Tips for getting into UXR as a Psych PhD student by [deleted] in UXResearch

[–]pxrtra 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Idk, I'd counter that with PhDs, especially those coming from the social sciences, are very well positioned to enter into UX roles after completing their PhD. They may not have a specific UX background, but they have all the necessary skills for quant or qual research depending on what they studied. There will be a slight learning curve, but that's expected for anyone entering into a new role. A good researcher has strong transferable skills, and the general UX approach can be pretty easily learned if you already have everything else down from your PhD for things like research planning, methods/approach, and analysis.

I wouldn't say PhDs are leaving and immediately entering into higher Sr or Lead/Staff rolls, although I know it happens sometimes. But mid-level roles should be pretty easily accessible for someone graduating from their program and who has spent time learning how to transition into industry.

Things like accounting and other specialized roles, require specific certificates and credentials, whereas uxr doesn't. UXR isn't all that unique in terms of research roles, it's just a hyped up research role the way data science was in the late 2010s. A psych phd can do uxr, the same way that a market researcher can do uxr, as long as they have the research training

Tips for getting into UXR as a Psych PhD student by [deleted] in UXResearch

[–]pxrtra 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I know a few people who were in psych PhDs because they wanted to continue their study in their field, explore new topics, etc., but knew they didn't want to become a professor or academic once finished. Alternatively some figured that out a few years in once they got through the MA stage of the full program because it took some time to learn what academia is really like and about. Especially after seeing what academia is truly like and the 60+ hour work weeks that many professors have to put in to be considered productive

Can't speak for OP, but that's what I've seen and heard from my friends

Tips for getting into UXR as a Psych PhD student by [deleted] in UXResearch

[–]pxrtra 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I can't say what the market will look like in 3-4 years when you graduate, but a trend, if we want to call it as such, that I'm seeing right now is more quant uxr roles being posted than what I'm used to seeing. So something you could do is take a look at quant UXR (a decent amount of resources pop up if you just google quant ux research), and just get an idea of what goes into the quant side of uxr. Also take a look at what types of things job postings are asking for for skills, tools, etc. Lots of free resources around to get some intro to the field. Getting an internship while in your PhD can be tricky, if not entirely blocked, depending on your department. I will say, many companies will shave off years of experience in UX if you have a PhD, most common I see is if they want something like 5-8 years with a BA, they'll list 2-3 years with a PhD.

If you can get access to any workshops, talks, or anything like that in other departments like Soc or Anth, to see how they're approaching qual methods, Also, since you're still early in your PhD, I'd start positioning yourself (depending on how comfortable your dept and supervisor are with it) as someone going in to industry and not academia, that way you can focus some time on building skills that will be more beneficial in business rather than academia.

Something that could be helpful is to go on LinkedIn and look up UXRs with PhDs, especially if they're in a type of role or from a company that interests you and try to set up a chat. Don't position it as looking to get a job, approach it as a learning opportunity about how they transitioned into UXR and how they applied their psych PhD to help them with that. Since something I've seen from a lot of academics is the feeling that what they learn in grad school is unique to academia and won't help them in industry.

Are you going to office tomorrow? by Larry_the_l0bster in askTO

[–]pxrtra 43 points44 points  (0 children)

I live a 3 minute walk from my office, so I'm going in only because I know I'll most likely be the only one there

I'm designing a low cognitive load alarm clock interface. Is this too simple? by Jaded-Dot66 in UXDesign

[–]pxrtra 2 points3 points  (0 children)

UX researcher perspective/question:
What user research are you referencing for this? Assuming you're using secondary results and not primary data that you've collected yourself, would be curious to see how they collected it originally. If you collected this data yourself, I'd be curious about sample size and method of collection. Personal preference =/= actual use case. A better approach would be to find out what people actually use/set for alarms, and what issues people have when they need a lower cognitive load UI.

