The four themes that defined UX research in 2022
and what they tell us about the state of the industry
If you review the UX content and discourse from any year, you will find some consistent topics. Education about the value of good user experience, current best practices, methodological how-to guides, and reviews of software and tools are typical any year. Beyond this, every year has its defining movements and topics.
There were four themes that defined UX research discourse in 2022.
Increased demand & scaling
Emerging technologies
Increased focus on historically underrepresented groups
Changing trajectory
Before diving in, I’ll give a brief overview of what went into determining these themes. Over the past month I…
Read every article or white paper I could find that made predictions, reported trends, or commented on the state of the UX Research industry.
Sampled the topics of the articles shared in popular UX newsletters
Developed a set of the most common topics and compared them to the topics from previous years to get a sense of what is quintessentially 2022 vs. an every year thing
From this process, I found four standout themes that were top of mind for the UX research field this year.
Increased demand & scaling
The UX field has spent a lot of effort on evangelizing the need for efficient, effective, and satisfying digital experiences. The good news is that this seems to have paid off. Obtaining buy-in does not appear to be as large of a problem as it used to be. The data to back this claim are mostly based on perceptions of those in the field, but convergent validity supports the case.
User Interviews’ “The State of User Research 2022” report showed that only 3% of researchers reported buy-in as a significant pain point (that is down from 14% and 20% in previous years).
Nielsen Norman Group’s self-assessment UX maturity quiz results showed that the “average” score was “Emergent.” Demonstrating that the majority of teams have at least some level of executive buy-in.
UserZoom’s State of UX report shows that time, resource, & budget constraints (and even recruiting participants) are all more frequent issues than executive buy-in.
UX research has become increasingly important in recent years as companies have come to recognize the value of understanding the user experience. This has increased the demand for UX Researchers (see Pybus and Buhle’s regular updates on UXR jobs & User Interview’s report for the growth in team sizes) and the research deliverables they produce (see below).
The industry’s focus has shifted to how we can scale to meet the increased demand for UX research. Broadly, we’ve adopted two responses to scaling issues:
Democratization | One solution to the scale issue is the democratization of research. This often takes the form of the research team developing resources & enablement for non-researchers such that they can conduct their own research (you will see these folks called PwDRs, “people who do research”). UX Tool’s report finds that up to 60% of their surveyed respondents (most of whom have a design role) directly participate in UX Research. The usual play is to democratize tactical evaluative research (i.e., basic usability testing).
Dedicated Research Operations | Another response to the issue of scaling UXR is the proliferation of dedicated ResOps roles and teams. Generally speaking, ResOps seeks to optimize processes and resources to maximize the efficiency and impact of a UX Research team. These roles have increased in recent years, and as of 2022, over 40% of orgs have a dedicated ops team.
A third solution, augmentation and automation through AI & ML, shows some promise but has yet to be widely adopted. That brings us to the topic of our second theme.
Emerging technologies
You see new trends in emerging tech wherever you look these days. As of this writing, ChatGPT is one of the hottest search terms, and the fad of generating AI self-portraits is all the rage. The excitement for these new technologies, naturally, bled into UX Research discourse this past year.
Emerging technologies, like AI, Mixed-Reality (AR/VR), Web3, and blockchain have generated a lot of excitement. While there is a lot of excitement, my review of how these technologies have impacted the UX industry in 2022 did not yield much (i.e., there is more discussion than actual case studies demonstrating the success of applying these technologies to UX practice).
As far as I can see, signs point to being somewhere after the “innovation trigger” and before the “peak of inflated expectations” of the Gartner Hype Cycle.
In the future I would expect to see:
Emerging tech creating new opportunities | These technologies will create new opportunities for UX researchers and designers as more and more companies seek to develop Web3, MR, and AI experiences. Some companies have invested in this (Meta’s Reality Labs team being a prominent example), but it’s still early days, and you will see more going forward.
UX Best Practices for emerging tech | As more UX professionals work with these new technologies, you will start to see tailored best practices emerge. This work has already begun (ex: VR-specific heuristics), but you will see an increase in content like this in the coming years.
Emerging tech changing how we (UXRs) work | The ability to augment a UXR’s work through automation and AI will change UX research. This prospect has exciting opportunities for making UX Researchers more efficient but also has generated concerns over the replaceability of certain skills, introducing biases, and a slew of ethical considerations.
Overall, emerging technologies have created new opportunities that will influence both what we work on and how we work.
Increased focus on historically underrepresented groups
Inclusive and accessible design considerations are not yet consistent and standard practices. The UX field is keen to change this. Reports from this year show the importance the UX field places on inclusive design and accessibility. Accessibility and DE&I were a common theme in most “state of UX” style reports, and survey data showed that professionals considered these two of the most important topics for 2022.
Conducting UX research on underrepresented groups is important because it helps to ensure that the products and services being developed are inclusive and accessible to all users, regardless of their race, gender, age, ability, or other factors. By conducting research with underrepresented groups, UX researchers can gain a deeper understanding of their unique needs, preferences, and challenges, using that knowledge to inform the design of products and services tailored to their needs. This can help create more equitable and inclusive user experiences and ultimately lead to better products and services for everyone.
Changing trajectory
Simply put, UXR was growing at a fierce rate for the past few years. Estimates show 40% of UXRs have less than five years of experience, and the total UXR headcount grew by about 20% this year alone. However, “deceleration” is the term that comes to mind when looking at the trends over the course of 2022.
The economic backdrop of the year and layoffs have cooled the field’s growth. The data for job postings and current UXR roles demonstrate this. Taken together, they show that the rate of growth slowed down sometime between Q2 & Q3.
This change in trajectory might sound scary, and some reports make it sound downright alarming, but I would caution that mild to moderate concern combined with a good bit of compassion is a more appropriate reaction. The economic downturn and the adverse events associated with it (e.g., layoffs, hiring freezes, and diminished promotions and raises) have, and will, negatively impact many of us. That is unavoidable and disheartening. But the data above show that:
The UXR field is still growing,
there are opportunities to be had, and
we can continue to thrive as a field.
Heading into 2023…
It will be interesting to see what trends continue, which end, and what new ones emerge. How will the economic downturn impact our ability to scale, increase our attention to inclusivity, and adapt new technologies into our practice?
Drill deeper
Depth is produced by Drill Bit Labs, a consulting firm on a mission to advance the field of user research.
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