The Behind-The-Scenes Advocate: A Conversation on UX Research with Radhika Venkatarayan

“My answers will be very bad because I have no clue. I’m literally going to be thinking right now and saying stuff,” Radhika said at the start of our call. And then, what followed was one of the most insightful, thought-provoking conversations I’ve ever been a part of.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Radhika, and she’s always been that person — not just for me, but for so many others — who just knows things. A box of wisdom, if you will. So I was beyond excited to sit down and get to know more about what it’s like to not just be a UX researcher, but to be Radhika.

But titles barely scratch the surface of her story. What unfolded in our conversation was a journey through evolving mediums, reframed mindsets, and a rarely seen commitment to bringing the user’s voice into the room.

When Qual Met Tech

Radhika’s entry into UX research wasn’t linear. It came from a mix of curiosity and circumstance, while she was working as a qualitative researcher.

“Around 2015, I began working with user experience teams at several Indian start-ups and global companies entering the India market,” she recalls. “Back then, we didn’t even know what usability testing meant. We thought it was just another form of qualitative research.”

But the difference became clear pretty quickly.

Unlike traditional qual, which leans on open-ended conversations and deep emotional probing, UX research called for restraint. “You can’t lead users too much,” she explains. “You have to let them guide the session, rely on observation, and get comfortable with the idea that not everything will be articulated clearly.”

That shift, from mapping a user’s inner world to watching their real-time interactions, needed what Radhika calls a recalibration. She compares traditional qual reporting to the kind of writing Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni or Jhumpa Lahiri are known for. Lush. Sensory. Patient. “We were taught to bring the voice of the consumer alive. To make the client feel like they were right there in the room.”

UX research flips that model. “You have to get to the point quicker. It’s less about building an emotional arc, more about making the insight immediately useful.” And yet, she says, storytelling still matters. “You just tell it differently.”

The Ritual of Virtual People-Watching

When I ask what a typical day looks like now, she laughs. “It’s mostly watching videos.”

In her current role, working with a usability platform, she gets involved in everything from study design to data synthesis. But the real work begins once the videos start coming in. You watch. You take notes. You begin to notice patterns. Some insights confirm what the client already knows. Others, the ones she pays extra close attention to, challenge what the client believes to be true. “Those are harder to sell,” but that’s the job. You advocate for the user no matter what.

It’s part detective work, part design diplomacy.

She shares how she storyboards her insights like chapters in a novel. First comes the outline, then the structure, and finally, the slides. “I used to dream about tech that could just take the thoughts in my head and put them into a deck,” she laughs. “Now that AI exists, I realise it’s not that simple.”

On AI, Relevance, and the Art of Letting Go

We eventually land on the big question. Is AI going to replace UX research?

Radhika doesn’t flinch. “Every second, I feel more redundant,” she jokes. But she’s also practical about what AI can and cannot do. “AI can’t do the thinking. It can help you sharpen it.” She sees it as a tool, not a threat. Something to use as a sounding board, not a solution. “The thinking work should still be done by the researcher, right? So I think as long as we're aware of that and we’re able to demonstrate it, we’re okay.”

Instead of resisting it, she’s learning to work with it. Not by feeding it raw data, but by using it to explore other perspectives. “It helps widen your lens. Show you what you didn’t think to look at.” 

The goal, she says, isn’t to fight AI. It’s to make it your co-pilot. Not a replacement, but another way of triangulation. 

This clarity around the opportunities and limits of new tools and shifts in the industry also shapes how she sees the changing landscape of entering the field today.

What No One Tells You About Breaking In

If you’re trying to get into UX research, Radhika’s advice is clear and refreshingly no-nonsense. “Don’t spend 1.5 lakhs on a certification course. Get your hands dirty. Intern. Freelance. Talk to users. Synthesize data. That’s what will make you a better researcher.” 

She’s also honest about how access and privilege play a role. Mentorship isn’t always available. The job market is brutally competitive. “But don’t just chase UXR roles. Look at adjacent fields. Consumer research, qual, anything that builds your core skills.” Basically, if you cannot find the thing, then find anything close to what you want but start somewhere, because that can make all the difference. 

And what about portfolios? Her answer is simple. “If you’re early in your career, it’s not fair to expect one. But if you’ve got experience, be ready to walk people through your thinking. Not just your success stories, but your failures too.”

Influence, Not Just Insight

As we wrap up, I ask what she hopes for the future of UX research. “I think the hype will settle. It won’t be this buzzword space anymore. But the need to advocate for users will remain. The ones who stay relevant will be the ones who evolve. With the tech, with the times, and with themselves.”

I am always in awe of Radhika’s perspectives, her confidence. It’s the kind of confidence that comes not from trends, but from twenty years of watching, listening, and learning to ask better questions. And maybe that’s the real story here. UX research, at its core, is about care. Care for the user. For the product. For the truth beneath the surface.

When I was just starting out as a researcher, Radhika’s words and her work became both inspiration and benchmark for me. Actually, they still are. A big part of that impact comes from how she brings both understanding and care into everything she does. That’s her superpower. It’s the kind of influence that doesn’t just give you hacks to build a career. It gives you the tools to be great at your job, in a way that actually means something.

Curious to learn more from Radhika? You can find her on LinkedIn.