The Learners Podcast

The UX Research behind Intercom's Fin.AI with Karen Church

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Recently named one of the Business Post Top 100 Women in Irish Tech, Karen Church (VP of Research & Data Science at Intercom) joins Alec Levin to ...

Sneak Peeks for Research Week 🪄 Experimenting with AI as a UXR with Kevin Newton

22 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kevin Newton leads UX Measurement at LinkedIn. In this preview of his upcoming talk at Research Week, he talks about how AI is changing the researcher...

Sneak Peeks for Research Week 🪄 Chatting Growth UXR with Gus Griffin

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gus Griffin (Sr. Strategic Growth Researcher at Figma) joins Alec for a sneak peek of his upcoming Research Week talk. This one’s all about long-ter...

Sneak Peeks for Research Week 🪄 Building Real Relationships with Zachary Schendel

09 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this special episode, Alec sits down with Zachary Schendel, Senior Director of Research at DoorDash, for a preview of his upcoming talk for UXRConf...

Sneak Peeks for Research Week 🪄 Redefining the Research Role with Brad Orego

16 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Brad Orego, Head of Research at Webflow, joins us to chat about their upcoming talk at UXRConf.In this episode, Brad shares how their team is expandin...

Growing Your Confidence in Confidence Intervals with Carl Pearson

10 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Confidence intervals aren’t just a math concept—they’re a key tool for making better decisions in research.In this episode, Alec talks with Car...

Doing the Research with Judd Antin

03 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What does it really mean to “do the research”? Judd Antin joins The Learners Podcast to talk about the mindset, craft, and approach behind great...

Adopting On The Job with Madeline Smith

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Madeline Smith is a UX Researcher at Cisco. Madeline joins the podcast to talk about her choice to adopt, working through the waiting game, and findin...

Designing Design Education with Michael Riddering

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Riddering is the founder of Dive, a creator at Figma Academy and has previously held roles as a founding designer, design lead, and design adv...

From Research to Product and Back Again with Claire Menke

31 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Claire Menke is the Director of Research, Generative AI at Meta. Claire joins the podcast to talk about testing out career transitions as a working pa...

It's Twins!!! with Asha Bhatia and Samuel Henschen

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Asha Bhatia is the Director of Product at HoneyBook. Samuel Henschen is a Sr. UX Researcher at a stealth startup. Together, Asha and Samuel recently w...

Using Gemini's AI for UXR with George Margrove

24 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

George Margrove is a Sr. Principal Psychologist at Workday, and has held a number of interesting roles like Principal Psychologist, Head of Insight, a...

Transitioning into Working Motherhood with Zabrina Hossain

13 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Zabrina Hossain is a product leader previously at Wealthsimple, Shopify, and Snap. Zabrina joins us to talk about her transition into parenthood, disc...

7 Years of Growth in UX Research with Basel Fakhoury

08 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Basel Fakhoury is the Co-Founder and CEO of User Interviews, the user research recruitment platform for teams. Basel joins the Learners podcast to tal...

Research: Building a Valued Executive Research Voice with Bretton Fosbrook

19 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bretton Fosbrook is the Principal Product Researcher at LaunchDarkly, with previous roles at Wealthsimple and FreshBooks. In this episode, we chat abo...

Working Parents : The Challenges of Returning to Work with Athena Petrides

16 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Athena Petrides is a Sr. UXR Lead at Glassdoor, and parent to a 13 month old. Join us as we talk about the challenges of returning to work in a fast p...

Founder: From Problem to Product with Oren Friedman

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Oren Friedman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Rally, a CRM for UXRs. Join us as we talk about his early career working in a different kind of research, t...

Research: Defending NPS with Lucas Puente

22 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Lucas Puente is the VP of Research at Slack, where he focuses on quantitative research. Join us as we talk about sample sizes, standard deviations, an...

Marketing: Marketing in the Age of AI with Lacey Miller

18 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Lacey Miller is the Head of Growth Marketing at Perigon, an AI-powered a context engine that simplifies the complexity around you. Join us as we talk ...

Design: The Changing World of UX Education with Chris Nguyen

13 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Nguyen is a design educator and the Founder of UX Playbook. Join us as we talk about the different journeys into design, how design education is...

