10 UX researchers to follow

Photo by Tyler Nix

If you’re just getting starting in UX research, it can be difficult to get a bearing on who’s out there to give you guidance or inspiration. Here’s a short list of ten people I follow and keep up to date with because of their contributions to the field of UX or human-centered research.

Of course there are many, many more (please share!), but these are the people I’ve been following over the years, in my own very nerdy way 🤓:

1. Elizabeth Churchill: As a UX director at Google, Churchill is a brilliant inspiration for diving deep into understanding human behavior.
   Twitter, LinkedIn, MixedMethods episode, website

2. Tomer Sharon: Constantly sharing his research expertise with the UX and tech community, Sharon is definitely someone to learn from.
Validating Product Ideas, Twitter, LinkedIn

3. Saswati Saha Mitra: Saswati is a leader in bringing human-centered research into the context of international markets.
Medium, LinkedIn

4. Steve Portigal: Learn how to ask questions in the right way, his book and podcast are great ways to get started.
Interviewing Users, Twitter, LinkedIn

Dollars to Donuts by Steve Portigal on Apple Podcasts

5. Erika Hall: Hall discusses how designers and researchers can ask better questions and how to conduct research in a lean and effective way.
Medium, Twitter, LinkedIn

The 9 Rules of Design Research

6. Sara Cambridge: A researcher on Material Design, Cambridge speaks about product development collaboration. She’s also a great inspiration for getting your dream research job.
MixedMethods podcast, Twitter, LinkedIn

7. Aryel Cianflone: I’ve learned a lot from listening to Cianflone’s Mixed Methods podcast. If you want to contribute to the UX research community, follow her, watch her conference talks, and learn. 🙌
Medium, Twitter, LinkedIn

8. Michael Margolis: As a fellow lone researcher, Margolis has helped me learn how to be resourceful to effectively bring insights to product.
Medium, Twitter, LinkedIn

Building Rapport - Michael Margolis, GV

9. Matt Gallivan: From Gallivan, learn how to navigate and provide impactful research at some of tech’s most successful companies.
Twitter, LinkedIn

10. Tricia Wang: She defined the concept of “thick data”, a stellar way of bringing human insight into the design process where big data might rule.
Twitter, LinkedIn, website

Are there others I should definitely be following? Get in touch! 👈