Inclusive User Research Is Better UX Research

The podcast centers on the importance of ethical and inclusive research practices, advocating for a shift towards co-creation, mutual benefit, and shared agency in research design. It addresses the common imbalance where businesses benefit more than participants, leading to a transactional rather than collaborative relationship. The speaker shares a personal experience where a participant's question about the impact of their feedback revealed a failure to consider their well-being. To counter this, the podcast offers practical tools like a self-audit checklist, a core methods kit with flexible research approaches, and an ROI cheat sheet to convince stakeholders of the value of ethical research, emphasizing benefits like reduced research debt, improved data quality, and increased brand reputation.