What if you could build a career based on empathy?
Understanding how people think about and interact with products is a cornerstone of user experience (UX) research, a thriving field that is in demand across a growing number of industries. To learn more about the profession, USC Online spoke with faculty from the Master of Science in Applied Psychology (MAPP) online program at USC.
Read on to discover how to become a UX researcher and the opportunities available.
What Do UX Researchers Do?
UX researchers study how people interact with products and services. Their goal is to deeply understand what users need and want, as well as their pain points (the problems they encounter when using the product). Companies rely on the insights generated by UX researchers to i mprove and update the products and services they offer — as well as building entirely new products and services.
Most UX researchers today work closely with an organization’s product development teams, said USC Associate Professor of the Practice of Psychology Jason Buhle, who teaches user experience research in the MS in Applied Psychology program.
“They develop a much deeper knowledge of the product development process and the very specific needs of that product area,” Buhle said.
UX researchers’ work often falls into one of two camps: evaluative research and foundational research. Evaluative research gauges the usability of an existing product.
“You’ve got the thing: the app, the coffee maker, whatever it is,” Buhle explained. “And you’re trying to figure out: Do people know where the buttons are? Do they know how to get into this mode? Do they know how to complete the purchase? That’s actually going to be a lot of what [UX researchers] do on a day-to-day basis, especially early in their careers.”
On the other hand, foundational research lays the groundwork for understanding user needs more broadly across many different scenarios and situations. This involves unpacking people’s mental models and carefully observing how they accomplish their goals.
“Our goal is to identify wants and needs [people] may not be able to verbalize or may not even be aware of themselves, so we can develop effective and innovative solutions,” Buhle said.
What Skills Does a UX Researcher Need?
As the name suggests, this job involves a lot of research. Aspiring UX researchers should get familiar with both qualitative and quantitative research methods, Buhle advised.
Qualitative research techniques, like conducting in-depth interviews, are a bedrock of this profession. However, UX researchers who use solely quantitative methods — including analyzing large datasets with tools like SQL or Python or statistical packages like R — are growing in number, Buhle said.
UX research also requires teamwork with colleagues across departments, including data analysts and market researchers. UX researchers should be good at analysis and critical thinking, too. Above all, it’s important to be curious!
“One of the most important things is someone who can get really interested in a wide variety of topics … to find the whole world fascinating,” Buhle said. “And I would also say someone who likes to dig deep, because it’s honestly very easy to come up with surface-level understanding, but to really get in deep and understand the nuance, the variety of how people think … then you can really provide value and help your team come up with great product ideas and great solutions to optimize those products.”
Is UX Research a Good Career Path?
Although UX research experienced the same post-pandemic setbacks as much of the job market, the field has overall experienced rapid growth over the past decade and is on a growth trajectory once again, Buhle said. Buhle also observed that UX research teams are growing in size.
The median annual salary for a UX researcher is $121,000, while UX researcher managers typically bring home a median annual salary of $145,000, according to Glassdoor. However, as with any job, this salary varies based on location and the organization.
UX research roles now exist across a wide variety of industries, including state and federal government, nonprofits and the private sector, Buhle said. The top-paying industries for UX researchers are information technology, health care and financial services, according to Glassdoor.
How to Become a UX Researcher
There is no one-size-fits-all degree that you need to become a UX researcher. However, people in this field typically have bachelor’s degrees related to technology, data analysis or social science, according to Indeed.
In addition, getting a master’s degree can help you pivot careers or gain experience that makes your application more attractive to employers. Graduate degrees like USC’s MAPP online program have the added benefit of equipping students to understand — and generate — academic research. This is an often-overlooked skill that makes UX researchers more competitive, Buhle said.
“Sometimes we can understand the way people think and behave in these contexts by using academic research, of which there might be decades,” Buhle said. “I would argue that being able to engage with academic research effectively is an important skill folks should seek out for themselves.”
Getting a Master of Science in Applied Psychology
Pursuing a Master of Science in Applied Psychology, such as the program offered by the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, is a great way to get started in UX research.
In contrast to clinical psychology, which focuses on diagnosing and treating psychological issues, applied psychology takes psychological theories and research into the workplace. Students who pursue this degree at USC have gone on to work in organizational psychology areas and human resources, but also UX research, market research and even UX design, Buhle said.
Learning UX research principles in an academic setting positions students to succeed in the field.
“What we’re also seeing is a lot more folks with graduate training in the field, whether it’s a master’s degree or a doctoral degree, and the expectation that you can not just run studies and come up with answers, but that you can both better connect to a larger body of research that your company or organization has developed over a period of time,” Buhle said.
And, although studying applied psychology doesn’t have the same career outcomes as clinical psychology, it still focuses on understanding and empathizing with people with different backgrounds and needs — which is also what UX research is all about.
“[People] think it’s basically tricking people to buy more stuff or something, but our field is more focused on … really building that empathy [and] understanding [and] making things useful and usable,” Buhle said.
Learn more about the online Master of Science in Applied Psychology today.