I never thought I’d become a UX researcher. I wasn’t even sure what UX research was when my manager told me I’d be doing it. But when your career takes an unexpected turn, you either sink — or find a way to swim.

I have been designing and developing websites since 1997. While my friends worked in fast food and retail, I was learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Over 27 years later, I’m still in the field — but in a completely different role than I imagined.

The web has evolved from tables and Flash to responsive design and Web3. I enjoyed the ongoing changes as they kept me on my toes, but I always knew there would be a point when I couldn’t keep up with every emerging technology trend.

That moment came in 2021.

Surviving a Company Restructure: How I Landed in UX Research

My company was undergoing a major restructuring. Leadership was shifting, roles were changing, layoffs were happening, and uncertainty filled the air. Around this time, I started exploring project management and taking UX design courses on Coursera to sharpen my skills.

Then, the real shake-up happened. We were all told to re-interview for our positions. I had no idea what would happen next.

During my interview, I focused on my problem-solving skills rather than my UI/UX design or front-end development background. I shared my freelance UX projects and internal contributions, emphasizing how I approached user experience challenges, organized workflows, and improved processes.

I didn’t present myself as a web designer or developer — because, deep down, I knew I wasn’t entirely either of those things anymore. My head was on the guillotine.

Then, to my surprise, my manager said something unexpected:

“Your skills are perfect for UX research.”

I had no idea what that meant. But at that moment, I knew one thing — I would figure it out.

Breaking Through the First Year as a UX Team of One

UX research wasn’t an established practice at my company. If I was going to make it work, I had to prove its value from scratch.

The first major roadblock? The cost of UX research tools.

• The platform we needed to conduct user testing, usability studies, and customer interviews cost more than my salary.
• There was no budget for UX training, mentorship, or external consultants.
• I had to justify why user research mattered and its cost.

With no funding, team, or formal human-centered design background, I had to find a way — or make one.

How I Built My UX Research Skillset (Without a Budget)

📍 Finding Free Learning Resources

I couldn’t afford UX boot camps or certification programs, so I pieced together my own education:

• Webinars & Conferences — I attended a webinar in Denmark at 2:00 a.m. and another in California at 10:00 p.m.
• Slack & LinkedIn UX Communities — I joined UX research groups to access templates and discussions.
• Self-Experimentation — I conducted usability tests, user interviews, and surveys, made mistakes, and improved with every iteration.

📍Running UX Research with Limited Resources

Fortunately, I had access to Jira, Confluence, Zoom, and Office 365, which helped me stay organized and collaborate with my team.

For user research, I relied on:

• UserZoom & UserTesting — To conduct usability testing, surveys, and customer research.
• Booking & Zoom — To schedule and facilitate user interviews with our customers.
• Confluence & Jira — To document research insights and align findings with product teams.

Even with these tools, I had to build UX research processes from scratch, refine study methodologies, and advocate for research-backed decision-making across the company.

📍 Learning Through Failure

• My first usability tests were terrible — the questions were vague, and the results were meaningless.
• Instead of giving up, I iterated and improved, refining my UX research methods each time.
• I learned that I was the first user in every test — if something didn’t make sense to me, it wouldn’t make sense to the participants.

Scaling Myself: How I Use AI to Work Smarter in UX Research

Being a UX research team of one means always wearing multiple hats. But I found a secret weapon — AI for UX research.

I started using AI-powered UX tools to fill in the gaps where I lacked time, tools, or expertise:

• Automating UX research synthesis — AI helped summarize usability testing transcripts.
• Generating survey questions — I used AI-assisted UX writing to refine unbiased, user-friendly questions.
• Speeding up competitive analysis — AI tools scanned and summarized UX design patterns from competitors.

Instead of struggling alone, I leveraged AI technology to scale my work. It’s not Boba Fett — it’s Bobi Fett.

Four Years In: What I’ve Learned as a Self-Taught UX Researcher

It has been four years since I transitioned into user experience research. I still don’t have an HCI degree or an NN/G UX certification, but I have something just as valuable: real UX research experience and relentless curiosity.

In my first year alone, I:

✅ Conducted over 50 UX research studies

✅ Watched 500+ hours of user videos & usability tests

✅ Had 800+ research participants

✅ Built company-wide UX research processes from scratch

Most importantly, I proved that UX research drives product decisions.

Final Thoughts: You Don’t Need Permission to Start

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this:

🌟 UX research isn’t about having the perfect background — it’s about asking the right questions and seeking the truth.

🌟 You don’t need an expensive UX degree to make an impact — you need the drive to keep learning.

🌟 The best UX researchers aren’t the ones with the most expensive tools — they’re the ones who know how to work with what they have.

If you’re thinking about transitioning into UX research — just start.

Dive in, experiment, fail, improve, and repeat. That’s what user research is all about.

❓Are you a self-taught UX researcher?

❓Thinking of making the switch from UX design or development?

I’d love to hear your story in the comments!