US universities must adopt UX or become irrelevant, as students compare clunky, siloed systems to seamless platforms like Coursera. The core problem is institutional—departments working in isolation, designing for themselves—which leads to student frustration and questions about the degree's value. Institutions need dedicated UX roles and structural changes to rebuild student trust
Witchcraft and UX Research: An Anthropologist on the Quest of Fixing Things
An anthropologist draws a parallel between Azande witchcraft and UX research: both diagnose invisible forces causing friction and misfortune. Just as witchcraft explains the "second spear" (why this person at this time), UX research uncovers hidden system failures behind user errors. Both share the same impulse: to see beneath the surface, name the invisible structure, and fix what's broken
How Many Years Does It Take to Become a Senior UX Researcher?
Analysis of UXPA salary data, LinkedIn profiles, and job posts shows that 86-92% of senior UX researchers have 5+ years of experience, with an average of 9-13 years. While years alone don’t define seniority, the consistent threshold across multiple data sources is five years — fewer than that should be the exception, not the rule
NNG: The Case for Design Disposables
Design disposables are rough artifacts you make to think, not to deliver. Learn to tell them apart from deliverables and avoid the sunk-cost trap
AI: AI Across the UX Workflow - Research and Discovery
This guide shows how to use AI across UX research phases (planning, interviewing, synthesis, communication) to accelerate mundane tasks like transcript cleaning and theme clustering. The core rule: AI handles the mechanical work, but the human researcher must audit everything for bias, overclaiming, and false confidence. AI changes the ratio from generating outputs to reviewing them — your judgment remains irreplaceable
Basics: Bridging Ideas and People - UX Research for Better Products
UX research bridges ideas and people by replacing assumptions with real user insights. AI can assist across the research workflow, but it should not replace human critical thinking. Experienced researchers get better results by providing detailed context and auditing AI outputs, unlike beginners who accept polished but shallow answers. Let AI assist, not replace, your brain
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