Noel G.

Let’s talk about what’s actually happening in UX research. Our team at User Interviews just released the 2025 State of User Research report, and the results are eye-opening. Here’s what I’m seeing: User Researchers aren’t disappearing. They’re adapting. They’re building new skills, trying new methods, experimenting with AI, and doing more with less. Sure, there’s pressure. Layoffs. Budget cuts. Tool fatigue. But the data shows something else too—resilience, creativity, and a whole lot of people doubling down on the value of insight. This report cuts through the noise and gives a clear picture of where the field really stands. And where it’s headed. 📊 Read the full report - https://vist.ly/46bb2

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Just wrapped up day 1 at Learners Research Week and I am learning a ton about the state of UX research. **Key Insights from Today's Sessions:** 🔬Mixed methods research is crucial for effective storytelling. Product teams should blend everything from log data to MaxDiff, and other quant and data qual methodologies to shape development decisions. 🤝In a landscape of restructuring for research and UX teams, storytelling becomes a vital skill for researchers to promote data-driven choices at their companies. Breaking silos and leveraging qual to connect the quant dots are essential elements of effective storytelling. 💰 Distinguishing between "Can they use it" and "Will they use it" is not just a crucial point of view that researchers bring to product managers and the C-Suite. It’s the difference between making or wasting millions of dollars on good vs bad product decisions. Thank you to Anne Diaz , Kristen Swanson , Christina Janzer , Pratiti RayChoudhury , Jennie Doberne , David Orzechowicz and all the other wonderful speakers for sharing their experiences with us today. #UXResearch #DataDrivenDecisions #MixedMethods #UserExperience

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Research has never been more strategic. Yet stakeholders are still asking for "more value." What's happening? At Maze, we partnered with UX & Product Research Strategist Amanda Gelb to uncover the real story behind this persistent tension. Stakeholders focus on business outcomes. Researchers optimize for process. Same goal, different languages. Time to bridge that gap! 🌉 Full report here → https://bit.ly/48faCVn

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Underrated CSM Skill: Internal Collaborator 🤝 Aka: willing to think beyond just the Customer Success perspective. We all agree that customers' success (and the company's for that matter) relies on way more than the Customer Success team. And the best CSMs and CS leaders know how to operationalize that fact by being strong internal collaborators. They don't just look out for what the Customer Success team is accountable for or able to influence. They expand their horizons and look at the big picture of how other teams influence customer outcomes. And when they see those other teams as real people and vital to customers' success, they're willing to collaborate with other teams even on things that don't immediately "benefit" Customer Success but help the big picture of the company. Doing this leads to stronger outcomes for customers. And bonus points? It also makes the CS team more pleasant to work with and more likely to be able to call in favors from other teams as well. How do teams practically get better at collaborating? How can you improve in this area 1. ASK It sounds super obvious, but a great starting point is to ask other teams if there's something they're working on that your team can help move the needle on. You don't know what you don't know, so starting a conversation is one of the best ways to learn. 2. CAN I MENTALITY We often operate professionally with a "Must I" mentality that asks if we have to do certain things. "That's not Customer Success's job" "I don't think that's in my KPIs" etc. Now let me be clear: healthy boundaries and clear delineation of responsibilities are EXTREMELY important. If you've got a coworker or company trying to take advantage of you or just playing hot potato and the blame game, that isn't healthy. And that absolutely should be addressed. But when you're in a healthy culture, adopting a "Can I" mentality carries you far with internal collaboration. You begin to approach challenges with curiosity and ask "Can I be a part of improving outcomes?" instead of "Must I be a part of this?" That sort of curiosity builds towards a type of collaboration that strengthens teams, and leads to stronger outcomes. ________________________________ Don't be the CSM or leader that is only focused on your small niche of the business. That's a good way to miss out on growth opportunities and limit customer outcomes. But I want to hear from you! How do you go about improving internal collaboration on your teams? #CustomerSuccess #Collaboration #Leadership

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3 big trends I noticed in new companies this year that are going to harm customer retention next year: 1. Not planning for renewals. With so many lean teams being able to code and launch products in days, they’re meticulously planning their outreach and sales process, only to chuck customers into a black hole with no support, success or renewal plans. 2. Thinking that support can just be shared amongst product and sales. Support teams don’t just crush tickets, they identify bugs, trends and customer pain points way before an AI could. They also know how to speak your customers language. No support, no documentation for Fin. 3. Not thinking of your customer base when planning marketing campaigns. Adoption and engagement can’t happen if you aren’t keeping your customer informed about what’s going on with your company.

