#UXRConf Preview: Meet Noam Segal
#ama with seasoned UX researcher, Noam Segal on the North Star of research
Before the 2019 UX Research Conference in June, UXRC will be a hosting a series of Ask Me Anything conversations (#AMA) with some of our Conference speakers. We want to give UXR’s the opportunity to pick the brains of some research greats through our Slack community!
The first AMA was today with seasoned researcher, Noam Segal.
Noam was born and raised in Israel, where he began his career in UX researching and designing missile defense systems. He studied psychology in college, and moved to Urbana-Champaign, Illinois where he completed his PhD in psychology. He’s since worked in several companies in UX Research roles, including at Airbnb, Intercom, and currently at Wealthfront.
On June 7th, Noam’s talk on the main stage will be about striving for a child’s mindset with research. Here’s what Noam had to say today.
How do you share your research findings: Do you have something similar to Polaris, do you create personas, journey maps etc.? — Fabian Boehm
My thinking on this has changed with time, and today I’m a huge believer in democratizing research across the org. To me, the question these days is not how do I share my findings, but rather how do I maximize everyone’s involvement throughout the process, such that by the time a project comes to a close, we’re well aligned. That said, I definitely still document and present research in a variety of ways, and I do go on “roadshows” with research, to each cross-functional team involved in the research. A couple of thoughts on this:
- Showcase the PEOPLE, the human experience. Showcase video, physical artifacts from the research, quotes. I do my best to bring their experience “to life”.
- Active consumption of research is better than semi-passive reading of some doc or spreadsheet of insights. By that I mean that when possible, I recommend something we’re working on right now for a project — creating an experiential mini-museum of insights.
Involve non-researchers in every stage of the research, from planning, through the execution, synthesis, everything. Teams I work with are rarely surprised by my insights these days, because they are OUR insights. It’s OUR research. What matters is to bring research to life in an experiential fashion that’s hard to ignore and easy to appreciate and consume.
When performing design research (generative, explorative research), how do you build rapport with interviewees so that they open up about this very complex topic? (I’ve been working in this sector in a UX research role since 3+ years, and I still struggle with that.) — Fabian Boehm
Great question. First, I’d say the medium is crucial. Some topics require in-person interaction. Others are OK to do on video. Others on the phone. At Wealthfront, before I joined we mostly did remote video calls. This is not ideal, especially for complex or sensitive topics as you note. So, my first suggestion is to fully explore different mediums, both moderated and unmoderated.
In the past, I was trained in the interpretation of non-verbal behavior. This has been one of the most valuable skills I’ve picked up in my professional career. Building rapport means building a deep understanding of the person in front of you among other things, and that’s much easier to do when you understand what they’re saying to you beyond the verbal realm.
Today more than ever, I also begin any session absolutely stressing how much I value my participant’s privacy and trust, and explain EXACTLY how their data will be stored and used. I also clarify that they can share as much or as little as they’re comfortable with, and it’s worked for me.
And finally, I think a great intro exercise can make all the difference in the world. We recently ran group sessions, and a colleague of mine suggested we ask each participant to sketch the person to their left. It worked LIKE A CHARM. Everyone was suddenly so much more relaxed, happy, interacting with each other. It was fabulous. Never underestimate the effect of a fun exercise.
I’d love to know more about your experience working at Airbnb — its well known for being very design/research driven (vs. DS/PM driven). How was your experience there, and how did the UX culture compare to other tech companies (or companies you’ve worked in before)? —Shreya Gupta
You’re very welcome, it’s my pleasure!
I don’t know this as a fact, but I’m pretty confident that the Airbnb research team is one of the largest research teams in tech, and one of the fastest growing. That may indeed be partially because Airbnb IS very design driven IMO, and we were absolutely given phenomenal support, resources and ownership. My experience was amazing, and I get excited because Airbnb is sponsoring the conference and many of my former colleagues will be there.
A couple of additional reflections on my experiences there:
- The mentorship and inspiration I got at Airbnb were invaluable, and I truly cherish them. The earlier in your career you can join an amazing team like Airbnb’s, the better. It’s some of the best design and research education you can get, and I am fortunate to have spent time there. I simply can’t stress enough how important this is!
- I got to work with brilliant data scientists and PM’s at Airbnb, and Airbnb has one of the best experimentation platforms in tech. I think the contrast between design driven vs. DS/PM driven may be mistaken. Ultimately, RESEARCH is almost always either under design OR product in an org. There are benefits and issues with both of those possibilities, which I’m happy to discuss if it’s of interest.
Anyways, whether design driven or not, I felt that at Airbnb research was a foundational part of every project, and appreciated as a function. It’s a culture unlike others I’ve been part of. For example, in the sense that at Airbnb EVERYTHING is designed beautifully, and the level of storytelling is off the charts. In other companies, you see a much leaner approach to research and its presentation, and in some cases that can make it harder to have an impact.
How do you manage career progression of researchers: Junior, Senior, Lead, Director etc.? — Fabian Boehm
Well first, I think that the issue of how to level a new researcher on the team is really complex, and companies often get it wrong. Sorry for being captain obvious, but to progress you also have to start somewhere, and too often that starting point is not the right one. It’s a real challenge to assess someone’s initial level, and there’s still plenty of bias coming into that decision.
Then when it comes to PROGRESSION, I think that transparency around expectations is critical, and I have failed at this in the past on occasion. Levelling and other such docs should be available to anyone, anytime.
From there, it’s crucial to build out a personalized plan for each researcher on the team, and figure out actionable goals for the quarter/year.
What are most excited for in the UX research field? Is there something that you think will “boom” in the next few years? — Ali Angco
Awesome question.
