UX Research Geeks

Mujaahida Shakur, a behavior scientist and UX researcher with a background in public health and experience at Amazon Web Services, reflects on her journey into UX research and the challenge of translating a nontraditional career path into a compelling professional story. She explores career pivots, resume language, AI in hiring and research, inclusive recruitment, and the realities of navigating today’s job market. She also explains how she turned networking into a research project and how her curiosity turned career conversations into opportunities for learning, self-discovery, and genuine connection.
UPD: During the editing process of this episode, Mujaahida was hired at the SteerBridge as a User Experience Researcher. We wish her best of luck at her new company.

👉 If you have any tips on fantastic speakers from across the globe, feedback, or any questions, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to geekspodcast@uxtweak.com

🔎 Do you want to know more? Check out this episode at:
https://www.uxtweak.com/podcast/mujaahida-shakur-ux-research-career

Episode highlights
00:01:52 - Every UX research career is unique 
00:02:58 - AI in the interview process
00:04:12 - Using AI in UX research 
00:05:51 - Switching the industries 
00:10:38 - Representation in UX research studies 
00:11:58 - Framing your resume for success 
00:13:01 - Importance of networking 
00:19:13 - Discovering your strengths and weaknesses 
00:22:40 - Learning from your connections 
00:28:26 - Final advice 

About our guest 
Mujaahida is a Behavioral Scientist with 10 years of experience. With a background in Psychology and Public Health, she has dedicated her career to increasing equitable access to products, programs, and services that support traditionally marginalized populations. She has applied this interest across a variety of industries, including Education, Non-profit, Public Health, and Tech. She's currently working as a UXR, studying the ways people use and interact with technology to drive product and program strategy and development.

👉 Did you know that UXtweak also offers a series of webinars packed with practical knowledge for UX professionals? Check out the episode with Maria Rosala from NN/g, where she talks about using AI as a UX research partner: https://www.youtube.com/live/hRWLkpCBiyg?si=Bee9a1Ek7b7HKUqN 

About this podcast:
Welcome to UX Research Geeks, where Petra Rajkov, a senior UX researcher and product thinker, talks with researchers from around the globe about topics that matter to them. 

🐝 Brought to you by UXtweak, an all-in-one UX research software. Start your research for free at: https://www.uxtweak.com/ 👈

🐝 Where to follow UXtweak:
LinkedIn / Instagram / YouTube / Facebook / Twitter

Angie Amlani, Executive Director of Strategy and Research at Metalab, talks about what it really takes to design AI-native products. She covers how UX researchers can navigate AI-specific challenges like user trust and ethics, stay rigorous while working at speed, and build stronger storytelling and systems-thinking skills. She also shares tips for using AI in research for running studies, synthesizing findings, and communicating insights to stakeholders, while keeping empathy at the center of UX research.

🐝 Add UXtweak as a preferred source to always have the latests insights from UXR experts! ⁠⁠⁠https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=uxtweak.com⁠⁠⁠

🔎 Do you want to know more? Check out this episode at:
https://www.uxtweak.com/podcast/angelina-amlani-empathy-in-ux-research

Episode highlights
00:02:04 - Advantages of being an agency UX researcher
00:04:20 - Empathy as the core of UX research 
00:08:41 - Speed vs. rigor
00:11:04 - Sense-making in working with AI-native products
00:14:34 - Traditional UX research vs. research on AI products
00:16:08 - AI tools Angie recommends for UX research
00:17:52 - Key skills every UX researcher needs 
00:20:35 - Communicating with stakeholders
00:22:11 - Working at Metalab
00:24:01 - User trust and AI products 
00:28:00 - Summing up 

About our guest 
Angie Amlani is Executive Director of Research and Strategy at Metalab, the design agency behind digital products like Slack, Uber, Headspace, and Amazon. She helps product teams uncover what users need most, and turn that insight into clear, strategic decisions. With a background in systems thinking and human-centered design, Angie brings focus to the early stages of product and brand development, when direction matters most. 

👉 Did you know that UXtweak also offers a series of webinars packed with practical knowledge for UX professionals? Check out the episode with Maria Rosala from NN/g, where she talks about using AI as a UX research partner.

About this podcast:
Welcome to UX Research Geeks, where Tina Ličková, a researcher and strategist, talks with researchers from around the globe about topics that matter to them. 

🐝 Brought to you by UXtweak, an all-in-one UX research software. Start your research for free at: https://www.uxtweak.com/ 👈

🐝 Where to follow UXtweak:
LinkedIn / Instagram / YouTube / Facebook / Twitter

👉 If you have any tips on fantastic speakers from across the globe, feedback, or any questions, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to ⁠geekspodcast@uxtweak.com⁠

Joel Barr, a UX engineer and software creation professional, reflects on why we need to rethink the place of UX research within organizations, arguing that researchers have much greater impact when they sit under operations rather than product. He explores the decline of field research, the importance of connecting UX to sales and customer success teams, and the risks of overrelying on AI and synthetic participants. Joel also advocates for measuring UX through business outcomes such as revenue, retention, and operational success rather than product-centric metrics, debating that only by proving its commercial impact can UX secure its future. 

