UX Research Leaders

If you are a UX research manager, director, or leader, there’s a new group just for leaders to meet, network, and share ideas. We invite you to be among the first to attend UXr Leaders and begin reaping the benefits professionally and personally.

  • Your organization may benefit from the insights and recommendations of other leaders, helping you arrive at better solutions faster.
  • You may benefit personally from an expanded network, career opportunities, and offers to collaborate on projects. A vibrant community of peers provides many options.
  • Peer networks can be very beneficial. with a small investment of time, as peers share how they address research, staffing, and career challenges.
  • Your experience and expertise may be helpful to others in the group.
  • This is a volunteer-led organization with no fees.

We hope you’ll join with us — we look forward to meeting you.

Experience Leaders Forum

This session is for research and design leaders ready to look beyond tool adoption toward discipline reinvention in an AI-native world. We’ll unpack 2025’s pivotal lessons and sketch what 2026 might bring for research, innovation, and leadership.

​Whether you’re looking to refine your leadership practice or stay ahead in a rapidly evolving landscape, this session offers both perspective and actionable takeaways.

​This Research Leaders Forum brings together senior UX research leaders from Microsoft, Google, and Siemens to reflect on what we’ve learned, where we’re heading, and how to lead with both courage and clarity through continuous disruption.

​Topics we’ll explore:

  • ​How AI is transforming UXR practices, tools, and talent models
  • ​The shift from “problem solving” to “innovation leadership”
  • ​Designing for multi-actor systems, where humans, agents, and algorithms all play roles
  • ​Rethinking evaluation, impact, and value of UXR informing GenAI-driven products
  • ​The changing job landscape and what the next generation of researchers might look like
  • ​Building trust, safety, and responsibility into AI-enabled experiences

​If your schedule allows, join us after the presentation for optional breakout discussions with panelists and peers. 

​Main session: 10–11 a.m. PT; optional breakout discussions: 11-11:30 a.m. PT.​

Panelists:

  • ​Jess Holbrook – Head of UX Research, Microsoft AI (ex-Google, Meta)
  • ​Katharine Norwood – Research Lead, Google (ex-Visa)
  • ​Harsha Vemulapalli – Dir. of Experience Design & Research, Siemens (ex-Amazon, Bosch)
  • ​Daniela Busse – Moderator (ex-Meta, Microsoft, Citi Ventures, Samsung); 
  • Jocelyn Landau – Facilitator (WhatsApp, ex-Netflix, Google, Yelp)

​Participants:

​The Research Leaders’ Forum is designed for those who lead and manage teams. Participants must have current or recent experience managing or directing research or UX teams, and be based in the U.S.

​The Research Leaders Forum is led by Janice Rohn and Jocelyn Landau.

Register Here
Jocelyn Landau

Jocelyn Landau

Dr. Jocelyn Landau is a seasoned research leader at the intersection of technology, media and communications, with over 20 years of experience guiding business strategy, inspiring product innovations, and identifying uncharted user growth and engagement opportunities through data-driven insights.

Jocelyn is currently the Head of Global UXR for WhatsApp Business & Monetization and previously held Product UX leadership roles at Netflix, Yelp, and Google. She is an Advisory Board Member to the Annenberg Extended Reality Lab (AER) at the University of Pennsylvania and holds Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in media effects research from the Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania.

janice rohn

Janice Rohn

Janice Rohn is a UX pioneer, starting her career at Stanford University and joining Apple’s Macintosh Human Interface Group. Janice was a founding Board Member of the Usability Professionals’ Association, has over 50 publications, multiple design patents, and has worked on standards for ISO, NIST, and other organizations.

Janice has worked at the executive VP level for over 20 years, leading teams at Fortune 500 companies, most recently as Head of Customer Research and Experience, at Intel from 2019 to 2024. She has worked with NNGroup for over 15 years developing and teaching UX leadership training courses.

Once per quarter, we gather research leaders for a virtual meeting to discuss common challenges. We feature research leaders sharing lessons learned from their research and highlighting challenges they have faced and how they have addressed them. Each forum features a presentation, discussion, and networking with other leaders.

Attendance is limited to research leaders (managers, directors, etc.) based in the U.S.

Past Events

• Growing Your Influence as a UX Research Leader, December 1, 2023

• Prioritizing Research Studies: Scaling the Impact of Your Research Team, February 2, 2023

• How to Prepare for a Layoff and Conduct a Layoff, November 17, 2022