Spotlight: Meltem Naz Kaso

This spotlight was part of USERWEEKLY - a weekly email to understand what is happening in user research. It's the best way to keep up on trends, methodologies, insights across the industry, and meet new researchers. Each week, the newsletter captures the pulse of our community and answers a simple question: What mattered in User Research this week?

Hey Meltem Naz Kaso, tell us a little about yourself.
Hi, UXR community! Meltem Naz Kaso here. I’m a Spaniard with Turkish origins who lives in Barcelona for longer than she remembers. I work as a UXR Manager at Glovo and raise my two kids (a 2,5- year-old and a 6- month-old) together with my partner Lázaro. Caring for little kids 24/7 can be intense. I don’t have much time for myself right now. But I used to go swimming on the weekdays and experienced it as a form of meditation. I wish to restart as soon as my daughter begins nursery.

What originally got you interested in UX Research?
I was at a turning point in my career towards the end of my research master’s in Media & Cultural Studies (focusing on Gender and Ethnicity). Gradually, I realized that academia was not for me because of its vertical structure and what I would now call its rigid and waterfall ways of working. So I explored how else I could leverage my experience in academic research together with the previous investigations I had done in NGOs and journalism. I knew, thanks to my partner Lázaro who’s been in tech for a decade then, the answer lay in getting into the tech. I was convinced that through being a UX Researcher in tech, I would be able to advocate for users, and generate tangible results that made their lives a little bit better by solving their day-to-day problems. In a nutshell, this is what got me interested in UX Research and what still motivates me every morning as I start to work.

What's one thing that can instantly make your day better?
For a while now, I serve as a UXR manager, meaning that I don’t conduct research myself. Rather, I give feedback to each Individual Contributor who is in my team, mentor and sponsor them, and help set processes and practices that can make their work more lean, rigorous, and impactful. It’s a cool job, but of course, compared to IC’s work, it’s hard to truly know one’s positive impact on the team members as well as on the company at large. That’s why, when I see that an interaction I have with an IC helps them get unblocked, empowers them to work happier, and to grow within (and out of) their current roles and responsibilities, I feel an authentic sense of satisfaction. It motivates me to go for more.

How can people learn more about you and your work?
I write about my UXR journey on Medium, participate and present at UXR events (e.g., my last engagement was UXinsight Festival 22) and post actively on LinkedIn. Feel free to ping me on LinkedIn just to say hi and to kick-off a UXR related conversation.

Thank you, Meltem Naz Kaso!