The UX Life Chose Me Newsletter #38
December 2023
How is it December already? ☃️
Anyway, this month I start with thoughts about AI, before moving on to a set of interesting links which include more AI thoughts (you just can’t get away from it now), a review of the UX research tools of 2023, and a great podcast.
This editions book of the month looks at how to make sense of any mess, and we’ve got 2 interesting events — yes one is focused on AI!
Lastly I thought I’d make a few suggestions if you need to find a secret Santa for a colleague and you’re not sure where to start.
I hope you enjoy it.
Penny
From the Editors Keyboard
Last month I attended the UserTesting This Connect London event.
It was pretty interesting with some great speakers, but what was even more interesting was their declaration that AI is the way forward.
So firstly I’m not too concerned about AI taking my job, I think it’s more about using it as a tool to make my life easier. For instance to give me numbers when we’ve got survey responses from 1000’s of people.
But with the interviews and unmoderated tests I’m still not sure how it can help.
Sure it can help me with test scripts (although I’ve already got templates), tell me participants time on task, how many people selected which page and apparently even their sentiment (still not sure about this one). They are even working on it giving recommendations on what could be improved on the page from the tests.
But while this is good, numbers like this don’t tend to be the thing that gets a stakeholder fired up to do something about an issue.
I’ve found it’s the stories that really make the difference. The stories that give me real insight into why someone did something or struggled with our page.
It’s those clips that I share with my team and the stakeholders, it’s those stories that I talk round when I present my findings.
So I will keep an eye on what is happening with the platform, and have a play when they release new things, but I’m also going to keep watching all the participant videos, however tedious it might sometimes be, so I can really understand my customer and be their voice when we’re making product decisions. I mean that’s the point of UX and research right?
What do you think? Is AI ready to help us or has it still got some work to do?
Interesting Stuff
Testing ChatGTP-4 for ‘UX Audits’ Shows An 80% Error Rate & 14–26% Discoverability Rate
Christian Holst, October 2023, 5 min read
Looks like the Baymard Institute don’t think AI is ready yet either. It’s an interesting result and shows that right now this isn’t the right sort of work for AI to be doing.
The Point Of UX Research Is Action, Not Answers
Ki Aguero, October 2022, 3 min read
I love this piece! And I fully intend to start adding the question ‘what will you do with the results’ to my kick-off meetings with stakeholders.
The 2023 UX Research Software Report
User Interviews, October 2023, 20 min read
This is a super detailed report looking at the software we use to do and report research. I don’t think there were any massive surprises but look out for their crazy updated map too.
Hidden Brain: Podcast
Shankar Vedantam, 20–55 min listen
I’ve been listening to Hidden Brain for a while now and can’t believe I haven’t shared it before. It’s all about the psychology behind why we do things, it’s a fascinating listen.
Tried-And-Tested Methodologies For UX Research On Artificial Intelligence
Ben Hoopes, October 2023, 8 min read
Interesting to look at AI from this view point — how do we test AI and make them easy to use, instead of the normal ‘can it do my job for me’ articles.
UX Researchers, It’s Time To Go Public With Your Research Insights
Lawton Pybus, May 2023, 8 min read
I think Lawton makes a good point in this article, that UX researchers need a better way to share what they’ve been doing with the community than Medium.
The Changing Landscape Of UX Research: What UX Leaders Are Pondering
AnswerLab, October 2023, 4 min read
This might not be a long read, but I think it points to some interesting ways the UX research industry is changing and what we should keep a look out for.
Book of the Month
This months book is How To Make Sense Of Any Mess by Abby Covert. It was written with Information Architecture in mind, but it’s got great ideas on how you can put anything together to make sense of it, for instance research findings….
Events
AI In UX Research
UXr Guild, 7 December 2023
If we’re going all out on AI in this newsletter, it’s only appropriate we should have an AI event too. This sounds fun. Not just listening but a chance to share your own thoughts too.
UX360
Merlien Institute, 30–31 January 2024
This virtual event has an impressive list of companies being represented over the two days and an interesting mix of subjects covered.
And Finally
Looking for secret Santa gift for a colleague? Then I have a few suggestions…
1. I like to watch people t-shirt
2. Researcher recharging mug
3. I see UX issues everywhere notebook
(I don’t get anything if you click on the links or buy these products, but they made me laugh and I wanted to share!)
Seen something out in the wild you think other UX Researchers would be interested in or a new research related book perhaps? Send me the link and maybe I’ll include it in my next newsletter.
