{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Design Table Podcast","title":"Why (Real) User Research Is Becoming a Career Advantage for Designers (Feat. Sara Fortier)","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2592,"description":"Your stakeholders say research is a waste of time. Just ship it. We’ll figure it out later. But later never comes. The product misses the mark, teams scramble, and you end up doing twice the work fixing mistakes you saw coming weeks ago. Relatable? For many designers it is...\nIn this episode, we’re joined by Sara Fortier, CEO of Outwitly and author of Design Research Mastery, to talk about just that, what design research really looks like today, and why it’s becoming more important as AI becomes bigger and bigger.\nWe talk about why research is less about methods and more about influence, how junior designers can stand out in today's super competitive market, and why the future favors designers who can connect business risk, human behavior, and product decisions instead of just pushing pixels.\nIn this episode you’ll learn:\n🔸 Why design research is an insurance policy against bad decisions\n🔸 How to introduce research in low-maturity teams without asking permission\n🔸 Why AI won’t replace research but will raise the bar for designers\n🔸 How junior designers can use research to stand out and get hired\n🔸 When research should be deep, lightweight, or skipped entirely\n🔸 Why UX generalists are becoming more valuable than narrow specialists\n⏱ Chapters\n00:00 Why teams say research slows them down\n03:18 Research vs taste, craft, and AI hot takes\n07:02 Finding champions inside low-maturity orgs\n10:22 Asking forgiveness instead of permission\n14:05 Research as risk reduction and ROI\n18:41 Why generalists are winning again\n23:12 AI, research, and the future of design roles\n28:10 What junior designers should focus on right now\n33:05 Tools that actually help researchers today\n41:02 The skills AI can’t replace\nLearn more about Sara’s book\nhttps://www.designresearchmastery.com/\nConnect with Sara on LinkedIn\nhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/sarafortier/\nLearn more about Outwitly\nhttps://outwitly.com/\nSubscribe to The Design Table Podcast\nhttps://www.designtablepodcast.com/subscribe\nMore...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/BVPjEKFe1ZnGctyPMQDbNaHQM1dmeHZmrE_j0FYVZ1Y/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS81MmYz/NzNiMDgwNDYzN2Iz/ZjMxYTRhNjQxMWY3/YmY3Mi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}