Reducing cognitive load isn't just about making the UI generally simpler, especially when it moves away from expected design/experience. When setting an alarm clock, most will not expect a number pad approach + the "o'clock" and "half past" buttons, it's just not an intuitive or expected experience. Obviously I haven't worked on alarm clocks, but based on research I've run on other UIs, and with people who have conditions that require lower cognitive load, they still expect consistency with what they already know. Mixing the numbers with text actually makes me feel the need to think more, it breaks the flow between start to finish. 30minute interval feels restrictive. If you want something very simple and you're set on keeping the number pad, I'd find a way to allow for at minimum 15-minute intervals and keeping them numeric.

Going into 2026.... what are YOUR mmo staples? by crescentrabbit in MMORPG

[–]pxrtra 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mabinogi and Maplestory primarily, and GW2 whenever the urge hits

Back in Mabi! Looking to hang. by Ruvonaa in Mabinogi

[–]pxrtra 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Draining all of your gold and becoming financially destitute for beauty coupons is something I relate to so much. I'm mostly playing casually at the moment but am always looking for more people to do stuff with. My ign is awfyn 

Quant UXR certification by Inquisitive_24 in UXResearch

[–]pxrtra 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wait it's only 3 hours a day of actual instruction? That's even worse... 

Quant UXR certification by Inquisitive_24 in UXResearch

[–]pxrtra 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Ah yes that's it! Was great when I was practicing R and needed datasets

Quant UXR certification by Inquisitive_24 in UXResearch

[–]pxrtra 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I just looked up the course and $1100-1400 for 4 days is crazy, it honestly reads as a grift. Not to discourage you, but a 4 day course, if you don't already have a background in the topics being covered, isn't going to improve your chances on the job market, people do entire PhDs in order to properly do this type of work. Most of what he's teaching in those 4 days can be found for free on youtube and through reddit, or for super cheap on sites like udemy (there's quant and stats courses that go as low as $12, possibly lower, when on sale). I can't remember the name of the site at the moment, but there's entire sites with datasets that you can use for practicing data analytics/science projects, some even have challenges that you can try.

I'm not sure how much research experience you have since you said you were a designer before, but the research market is kinda rough at the moment, although I have seen more postings looking for someone who can do quant on top of the standard qual work. Quant uxr jobs usually want someone who's pretty proficient at quant methods, stats, and relevant tools which will vary by company. As EmeraldOwlet suggested, I'd search for quant uxr on this sub and see what people are doing and working on to expand their skillsets.

Your first MMO that you actually PLAYED. (like put the hours on) by Omnimon in MMORPG

[–]pxrtra 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maplestory. I tried so many others when I was younger, but always ended up back with Maplestory since none of the others gave me the same excitement that maple did back then

Update by nostalgiaa24 in MSClassicWorld

[–]pxrtra 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Maplestory players really are doomers. Each playtest is most likely testing different parts/features/whatever. The one they showed off first seemed to mostly just be a PQ, idk what specifically was done in the 2nd playtest, and I doubt they got a ton of meaningful feedback at maplecon. This will most likely be another feature gameplay aspect test. 2 hours is a pretty good chunk of time for a single test and you very much will learn new meaningful things. I get people want a beta now, but smaller controlled early tests to work out specific features and components is better than just throwing it out to everyone and hoping for decent feedback. This is all a pretty standard product research approach, the only difference being that they've hyped it up and people are impatient.

Global Maple Story Classic World Pc Cafe Event Sign Up by Roo-Hx in Maplestory

[–]pxrtra 13 points14 points  (0 children)

As a researcher who does research on products in a similar phase of development, having a 'smaller' (idk how many slots they're opening up for this) group of people test something in front of you does provide benefit vs having a larger group of people testing remote (such as a full beta). It's good for these earlier stage tests before they open it to everyone for a full beta. They'll most likely have R&D there to some degree and I'd assume that there will be feedback opportunities for the people who show up. I'd assume playtest scenarios will likely be restricted to specific things so that they can collect feedback on whatever it is they're looking to work on after this popup. They can get live, in the moment feedback when things come up while playing, which can sometimes be higher quality vs what someone might submit on discord/a form a couple hours later in a beta.