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Whenever I see a CSAT score as a leading metric on a Customer Success candidate's resume, I cringe a bit, especially when it's the only metric listed. This is not a CSM metric, this is a Customer Support metric. Customer Success is not Customer Support. While the Support Team is there to help customers be successful, and some may argue that everyone in the company is part of Customer Success (yes... I get that), the motion is very different. One is not greater or better than the other. Both positions are equally important in an organization. But they are different roles. What metrics/ data points do I want to see? Here are a few examples: - Net Dollar Retention example: improved NDR from X to Y on managed portfolio of $3 million - Gross Retention of 95% for past 12 months on managed portfolio of $5 million (total of 10 accounts) - Identified X CSQLs (customer success qualified leads) that had a close rate of Y (or drove x revenue) - Total portfolio managed and what were the outcomes you drove - If you own onboarding, improved TTFV (time to first value) from X to Y Of course, there are other metrics (my list above is not the definitive list) that you could possibly list here, but do not lead with CSAT. Paint a picture for the hiring manager on the outcomes you drove that helped your customers be successful and ultimately drove great business outcomes for your organization.

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Great insights from the duo at Fuego UX for why UX professionals must adopt a product leader's mindset in pursuit of stronger organizational influence and collaboration. Highlighting all the familiar challenges hindering UX teams (power dynamics, misaligned priorities, and resource constraints) Alex Smith and Nate Wearin explain how UX practitioners can better align their work with company objectives by deeply understanding business operations and communicating more strategically with stakeholders. The key is developing cross-functional skills and political acumen to navigate organizational complexities. This approach not only elevates the role of UX within product development but also fosters more cohesive and user-centered outcomes.

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One of the most common mistakes I see CSMs make is confusing program results with business outcomes. That mistake can be the difference between a renewal and churn. Program results are important. But they don’t always align with the outcomes your executive stakeholders actually care about. Too often, they become vanity metrics that matter to your day-to-day contact but fail to translate into strategic value. Things like: Utilization rates Adoption within a specific department Number of sessions, logins, or activities Useful? Yes. Compelling to the C-suite? Not always. Why? Because program results don’t answer the core question: “How has your product contributed to our overall business strategy?” Program results are part of the story, but they’re not the reason you were hired, or the reason you’ll stay hired. If you want to retain and grow customers, don’t start with program metrics. Start with business outcomes. Here’s how: 1. Start with the right questions. What problem did you hire us to solve? What outcome will signal that the problem is solved? What business challenge is this tied to? 2. Turn their answers into a Value Thesis. “We create value by solving X problem and improving Y outcomes.” 3. Translate outcomes into metrics & targets. Choose 5–10 core metrics that directly map to the business outcomes you were hired to improve. 4. Define leading & lagging indicators. Leading = progress toward the goal Lagging = proof the goal was achieved You need both to tell a credible value story. 5. Build a value narrative using this simple model: Before → After → Business Impact → Story Example: Before: utilization was 3% After: increased to 35% Impact: translates to $X in reduced spend Story: shifted from low awareness to high adoption, resulting in meaningful business impact Notice—we didn’t ignore program results. We translated them into business relevance. That’s the difference between a good CSM and a strategic one.

