Why (Real) User Research Is Becoming a Career Advantage for Designers (Feat. Sara Fortier)
Your stakeholders say research is a waste of time. Just ship it. We’ll figure it out later. But later never comes. The product misses the mark, teams scramble, and you end up doing twice the work fixing mistakes you saw coming weeks ago. Relatable? For many designers it is...
In this episode, we’re joined by Sara Fortier, CEO of Outwitly and author of Design Research Mastery, to talk about just that, what design research really looks like today, and why it’s becoming more important as AI becomes bigger and bigger.
We talk about why research is less about methods and more about influence, how junior designers can stand out in today's super competitive market, and why the future favors designers who can connect business risk, human behavior, and product decisions instead of just pushing pixels.
In this episode you’ll learn:
🔸 Why design research is an insurance policy against bad decisions
🔸 How to introduce research in low-maturity teams without asking permission
🔸 Why AI won’t replace research but will raise the bar for designers
🔸 How junior designers can use research to stand out and get hired
🔸 When research should be deep, lightweight, or skipped entirely
🔸 Why UX generalists are becoming more valuable than narrow specialists
⏱ Chapters
00:00 Why teams say research slows them down
03:18 Research vs taste, craft, and AI hot takes
07:02 Finding champions inside low-maturity orgs
10:22 Asking forgiveness instead of permission
14:05 Research as risk reduction and ROI
18:41 Why generalists are winning again
23:12 AI, research, and the future of design roles
28:10 What junior designers should focus on right now
33:05 Tools that actually help researchers today
41:02 The skills AI can’t replace
Learn more about Sarah’s book
https://www.designresearchmastery.com/
Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarafortier/
Learn more about Outwitly
https://outwitly.com/
Subscribe to The Design Table Podcast
https://www.designtablepodcast.com/subscribe
More about the hosts
Tyler: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/tyler-white
Nick: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/nick-groeneveld
Hosts
Tyler White
Tyler White is a Senior Product Designer with over a decade of experience in UX, strategy, and business-driven design. He’s worked across startups, fintech, and SaaS, helping teams create products that convert and retain users.
Nick Groeneveld
Nick Groeneveld is a freelance UX and product designers from the Netherlands. He started his design career in 2015 and has since then worked for startups, government agencies, and corporations.