Marketing: Strategic Marketing with Liz Egan

01 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Liz Egan is the SVP of Marketing at Chainguard, and has held various marketing leadership roles at companies like Yext, Sprig, and Lattice. Join us as...

Founder: Founder-Led Beta Programs with Brett Bejcek

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Brett Bejcek is a Co-Founder at Limitless, an AI startup that has raised $33M. His previous roles include data science at Spotify, Glowforge and PwC. ...

Marketing: Let's Talk About Branding with Kira Klaas

11 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kira Klaas is the VP of Corporate Marketing at Later. Her previous roles include Global Head of Brand Marketing at Notion, Director of Brand at Brex a...

Research: Discussing a Decade of Change in UXR with Matt Gallivan

11 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Matt Gallivan is an independent research leader with over two decades of experience, with previous roles at Slack, Airbnb and Facebook. Join us as we ...

Enterprise UXR: Impact - Shibani Shah, Director of UX Research at ServiceNow - Enterprise UXR: Research Impact

07 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In B2B companies, there are a ton of critical stakeholders that need to be in the know when you're doing research. That means that there are even more...

UXRConf 2024 - Joris Drayer - Moneyball UXR

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Oakland A's redefined baseball with their unique moneyball strategy: a statistical approach to baseball that used probabilities and a variety of u...

UXRConf 2024 - Madeline Huberth - The Rise of the UX Research Scientist

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With the growth of UX research, many new specialities have emerged. Are we ready for one more?Madeline is a UX Research Scientist at Meta - a new role...

UXRConf 2024 - Christie McAllister - Putting AI to Work for UX Researchers

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There's no doubt that AI is changing the way we do research. New AI tools are popping up all the time, but sometimes they don't fit the bill of what w...

UXRConf 2024 - Sam Ladner - Leading with Strategic Foresight

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When we're bogged down in week after week of tactical research, it can feel like there's no opportunity for blue-sky research. But, that's not true. A...

UXRConf 2024 - Nicole Wright - Efficiency Through Research Blueprints

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mapping customer journeys is something we're all familiar with, but when was the last time you mapped your research practice?Every research practice h...

UXRConf 2024 - Marie Sbrocca - Make it Matter

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On the path to research impact, there are many pitfalls that can get in your way. Some of these challenges are beyond your control, but many are not!M...

Big Research - Megan McLean - Rivers and Roads: Forging Insights for Impact at Spotify

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Planning for research at companies with millions, or even billions of users, can feel like an impossible challenge. There are so many people and so mu...

Enterprise UXR: Strategy - Michelle Takemoto and Warren Davis - Creating Research Impact through Strategic Partnership

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There's no doubt that partnership between research and other functions is pretty important. But, in an enterprise, B2B context, it's even more true.Ho...

UXR LA - Morgan Hammerstrom and Cindy Kim - Social Experience Research

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

You can't research social experiences like any other research project. Social experiences involve more than one person, and that adds a lot of complex...

GOOB - Bri Keenan - Managing the Challenges of Contextual Inquiry

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Getting out of the office to do research has always been a fantastic way to see beyond the customer interview. Watching a customer in their context pr...

Great Research - Andy Warr - Executive Presence: Stories and Lessons Learned Conducting Research with the C-Suite

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Most of us are focused on tactical research to improve the products and services our organizations ship to market. But, product teams aren’t the onl...

UXR LA - Kathryn Campbell - Researching Entertainment: When Fun is the User Experience

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Researching a product that has a clear function is relatively straight-forward. Researching connection, fun, or even just 'vibes', is a lot less so.Ka...

Enterprise UXR: AI - Jessa Anderson and Hayley Mortin - Generative AI and UX Research in the Enterprise

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you're building generative AI applications for everyday consumers, there's room for error. Shipping something that's a bit half-baked, listening to...

Great Research - George Murphy - Your Attention Please: Tips for Research Communication

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If an insight is generated by a researcher, but a stakeholder isn't around to absorb it, does it really make an impact?Communicating new learnings wit...

Great Research - Nizar Saqqar - Impact-Driven User Research: Breaking Barriers and Driving Value

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When Nizar joined Snowflake as the company’s first user researcher, there were questions about the role of user research in driving product impact a...

