From doing research to leading it: how UX research creates real business impact with Emmanuelle Savarit
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome back to Insights Unlocked. In this episode, we're talking about what it really takes to move from doing UX research to leading it. User Testing's Amrit Bhattchu talks with Emmanuel Savary, a global UX research leader, author of the recently published The UX Research Powerhouse, Volume 1, and host of the UX Research Club podcast.
What does it take to move from doing UX research to leading it?
They dig into research leadership, business impact, and AI's growing role in UX. Enjoy the show.
Welcome to Insights Unlocked, an original podcast from User Testing, where we bring you candid conversations and stories with the thinkers, doers and builders behind some of the most successful digital products and experiences in the world from concept to execution.
Welcome to the Insights Unlocked podcast. I'm Nathan Isaacs, Principal Content Marketing Manager at UserTesting. And joining us today as host is Amrit Bachu, a Principal Customer Experience Consultant here at UserTesting. Welcome back to the show, Amrit. Hi again, everyone. And our guest today is Emmanuelle Savary. Emmanuelle is a global UX research leader, author, podcast host, with more than two decades of experience helping organizations turn human insight into strategic impact. She's the author of the recently published The UX Research Powerhouse, Volume 1, and the host of the UX Research Club podcast. where she explores what it really takes to lead research with clarity, confidence, and influence in today's complex AI-driven organizations.
Welcome to the show, Emmanuelle.
Thank you, and thank you for having me today. I'm very pleased to be here today.
Yeah, and we're excited to speak to you today as well, Emmanuel. And so just to kick things off initially then, I'd love to start by understanding a bit more of your journey. If you could share a bit more about your sort of background through the peaks and troughs of what is UX research and how you've got to where you are today.
Okay, so I come from academia, so I've got a PhD in psychology, so quant and qual research method. I was an academic for a little while and then I moved to UX. Actually, we didn't even call it UX research. We used to call it usability back then. So I started to be a contractor because the role of UX research didn't really exist in the market. So I started to be a contractor in some organizations and I started building my own company because I started having more and more demand. So I was a contractor, then I became a consultant and I started hiring people as well to support me because I had so much demand that I couldn't fulfill all the requests I had across all my clients. So I grew my company. I had up to 10 researchers, some were contractors and some were full time employees.
How can researchers align their work with business priorities?
And yeah, I did a lot of work with the government, all the digital transformation with gov.uk. I had also a lot of private sector, a lot of banking because they were the first one really to start implementing UX research. And then I was hit by a lot of people like with Brexit. So contracts were a bit more complicated. Legislation was a bit different. And the uncertainty make me start thinking of maybe I should move permanent in an organization and help an organization. So I move and I start being a full-time employee as a manager. And then I became a director, head of research. And that's where I am today. So it's a long journey with a lot of hiccups.
a lot of ups and downs, no doubt, during that period of time. And you've brought those experiences then to writing this book and the UX Research Powerhouse.
Yes, I had the first book, which was, this is my second book, technically. My first book was Practical User Research, How to Integrate User Research to Your Product Development, which I published in 2020. We came out during COVID. And this one is a bit different because the UX research powerhouse is more about leadership, how to have impact, how we can really have a seat at the table and how we need to change a way of thinking and behaving in the organization.
Okay. Keen to learn more about that as well. You describe in your book as the one that you wish you'd had when you're stepping into leadership.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:24
2
What does it take to move from doing UX research to leading it?
0:24–3:07
3
How can researchers align their work with business priorities?
3:07–5:07
4
What mindset shift is necessary for researchers to become strategic leaders?
5:07–6:50
5
How can solo researchers act as leaders and influencers?
6:50–8:08
6
What role does AI play in improving UX research efficiency?
8:08–11:03
7
How can researchers embed insights into decision-making processes?
11:03–13:24
8
What are the essential leadership lessons in UX research?
13:24–23:07
Speakers
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