In UX research, standardized questionnaires such as the System Usability Scale (SUS) or the PSSUQ are often the first choice when it comes to measuring the perception of a product. For a current project, however, I deliberately chose the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ) in order to obtain a more differentiated picture of the user experience and to test the questionnaire myself.While the SUS provides a quick, aggregated score, the UEQ delves deeper into the dimensions of user experience: attractiveness, efficiency, clarity, controllability, stimulation, and originality. But practical application has shown me that the tool is much more complex to use than it appears at first glance.

November in Central Europe carries a specific kind of weight. The combination of fog, grey afternoons, and early darkness often leads to a noticeable drop in energy before the first holiday lights provide some relief. Over the past few years, I have developed a personal strategy to proactively counter this seasonal slump: the workation.

Vienna’s UXcon 2025 was a blast! It was packed with fresh ideas, career boosters, and a solid dose of future-gazing, especially concerning AI and the evolving role of the UX professional. If you missed it, no worries—I’ve boiled down the most actionable lessons into this post. Get ready for some honest insights, from tackling usability testing contradictions to becoming the office's next UX influencer!

Understanding user behavior is a cornerstone of User Experience (UX) optimization. In user research, Mousetracking is categorized within the spectrum of quantitative methodologies. This technique involves recording and analyzing the real-world interactions of website visitors on an aggregated level.The data collected includes not only the pages visited but also all clicks, mouse and scroll movements, gestures, and keyboard inputs.

In the fast-paced world of UX research, staying organized and maintaining easy access to valuable insights is crucial. We tackled the challenge of efficiently cataloging and retrieving our wealth of studies and tests by creating a centralized UX research repository. This project not only addressed an immediate need but also set the stage for improved knowledge sharing across the company and personal career development.

In November 2024, I embarked on a small adventure: a 6-month mentoring program organized by the German UPA. I had no idea where the journey would take me – just the feeling that I wanted to grow, reflect, and connect with someone who sees the UX world a little differently than I do.

Microsoft Clarity is a free, modern behavioral analytics tool that helps website and apps to better understand user behavior on their pages. It provides detailed insights into visitor interactions and thus supports the optimization of user experience, conversion rates and business decisions.

With Biogents AG, brainjo GmbH, condole.de, HalloPodcaster, inklusionsmatch, medespro and RocketMIND, a wide variety of companies were at the start and were able to gather feedback on finished mobile apps, prototypes and websites, as well as on old existing systems, during the interviews. In 6 short test rounds of 15 minutes each, the stations were able to generate many insights.

Integrating user-centricity into Scrum requires collaboration and flexibility. By aligning UX/UI tasks with sprint planning, conducting early usability tests, and fostering communication through guild meetings and design reviews, teams can ensure user needs remain a priority. Key practices include prioritizing UX tasks in backlog refinement, balancing meeting participation, and continuously refining processes to fit the team's dynamics. Success lies in a shared goal of solving user problems while adapting workflows to stay agile.

As I move forward in my career, I’ve decided to build a personal UX knowledge repository to organize the countless resources I’ve accumulated over time—articles, templates, book recommendations, and project notes scattered across various tools like Chrome and OneDrive. This repository isn’t just about decluttering; it’s a strategic investment in creating a solid foundation that will allow me to quickly and effectively access valuable files, insights, and references as I continue to grow professionally.

Integrating standardized usability questionnaires with hands-on testing creates a robust method for evaluating and enhancing user experience. This approach combines qualitative and quantitative data, offering a holistic view of user satisfaction and uncovering specific pain points. By blending these methods, teams can gain actionable insights, streamline evaluations, and make data-driven decisions to improve product performance.

While working in Value Assurance, I noticed recurring error messages in our software that were confusing for non-technical users. This sparked my interest in UX Writing and its role in crafting clearer, user-friendly messages. After researching best practices and leveraging insights from our content design system, I developed an error message guideline that was well-received by the team. Building on this success, I expanded my efforts to incorporate UX text patterns into the content design system and focus research on high-priority areas, fostering a more seamless user experience.

Inspired by a barcamp session on Lego Serious Play, I wanted to incorporate this method into my workshops despite a lack of budget. After researching open-source materials and identifying necessary Lego bricks, I repurposed old bricks I had at home. This DIY approach allowed me to facilitate engaging sprint retrospectives, which my colleagues thoroughly enjoyed. As a Scrum Master, I found this creative tool to be an excellent way to foster collaboration and reflection in an affordable and effective manner.