Great Research - Josh Williams - Unlocking Potential: Strategic Cross-Training to Transform Research Teams

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As research teams change, the burden of research will end up distributed across a wider range of people, both researchers and non-researchers alike.Ho...

Great Research - Claudia Natasia - Building a Scalable Revenue Engine with Research

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As economic headwinds accelerate, the need to generate revenue growth is becoming more and more urgent for most businesses.What role can research play...

Great Research - Judd Antin - Evolving UXR for Greater Impact

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There’s no doubt UX Research is going through a transition right now. But, where are we transitioning from? And where are we moving to?In this talk,...

Great Research - Christelle Ngnoumen - Hypothesis-Driven Innovation: From Insights to Outcomes

03 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One of the inherent challenges with research is the disconnect between the insights we generate and the impact of those insights on the metrics by whi...

Landing the Research Role - Beth Toland, Celeste Ridlen and Summer Kim - Research Executive

02 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Stepping into a leadership role is more than just a switch from one type of manager to another. As a research exec, you're reponsibilities and influen...

Landing the Research Role - Zoë Glas and Louise Beryl - Entry Level Researcher

02 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trying to land your first or second research role? That's a tall task.The hiring process can be confusing, archaic, and arbitrary. In fact, many of th...

Landing the Research Role - Nizar Saqqar and Josh Williams - Research Manager

02 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While often "the next step" on the career ladder, working as a manager couldn't be more different than being a senior IC.Working on performance review...

AI and UX Research 2023 - Jessa Anderson - The Vital Role of UXR in AI Experiences

23 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There aren't a lot of UXRs who've been working in AI development for close to a decade, but there are a few. And one of them is Jessa.Jessa works at S...

AI and UX Research 2023 - Pete Fleming - How is AI changing UX Research?

23 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Of all the roles in a tech organization, UX research might be the one most affected by advances in AI technology. That might leave you, and many other...

AI and UX Research 2023 - Lisa Nash - User Research's Critical Role in AI Development in Self-Driving Cars at Cruise

23 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When you think of AI development, you're probably imagining a bunch of machine learning researchers and software engineers writing code, not something...

AI and UX Research 2023 - Sheana Ahlqvist - Meeting the Moment: Imagining New Research Methods for an AI World

23 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As we develop new products with AI built into them, the capabilities and uniqueness of each experience expands dramatically. Given that, how should ou...

AI and UX Research 2023 - Ricardo Prada - UX Research in the AI Age: How Our History Can Guide Our Future

23 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

AI has been around for a lot longer than you think - it just hasn't be advancing quite as quickly in the past as it has recently.As a UXR, what do you...

UXRConf 2023 - Emily Wurgler - Addition by Subtraction

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As UX researchers, we're often doing work on new features. New additions to the product, new products for new users... new, new, new, and add, add, ad...

UXRConf 2023 - Daniela Matos - Research in Low-Income Communities

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When dealing with individuals from marginalized or disadvantaged communities, it's important to be extra cautious with how you recruit, look, and beha...

UXRConf 2023 - Lauren Stern - Researching Personality in Automation

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

More than ever before, humans are going to be interacting with robots and AIs in a human-like way. As researchers, now is the time to start thinking a...

UXRConf 2023 - Jordan Ross - Monetization Research

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One of the greatest levers for impact within a company is making improvements to monetization. Updating pricing, repackaging the product, etc. But, wh...

UXRConf 2023 - Savina Hawkins - How AI Models Will Change UX Research

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

AI is going to change the research game, there's no doubt about that. The questions we have on the forefront are now: how will research change, and wh...

UXRConf 2023 - Heather Breslow - Building A Values Aligned Research Career

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For UX researchers, our work can be an emotional sink. That makes career planning extra hard, when you're constantly worrying about relationships with...

UXRConf 2023 - Josh Williams - Too Many Tools?

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There has never been more choice for researchers when it comes to tooling than there is today. Tools are more powerful, convenient, and cost-effective...

UXRConf 2023 - Hannah Barbosa - Metadata for Mega Impact

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Often, when it comes to executive stakeholder relationships, we feel like we're speaking a different language. And most of the time, we are.Executives...

