Coming from a background in education I was convinced my future pathways were limited – until I discovered the overlaps with UX research.

If I wanted to change careers, I thought, perhaps I could become a university lecturer, a special educational needs teacher, or even go back to studying and progress to a PhD.

Or, alternatively, I could pursue another career by skipping over my past in education and teaching. I don’t need to bring any of that into my future career, I thought. It’s useless, unimportant, and irrelevant.

Of course I was totally wrong.

When I began my journey in UX research, I realised just how relevant my past experience was.

Conducting research often seemed to come naturally to me, as if I’d done it before. A light bulb moment finally came one day when I realised some principles, skills, and processes from my previous career teaching were very similar to those for conducting research.

I had learned something relevant in all those years in the classroom – they weren’t a mistake! What a relief.

So, which specific skills did I bring with me from education to UX research?

The ability to adapt

Children and young people can be unpredictable and, at times, that’s also true of facilitating research.

In a classroom setting, educators must adapt to students who have varying abilities, needs, and personalities.

This also happens in research, where we might have to deal with:

  • participants providing unexpected perspectives that force us to change course
  • research being extended or limited
  • research tools working in surprising ways
  • participants with undisclosed abilities or needs

Managing people’s previous learning

Students start school with preconceptions. They have learned things in the past, intentionally or otherwise, and don’t come to teachers as blank slates.

This is, of course, also the case for research participants.

Educators can use these learnings to their advantage by relating subjects to those known topics and processes.

For example, if a student knows a lot about music technology, that offers a way into talk about coding and electronics.

Or, alternatively, if those prior learnings are getting in the way of them understanding a new topic, they must help students relearn, and get past that blockage.

Researchers also manage the prior knowledge of participants and even stakeholders.

When conducting usability tests, we observe how participants intuitively act and question them on their behaviour.

It’s our job to figure out what they have learnt that makes them act in a certain way.

With stakeholders we must understand their beliefs and sometimes help them relearn, if those beliefs are affecting their understanding of the current situation.

Staying neutral

You can imagine that if they could, a student might have their teacher guide them through every step of their study, from tasks to tests, seeking clues and confirmation: “Am I doing this right, Miss?”

This also happens within usability testing. Participants often look to the researcher for confirmation they’re on the right track, because they want to do the right thing.

This can be as simple as the participant asking directly, “Is that what I’m supposed to do?” Or they might look for visual cues from the researcher, such as body language, gestures, or facial expressions.

This is why teachers and researchers are both trained to remain neutral. Neither can afford to react to or prime the student or participant.

When we’re asked questions like “Is this where I go next?” we’re skilled at either not answering at all, answering neutrally (“It’s up to you”) are turning the question back: “What makes you want to go there next?”

More connections between teaching and UX research

These are just a few recent revelations I’ve had. I believe that, with time, I’ll uncover further connections between the two career paths.

Teaching and research on the surface can look completely different. One is focused on helping people learn and the other is about learning from people. But beneath the surface are similar techniques and approaches.

If you are currently working in education, have a look at UX research and see what tips and tricks you can apply to your everyday teaching. Perhaps you may even decide to switch careers!

If this is something you’re interested in doing, definitely look for the links between your current and aspiring career and reflect them on your CV.

Whatever your career background and aspirations are, I hope my thoughts here will allow you to appreciate your career pathway, however squiggly, and remind you that your experiences and learning are all valuable.

Even if they don’t seem relevant today, they will one day, sooner or later.

Learn more about user research at Sparck

You can read more from my colleagues in the research practice in this collection of blog posts about user research.

From ethics to behavioural design, there’s lots to think about.