In-demand skills for UX Researchers
Analysis of 23 fresh UX Researcher job-postings from the biggest tech and UX thought-leader companies: Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Intercom, and Mailchimp.
Note: for the updated 2021 version of this analysis, go to this article.
TL, DR
Methods
The more the better, but at least 5
The job posting either says “broad knowledge of research methods” or lists the exact methods. That list typically contains 7–8 methods, but never less than 5.
Why? 3 reasons are mentioned in job postings
1. Full coverage of the product development process
A Researcher accompanies Product Teams along their entire journey: from problem discovery, through solution delivery and beyond. Each phase requires a different set of methods and the Researcher must master all of these. The cross-functional Product Team is short-handed if their Researcher’s toolbox is incomplete.
2. Flexibility
Researchers must work under a complex set of constraints (timelines, resourcing, tech constraints, legal constraints, etc). Oftentimes Researchers need to be very flexible and creative with methods to be able to deliver results, despite tricky constraints. Researchers must know their methods from the inside out, their shortcuts, their strengths, and shortcomings and use that knowledge to adapt to any situation.
3. Triangulation and a holistic picture
All research is an approximation of reality, and each method has its blindspots. Compensate for the shortcomings of individual methods with a mixed-methods approach to achieve higher certainty. Combine methods to see the topics from different angles and to get a complete picture.
Communication
All jobs require the candidates to be excellent communicators to maximize the impact of research. Engaging and influencing stakeholders, advocating for research findings. All this to shape how teams think about user needs and consequently shape their roadmap. One aspect of communication is mentioned universally in job postings:
Actionable
The data itself is not valuable if it’s not helping decisions. The Researcher needs to extract product implications and share it in a way that is readily usable for its consumers.
Formats of communication
Four categories are mentioned in job postings:
- Interpersonal communication (aka in-person discussions)
- Oral presentations
- Written reports
- Creative, new ways to engage the audience
Collaboration
Good collaboration skills are mentioned explicitly in 22 out of the 24 job postings. They also specify what collaboration entails.
Collaboration with the cross-functional Product Team
- To identify research questions that the team needs to be answered
- Align on priorities, so the Researcher tackles the most impactful questions first
- Execute and share research together
- Turning insights into solutions together (i.e. working on a solution with designers, engineers; running Design Sprints and other workshops together)
- Define product metrics and KPIs together
Collaboration with Data Engineers and Quantitative Researchers
To synthesize qualitative and quantitative results and create a complete picture. This requirement is clear on the method side as well. The 4th most wanted method skills is a good working knowledge of statistics. Minimally the Researcher needs to know when to bring in a quantitative expert and understand the core concepts (i.e. experiment design, sampling, statistical concepts) to be able to collaborate effectively.
Collaboration with other UXRs
- Across teams to create a full picture of the users’ experience. Breaking down knowledge silos.
- Exchanging best practices, develop the research toolbox and processes
- Mentoring other UXRs
Qualifications
Some jobs are available without any formal education, but most jobs require at least a BA/BS in HCI, Cognitive Psychology, or a related field.
Field of study
Typically job postings say: “HCI, Cognitive Psychology or a related field”. If we look at the fields that are mentioned in job postings, we get a pretty interesting representation of what UXRs consider to be related fields and how much related they seem to be.
Experience
With zero experience only a fraction of the positions is available at these top companies. This implies that hands-on work experience is a crucial factor in becoming a great UX Researcher. Talent and Qualification on their own just don’t cut it. If a company can afford it, they rather hire someone who hits the ground running.
Another interesting finding is that Qualification and Years of Experience are not replaceable with one another. None of the job postings said: “MA/MS or 5 years industry experience”. They rather say like “MA/MS and 5 years of industry experience”. So employers believe that each of these two gives a unique value to the mix which cannot be obtained by the other. Experience cannot teach you what a good academic course teaches, and Academia cannot teach you what a good few years of hands-on work can teach you.
Process management
According to job postings, Process Management means three things.
End-to-end ownership of research projects
Researchers need to have a strong sense of independence, ownership, and initiative. And they need to be able to run research studies from start to finish with minimal support or guidance. This just reflects the reality that UXRs work alone — they rarely work in pairs or groups.
The end-to-end process includes: identify research questions; define research roadmap; pick methods to match the questions, the timeline, resourcing, project goal, existing designs/products, business needs, risks, etc; study design or test creation; recruitment; data collection and moderation; analysis; reporting; communicating; following the solution through.
Concurrent projects
The ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, juggling competing priorities, and organizing oneself. This just again reflects the reality of UX Research — each project has more intense and less intense periods, so for optimal resource use, you want to make use of the slow periods to do some other research concurrently. And many UXRs work on multiple teams simultaneously.
Fit in well with product development
Part of the good project management is to anticipate what the teams will need and when. The Researcher needs to know the product development process, so they can anticipate what will be expected from them in any given upcoming phase.
Bonus: Do you need a UX Research portfolio?
Only one-fifth of the job postings ask for a portfolio. But then you have the job postings that don’t ask for a portfolio, but ask for “demonstrated ability to …”, “a track record of…” or “proven capacity to…”. So a portfolio is an implicit requirement there. And from my personal experience, even the companies who don’t ask for a portfolio at all, they still expect you to present them one or two past projects that illustrate your workflow.
I hope this has been useful to you …whether it’s a 1-on-1 conversation with a colleague about their skill goals; whether it’s preparation for your next career move; whether it’s a discussion with your team around your internal company ladder. Feel free to use the charts, analysis, and data (download here, including large res logo-less images).
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Take care!
Zsombor
