I published the Research Practice book 5+ years ago. Work changed for all of us, as did research. The advice in the book still applies, and the book is now free to download or read online. https://gregg.io/research-practice-is-free

As tech support for my parents, we’ve had close calls with scams. I’m excited to begin volunteering as an AARP Digital Fraud Fighter, sharing resources and warnings with older adults. https://www.aarp.org/lp/fraud-narrative-change/?utm_source=bambu&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Fraud%20Fighter

Apologies for repeatedly reposting this. Feel free to mute this post. I know many like myself are in a tough spot financially right now. I’m embarrassed to keep reposting, but I’m really struggling. If you can help, this would be a tremendous relief. I’d really appreciate it. Thank you.💛

Connie Chen 陳穎慈@conniechiiiwa.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Actively looking for full-time, remote Senior UX/Product Designer roles. Bonus points for healthcare, biotech, or ed-tech. Appreciate your support & connections. Thank you.💛 Portfolio: conniechen.design Support: • paypal.me/conniechiiiwa • venmo.com/u/conniechii... • buymeacoffee.com/conniechiiiwa

Research impact is a trap. Instead of trying to prove your worth, get your colleagues to document how your research supports their decisions. https://gregg.io/brace-for-impact

UX people of ATL, join me at the Learner’s Research Roundtable on January 20! I’ll be hosting with Chelsey Kamson and Reggie Murphy. Sign up: https://www.joinlearners.com/events/research-roundtable-atlanta

The perfect UX research repo (alive, connected to all relevant data, with strong governance) always eluded me… until now. I wrote about how I found a good use case for AI: https://gregg.io/repo-dreams

This is how to speak to every single one of those sycophants.

A friendly reminder, in case you're curious about our publishing standards.

This is great news for user researchers. The orgs that buy this service will end up in the same undifferentiated place, while researchers will continue to spot the habits and trends that indicate real opportunity.

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 7mo ago

“Instead of paying humans to join focus groups and complete surveys, Aaru uses thousands of AI agents, or bots, to simulate human responses. It feeds demographic and psychographic information into its models to create human profiles that match clients’ needs…”

ah the famous fable, the tortoise and the hare, about a genius hare that easily outmatches the naive hopeless tortoise.

Sarah Weinman@sarahweinman.com · 8mo ago

“If I can generate a book in a day, and you need six months to write a book, who’s going to win the race?” God this is bleak

All of this happened with basically no help from elected officials of the opposition party. This was entirely the people.

Design is the rendering of intent. A slick gov website that serves no one, shares misinformation, and is not accessible is not a user experience. It's propaganda and UX cosplay. www.fastcompany.com/91458973/chi...

User researchers already document findings at a faster velocity than orgs can act on them. It strains credulity that tech leaders are clamoring for even more yet worse AI-generated findings. My new blog post, "The only winning move is not to play." gregg.io/the-only-win...

Gregg Bernstein (he/him)@gregg.io · 11mo ago

New from my blog: The only winning move is not to play https://gregg.io/the-only-winning-move "Let’s not debase ourselves as user researchers further"

New from my blog: The only winning move is not to play https://gregg.io/the-only-winning-move "Let’s not debase ourselves as user researchers further"

Fugazi is never the wrong answer. open.spotify.com/track/6p7f0M...

Life And Limb

open.spotify.com

Maybe I'm out of step, but I don't think it's great when most of the sponsors of a major user research conference are selling products that replace user researchers with AI.

“I don’t have a password - it’s my thumb” is a phrase I hear way too often when I try to help my parents with their accounts. Biometric login adds such a degree of difficulty in assisting aging adults, especially from afar.

I don't want to be recorded by facial recognition glasses. I also don't want people to think I'm recording them because I wear Ray-Bans that look like the Meta privacy nightmare specs. About time for new frames. 👓

Mike Watt being backed up by Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl, and Pat Smear.

Greg@gsarafan.bsky.social · last yr.

What is your biggest concert flex?

Putting aside for a moment that the entire notion of user research is predicated on studying humans being, the doorknob phenomenon is very real, highly illuminating, and *impossible for any AI to replicate.*

Lemmy from Radiöhead@melissanyc.bsky.social · last yr.

Of the many, many things wrong with using “AI” participants for user research, one is that you will only ever get answers to the questions you ask, and nothing more.

Bad Religion’s 1992 song “Generator” is an early warning of AI’s rise to ubiquity, with prescient lyrics about text and photographs being subsumed under a generative layer. In this essay I will-

Every Silicon Valley innovation in the consumer space has been "what if this software was my mom" which explains why ChatGPT's primary use is as a therapist, relationship substitute for lonely boys, and "personal operating system" to organize their life

Eyes Wide Shut. Packed opening night in NYC. Masked party scene. “May I have the password, please?” Audience member immediately yells “BULLSHIT” and the whole place explodes with laughter.

Boner Vivant@dougtilley.bsky.social · last yr.

Got me thinking.. What's the strongest reaction you've seen an audience member have to a scene in a cinema? During the birthday party scene in SIGNS I saw a whole row of young women literally throw their popcorn in the air like a cartoon.

There are ~17k Starbucks stores in US (which is 2x the number of coworking spaces). Really want to improve "collaboration, problem-solving, and culture-building?" I can think of 17k places where this will be way more impactful than an office.

Dare Obasanjo@carnage4life.bsky.social · last yr.

Starbucks is increasing its RTO requirement to 4 days a week from 3. Additionally it’s asked all managers to either relocate to Seattle or Toronto, or accept a one-time payment then resign. At least that’s more generous than Amazon’s resigning without severance.

I am serious about supporting local journalism. If you want to report the stories, I will get you set up technically. And I will keep you online. HMU. PS>Any hosting partners wanna step up? How about one shared account for the first three new local publications? (Traffic will be small at first)

New from my blog: In praise of redundant publishing practices https://gregg.io/in-praise-of-redundancy "Publish for both your audience and your future self"

New from my blog: How I write https://gregg.io/how-I-write "A brief reintroduction"

I don’t know that anyone following me needs this reminder today, but just in case, turn off biometric authentication and switch to password on your phone if you think you could be arrested. You cannot be compelled to give a password, but biometrics are treated differently.

Sí, se puede