UXRConf 2023 - Lauren Ruben - Research Democratization: Take 2

19 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tensions still run high when it comes to discussing 'research democratization'. Should we let our teammates do research, or not?Lauren argues that the...

Good Research 2022 - Cristen Torrey - Building a Research Practice from the Ground Up

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There are few people who've built a research practice from scratch, and even fewer who've done it at a company as iconic as Figma. But, that's exactly...

Good Research 2022 - Evan Walden - Research from the CEOs Point of View

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

At the end of the day, it's the leader of the company, often the CEO, who holds the power in the organizations we work in. That means all of our work...

Good Research 2022 - Behzod Sirjani - My Definition of Good Research

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As a former ReOps leader at Slack, and having worked with dozens of tech executives, Behzod has developed a strong taste for research. How should it w...

Good Research 2022 - Janna Bray - Relationship Building for Research

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Relationships are key to research impact, mostly because, as researchers, we're used to influencing decision making, not necessarily making decisions ...

Good Research 2022 - Christina Janzer - Creating and Growing a Research Department

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There are few research executives that are as experienced as Christina Janzer. Christina was tasked with building the original Facebook research team,...

Good Research 2022 - Raz Schwartz - Planning Research Projects

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Doing the research is only part of the work. Planning the research... well that's a whole other ballgame altogether, and one you deeply need to unders...

Good Research 2022 - Raz Sadeq Keys - Product Research in the New Era

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Over the past few years, a lot has changed in the world. COVID, lockdowns, economic turmoil, and more. How does research need to adapt?In this talk, R...

Good Research 2022 - Emily Chu - A Deep Dive on Qualitative Analysis

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Most people who start off in research know how to have a conversation and ask the important questions they've prepared, so doing a user interview can ...

Good Research 2022 - Justin Threlkeld - Preparing to Research

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How do you know that you're doing the right research? What are the factors that might indicate your research is successful? What are the signals that ...

Good Research 2022 - Alec Levin - Business Basics for Researchers

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The majority of the time, UX research sits within the context of a for-profit business, often a corporation. So, it stands to reason that if you want ...

DesignConf 2022 - Rachel Renock and Konval Matin - Startup Founding and Funding

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We all know that designers can make amazing founders, just look at mega-prolific companies like Airbnb. But, even though we see the archetypical desig...

DesignConf 2022 - Lucy Denton - Wireframing Companies for Growth

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As designers, we wireframe products... but, what about wireframing companies? Can we take the same ideas we use to conceptualize new experiences for c...

DesignConf 2022 - Tom Loosemore - What Everyone Gets Wrong About The Gov.UK Design System

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As far as design systems go, the Gov.UK design system is about as famous as it gets. However, the creators of this particular design system are concer...

DesignConf 2022 - Nova Nicole - Care for Creatives

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As creative professionals, we're often putting a lot of ourselves into our work. And usually that's great! Until it's not.Pressure from team members, ...

DesignConf 2022 - Patrick Hertzog - The Business Value Framework for Designers

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As designers, the "business side of things" can feel a bit arbitrary, confusing, and, sometimes, just downright unpleasant. But, having a solid unders...

UXRConf 2022 - Christelle Ngnoumen - Integrating Behavioural Science

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Many of our research methods have roots in academic fields of social science, like ethnography, anthropology, HCI, and more. But, what about behaviour...

UXRConf 2022 - Deirdre Costello - Superpowers Aren't Free: The Price Of Empathy

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Most researchers have a keen eye and ear, able to sense how people around them feel. Those abilities are clearly a positive for our jobs, but they com...

UXRConf 2022 - Jessica Baratta - Designing Large-Scale Quantitative Research Programs

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you work in a large enterprise, the amount of user interaction with your product is enormous. While small sample-size qualitative research is great...

UXRConf 2022 - Danny Spitzberg - Creating Standards: Our Secret Job as Researchers

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Often when we think of the outcomes from our work, it's focused on insights. Insights for PMs, insights for designers, insights for leadership. Danny ...

UXRConf 2022 - Zoe Glas - Are You There, G-d? It's Me, UX Research

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We hear a lot about population diversity across many areas: income, geography, interests, age, gender, and more. But, there's one that's rarely ever t...

