So You’re an Academic Who Wants to Make the Shift to UX Research

By David J. Lick & Grace L. J. Rowe

In 2016, I (David) committed the ultimate academic taboo. After a decade of training, 2 years of postdoctoral work, and more grant applications than I could count, I got a tenure track job offer. I was thrilled! I was also conflicted, because I had competing job offers from Facebook and Google. Now I had to make a choice about the next stages of my professional life. Thankfully, I had two friends who had recently shifted their careers from academia to industry that I could lean on for advice.

I (Grace) was…