😌 Humans of User Research w/ Tom Abourmad

Hi Tom, tell us a little about yourself.
Hi! I’m Tom Abourmad, a UX Researcher at Deezer, a music streaming servicer. My role is to understand the behaviours and intentions behind the relationship that people have with our service and more broadly with music in general. Merging my passion for music and my academic background in cognitive psychology to become a UX researcher on music related topics is the best gift I could have given myself. I advise everyone who has a strong passion to put it at the heart of their daily life to get up every morning guided by the desire to go to work and learn about subjects that fascinate them.

Who has had the biggest impact on your UX Research career?
During a job interview for an internship, I met a senior UX specialist (shout-out to Emmanuelle Marevery) with whom I had a really good connection but who rejected my application because after discussing my passion for music with her, she told me that I needed to find a job in the music industry to fulfil myself and that she would help me achieve this goal. Since that moment, she has acted as a mentor by guiding me and giving me the confidence I needed to become the UX researcher in the music industry I am today.

Have you ever had "imposter syndrome"? How did you deal with it?
Coming from an academic background not directly presented to me as a gateway to UX research, I went through periods of questioning my legitimacy to do my role. I am not a fan of the "Fake it till you make it" spirit. I'm more in the mindset of doing my job the best I can, so I can be proud of the way I do my job until I'm proud of the job I do. Being proud of myself is my best weapon for self-confidence and to fight against imposter syndrome.

What can people reach out to you about and how can they find you?
You can reach me on LinkedIn to talk about Music, User research or simply anything you think may interest me, I’m a curious person.

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🧐 Thought pieces.

My Evolution as a User Experience Researcher
Phase 1: Researcher as Data Collector. Phase 2: Researcher as Product Creator. Phase 3: Researcher as Influencer. By Mark Wehner (Medium 01/11)

Five predictions for the UXR world in 2022 by Microsoft UXR
Focus on accessibility. Artificial intelligence and trust. Connecting more deeply with customers. Getting to know Gen Z. The continued COVID hangover. By Michele McDanel (UXR at Microsoft 01/04)

Why is participatory design essential when designing in vulnerable communities?
Or how I designed accessible and inclusive solutions with women affected by forced marriage. By Nims (UX Collective 01/11)

🗣 Methods.

Identifying red routes in the product
The red route is one of the UX methods that helps you to identify the most essential user tasks that your team needs to focus on. By Koyewon (Bootcamp 01/07)

Diverse biases in User Research
Aim for diverse biases during your user research. Design a system to have the biases of your team members cancel out each other. By Ronny Roeller (medium 01/10)

Selective awareness in user research and ways to avoid it
Inattentional blindness is a failure to become aware of a public event or object, usually seen when an observer is assigned to a primary task leading them to develop selective awareness. A guide on how to focus one’s efforts regarding research based on various situations. By Yee Shin Tan (Bootcamp 01/04)

Creating personas with secondary data
Personas are realistic fictional characters, which represent different target users. They are an integral part of the design process and are usually based on research. By Dr Maria Panagiotidi (UX Psychology 01/05)

🎯 Approaches.

A matrix for prioritizing user research
"With limited time and resource, how should we decide on what action to prioritize first?” A) Ship it & measure phase. B) Research light phase. C) Design heavy phase. D) Research heavy phase. By Ananda Nadya (UX Collective 01/08)

Leveraging business intelligence tools for UX Research by Microsoft UXR
An invitation to experience BI tools for UXR. By Dr. Serena Hillman (UXR at Microsoft 01/09)

13 experts on quantifying the commercial impact of UX research with A/B tests
I spoke with 13 experimentation experts to find out what they thought about this crazy idea: UX research can lead to more A/B wins and A/B testing could be the answer that all researchers have been looking for when linking research to commercial gain. By Chris Stroud (medium 01/07)

ResearchOps: NN/g's collection of links
Unsure where to start? Use this collection of links to our articles and videos to learn about the components of ResearchOps and get started implementing ResearchOps activities. By Kate Kaplan (NN/g 01/09)

You can’t always get what you Quant: Bringing numbers to life through user research at Intercom
Researchers acknowledge and invest in the ‘what’, but often forget to slow down and understand the ‘why’ — the people behind the numbers and emerging trends. By Hayley Camille Morgan (Intercom 01/07)

🙌 Collaboration.

5 Ways to Promote a User-Centered Team Culture
Speak up. Rally around research. Use your artist skills strategically. Workshop it. Find allies who share your passion. By Maddy Raff (Bootcamp 01/09)

Bridging the gap between research and design
Does your team need additional training, both for researchers and designers?Does your team need to build confidence in each other’s abilities? Does your team need more structured time for collaboration? Does your team need more open lines of communication? Does your team just need to get to know each other? By Jemma Frost (Bootcamp 01/04)

👥 Personal growth.

YouTube channels & podcasts for UX Researchers
A list of channels to inspire you and grow your knowledge with content creators in the UX research field. By Rich Lam (Bootcamp 01/06)

How to get a UX mentor on ADPList.org and make the most of it
Finding someone to learn from can be a hard problem for UX Researchers. (Bootcamp 01/08)

🐣 Breaking into UX Research.

Top 10 things hiring managers look for in resumes - UX Research
Getting your resume in shape for UX Research roles. By Anna Lee Anda (Substack 01/05)

How to get a UX research job – meetup summary
How to be effective in UX research job search?. Our speakers discussed UX researcher role expectations, shared tips for entering the field, building CVs/portfolios and the application process. By Anna Efimenko (UXinsight 01/04)

How to break into UX Research as an academic researcher
Shrut Kirti on transitioning from Cognitive Science academic research to UX Research. By Shrut Kirti (Medium 01/08)

How to Land a UX Research Internship (with open listings)
Everything you need to know to land a user experience research internship—including a shortlist of open roles. By Lizzy Burnam (User interviews 01/06)

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🎥Videos of the Week.

Making the research strategy work
Over 40 speakers from different industries were invited at the World Usability Congress to share their real-world UX challenges and collaborate with our attendees in multi-disciplinary workshops. By Ben Anyasodo (YouTube 01/10)

Transitioning from academia to industry and vice versa
With Wong Chui Yin (Intel), Aliimran Nordin (AirAsia), Idyawati Hussein (UUM) and Masitah Ghazali (UTM) (YouTube 01/08)

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🔉Audio of the Week.

The Head of User Research - @Caution your blast
Katie shares her strong belief in technology as a force for good, and she talks about the importance of early generative research when designing digital services. With Katie John (Spotify 01/06)

Happy researching,
🗞 Jan