Be More Certain: A Pragmatic Approach to UX Research

The job of user research is to help us be more certain in our work. Being more certain keeps us from building the wrong thing, and allows us to design and strategize with a little more accuracy.

Sometimes being a little more certain means being pragmatic, less precious, and more practical. Not every project affords enough time or budget for proper research, and that’s okay. In those situations, we can’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Some research is better than none at all.

In this new talk, we’ll walk through some common research questions, explore some lightweight approaches, and project how these practices scale alongside organizational maturity.

About Gregg:

Gregg Bernstein is Senior User Researcher at Vox Media. He spends his days listening, thinking, collaborating, analyzing, writing, and then listening some more. He also speaks around the world about his work at conferences and for such companies as Etsy, EA Games, Fullstory, and more.He built an innovative and influential research practice over his four years at MailChimp, and taught design, branding, and typography for university students. In a previous life, he designed for clients in the music and advertising industries.

Gregg earned his MFA in Graphic Design from the Savannah College of Art & Design, where he focused on user experience research and design. He resides with his family in Athens, Georgia. In his spare time, he runs early and often.