UXRConf 2022 - Georgia Rakusen - Web3 Needs UX Research

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If there's any field in tech that's desperately in need of talent that understands human nature better, it's the 'web3' or crypto space. Incredible ne...

UXRConf 2022 - Lucas Puente and Ashley Lagaron - Surveys Are More Powerful Than You Think

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Surveys have a bad rap. But, if we think critically about them, is it because they're bad tools, or because we aren't using them correctly?Lucas and A...

UXRConf 2022 - Katie Groh - Preview Releases: A Method for Technical Products

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you're making products for consumers, traditional methods like usability tests and concepts tests are going to work great. But what if you're worki...

UXRConf 2022 - Brandi Luedeman - The Levelling Guide for Research Career Growth

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Figuring out your career progression as a researcher is a confusing and daunting task. It often feels like the field is changing faster than we can ke...

UXRConf 2022 - Kakau Fonseca and Carlos Hernández Tellez - Research Tactics for Growth Teams

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If we're keeping it 100%, business leaders can struggle appreciating the value of UX. I mean, they sort of care, but what they really care about is so...

UXRConf 2022 - Claudia Natasia - The UXR Valuation Model

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Measuring the impact of UX research is notoriously hard. Measuring it's financial impact? Forget about it.Or maybe... not? Claudia is a UXR Director w...

UXRConf 2021 - Vidhika Bansal - The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to UX Research That Lasts

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

So much about successful research work comes down to great communication. But, how often do you get the chance to level up this crucial skill?Playing ...

UXRConf 2021 - Pacha Chen - Cybersecurity UXR: Complex Applications and Expert Users

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Much of the research we do as UX researchers follows a fairly standard approach. Don't tell the user too much about what you're building so you don't ...

UXRConf 2021 - Taylor Kim and Lisa Madokoro - Building The Future of Work Using UXR Skills

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Naturally, most of our research skills and efforts are put towards creating better products and services. However, those same skills can be put toward...

UXRConf 2021 - Colette Kolenda - The Strategy Behind Building a Strategic Research Team at Spotify

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tactical research is important. Is it fun? Sometimes. Would we rather be doing strategic research 99% of the time? Heck yes.The path to a place where ...

UXRConf 2021 - Victoria Sosik - Impact and UX Research: What Is It and How Do We Know We've Achieved It?

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Researchers know they add value to the teams they're on. But tracking that value... can be tough. The impact of our work often doesn't show up in easi...

UXRConf 2021 - Evelina Deleanu - Into the Wild! Surviving Research Where Few Go

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There's field research, and then there's field research. Lucky for us, Evelina is here to help us prepare for the latter.Evelina leads UX at Chai One,...

UXRConf 2021 - Dave Hora - The Research Skills We Need to Succeed

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The role of the UX researcher is evolving. There's less clarity about what it takes to get to the next stage of your research career. What skills am I...

UXRConf 2021 - Satsuko VanAntwerp - Align Your Career To Your Ikigai

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our work as researchers is more than just a job. For many of us, it feels like a calling, work we were always supposed to be doing.But, as with everyo...

UXRConf 2021 - Abby Hoy Baylen - The Research-Led Beta is a Mixed Methods Paradise

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Beta programs in product development are nothing new. Deploying new software or hardware features, and then talking to users about them, has been arou...

UXRConf 2021 - Vanessa Wiegel - How UXR Can Shape the Industrial Design of Physical Products

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hardware research is infinitely more difficult to do than software research. You have a physical object to manage, that often has a digital component ...

UXRConf 2021 - Sheri Byrne-Haber - UXR with Participants with Disabilities

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Let's face it, UX Researchers don't do enough accessibility research. We have lots of good excuses, but now it's a legal requirement to make sure our ...

UXRConf 2021 - Molly Stevens and Lukas Vermeer - Power of Partnership: Research and Experimentation FTW

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One major critique of UX Research is that it's often "too obscure" to tie new insights back to the bottom line. How do qualitative insights translate ...

UXRConf 2021 - Meg Roebling - Setting Up a Research Repository That Will Actually Be Useful for Your Team

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sourcing a tool to create a research repository is easy. Implementing a research repository in a way that's compliant with legal, is used in a consist...