#182 - The Future of Research (In a Moment of Change)

#182 - The Future of Research (In a Moment of Change)

Author: User Interviews February 3, 2026 Duration: 40:40

Ben sits down with Basel Fakhoury, CEO and Co-founder of User Interviews, and Baran Erkel, Chief Strategy Officer at UserTesting, for a conversation about the research industry's evolution. With AI reshaping customer behaviors and business decisions, both executives emphasize how the need for customer insights has never been greater, even as budget pressures mount across organizations.

Basek and Baran share frameworks for executive decision making, explore how AI tools are moving beyond simply replacing human moderators toward creating entirely new research methodologies, and stress that as AI transforms products and experiences over the next few years, customer insights will be fundamental to shaping organizational cultures that keep customers at the center.

Highlights

  • 05:15 How research influences corporate strategy
  • 12:25 Building effective decision making cultures
  • 19:07 Data formats that drive executive decisions
  • 26:28 AI everywhere in research tooling landscape
  • 29:30 Consolidating insights across teams and tools
  • 36:45 Customer centric approach during acquisition integration

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
#161 - Learn More Faster About Customers with Michael Margolis of GV [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:09
This episode is all about learning from customers...early and often. Our guest, Michael Margolis, UX Research Partner at GV (formerly Google Ventures), has made a career of helping teams do this successfully. He joins to…
#157 - The Future of Design Collaboration with Andrew Hogan of Figma [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:09
Few companies are most closely associated with UX design right now than Figma, which not only helps designers get their work done, but serves as a bridge for others to get more involved in the process. Erin and Carol are…