Microcopy, or UX writing, plays a vital role in enhancing digital products by making interfaces intuitive, engaging, and user-friendly. This practice relies on a user-centered, empathetic, and data-driven approach while fostering collaboration and consistency. A 30/60/90 Day Plan can address challenges with content by breaking the work into three manageable phases. The goal is to improve the text, establish a foundation for collaboration, and enhance the overall user experience.

After attending a Dev Camp last year, I was introduced to Lego Serious Play during a bar camp session. Excited by the concept, I wanted to try it myself but lacked the budget. I turned to online resources and dug out old Lego bricks from home. As someone interested in Scrum and workshop preparation, I found it to be a creative and engaging way to conduct retrospectives, adding a fresh approach to the process.

To set up a UX research repository in an organization, I started by researching best practices and understanding the benefits. Communicating the value of such a repository effectively, especially to management, requires solid reasoning. Being well-prepared with clear arguments helps in getting buy-in for the project. The next step involves organizing research findings, guidelines, and design assets, ensuring they are easily accessible and useful for the entire team.

Building a UX research repository centralizes insights, guidelines, and design assets, making them accessible to the entire UX/UI team. It helps organize existing knowledge about users and streamlines sharing of research findings across the organization. Before creating a repository, it’s essential to define its purpose by identifying the organization’s specific needs and goals to ensure it effectively addresses key challenges.

Why can diary studies be useful? Why should you think about introducing them in your company? First of all: It always depends on the Research question. What else do I want to find out? In my example, I have already conducted several interviews in the company. The interview partners are always internal people who use the software on a daily basis.

Hosting a UX meeting for the first time. About how this idea came up, the organization, struggles and findings. This is the first time I'm trying to organize a Meetup that has a professional background.

Last week, I tried workation for the first time, spending a week in Málaga, a stunning city on the Costa del Sol. While I worked from my Airbnb during the day, I had the opportunity to explore the city in the afternoons and evenings, balancing productivity with relaxation in a beautiful setting.

After four years in B2C, I transitioned to B2B UX research—a move that brought unexpected challenges and objections to overcome. To adapt, I expanded my knowledge of UX/UI design while keeping my core focus on UX research, which remains my passion. Despite the hurdles, this transition has been rewarding, and I haven’t looked back since.

Users faced navigation and usability challenges across multiple areas: color selection on product detail pages caused awkward browser history issues and complicated navigation, filters on desktop product listing pages were difficult to locate and apply, and insights from mousetracking analysis helped inform a redesign to address such pain points, showcasing the importance of user behavior data in improving the overall experience.

Bus Drive, a technology company focused on making self-driving buses more accessible, aims to enhance the bus-riding experience. However, testing revealed that the product isn’t meeting its goal, as low usage rates indicate a need for improvement. The challenge now is to identify and implement changes that will make the experience more pleasant and efficient for users.

As you are a Junior UX Researcher, it is not so easy to start with a portfolio. Often the problem is: Where to start, how to start and which topic to choose? That could be a quite difficult question. As I was teaching at IU Internationale Hochschule in the UX/UI field I can confirm it isn’t that easy as a student to start in a new project.

The focus of my master’s thesis is creating a sustainable corporate health management system to enhance employees' mental and physical well-being. By improving leadership culture and fostering transparent communication, the goal is to reduce psychological stress, promote participation, and address conflicts effectively.

Building an online store for women over 50 presents unique design challenges, such as larger button click areas, high-contrast elements, and accessible font sizes. Analysis revealed that many customers use smaller smartphones, leading to usability issues. For example, on product detail pages, only the product image is visible on entry, hiding essential options like color and size. Mouse tracking data and customer interviews confirmed that users need these options visible upfront to make informed decisions.

Implementing A/B testing is essential for gaining deeper customer insights beyond qualitative methods and analytics limitations. A/B testing provides cleaner before/after comparisons, minimizing visitor fluctuations and delivering reliable results. However, purchasing a tool is just the beginning—success depends on addressing privacy concerns, running initial A/A tests to validate traffic splits, and starting with simple hypotheses for implementation.