designed as 100% remote workshops (thank goodness!) and they still will be 100% remote.
The PLAN workshops focus on PLANNING a research study.
Each student leaves with a PLAN to gather feedback on, execute, and or add to their portfolio/cases studies.
Maximum class size is 7 students to ensure mentorship and accountability

How can I support you?

Sunday night you should have received an email titled "How can I support you?" with ideas to help you, our Curiosity Tank community. If you haven't already, please vote with your clicks! For more context, read the Sunday email.

If a Slack Channel interests you, click yes SLACK!
If a Facebook Group interests you, click yes FACEBOOK!
If a Remote Listening/Observation Activity interests you, click yes ACTIVITY!
If Michele's (now remote) General Assembly classes interest you, please ENROLL DIRECTLY WITH GA.

Drumroll please...

In other news, on March 3rd Curiosity Tank sponsored a panel discussion called “What I wish I knew before starting a career in user research.” Over 700 people registered! Tatiana Vlahovic, our fantastic co-host, did it again. ;)

The discussion was tailored to academic researchers transitioning to industry user experience research roles; however, it's helpful for anyone looking to learn more about the industry.

As promised, here is the video replay/recording and a slew of resources. And I mean a BOATLOAD of resources.

We also created an "audio only" version and had a transcript made with Reduct.video. We've got you covered, whatever your preferred learning style is. Select the format you that suits you to access and download.

Here are some key messages from the live panel discussion

User research is truly a team sport.
User research is a skill to practice, just like playing an instrument or speaking a language.
A research portfolio is a set of case studies you share during the job interview process.
Build and lean on your network to find job opportunities and develop your career more broadly.
Experts might be busy but many are willing to connect with you!
Both novice and seasoned researchers struggle with imposter syndrome - you're not alone!

You may also be interested in this article, called Dear Academic Researcher

It's an open letter to academic researchers looking to transition into industry, but also helpful for anyone looking to learn more about design and user research. This was the precursor to the panel event.

Speak up, get involved, share the love

Forward this email to someone who you think might enjoy it. Better yet, sign them up here. It will be the gift that keeps on giving.
Ask us questions related to user research. Seriously, bad research keeps us up at night!

Thank you for your patience while we pulled this together. Let’s stay curious. Let’s support one another. And spread CALM together.

Panel Recording, Resources and More