What Can’t AI See? Ethnographic Research in a Post-Screen World
Melissa Voderberg Director of Customer Experience & Innovation Publicis Sapient
As UX design becomes more automated and digital interactions move beyond screens and into experiences that are auditory, kinaesthetic, and sensory, what does the future of UX research look like? What is the right balance of researcher vs AI to conduct sense-making when cultural and tacit behaviour live outside LLMs?
This talk draws from the ethnographic fieldwork of Jane Goodall, Margaret Mead, and Sarah Pink to explore how AI can play a role in expediting components of research, so that we get the rigour of ethnographic observation combined with AI-assisted tools to help researchers in the field.
Attendees will leave with a practical introduction to mixed methods research that combines AI-assisted synthesis with contextual, on-the-ground observation, and a clearer sense of when contextual research methods outperform digital ones.
Designing research for AI moderators: Lessons from running 100 interviews a week
Rebecca Klee CX Researcher & Designer Meridian Energy / Independent Consultant
AI can now conduct interviews at a scale that would be impossible for most research teams. But what happens when you stop being the moderator and start designing the moderator instead?
Over the past year, I’ve been running a continuous research program generating around 100 AI-moderated customer interviews every week. Along the way, I discovered that scaling research isn’t simply a matter of handing conversations over to AI. It requires new ways of thinking about prompts, quality, participant engagement, analysis, and the role of the researcher.
In this session, I’ll share what actually happens when AI becomes part of the research process: where it excels, where it struggles, and the challenges that emerge at scale. Drawing on real-world experience rather than theory, I’ll explore how researchers can design systems that produce meaningful conversations, maintain research quality, and create insight that teams can trust.
If you're wondering what AI-moderated research looks like beyond the demos and headlines, this talk offers a practical look behind the curtain.
Bridging the Gap Between Product, GTM, and the Bottom Line
Anna Lee Anda Senior Manager, UX Research Zendesk
As UX Research matures, the biggest threat to our impact isn't automation—it’s isolation. For too long, research has been confined to the "Product Development" bubble, while the most critical business levers - Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success—operate on a parallel track. This session moves beyond the tactical execution of studies to explore a strategic approach to connecting dots across the entire organization to drive measurable business impact.
I’ll share how our research team stepped outside the product org to partner with Go-To-Market (GTM) teams. We’ll look at practical ways to align research outcomes with revenue KPIs, such as deal velocity and renewal outcomes, by translating user insights into the language of value propositions and market positioning. Attendees will walk away with a techniques to identify key non-product stakeholders and a toolkit for "closing the loop" between field conversations and product strategy. This is a guide for senior practitioners ready to transition from having impact in one sole area to having an company wide impact who builds the connections and bridges that no algorithm can replicate.