#160 - Where Design Thinking Went Wrong with Brett Krajewski of Accelerant Research

#160 - Where Design Thinking Went Wrong with Brett Krajewski of Accelerant Research

Author: User Interviews February 12, 2025 Duration: 44:12

In 2022, the UX community experienced a series of convulsions: layoffs, reorgs, and reduced budgets. A common thread throughout was accountability: user researchers faced frequent questions about their direct impact on and importance for the business. "Doing" UX research and "being" a design thinker was no longer enough.

Today's guest believes these questions present opportunities for UX researchers. Brett Krajewski, VP Research and Growth at Accelerant Research, joins Erin and Carol to share strategies for researchers to stay sharp, stay relevant, and stay valuable. These include balancing business goals with user needs, being more experimental with methods, reframing how we use time for research, and more.

Highlights

  • 06:30 Justifying UX ROI Amid Economic Challenges
  • 12:02 Integrating Insights for Improved UX
  • 18:50 Balancing User Needs and Business Goals
  • 21:07 Scalable Research in Fortune 500 Companies
  • 29:47 Innovative Strategies in Research Planning
  • 38:30 Storytelling's Role in Research Impact

About Brett
Brett Krajewski is the Vice President of Research & Growth at Accelerant Research, where he leads the research and client solutions teams, delivering innovative insights to empower businesses and many fortune 500 companies. With a career spanning both in-house industry roles and consulting/agency leadership, Brett has built and led high-performing, multi-method research teams for Fortune 50 companies. His past roles include Head of Design Research: Customer at Walmart and Lead of Product Research at Lowe’s, where he drove customer-focused innovation and strategy.

Resources


Awkward Silences is a conversation about the human side of building things. Hosts Erin May and Carol Guest, both VPs at User Interviews, don't just talk about theory-they get into the messy, real-world practice of talking to users and making sense of what they say. Each episode pulls back the curtain on the craft of user research, featuring candid chats with the practitioners who do this work every day. You'll hear stories about navigating tricky interviews, the weight of interpreting qualitative data, and how genuine understanding directly shapes better products and smarter business decisions. This isn't a dry lecture; it's a geeky, relatable dive into the questions and quiet moments that define UX research. The Awkward Silences podcast lives in the intersection of technology and business, focusing on the people and processes that connect them. Listen for practical insights, empathetic strategies, and the occasional shared laugh about the inevitable fumbles that come with trying to understand anyone. It’s for anyone who believes that building effectively starts with listening well.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Awkward Silences
Podcast Episodes
#156 - Change Management with Graham Gardner of U.S. Bank [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:44
Change is an important and inevitable part of developing as a user experience professional. But what does change look like when it happens at the organizational level? That is the focus of this episode, featuring Graham…
#155 - Exploratory Design Research with Will Notini of IDEO [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:17
The consulting firm IDEO helped pioneer "design thinking" as a way to create products that better solve customer wants and needs, creating fans. Over 30 years later, the interplay between design and research has never be…
#154 - Building the UX Team of Tomorrow with Brad Orego of Webflow [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:05
The craft of UX research is at an all-time high. How research leaders structure, staff, and scale their teams is more important than ever. Erin and Carol are joined by Brad Orego, Head of Research at Webflow, to talk all…
#153 - Security-Minded UX with Caroline Morchio of Dashlane [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:55
In our Season 3 finale, Erin and Carol are joined by Caroline Morchio, Head of UX at Dashlane, a credential management platform. Their conversation explores UX research best practices at a security-minded organization li…