Becoming a UX researcher: my experience and things I’ve learned along the way

Tatiana Vlahovic
UX Collective
Published in
6 min readDec 24, 2017
Image by TheDigitalArtist via Pixabay

At the time I wrote this post, I was on the User Experience (UX) Research Team at Udemy (a global online teaching and learning marketplace), and prior to that, I was a UX researcher at Facebook. I love the field of UX research, and I frequently receive questions about how I got into UX research and what one can do to prepare for a UX research career. Here I share a high-level overview of my journey to becoming a UX researcher and things I’ve learned along the way to prepare for this career. I organized this post by frequently asked questions that I’ve gotten and observed.

Question: How did you get into UX research?

I made my way from academic research into industry research. Like many UX researchers I know today, my path into the field wasn’t straightforward.

When I finished my Bachelor’s in Cognitive Science at Vassar College and my Master’s in Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Oxford, UX research wasn’t a career option that many students knew about (I didn’t even know that UX research existed). All I knew was that I loved conducting research, but I wanted my research to have an applied impact on the world beyond academic publications. After working as a research assistant at the University of Miami Center on Aging (a center that studied the intersection of health and technology use among older adults), I began a PhD program in Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon with a focus on online communities.

Almost 2 years into my PhD program, I got my first taste of applied UX research: I received an opportunity to do a summer internship with the Facebook UX Research Team (for more information about UX research at Facebook, see website and Facebook Research Medium posts). This internship was a pivotal moment in my career where I saw I was highly energized by collaborating with other researchers and cross-functional team members to work on product.

In the months after my internship, I made a decision (with the full support of my academic advisors and PhD program) to finish my program at the Master’s level. I subsequently took a full-time position as a UX researcher at Facebook, where I conducted qualitative and quantitative research for over 2 years on the Sharing and Applied Machine Learning teams.

I then transitioned into the EdTech industry and joined the growing UX Research Team at Udemy (for more information about UX research at Udemy, see Medium posts by Udemy’s research lead/manager, Claire Menke). At Udemy, I was the primary researcher on the instructor experience.

Question: Do I need a PhD to be a UX researcher?

No. While a PhD is more relevant if you want to pursue academic research in academia or industry research groups, it’s not at all necessary to get a PhD to go into UX research. Your work experience in applied research (i.e., your strength in research methodologies, analysis, write-ups/presentations, and explaining the implications of your research on product strategy and/or product design) is more important than the level of your academic degree.

Question: What fields do UX researchers come from, and what kind of a degree do I need to go into UX research?

You don’t need a degree in a specific field to be a UX researcher. However, you do need to acquire a deep knowledge of people’s behavior and technology use, whether that’s through work experience and/or school.

UX researchers generally come from backgrounds such as psychology, human-computer interaction, anthropology, sociology, communications, information science, and other behavioral fields.

UX researchers often have specific research methods they’re highly skilled at (e.g., surveying, one-on-one interviewing), but they also have experience in and the ability to learn other methods outside of their strength area(s). Note: UX research sometimes gets confused with usability testing. While usability testing is one thing that UX researchers can do, researchers can use a variety of qualitative and/or quantitative research methods to answer research questions. This article by Christian Rohrer provides an excellent overview of methods used by UX researchers.

In addition, check out this post by Yuling An for stories about how people from different backgrounds made their way into UX research. For students navigating their undergraduate careers, Omar K. El-Etr’s post shares his journey about moving from computer science to UX research (and recovering from imposter syndrome in the process).

Question: How do I prepare for a UX research career?

Regardless of where you are right now, pay attention to products and be curious about them (if you haven’t already!). For an example of product thinking, read Daniela Retelny’s post where she reviews her favorite physical technology products from 2017. When you think of or use a product, reflect on it by asking yourself “why,” “how,” “what,” “where,” and “when” questions (also see the “why” questions section of this post by Konstantin Escher). I provide examples of questions below that you can ask about any product (where product can broadly represent software, hardware, a service, consumer goods, etc.):

  • Why does a product a offer a good/bad user experience for one group of people but not another group?
  • How does this product meet or not meet needs that people have?
  • What are pain points that people have while using this product?
  • Where are people when they use this product?
  • When or in what situations do people use this product?

Look if you or your contacts know anyone who works in UX research, and chat with them to learn about their experience, see if they know other people they could introduce you to, and/or if they know of work opportunities that might be a good fit for you. You can also check out the User Experience Research Professionals Association, and see if you have a local chapter or upcoming events near you.

The answer to this question also depends on where you are now. For example, are you an academic researcher looking to work in industry UX research? Are you already working in industry but in a different role from UX research?

Sub-question: How do I move from academic research into industry research?

If you’re an academic researcher who would like to try UX research or become a UX researcher, the most important thing is to get applied industry research experience where:

  • You learn how to collaborate with and succinctly communicate research findings to cross-functional partners who aren’t researchers (e.g., product managers, designers, engineers, content strategists, marketing, etc.)
  • Your work will have an impact on product strategy (e.g., what kind of product to build) and/or product design decisions (e.g., how to build a product)

Some ways to acquire industry research experience are participating in an industry research internship program, contracting for a specific industry research project while you are still in academia (some professors have even done this on their sabbaticals!), or conducting a volunteer research project with a local organization. However, if that’s not possible right now, or you’re in a highly theoretical academic field, seek out professors and labs in your university who do more applied research and find out how you can get involved.

For advice about landing an industry research job after graduate school, take a look at this post by Judd Antin.

Sub-question: I work in a non-research role at my company. How do I get involved in or learn more about UX research?

If you already work in industry and your company has a UX, design, or market research team, consider speaking with your manager and the research team’s manager to see how you can get involved in research projects. Check out Spencer Lanoue’s advice on shadowing and taking notes for experienced researchers in this post. If you don’t have researchers at your organization, then consider conducting your own applied research project. You could do research on something related to your role at your organization, or even a passion project outside of work! Also try searching for groups/labs in local universities that conduct applied research, and see if you can volunteer with them to get hands-on experience.

Have more questions? Do you want to become a UX researcher but aren’t sure how to break into the field?

If you have more questions, feel free to get in touch on tatianavlahovic.com! In addition, I co-organized a virtual panel with Michele Ronsen and Curiosity Tank about the transition from academic research to industry UX research: “What I wish I knew before starting a career in user research.” This panel has a great deal of advice and resources for people making this transition, but the content is relevant to anyone who wants to learn more about UX research. Check out the panel video and panel resources on Curiosity Tank.

The beliefs and statements included in this article are my own opinions, and do not necessarily reflect those of my current nor prior employers.

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Published in UX Collective

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Written by Tatiana Vlahovic

Founder & Leadership Coach @ Nurturing Clarity, LLC

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