I’m in the AR/VR/Mixed reality “believer” camp, and I hope that in the future these technologies could enable researchers to conduct remote in-person research if that makes sense. To create an immersive, collaborative research experience remotely! That would enable teams like ours to scale up our research tremendously, without the costs and logistics involved in travel and field research.
I wonder if that idea is heretic to some people.
I’m also curious to see what tools are developed for a more rigorous analysis of qual data. With tremendous advancements in natural language processing, perhaps we’ll finally get better tools for analysing and synthesizing conversations we have with our users.
I’m wondering whether your team documents anything in particular during the research process to track success or impact of projects in the long term? — Stefan Jovanovic
It’s so hard to do. I mean, I’ve looked at how often research is consumed as a metric. Or participation in research sessions. Or other metrics that speak mostly to the involvement of people in the company with the research. But it’s almost impossible to attribute a product change to research directly, because so many factors go into a decision.
So as much as I love metrics and data, often I’m left with a mention from the leadership team, or a pat on the back from my manager, and maybe that’s good enough. I also look at user/client feedback once a product has shipped. I look for both validation of research findings, but also ways in which findings are possibly invalidated. That’s a solid way to check whether the research ended up sending the team in a positive direction.
Is there one north star or guiding principle you follow in your work as a researcher/research leader? — Gregg Bernstein
Yep — that researchers should look to their users, not Polaris.
I’m saying this partly in humor because so many projects are named Polaris, including 2(!) at Wealthfront..
But also seriously, because though I believe researchers should be well aware of the business strategy, marketing, competition and other realities of their companies, I even more strongly believe that researchers have an obligation first and foremost to users, and being their voice (along with other teams who are user/customer facing).
Companies always have their North Stars, visions, goals, metrics etc. But once in a while, you may find that those things are not well aligned with what users actually need. I always choose to focus on that first, and not get too caught up in other things.
In the context of building a research team, what qualities or characteristics do you look for in researchers? What skills are you helping designers and others who do research develop further? — Carrie Heffner
I’m writing a set of Medium articles on this, coming soon. Here’s a few things:
- If you’re passionate about something, there’s probably a company workin’ on it. I hope to see that if you come to ME, you’re passionate about Wealthfront and what we’re trying to accomplish. I hope to see that you understand our mission and the rationale behind it, and that you are focused on that above all else.
- I’m looking for adaptability. More than ever, our work is a highly iterative process, and you need to be able to make tough decisions, disengage and try new things.
- I’m looking for people who have a “hill they’re willing to die on.” trong perspectives and a clear voice.
- I’m looking for people who are excellent communicators and narrative builders, but who also stay true to the data to the best of their ability.
I’ve helped people level up in a variety of ways, for example I was trained quite heavily in quant methods and stats. Survey science for example is a complex topic, and often designers / PM’s make mistakes that are costly. I’ve helped people learn more about that topic through classes and workshops.
I’ve also been both a student and a teacher on softer skills such as the narrative/storytelling bit. Even the best research in the world can go unnoticed and unused if it’s not packaged well.
Honestly though, I feel like I have learned much more than I have imparted, and I’m happy to say that continues to be the case. I work with some pretty phenomenal people!
What advice would you give to students breaking into UX Research relating to skills they should focus on, areas they should study or anything else that comes to mind? Also do you consider graduate school in a related field such as HCI or Psych as necessary education to be a good researcher or a nice to have? — Jarryullah Ahmad
Awesome question. Some thoughts:
- I do think some advanced education in a related field is valuable. My PhD was incredibly valuable, though ironically I don’t think my professors would agree with that or believe it. We all have our constraints and obviously there are costs to advanced education. But if its a possibility for someone, I would suggest going for it.
- Junior people tend to over index with their focus on “hard” skills or tools, whereas I feel “soft skills” are actually more important. So just as an example, if you showcase an amazing ability to visualize data in R, but show a complete lack of humility and learning ability — you ain’t going to work with me.
- Here is the best tip I can give you — if you want to break into the field, make your interviewers feel as if you are already working with them. Do your research. Deeply understand the product. Deeply understand the space. Deeply understand the competition. Deeply understand who your interviewers are. Construct a narrative that looks and feels like something someone AT the company would be presenting. If you hold yourself to that bar, you’ll break in, and the rest is much, much easier.
You mentioned you’re a techno-optimist. How do you maintain that optimism in the face of tech’s many issues? What can researchers and others in the tech community do to make tech work for everyone? —Carrie Heffner
That is a marvellous, tough question. These days I choose to work for companies whose mission and values are well aligned not just with my own values, but everyone else’s too. At Wealthfront, we can only succeed and flourish if our clients do as well, and our product should only lead people to plan for a better life, and invest for a better life. I’m proud to be part of that, and I’m optimistic about our future.
That said, there are indeed many issues we’re facing, can’t ignore that. Researchers are often naturally humble and open to feedback and ideas. I think that among other things we need to spread that around our orgs, and remind people who we’re doing this all for, and what THEY need to thrive rather than what WE need to increase revenue, IPO or all buy a Tesla. The fact is, companies will probably reach those milestones BECAUSE they align themselves with their users and the greater good. I also think part of that humility needs to be an openness to regulation.
One last thing — I chose to apply to this conference with a talk that isn’t about a particular research technique or tool, but rather a mindset. I think that the only way we can make tech work for everyone is if we consider the broader ways in which we think and act that go beyond our profession. I hope my talk will inspire that and be helpful to the very important cause you brought up.
Join Noam Segal at Strive: The 2019 UX Research Conference
Purchase tickets here
📅 June 6–7
📍 Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St, Toronto, ON, M5J 2H5
