S3-E3: Why Coaching and Mentoring UXR Matter: A conversation with Javier Bargas-Avila

Send us a textIn today's episode, I am delighted to have a conversation with Dr Javier Bargas-Avila.Dr. Javier Bargas-Avila is a UX Research Director with 20+ years of experience, passionate about building exceptional products and high-performing teams. He spent 14 years at Google leading UX research across Cloud, Ads, YouTube, and Play, after founding the HCI lab at the University of Basel.In 2025, he co-founded Astrolabium with Nina Weber, also a former Googler, focusing on coaching and mentoring for UX professionals. They support clients through career transitions, leadership growth, and job search coaching, working with individuals from junior to VP level.Javier is a very active member of the UX community, sharing valuable insights and his experience.Javier is a dedicated mentor, published author (30+ articles), and international speaker (150+ talks). He teaches at the University of Basel and the University of Applied Sciences.Javier's LinkedIn Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology PodcastInterviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyMy Book: Practical User Research Emmanuelle has created this podcast to share with you her passion for the UX research discipline. if you have any questions please feel free to contact her on LinkedInIf you want to support the UX Research club, you can write a review, share it with your network, give some stars or buy me a coffee Thank you for listening and supporting the UX Research Club

Send us a textIn today's episode, I am delighted to have a conversation with TowseyKate Towsey is an independent strategic advisor, ResearchOps guru, and founder of the Cha Cha Club  a members' club for ResearchOps professionals. Kate has been at the forefront of ResearchOps for over a decade. The inventor of the widely used acronym PWDR (pau·duh)  for “people who do research,” Kate also wrote some of the earliest blog posts about setting up research operations, founded the ResearchOps Community, and launched the #WhatisResearchOps movement, putting ResearchOps on the map.Kate has delivered e-commerce, education, government, retail, and tech operations. She built and managed the Atlassian ResearchOps team, which is widely recognised as the benchmark for scaling research services and systems to hundreds of people and is the exemplar in the industry. She recently released her first book, Research That Scales: The Research Operations Handbook.Kate's website Kate's LinkedIn Substack Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology PodcastInterviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyMy Book: Practical User Research Emmanuelle has created this podcast to share with you her passion for the UX research discipline. if you have any questions please feel free to contact her on LinkedInIf you want to support the UX Research club, you can write a review, share it with your network, give some stars or buy me a coffee Thank you for listening and supporting the UX Research Club

Send us a textIn this episode of The UX Research Club, I’m joined by Julia Gurney, Senior UX Researcher and Accessibility Lead at Eye Square in Berlin. We discuss why accessibility must be embedded into UX research from the start — not treated as a final step. Julia shares her journey, practical tips for inclusive research, and why accessible design benefits all users, not just those with disabilities.Please find the references mentioned during the episode:Persona Spectrum: This is a more design-focused resource, but it includes Microsoft’s persona spectrum we talked about: Podcasts: A few accessibility podcasts (one I mentioned, other I didn’t, but it has some great content)Beyond Barriers podcast— Hector Minto, Microsoft accessibility specialistThe Digital Accessibility Podcast— not mentioned, but a good resourceDeque Systems: a digital accessibility testing tool.This can be a significant first step in the two-step methodology approach.They also have some information on how to get started with the EAA; you can sign up for the guide here:https://www.deque.com/european-accessibility-act-eaa-compliance/AI webinar: AI and Accessibility The Good, the Bad and the Solutions YouTube channel.GOV.UK Accessibility and assisted digitalGAAD: Global Accessibility Awareness Day WCAG: Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology PodcastInterviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyMy Book: Practical User Research Emmanuelle has created this podcast to share with you her passion for the UX research discipline. if you have any questions please feel free to contact her on LinkedInIf you want to support the UX Research club, you can write a review, share it with your network, give some stars or buy me a coffee Thank you for listening and supporting the UX Research Club

Send us a textThis Episode is about the role of the UX Research Manager it will cover the following topics: Why Do We Need UX Research Managers?Some Historical Evolution of UX Research in Organisation Who has managed researchers over the years? The need for UX research managers The Key Difference: IC Researcher vs. UX Research ManagerWhat Does a UX Research Manager Actually Do?How to Transition from UX Researcher to ManagerUXThank you for listening  🙏UX360 Research Summit is happening again in person this 14-15 May 2025 in BerlinAs a listener of the UX Research Club, you get an exclusive 10% discount on your registration! Simply use the code UXRC10eu.ux360summit.comMy Book: Practical User Research Emmanuelle has created this podcast to share with you her passion for the UX research discipline. if you have any questions please feel free to contact her on LinkedInIf you want to support the UX Research club, you can write a review, share it with your network, give some stars or buy me a coffee Thank you for listening and supporting the UX Research Club

