Navigating the Future of UX Research: Tips from Judd Antin

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The enemy of good products is confirmation bias, says Judd Antin , a product and UX research expert and ex-Yahoo, Meta and Airbnb.

“Because I think most people don't listen to their actual customers,” replied Andy MacMillan , UserTesting’s CEO. “They listen to the people in their circle who happen to be customers. … And most people aren't senior executives. The math on that is just bad.”

On this week’s Insights Unlocked, Judd and Andy discuss the future of UX researchers and their crucial role in bringing the customer’s voice and insights into organizations.

Judd is an executive coach, consultant, advisor, writer, and teacher. He has led design and research teams at Yahoo, Meta, and Airbnb. His direct reports have also gone on to lead user research at Figma, Notion, Slack, Robinhood, Duolingo, AllTrails, and more.

Last year, Judd made headlines with his article, "The UX Reckoning Is Here," where he saw that the status quo for researchers needed a reset. He advocates for shifting from predominantly middle-range research to a balanced approach that emphasizes both micro and macro research. This change, he contends, is essential to align more closely with business needs and demonstrate clearer value in driving strategic decisions and detailed user interactions.

So, what’s changed in the year since that first article was published?

“One good thing that's changed in the last year is there is now—I wasn't the first, remotely, to be talking about how important it is for researchers to be more focused on business value,” Judd said. “But now I would say it's a conversation that’s happening everywhere, at every level, in every way.”

Judd contends micro and macro research directly helps the business in the short and long term.

Micro research is more tactical: helping make designs better, identifying bugs, conversion bottlenecks and so forth. “There’s no better place to be able to directly point to the way your work impacted the bottom line,” Judd said.?

And, Judd said, macro research is the pathway for researchers having more engaged partnerships with executives. Macro research, he said, is looking at a longer time horizon, informing the company’s strategic focus over the next 18 to 24 months.?

“The best companies, I agree, are the ones who can set an 18- to 24-month strategy,” Andy said. “But they've got to build a look out to that horizon. … And I think that's a skill set that researchers have that maybe doesn't get used in that way nearly often enough.”

Listen to the full episode to hear more on micro and macro research, AI’s role with research, and the leadership lessons Judd has learned working at some of the leading tech companies.?