The Partnership Between User Research and Product Management with Nikki Anderson - User Research Lead @ Zalando and Founder of User Research Academy

On today's episode, I sat down with Nikki Anderson, User Research Lead at Zalando and Founder of User Research Academy. Nikki started her user research career about 7 years ago, with a foundation in quantitative research but has since shifted focus to specialize in qualitative user research where Nikki has worked in B2B, B2C, B2B2C and has both worked as a freelancer and worked in corporate settings. After having started her career in New York, Nikki has since moved to Germany where Zalando is based. With such a robust and diverse background in user research Nikki had a ton of great advice and insight to share.  Here's what we discussed: Some of the biggest misconceptions of user research Why quant or qual data alone is not enough to make decisions The trust cost of doing user research and the cost of not doing it Low cost ways to source user feedback What Nikki has learned throughout her career that she wants other user researchers to know The difference between user research and UX design  Why planning and purpose are essential to the value of research How to influence executives to care about user research What a great partnership looks like between user research and product management in setting priority for what you build How to know if you're doing user research right in a well-resourced company Ways to get scrappy if you're a user research team of one How Product Managers can do user research on their own Here's the resources: Google's Heart Framework Podcasts: Awkward Silences, Dollars to Donuts & Mixed Methods Books: Just Enough Research by Erika Hall; Practical Empathy by Indi Young; Quantifying the User Experience by Jeff Sauros Recommended resources for user researchers Important concepts, processes, and terminology User Research Academy