👉 If you have any tips on fantastic speakers from across the globe, feedback, or any questions, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to geekspodcast@uxtweak.com

🔎 Do you want to know more? Check out this episode at:
https://www.uxtweak.com/podcast/joel-barr-ux-research-in-organizations

Episode highlights
00:01:48 - Why UX Research should not sit under Product 
00:08:08 - Servant leadership 
00:11:40 - How companies benefit from having UX researchers in the field 
00:16:27 - Will UX Research lose influence if moved under Operations?
00:21:23 - AI in UX research
00:26:10 - Connecting UX research with retention and sales metrics 
00:28:12 - Summing up

👉 Did you know that UXtweak also offers a series of webinars packed with practical knowledge for UX professionals? Check out the episode with Stéphanie Walter, where she talks about overcoming the challenges of enterprise UX: https://www.youtube.com/live/d9p4ShC_fMA?si=eYEl_S0UErpJiT4B 

About this podcast:
Welcome to UX Research Geeks, where Tina Ličková, a researcher and strategist, talks with researchers from around the globe about topics that matter to them. 

🐝 Brought to you by UXtweak, an all-in-one UX research software. Start your research for free at: https://www.uxtweak.com/ 👈

🐝 Where to follow UXtweak:
LinkedIn / Instagram / YouTube / Facebook / Twitter

After 4 years and 70+ podcast episodes, we're saying a heartfelt thank you to Tina Ličková, our amazing host of UX Research Geeks since its first episode.

Tina gave this show her critical mind, passion, and the courage to ask uncomfortable questions. She helped us shape UXR Geeks into what it is today, and we're incredibly grateful for that.

Stepping in is Petra Rajkov, our Senior UX Researcher, who cares deeply for our field and the users. With her experience from Slido, Cisco, and now UXtweak, Petra brings a new perspective and genuine passion to the podcast.

UXR Geeks continues. Same mission. New energy. New voice.

👉 If you have any tips on fantastic speakers from across the globe, feedback, or any questions, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to geekspodcast@uxtweak.com

🔎 Do you want to know more? Check out this episode at:
https://www.uxtweak.com/podcast/new-chapter-of-uxr-geeks

Episode highlights
00:00:36 - UX Research Geeks news 
00:01:22 - Meeting Petra
00:02:15 - Petra’s experience in the UXR field
00:05:25 - Petra’s mission for UXR Geeks
00:07:08 - Petra’s first guest on the podcast 
00:10:00 - Summarizing Tina’s 4 years with UXR Geeks 
00:12:40 -  Saying a heartfelt goodbye to Tina

About our guest:
Petra Rajkov is a senior UX researcher and product thinker. With a background spanning startups, scale-ups, and large corporations, she’s worked on a wide range of projects, but her main goal is always keeping real human experiences at the center of the company. Driven by curiosity and her experience at Slido, Cisco, and UXtweak, she is now bringing her passion for UX and empowering others to the UX Research Geeks Podcast.

👉 Did you know that UXtweak also offers a series of webinars packed with practical knowledge for UX professionals? Check out the episode with Maria Rosala, where she talks about using AI as a UX research partner.

About this podcast:
Welcome to UX Research Geeks, where Petra Rajkov, a senior UX researcher and product thinker, talks with researchers from around the globe about topics that matter to them. 

🐝 Brought to you by UXtweak, an all-in-one UX research software. Start your research for free at: https://www.uxtweak.com/ 👈

🐝 Where to follow UXtweak:
LinkedIn / Instagram / YouTube / Facebook / Twitter

Dr. Gyles Morrison, a Clinical UX Strategist and former medical doctor, discusses how UX research can improve healthcare by addressing the realities of clinical practice, systemic bias, and complex care delivery. He explores why healthcare research must go above and beyond combining user research with population health data, workflow analysis, and an understanding of clinical systems to design products that patients and clinicians can actually adopt. Gyles also introduces his principle of "designing with discrimination in mind," arguing that digital health products should anticipate where bias enters clinical decision-making and deliberately shape workflows that make evidence-based care the easiest path to follow.

👉 If you have any tips on fantastic speakers from across the globe, feedback, or any questions, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to geekspodcast@uxtweak.com

🔎 Do you want to know more? Check out this episode at:
https://www.uxtweak.com/podcast/gyles-morisson-challenges-of-user-research-in-healthcare

Episode highlights
00:01:50 - Unique aspects of user research in healthcare
00:05:33 - Example of complexity of user research in healthcare
00:12:33 - Motivation for work in healthcare
00:16:27 - The biggest problems in healthcare
00:12:16 - Care plans in healthcare
00:23:21 - A clinitial's mindset and subconscious bias
00:28:23 -  Communicating user research findings in healthcare
00:30:48 -  Final advice

About our guest
Dr. Gyles Morrison is a Clinical UX Strategist with 15 years of healthcare experience (as of 2026). Originally a doctor in the UK, he now works globally, aiding UX professionals and healthcare firms in crafting valuable products and services for clinicians and patients. His expertise spans digital therapeutics, healthcare behavior change, health equality, and UX strategy. Gyles also leads the Clinical UX Association, a worldwide community passionate about healthcare. As a UX mentor and career coach, he assists doctors transitioning from clinical practice to UX careers and delivers talks and workshops on career change, personal development, and personal branding. You can connect with him through his website or on LinkedIn.

👉 Did you know that UXtweak also offers a series of webinars packed with practical knowledge for UX professionals? Check out the episode with Stéphanie Walter, where she talks about overcoming the challenges of enterprise UX: https://www.youtube.com/live/d9p4ShC_fMA?si=eYEl_S0UErpJiT4B

About this podcast:
Welcome to UX Research Geeks, where Tina Ličková, a researcher and strategist, talks with researchers from around the globe about topics that matter to them.

🐝 Brought to you by UXtweak, an all-in-one UX research software. Start your research for free at: https://www.uxtweak.com/ 👈

🐝 Where to follow UXtweak:
LinkedIn / Instagram / YouTube / Facebook / Twitter