The case for hiring a former teacher as your next UX researcher
Good user research is at the heart of every project, whether it is a new math website or an existing grade book program. You need to understand the problem before you can solve the problem. This is where the UX researcher comes in. There are certain skillsets that a good UX researcher needs to have. Great product research requires empathy and an understanding of human behavior. You also need good communication skills.
The good news? Educators switching from a classroom environment already have these soft skills in place. Many looking for a research position are already teaching themselves UX research methods. Educators can also learn these skills on the job.
UX researchers often benefit from taking psychology or behavioral science courses. Most educators have already taken psychology or child development courses to prepare them. Many already have experience in qualitative and quantitative research. The methodology in UX research isn’t all that different.
Former educators can especially excel as Ed Tech researchers, where young children are the target audience. Researchers cannot always survey younger children as you would an adult. Rather, children often need to be observed in the field for behavior and reactions. Teachers, especially early childhood teachers, already know what to look for. Frequently, teachers make anecdotal notes on their students, notating how a student (or a child) behaves in a certain situation and how they are progressing on their learning. This skill can easily transfer to field study testing.
In addition to being able to observe children for data collection, teachers also know how to ask questions. Much of their original job was asking questions. Teachers ask questions that develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills in their students. These are the same types of questions researchers use when trying to determine pain points and possible areas of growth for a product. Questions such as “In your own words, what do you like most about the product?” need a critical thinking response while “What are things that you would like to see improvement on?” necessitates a problem-solving response.
After data has been observed and collected, it must be analyzed to become useful. Again, this is where your former educator can shine. Much of an educator’s responsibility is to gather student data to determine where the student is struggling. They can then redirect their teaching efforts to improve student learning. As a reading specialist, I used previous and current quantitative data to measure growth in reading ability in my students. I also used qualitative observations to enrich the findings and make them more substantive. From this data, I could determine the learning priorities for each student. In the same way, the former educator can also take collected data from surveys and field studies to determine which user pain points need the most attention, or which could be solved using the fewest resources.
Lastly, former educators are comfortable speaking with others and have the polished communication skills to present findings to stakeholders. They know how to put together a presentation, tell a story, and engage the listener. They know how to interpret research findings in a way that is understandable and digestible. Educators know how to create objectives and reach those objectives by the end of the presentation. They also know how to outline the next steps.
If you are in the ed-tech field, or in any tech field, don’t shy away from a former educator when looking for your next researcher hire. Recognize that those same skills you are looking for in someone with three years of UX research experience are the same skills that teachers have been implementing in their classrooms for the last ten or fifteen years. Teachers already understand human behavior. We have the ability to ask good probing questions and analyze data. We can also tell the story of those findings. Yet, I haven’t even touched on the most important quality- empathy. Most educators went into education with one goal in mind- to change the world by touching the lives of our most valued resource, our children. One can’t do that without exhibiting empathy. Teachers have it en masse. And it’s the one skill that can’t be taught.
