The user researcher as therapist – Sabrina Duda

Hi everyone. We are happy to invite you to another UXPS Meetup with Sabrina Duda:

The user researcher as therapist –
How therapeutic skills and mindsets make us better UX professionals

User researchers often find themselves wearing more hats than they expected - but one of the most surprising is that of a therapist. This talk explores the parallels between user research and therapy, highlighting the emotional and interpersonal skills required to navigate the complex human dynamics of product development.

Beyond research methods and UX knowledge, researchers’ tasks include:

• Mediating stakeholder expectations and frustrations
• Supporting colleagues through uncertainty, high workloads, and emotional stress
• Facilitating difficult or emotionally charged user sessions

At the heart of our work are listening skills. We absorb what users say and like therapists, we guide stakeholders to face reality: Whether it’s uncomfortable user feedback, unmet expectations, or the hard truth about how a product is actually used (or isn’t).

This talk offers a reflection on the emotional labour of research and how embracing this therapist-like role can make us better UX professionals.

Bio:
Sabrina has over 25 years of experience in user research. She is an Accredited UX Professional with an MSc in Psychology (Engineering Psychology, Cognitive Ergonomics & Computer Science).
Sabrina co-founded one of the first UX agencies in Germany and served as managing director and partner for over 12 years.

Since 2015, she has been living in the UK and has had various UX leadership roles, recently as Principal UX Researcher. She is currently working as a freelancer, under her brand SMILING.

She frequently writes and speaks about UX, and she is a mentor. Read more about her on www.smiling.club !

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See you and like always… happy thinking.
Mark & Verena