CPD event held online on 06/09/2025
29 participants
Our guest speaker Kristina (surname not shared for confidential purposes) started her presentation talking about how she became involved in UX research and how her work has progressed since. She is an English into German based in the United Kingdom, and holds a Master of Arts in Translation Studies, and has 10 years of experience working with international sales for American companies. She started working in this field when a market research company in the United Kingdom got in touch with her about research projects in Germany.
Kristina explained the concept of UX research, that refers to user experience. This type of research is applied to any type of products, from online services to video games.
Data alone does not actually talk about people, and that is something that AI cannot achieve. UX research explores human behaviour to develop new products. The findings are applied to determine preferences, attitudes, choices, likes and dislikes for products optimization.
UX research is done globally, and clients cannot speak the language of their target market, and the translator becomes the head of the project of the country of the second language. Kristina advises that translators undertaking these types of projects should be ready to learn a lot of new things, since each one of the projects is unique.
NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements) are typically required for linguists working in UX research. The product and project are kept confidential and often the linguist would not know specific details or even the client who had requested the research itself. Linguists need to maintain confidentially and when looking for new opportunities in this area, cannot disclose specifics, having to explain to potential new project managers what their experience has been, highlighting instead previous tasks and functions but also demonstrating commitment to upcoming projects. The translator is unable to name brands in their portfolios, and they are allowed to keep data, although it needs to be stored in a certain way.
Linguists become key figures in UX research, with high levels of responsibility as they are unlocking valuable answers from audiences and their relation with the products under assessment. Kristina believes the main asset of linguists is their personal interest in human behaviour. Although she is not aware of specific qualifications or courses related with UX, she highlighted the importance of people skills, being adaptable, willing to learn and approach information in an objective way to avoid interfering with the results obtained.
The participants engaged, and asked questions about qualifications needed to get started in this specialism, and a participant from the audience mentioned the MSc in UX design. Kristina said that UK researchers tend to be psychologists and experts in behaviouralism.
This type of work is done on a freelance basis, mostly from home, although Kristina mentioned that in a few occasions travel was necessary. The agencies recruit participants for their studies.
Florencia Pistritto MA DPSI MCIL and Adriana Uribe MSc DPSI MCIL CL
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