
What makes a valuable UX researcher?
This follows on from my recent post, What makes a valuable UX designer?
Let’s start from the assumption that you are a UX researcher. This probably means (never assume) that you want to be a researcher, care about humans, have empathy and were trained if not in an academic institution, then by someone else who maybe was.
You have rigour, you have methodologies, you have empathy and you have listening skills. Without these, you probably shouldn’t be doing research.

Ok great, now how do you become a valuable researcher – to your team, your organisation and yourself?
Here are the additional skills I’ve seen add the most value to teams and projects, over my last 15 years in the industry.
Be a strategist
A research study or user test is not an island. For each study, be clear on what questions are being asked and why, where it fits in the project, what went before and what will change as a result of your work. Be able to prioritise your findings and contribute to the next iteration rather than just an objective list of what is wrong.
Be interested outside of research
You need to understand the team around you, their skills, their needs – they are also your users. You need to understand everyone’s role on the project and the wider project objectives. Researchers who drop in and out of projects without understanding the impact of their work on the rest of the project and team miss an opportunity to be critically helpful and involved.
Be persuasive
Being a good researcher is often assumed to be about shutting up and listening to users and stakeholders, but being a good research consultant is knowing when to make your voice (and your users’ voices) heard across a project and not being afraid to evangelize user needs.
Be proactive
It is easy for researchers to get sidelined or find themselves being an add-on, rather than part of the day-to-day team.
Think about how you can add value even if you’re not actually doing user testing. Is there other research you can do? Are there any learnings from other projects which would benefit the design or strategy teams?

Be a teacher
The best way to gain advocates for research is by teaching those working with you about your process, methods and reasoning, as well as the things you are learning about user needs and behaviours. Good UX people are interested in learning about users and refining their craft, no matter their specialism. And the best advocates for research I’ve ever found have actually been clients who see the value through being drawn deeply into the process and findings.
Be a project manager
You need to understand the logistics of research – plan how you are going to get users in and out of your test space, consent forms and incentives. Either do it yourself, or make sure someone is doing it for you. Don’t leave this to chance. Participant experience is part of the process.

Be your own tech support
You need to know your tools, how they fit together and how they work. You need to maintain them and keep on top of the industry to see if there’s anything better out there for your needs.
No one else is going to do this for you unless you are lucky enough to have research ops, and even then your self-respect should make you do it for yourself anyway.
Be a self-critic
You’re not just examining an experience, you are also exposing your own research skills. The majority of great researchers I know find ways to avoid listening back to their own interviews (we’re busy and it’s sometimes a bit cringeworthy), however this can be the most educational use of your time. Even better, listen to or watch other researchers’ videos as well!
Be resilient
Unless you are very lucky, or work in academia, you will need to be a pragmatist around research methods. It is inevitable that you will end up at some point in your career doing work that is less robust – be prepared to adjust your process to fit in and add value, without losing perspective of what good looks like. If this means maintaining a network of expert researchers to keep your sanity while you work on an unsatisfying project, do it. Don’t allow yourself to accept mediocrity as the norm. Be pragmatic without losing your (research) soul.
If you can achieve these, you’ll be more valuable than 90% of your peers. Well done.
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