Send us a textThis Episode is about applying for a UXR role and it will cover the following topics: The importance of understanding the reason why you are applying for a new roleWhat is the current market situationDisappointment is also part of the processThe importance of asking yourself the right questionsWhere are you in your career,Having a plan is essentialThe general process of applying for a UXR role, as well as sharing some advice from my journey along the wayThank you for listening  🙏Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology PodcastInterviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyMy Book: Practical User Research Emmanuelle has created this podcast to share with you her passion for the UX research discipline. if you have any questions please feel free to contact her on LinkedInIf you want to support the UX Research club, you can write a review, share it with your network, give some stars or buy me a coffee Thank you for listening and supporting the UX Research Club

Send us a textThis episode looked at analyzing the data, extracting the main findings, preparing the presentation and sharing it with your stakeholders.Where do you start? Going back to the raw data Create the Excel in which you will capture the analysis Create the themes Go back to the research objectives Extract the main findings Preparing the documentation (deck) Thank you for listening  🙏Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology PodcastInterviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyMy Book: Practical User Research Emmanuelle has created this podcast to share with you her passion for the UX research discipline. if you have any questions please feel free to contact her on LinkedInIf you want to support the UX Research club, you can write a review, share it with your network, give some stars or buy me a coffee Thank you for listening and supporting the UX Research Club

Send us a textIn the last episode, we looked at how to prepare your research plan and what categories needed to be integrated into it, including the methods to be used. Now that you have decided on the methods you want to use, which participants or respondents you want to take part in your research and without forgetting the objectives and research questions you want to get some answers you now need to start organizing and planning your data collection, collecting data  This episode covers:  AnalyticsCollecting qualitative dataPreparing a discussion guide Participant recruitment Running the sessionsRecording the dataStoring your data  etc.Thank you for listening  🙏Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology PodcastInterviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyMy Book: Practical User Research Emmanuelle has created this podcast to share with you her passion for the UX research discipline. if you have any questions please feel free to contact her on LinkedInIf you want to support the UX Research club, you can write a review, share it with your network, give some stars or buy me a coffee Thank you for listening and supporting the UX Research Club

Send us a textWhile doing a research project, it is important to follow a systematic process, such as preparing a research plan, identifying your participants/respondents, collecting the data, analysing them, extracting and interpreting your data to translate them into actionable insights, and communicating them to your stakeholders.  As there is so much to cover to conduct a research project, I will propose 3 episodes to cover all the steps. Planning  Before starting any research project, planning or preparation for any research project is essential.  I have seen so many organisations skipping this phase.The planning phase is, in my opinion, one of the most important steps of any research project.Could you imagine any medical, psychological, or social research without any plan or protocol? This episode will cover the research plan, starting by defining what a research plan is.   why we are doing it before starting any project? and what should be included in your research plan. Thank you for listening  🙏Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology PodcastInterviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyMy Book: Practical User Research Emmanuelle has created this podcast to share with you her passion for the UX research discipline. if you have any questions please feel free to contact her on LinkedInIf you want to support the UX Research club, you can write a review, share it with your network, give some stars or buy me a coffee Thank you for listening and supporting the UX Research Club

Send us a textYou are about to launch a product or a new feature. You are still at an early stage of your product development, your product is live, and your analytics are irregular. You want to understand your users, understand the market, and test a new feature. You can have 100 reasons that will trigger your appetite for research.So, now what?This episode will take you through all the steps that you need to follow before making a research request. This episode is not about preparing a research plan; it is about taking you through what you need to do before you can ask a researcher in your org, commission an agency, or hire a contractor to do your research.Thank you for listening  🙏Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology PodcastInterviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyMy Book: Practical User Research Emmanuelle has created this podcast to share with you her passion for the UX research discipline. if you have any questions please feel free to contact her on LinkedInIf you want to support the UX Research club, you can write a review, share it with your network, give some stars or buy me a coffee Thank you for listening and supporting the UX Research Club

Send us a textFor today’s episode, we’re having a guest, a very experienced researcher. Dr Nick Fine  LinkedIn is a user researcher, UX designer, genuine leader and public speaker. He has been in practice for over 12 years, 8 of which as a freelancer. He has led UX to work for a number of big brands including Coca-Cola, SAB Miller, Jaguar Land Rover, Bentley, Ernst & Young, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, GSK BT, Virgin Media, Camelot and both the Home and Cabinet Office etc. He specialises in behavioural design and is the founder of UX Psychology, an approach that leverages psychology knowledge, methods and principles in the commercial UX world.Currently, Nick is a freelance lead user researcher at the Cabinet Office. In his spare time, Nick is writing a UX handbook, he is also a  keen drummer and scuba diver. Thank you Nick and thank you for listening 🙏Feel free to ask me some questions for next week's episode -  UX Research Club FAQ form Inspiring Tech Leaders - The Technology PodcastInterviews with Tech Leaders and insights on the latest emerging technology trends.Listen on: Apple Podcasts   SpotifyMy Book: Practical User Research Emmanuelle has created this podcast to share with you her passion for the UX research discipline. if you have any questions please feel free to contact her on LinkedInIf you want to support the UX Research club, you can write a review, share it with your network, give some stars or buy me a coffee Thank you for listening and supporting the UX Research Club