3 advantages of doing UX Research in English as a second language

Here's why it can surprisingly work better than you expect.

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

Visual designers tend to be language-free when it comes to the tools they employ and their end products. Developers do use programming languages like Python, JavaScript, and C++, but they aren't asked to be "native speakers". Yet, unlike their designer and developer colleagues, UX Researchers are supposed to have a tight relationship with language:

At the core of UX Research lies understanding users' needs, wants, frustrations, emotions, and everything in between. To do solid research, UX Researchers need to be sophisticated communicators who use language effectively both when engaging with participants, sharing insights, and making recommendations.

This raises the following question: Can a UX Researcher conduct a study and share their results well enough in a foreign language? Are there advantages of having a UX Researcher in the team that is a non-native speaker?

As a Turkish, Italian, and Spanish speaker who does UX Research mostly in English, I'll bring into your attention all the ways through which approaching your job from a different language base could help you differentiate your work, and create a comparative advantage for your team(s).

1. Asking the wisest questions a.k.a. the most stupid ones

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

During a discussion on understanding good design, Don Norman (the father of UX) explores the value of stupid questions. He says that most designers are afraid of asking them. People are worried about being perceived as though they don't know something elementary or common sense.

But because of the fear of asking stupid questions, if designers don't push boundaries, and reconsider their most basic assumptions, making radical changes becomes highly unlikely. In…