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Kyle Soucy
Independent UX Research Consultant
Kyle Soucy is the Founding Principal of Usable Interface, an independent UX research consulting company specializing in user research and usability testing. With 19 years of experience, she has worked with industry leaders such as Comcast, Hewlett-Packard, Intuit Inc., McGraw-Hill, and Pfizer to create intuitive interfaces for various products.
Kyle is deeply involved in the UX community, serving as the Founder and President of the New Hampshire Chapter of the User Experience Professionals' Association (NH UXPA). She has also held leadership roles in organizations like PhillyCHI and the IA Conference, where she currently serves as the Mentoring Director.
Passionate about teaching and sharing knowledge, Kyle is a sought-after speaker and guest lecturer on topics related to UX research. Her presentations are well-received, and recordings of some of her talks can be found on Woman Talk Design.
Highlights
📣 I’m excited to announce the launch of my new podcast, The UX Consultants Lounge! 🎙️ This is a space for UX Consultants to gather, share stories, and learn more from one another.
As a long-time Independent UX Research Consultant, I've always found immense value in conversations with fellow consultants. So, I decided to create a space to do just that and I’m inviting you to join me.
👉 What You'll Get: ☑️ Real Stories: We’ll lift the veil on the realities of UX consulting, discussing both the highs and the lows.
☑️ Insights and Learning: Each episode features wisdom from experienced guests that can help accelerate our professional growth. While most of my guests will be fellow UX consultants, there will also be special appearances from clients and other professionals that I think we could learn a great deal from.
☑️ Actionable Advice: Hear practical tips and strategies that you could apply to your own consulting practice.
👉 Introduction Episode: In the intro, I answer the most frequently asked questions about my own journey as an independent consultant over the past 20 years. My kids make a special appearance to help me out (spoiler - they made the blooper reel at the end possible 😆).
👉 Upcoming Guest Episode: Next week, I’ll be posting my first guest episode featuring a fascinating discussion with author, renowned speaker, and consultant, Karen McGrane!
Whether you’re a seasoned consultant, new to the field, or simply curious, there's something here for everyone. Your support and participation mean the world to me, and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts! 🌟
🎧 Listen Now: You can find The UX Consultants Lounge on your preferred podcast platform, or visit the podcast website (link in comments).
#UXConsulting #PodcastLaunch #UXPodcast #PodcastLaunch #UXFreelancing #UXResearch #UXDesign #UserExperience #ProfessionalGrowth #Community
“Wow. This kind of feels like therapy.” I’ve heard this sentiment a lot from participants in my years as a UX Researcher and I know it’s not an uncommon occurrence with my colleagues. 🔥 The problem: UXRs are not properly trained to deal with the unintentional trauma that our research may cause. This is why Tad Hirsch’s academic paper, Practicing Without a License: Design Research as Psychotherapy (link below), truly hits home for me. Yesterday, I learned so much by attending a trauma-informed design discussion group featuring an insightful talk from Tad. There’s a few reasons why design research can feel a lot like therapy… 🔹 We employ the same OARS techniques (e.g., reflective listening) that psychotherapists do to help participants to open up 🔹 Sometimes it’s the first time in a long while that a participant has even talked to someone 1:1 🔹 Vulnerability, topic sensitivity, and researcher/participant rapport How to take a trauma-informed approach to UX research so we don’t cause harm… ✅ Anticipate trauma. “If we don’t expect to hear some traumatic stuff, we are negligent.” - Tad Hirsch ✅ Question if you really need to know the answers to certain things that might cause trauma. If you need to ask them, “Are you [truly] prepared to hear the answers?” – Carol F. Scott, Ph.D. Consider taking additional steps to ensure participant safety by having supervision and/or a social worker join the team. ✅ Make the boundaries clear. Explain what topics you will and will NOT be covering.
✅ Ask for consent continually. Check in with the participant throughout the interview to make sure they are comfortable continuing. ✅ Have a contingency plan ready in case a participant is triggered by your questions. Be prepared to take your interview into a completely different direction and/or abandon it. ✅ Have resources ready to share with the participant if they need someone to talk to afterwards. I highly encourage all UXRs to read Tad Hirsch’s paper (it’s not long - https://lnkd.in/exV9tXix), join the important discussions that are happening, and apply trauma-informed practices. Interested in learning more about trauma-informed design? 👉 Follow the folks that are doing some amazing work in this space: Melissa Eggleston, Carol F. Scott, Ph.D., Alba Villamil, Vivianne Castillo, Tad Hirsch (to name a few)
👉 Join the Trauma-Informed Design Google Group (https://lnkd.in/eX2ZSH9Q)
👉 Join the HmntyCntrd community (https://lnkd.in/epNvRyp5) More reading linked in comments...
#PracticalEthics #TraumaInformed #TraumaInformedDesign #TraumaInformedResearch #UXResearch #QualitativeResearch #Design #UXDesign #UX #UserExperience
