How to Become a UX Researcher: the ultimate UXR career guide

Tap "Show More" for Timestamps and more helpful UXR Resources ⬇️

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☺ Timestamps and Playlists ☺
0:00 Intro
1:35 Who would benefit from this video
2:03 Topics we will cover today
2:55 Part 1: What does it take to be a UXR
3:45 Five qualities we look for in UXRs
4:36 Part 2: What knowledge should a UXR have
5:25 7 typical ways to learn UXR and commitment
6:21 Going back to school
7:04 UX bootcamps and certificates
8:39 Online free resources
9:51 Part 4: How to build up a UXR portfolio from scratch (with 0 experience)
10:41 3 tips on how to build real life UX research experience (when you don't have a job)

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☺ UXR Resources ☺

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☺ About Me ☺
Hello there! I’m Aona, creator of AonaTalks, also a Senior UX Researcher (UXR) working in Silicon Valley. Topics I enjoy talking include but not limited to UX research, UX career growth, and Silicon Valley fashion and lifestyle. I hope my content can help aspiring and like-minded UXers find their personal and professional footing in this field. Thank you for visiting my channel! I hope you find what you are looking for.

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☺ Channel Playlist ☺

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☺ Connect With Me ☺
» IG: @aonatalks
» Clubhouse: @aonatalks

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☺ Equipment☺
» Video: Sony ZV1
» Audio: Rode NT USB mini
» Edit: Final Cut Pro
» Channel Art: Procreate (on iPad Pro)

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☺ Disclaimer ☺
My opinions are my own and they do not represent my employer in any way.
Some of the links are affiliated.

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☺ Music ☺
🎵Music provided by Epidemic Sound and BGM President

#UX #uxresearch #uxdesign #userexperience #UXdesigners #UXdesign #uxjobs #uxcareer #uxcommunity #userexperience #usertesting #userresearch #interviewtips #interviewskills #interviewpreparation #jobhunt #tech #experiencedesign #userexperiencedesign #uxr #uxrs #hci #uxinterview #uxresearch #productdesign #womeninproduct #womenintech #siliconvalley #productresearch #techcompany

[AonaTalks]

New to UXR and excited about a research career? I have curated a beginner-friendly UXR playlist to help you get started:

[despotized]

Hi Aona! I've been binge-watching your youtube videos like crazy. As a fellow international student, you give me hope that I can also become a UX Researcher like you. Thank you so much for doing this, you've been a great help and a great resource to me. I'd love to see more videos explaining how you do User Interviews and other UX research methods in more detail.

[tiffany]

i’d love to see you go into an example of a at-home UXR project using one of the methods you said. i’m an EE right now trying to pivot into this field. :)

[ChatgptKorea-vypz]

Your approach to explaining things aligns perfectly with the characteristic style of a great UX researcher. Impressive! Greetings from Seoul.

[inaaracharolia]

It might be interesting to see you do reviews or feedback on some of your follower’s portfolios or resumes - I’ve seen other channels like Flux do this for UX Design and it’s super helpful! I love your content by the way - I’m currently a senior preparing for UXR interviews and your videos have been a huge help in easing my nerves 😅

[kennedyariel]

This was so helpful! I am working on my PhD in psychology, and I’m hoping that reading books on UX, listening to podcasts, and watching videos will help me gain enough understanding to land an internship next summer. Do you think this is enough to gain a better understanding of the field?

[isteph]

I would love to learn more about stakeholder management - tips and tricks, where we usually fall low and how can we succeed. Especially when it comes to PM relationship and roadmap! Thanks for the great work and inspiration :)

[mahsabakhshaei]

That's a great idea, Aona! Keep up the good work. One topic you might want to talk about would be how we can create time for interview prep while we have a full time job. Thank you!

[kellietruesdell]

Hi, Aona! I'd love to hear more about how to keep research projects from scope creep, and in what situations it is acceptable to allow the scope to change. As I've been doing projects in grad school I find it important to keep the project goals and team-focused, instead of losing sight of what we initially set out to study.

[chloeng]

I'd like to learn more about how to engage with stakeholders, involving more team members (other than UXRs) to the research process! :)

[my]

Thank you for sharing. I would love to learn more about how to communicate effectively in cross-functional teams.

[amberdelotsang]

Hi Aona! I am super passionate about finding happiness in what one does + work-life balance. I would love to hear about how you de-stress, engage in self-care, and if there are any intentional activities (e.g., gratitude journalism, relishing, celebrating good news, practicing flow, etc.) you do to maintain happiness as someone working in a busy and demanding industry/career.

[mrunal]

Hello Aona! I come from psychology research background and feel a little lost when it comes to portfolio. This video helped a lot, gave me more confidence. Hope to learn more from you. Joining the UXR fraternity soon.

[oju]

Hi Aona! I would love to learn more about the product design cycle and how your work fits into it, especially how you manage strict/quick timelines while prioritizing high-quality research.

[דנהסרגייב]

What a great video! I am actually a teaching assistant at our college in UXR course, I check students project and grade them, and somehow I didn’t think to use the structure of the tasks myself and do some more projects myself! 😆
Thank you! I will do some research now🙏

[anushrevazyan]

Hi Aona! So happy that I found this chanel! As an international student who changed several fields of study (and gained interest in UX Research) and three countries (and finally got to US!) I find your videos extremely helpful! Thank you so much for your work! I’d love to see more videos of your personal experience and maybe some special cases that you think might be educational from UXR!

[Fernanda-gzsh]

I'd like to know more about quantitave research. And Looking forward the recommendations about books and courses

[rakshandakulkarni]

Hi Aona, I am really liking your content for helping all the UXR's out there and for the career guidance, I have 2 years of internship experience as Innovation Intern and have helped my team with UX activities, now I want to full time transit into UX as researcher or designer (Well I am still confused) and I don't have my graduation in UX or design but engineering. I am learning UX from Interaction design foundation and also had applied in Udemy to learn Adobe Illustrator parallelly I am also giving interviews for UXR and UX Designer and working on making a good portfolio to start my career in UX. I hope I will be able to nail it as you have done! You are quite a inspiration out there :)

[hellogoodbye]

Thanks for your videos Aona! I would like to learn more about how to approach the technical interview. I went through a PM interview process once and was overwhelmed by how much info there is on frameworks for responding to case study questions (CIRCLES method, etc.). Research interviews can demand response to similar hypotheticals, but aspiring UXRs don't have the same types of frameworks for guiding their responses. I would also love to see a mock interview!

[lvleo]

First of all, thank you for this great content! I would like to learn more about how to be a UX Research team of 1. I find myself interviewing for many orgs who are hiring their first UXR.