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Judd Antin has spent 15 years leading research and design teams at companies like Yahoo, Meta, and Airbnb. His direct reports have gone on to lead user research at Figma, Notion, Slack, Robinhood, Duolingo, AllTrails, and more. In our conversation, we unpack the transformation that the user-research field is experiencing. Specifically:

\u2022 Where user research went wrong over the past decade

\u2022 The three types of research\u2014macro, middle-range, and micro\u2014and the purpose of each

\u2022 How to effectively integrate researchers into the product development process

\u2022 The \u201cuser-centered performance\u201d phenomenon and why it\u2019s a waste of time

\u2022 Common tropes about PMs, from researchers

\u2022 The ideal ratio of researchers in a company

\u2022 Why Judd says NPS is useless, and what to use instead

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ux-research-reckoning-is-here

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Where to find Judd Antin:

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juddantin/

\u2022 Website: https://juddantin.com/

\u2022 Blog: https://medium.com/onebigthought

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Where to find Lenny:

\u2022 Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

\u2022 X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

\u2022 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Judd\u2019s background

(04:16) Critiques and responses to Judd\u2019s post \u201cThe UX Research Reckoning Is Here\u201d

(07:33) The state of user research

(08:53) Macro, middle-range, and micro research

(14:05) What teams get wrong when it comes to research

(15:46) The importance of integrating research from the beginning

(17:30) Traits of great researchers

(19:53) Advice for evaluating user researchers

(21:10) Balancing business and product focus

(23:55) User-centered performance

(26:42) The role of intuition in product development

(30:15) Checking your gut instincts

(32:54) Common tropes about PMs, from researchers

(41:02) A/B testing vs. user research

(43:15) Hindsight bias and narrative fallacy

(44:55) Making recommendations based on research

(47:26) Advice for teams on how to leverage researchers

(51:18) How product managers can be better partners to user researchers

(56:53) The ideal ratio of researchers in a company

(59:43) Empowering user researchers to drive impact

(01:03:39) The limitations of NPS as a metric

(01:06:48) The risks of dogfooding

(01:08:51) Lightning round

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Referenced:

\u2022 Matt Gallivan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgallivan/

\u2022 Janna Bray on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janna-bray-a4046a25/

\u2022 Celeste Ridlen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/celesteridlen/

\u2022 Rebecca Gray on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccagray2/

\u2022 Hannah Pileggi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-pileggi-43169314/

\u2022 Louise Beryl on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-beryl-13225833/

\u2022 The UX Research Reckoning Is Here: https://medium.com/onebigthought/the-ux-research-reckoning-is-here-c63710ea4084

\u2022 The end of the \u201cfree money\u201d era: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/11/techscape-zirp-tech-boom

\u2022 Cognitive biases: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases

\u2022 IDEO design thinking: https://designthinking.ideo.com/

\u2022 Everything Is Obvious: How Common Sense Fails Us: https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Obvious-Common-Sense-Fails/dp/0307951790

\u2022 Patrick Collison\u2019s tweet: https://twitter.com/patrickc/status/1443215022029619200?lang=en

\u2022 Brian Chesky on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianchesky/

\u2022 Brian Chesky on Lenny\u2019s Podcast: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-cheskys-new-playbook/

\u2022 NPS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_promoter_score

\u2022 What is CSAT and how do you measure it?: https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/customer/what-is-csat/

\u2022 Michael Murakami on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhmurakami/

\u2022 Bad Leadership: What It Is, How It Happens, Why It Matters: https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Leadership-Happens-Matters-Common/dp/1591391660

\u2022 Demon Copperhead: https://www.amazon.com/Demon-Copperhead-Novel-Barbara-Kingsolver/dp/0063251922

\u2022 All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries: https://www.amazon.com/All-Systems-Red-Murderbot-Diaries/dp/0765397536

\u2022 The Last of Us on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-last-of-us

\u2022 Belay glasses: https://www.amazon.com/Belay-Glasses-Climbing-Comfortable-Sturdy/dp/B08GSBYDKQ/

\u2022 Epictetus: Control What You Can\u2014Especially Yourself: https://www.shortform.com/blog/epictetus-control/

\u2022 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change: https://www.amazon.com/Habits-Highly-Effective-People-Powerful/dp/0743269519

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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.