User Experience Research Positions For PhDs

Join Isaiah as he discusses why PhDs should consider pursuing a career in user experience (UX) and what the role of a UX researcher entails

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

• First, Isaiah explains why PhDs should consider different career paths instead of limiting themselves to what they know
• Next, Isaiah presents the user experience researcher position and what it takes to succeed in it
• Finally, Isaiah gives you 4 reasons why you should consider pursuing a career in user experience

From This Week’s Show… 

Don’t Jeopardize Your Career By Limiting Your Options

Industry jobs are limitless, yet most PhDs make the mistake of narrowing their search to only a few types of job titles.

Don’t make this mistake- if you do, you’ll miss out on a lot of exciting opportunities. One such field is user experience, or UX for short.

With an expected year-over-year growth of 11%, UX is considered one of the fastest growing jobs on the market. And opportunities are not just limited to STEM PhDs.

We often think that user experience is something that only app developers and video game designers are concerned with, but in fact, user experience is part of just about everything we interface with on a daily basis – from software and apps to services and stores.

The majority of companies now realize that in order to keep loyal clientele, they have to offer more than just a product – they have to offer an experience…

Many companies are now conducting their own user experience research. And for those that aren’t, 73% plan to in the near future.

What UX Researchers Do

In the simplest terms, UX researchers are the bridge between the product and its user.

They help all departments within a company better understand the product through the lens of the end-user.

What companies are seeking for these roles is an expert researcher who is able to interpret data and clearly communicate the results to a broader audience.

Why All PhDs Should Consider A Career In User Experience (UX)

If you’re like most PhDs, and you want to know that your work makes a difference, then look no further than UX.

In a UX role, you can directly observe the impact your work has on the end-product and the people who use it. You will be valued as a researcher, problem-solver, and seen as a subject matter expert.

In other words, your work will be revered because it has a direct impact on whether a product succeeds or fails.

UX positions sit at the intersection of research and business. This means you get to interact with all facets of industry – designers, engineers, product managers, and the like.

Another great thing about this field is that anyone with a PhD can be trained in UX.

Like I said, it’s a multidisciplinary field – they need STEM PhDs along with interdisciplinary PhDs in the humanities, social sciences, and beyond.

PhDs are highly sought after for UX because of their ability to understand and perform quantitative and qualitative research. Moreover, because UX is relevant to all industries, you’re likely to find open positions in any sector you find interesting.

UX professionals are highly regarded in industry, and in turn, highly compensated. UX researchers are paid well because they not only have to understand the technical data, but they also have to translate their findings into actionable business concepts.

UX researchers have the ability to save a company both time and money, which makes them one of the most valuable employees they have.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.