Ned Dwyer on Democratizing UX Research & Thriving in the AI-Native Era

In this conversation, Ned Dwyer shares his journey from product management to founding Great Question, an all-in-one UX research platform, was spurred by the "painful" reality of running research in large companies. He discusses the democratization of research, arguing that non-researchers like PMs and designers should be empowered to handle low-risk areas like usability testing since decisions will be made regardless of a researcher's availability. The conversation shifts to the impact of AI, which is accelerating product development and design speed, thus requiring a bigger need for quality research to avoid "slop". Ned also shares his optimism and advice for the AI-native generation entering UX research, encouraging them to lean into new tools to become highly employable.