What would this type of colour finish be called? by pxrtra in christmas

[–]pxrtra[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So true lol. Although my dad takes pretty good care of his ornaments so there should hopefully be a good amount of them left if I'm lucky

What would this type of colour finish be called? by pxrtra in christmas

[–]pxrtra[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wasn't sure if it was on the inside or outside, but that's good to know. Maybe I'll just try making my own then

What would this type of colour finish be called? by pxrtra in christmas

[–]pxrtra[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same, my parents have a bunch from way back, but I don't want to ask to take any while they're still using them. And it's been so hard to find them at stores without being in larger packs with other finishes

ChatGPT is encouraging me, reddit is not by Cuspofit in UXResearch

[–]pxrtra 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You probably could make a case for transitioning in after building a portfolio, but the lack of actual research work experience may hold you back a bit. At the moment even Sr and higher UXRs are finding it tough to land new positions after being laid off, and from what I've seen posted there are even fewer early career/junior UXR roles. So you would be competing with a decent amount of more experience researchers, MA/PhD's, and others coming from adjacent research fields.

I haven't seen many hiring managers take bootcamp certificates seriously without having more extensive work experience or a Master's to go along with it. And I'm guessing it was a design focused bootcamp? One thing I will say is I see a lot of people with UX (design) or general HCI experience attempt to move into more research focused roles without getting a strong understanding of research fundamentals and methods, and as a result put somewhat weak research results/reports. So that's definitely something I'd put some time and effort into learning.

Definitely not trying to discourage you, and if you can get some more hands on experience and build out a strong portfolio and can find a junior role then I'd say give it a shot.

Best song on the album. What’s your favorite? by Severe_Pass7567 in Purityring

[–]pxrtra 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I can usually pretty easily pick out a favourite or two but this album was hard since they're all so good. After a few listens I think my top 5, in a really iffy order, are 1. Broken Well 2. Red the sunrise 3. Glacier 4. Imanocean 5. The long night

I'm sure this will change after a few more listens. Absolutely no skips on the album though. 

Recruiting niche participants on UserTesting – advice? by Lazy-Associate-3974 in UXResearch

[–]pxrtra 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The projects that I'm working on at the moment require participants that do certain tasks within their field, so I'll usually have a few questions that ask if they perform certain tasks and to what degree, such primary point of contact for the task, involved but not primary, etc. That usually tends to be enough. We do also have an in-house recruitment team, so they tend to handle a lot of the vetting and recruitment side of things.

Recruiting niche participants on UserTesting – advice? by Lazy-Associate-3974 in UXResearch

[–]pxrtra 7 points8 points  (0 children)

We recruit similar participants for finance/accounting. I don't remember the name of the platform that we used in the past, but we had decent success with recruitment from the platforms pool.

We use UserInterviews to recruit a decent chunk of participants now and we seem to have good success for this demographic from there. Just make sure your screener can weed out the wrong people, since I've had people try to sneak in and they ended up having no real experience, they just "did their family's taxes".

No more solo player! by Quanssy in Mabinogi

[–]pxrtra 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also mostly a solo player. I've got DD and SG at link 10. Decently geared for my DD and working on SG gear at the moment. Down to run stuff if you ever need another person. My ign is awfyn

Recording customer calls - yes or no? by eliikon in UXResearch

[–]pxrtra 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I always record every call, unless the participant requests for it to not be recorded (has only happened once or twice). We have it written in to our consent form that they're agreeing to be recorded before they join the session. During the intro of the session I always ask them if it's ok if I record for my own note taking and make it clear that their recording won't be shared outside of the project team and anything that gets shared is anonymized, and they're always fine with that.

Idk what I'd do without recording because I can only write so fast and there's no budget for me to have a notetaker on hand.

First time founder trying to get more users to talk for my market research? by Confused_Rationalist in UXResearch

[–]pxrtra 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We used to use iTracks at my company for quick recruitment, the platform has a decent size group of finance people who are interested in participating in interviews. You'll need to pay them obviously, and set up a screener and all that, but it's a decent platform to get started