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"The question [to ask] is not 'Should this service support agents?', it is rather 'Should this service support users that use agents?'" Good take on the emerging domain of agent experience (AX), as ultimately a new subset of UX, from Sean Roberts. https://lnkd.in/ebcPfxJc

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The product worked perfectly. So why did the customer churn? It’s the most frustrating question in Customer Success. Usually, the answer isn't "poor execution." It’s a translation error. Sales sold a specific vision of value, but CS delivered a technical checklist. When the promise doesn't match the delivery, trust breaks down. Here is how a structured Value Realization Framework bridges that gap and keeps everyone aligned.

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There are a lot of interesting takes on the recent Figma S-1 filing. My favorite that I've read so far is from John Gleeson at Success Venture Partners Two points really jumped out to me, showcasing a bright future for our field: 1: AI-Native companies have a unique opportunity to be hyper-focused on Time-to-Value: Figma's S-1 proves that embedding CS directly into onboarding with a focus on value delivery is the winning strategy. It's about getting users to "aha!" moments faster than ever. 2: Customer Success isn't just a department, it's a foundational strategy: Figma's approach shows that strong product usage and customer advocacy must come before sales. When CS is deeply integrated, it becomes the true engine for retention and expansion, moving beyond just a "cost center" to a core growth driver. This isn't just theory; Figma's incredible retention numbers are hard proof. For CS leaders, it's a clear call to action to go on offense! https://lnkd.in/eP_gp_kk

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If you’re applying to UX research jobs in 2026, read this. The market didn’t collapse. Expectations changed. Teams aren’t hiring researchers to run studies. They’re hiring researchers to reduce risk, enable decisions, and move outcomes. What that means for candidates 👇 ✔️ Your portfolio needs to show impact, not activity ✔️ “We learned…” is table stakes — “So we decided…” is the differentiator ✔️ Qualitative depth matters, but quantitative fluency is no longer optional ✔️ Senior roles expect decision framing, not just execution Hiring managers are asking: - Can this person influence roadmaps? - Do they understand trade-offs? - Will leaders trust their judgment when data is imperfect? If your case studies stop at insights, they’re incomplete. If they end with metrics moved, risks reduced, or decisions unlocked — you stand out. The future of UX research isn’t fewer researchers. It’s fewer unfocused ones. Build for impact. That’s what gets hired now. ---- Philip Burgess | www.uxresearchblog.com

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The great thing about developers leveraging agentic coding tools, is that a lot of the same design best-practices for communicating with humans, are also really helpful context for LLMs. I hope this article is a helpful starting point for designers to set developers up for success, especially those using Figma's Dev Mode MCP server. https://lnkd.in/gNi92tmH

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If your Customer Success team stops at renewals, you’re leaving growth on the table. When I first led a CS team, our mission was simple: Keep customers happy Prevent churn And we were good at it. Retention rates climbed, churn dropped but revenue? Barely moved. Then came the turning point. We had a client who was satisfied but silent. No expansions. No referrals. No public praise. A junior CSM suggested inviting them to our Customer Advisory Board. What happened next changed how I thought about advocacy forever. They became one of our most vocal champions: 🎤 Speaking at our webinars 📝 Sharing their success story in industry media 💡 Co developing new features with our product team That single advocate helped close a multi-million dollar deal. Not because of a sales pitch but because their story built trust money couldn’t buy. That’s when I realized: Advocacy is not a happy accident. It’s a deliberate growth strategy. Here’s how we embedded it into our CS DNA: 1️⃣ Identify potential advocates early not just your “happiest” customers but the most influential ones 2️⃣ Give them platforms to share events, case studies, peer groups 3️⃣ Recognize and reward their partnership 4️⃣ Partner with marketing and sales to amplify their voice Now, advocacy is a company wide growth engine. Our CSMs don’t just fight churn they fuel expansion, influence the market and lower acquisition costs. 3 actions to try tomorrow: • Identify your top 3 potential advocates • Invite one to share their story publicly • Coach your team to spot and nurture advocacy moments If you want your CS team to drive company growth, not just *customer retention Start by asking: “Who are our next 10 customer advocates?” 📌 This post is from Chapter 9 of Customer Success Leadership. The book dives deeper into how to transform Customer Success from a retention function into a true growth engine. 📖 Download your copy (link in comments).

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