In this discussion, we’ll dive into UserTesting’s journey of turning their UX research process into a “jazz band” act—transitioning rigid structure for flexibility, improvisation, and learning through doing. We’ll explore how this approach empowers teams to balance freedom with quality, manage risk, and scale insights across the company. From training non-researchers to refining company practices with feedback, we’ll share how this agile, music-inspired model drives better outcomes and what's next as we continue to jam
Elijah Woolery, Design Better
Eli Woolery is an author, speaker, and designer, with a depth of experience in product, user interface, and user experience design. Since 2013 He's co-taught Implementation, the 2-quarter capstone class for senior undergraduate Product Design students at Stanford University. He's the co-host, along with Aarron Walter, of the Design Better Podcast, which was nominated for a Webby in 2020, and where we’ve interviewed creatives like John Maeda, Debbie Millman, Seth Godin, Jason C. Mayden, and the inimitable John Cleese. The Design Thinking Handbook, which he wrote for InVision, is used in the curriculum at UC Berkeley’s Jacobs Institute for Design, as well as USC’s Graduate School of Business.
Aarron Walter is a design and technology leader and co-host of the Webby nominated Design Better Podcast. He started the user experience design practice at Mailchimp and helped grow the company from a few thousand customers to tens of millions. Later at InVision, he studied the design teams at some of the most admired tech companies to identify the traits that influence success. When the COVID19 pandemic emerged, he joined former CDC Director Dr Tom Frieden at Resolve to Save Lives to help US public health teams, the Africa CDC, and the WHO use design and technology in emergency response. He's the author of a number of books, the latest of which is the second edition of Designing for Emotion. Aarron's design guidance has helped the White House, the US Department of State, and dozens of major corporations, startups, and venture capital firms.