What do you do if you want to start a career in UX Research without a degree?

I am a UX designer without an HCI or a design degree. UX is 80% empathy, problem-solving and psychology. 20% visual design. While there are many quality resources online to learn from, there are many intricacies which arent available. I suggest going through various designers case studies and read them thoroughly. Use a problem generator and try solving those use-cases. If possible, do a design or UX bootcamp. Participate in designathons and network with other designers to understand their processes. Finally build a portfolio of few in depth good projects and explain the what why and hows of that

Look for ways to do UX Research related activities in your current work. While this may look different if you are a student or in a different career the advice is the same. For a student look at what products you use in your everyday and find a problem then build a UX study around that. For someone in a different career find opportunities to do research as it relates to your job. I was able to do the latter by finding coworkers interested in similar activities and spinning up projects. You have more agency than you realize. When you do get the experience tell the full story. Don't just share the steps you took, but share the "Why" behind your actions and build a narrative around what changed (or could have changed).

Not having a degree can really be a challenge if you want to work as a UX researcher. Nevertheless, you can start working on some more basic tasks related to research that can lead you eventually to work on UX research. You can start looking for a position in the research world such as applying forms or making research interviews. If you get there, try always to give feedback about everything: what works good, what doesn't, which questions work and which don't, etc. you will gain a voice in your environment, and your team will consider you for more complex tasks.

The great thing about wanting to get into UX is that you can always find something around you to improve (physical or digital). Look around and start picking things to improve the experience on and start documenting your process. The most important part of your portfolio is the research and design process, not just the end products.

Apart from HCI and UX research methods, learning psychology can be a great way to build fundamentals for UX research. Various psychological principles are applied regularly in field of UX and more specifically in UX research. They help us understand what users generally expect or how they behave in certain situations. In UX research, psychology is knitted even more tightly. There are many biases like demand characteristics bias, acquiescence bias, recency or primacy bias and many more that need to be overcome to conduct an effective research.

There are so many great resources for learning how to do research. Youtube, online courses, you name it. My favorite resources are the blogs of researchers, content generated by research tools (E.g. Usertesting.com, userinterviews, etc.). The fundamentals are great, but if you are breaking into the field finding ways to learn on the job is the best educator there is. That is what I did. It isn't easy and you will have to work around your typical schedule but if you can it will accelerate your career.

Familiarise yourself with the UX Laws and the UX research methods that are out there. You may not use all of it in your new position but understanding all these helps you build your toolbox + your ability to look at the world through a more user-centric lens.

I have a slightly different perspective on the Network and Connect theory. It is not as easy as it seems. It’s not specific to UX researchers; no no, it’s literally for all of them. It’s always easy to get in touch and establish the first conversation. But what’s tricky is having an exchange of valuable information. Yes exchange, not just receiving. What helps to make this easy is letting the other person how committed or interested you are. It’s important to stick to a goal of connecting with someone, given that your goal mutually benefits both of you. For example, if you are learning a certain skill from UX research, try utilising that skill to help them complete a part of their work. Another way is to share your learnings with them!

There are awesome communities located online or locally. Find one and meet as many people as you can. If I were to give one tip for this, don't go with a sign on your forehead that says "I want a job". Make sure that sign says instead "I want to learn and see what I can do for you!" Researchers and UX in general has a great community that wants to share their knowledge. While not all of them can hire you, all of them are going to want to share their two cents on what is best to learn. Once you are able to learn go out and seek opportunities when they present themselves to you. They will, I promise.

Apart from creating a portfolio that highlights your best work, another way to showcase your acquired knowledge is through articles. Whether you create a separate blog or use LinkedIn as a platform, writing articles on the nitty gritty of various research methods can help you get the valuable attention and also act as a way of revision to you.