Janet Morgan

Job:

Lead User Researcher

Company:

Airelogic

I am a user researcher which involves; interviewing, observing and testing technology with end users. I design, run and analyse research which can involve; discoverying what users need that is not yet built, the barriers and frustrations with current technology or testing new designs & prototypes .

I am...

Friendly

Understanding

Supportive

The skills I use most in my job...

Being Curious - you need to be essentially nosey with a desire to understand human behaviour and psychology

Empathetic - building a rapport with users so they feel comfortable enought o tell you what they really think & feel

Analytical - being able to analyse data, be it qualitative (attitudes, motuvations, feelings etc. ) or quantitative ( numerical measurement, whats the most important thing or greatest barrier etc.)

User focused - making sure the buidlng of technology stays focused on the user (and business) to ensure it delivers what users want and gives them real benefits

The most interesting thing I've worked on in my career so far...

My background is in market research, before I moved into digital, where I was involved in some of the first online shopping websites being created. At that time people were very nervous of ordering things online and needed alot of persuasion and confidence to do it!

What inspired me into digital and tech...

I wanted to do work that was going to make a real difference to peoples lives and I get to see first hand users struggling with techology or frustrating processes. My work feeds into solutions that are helping users overcome some of these difficulties which is so rewarding.

My educational background is...

I studied history and media (where I specialised in marketing) for my degree. I guess the combination of research skills and marketing naturally led me to market research. I was planning on studying to be a counsellor at one point as I love pyschology but have not got round to it.

What advice I'd give to girls thinking about a career in digital and tech...

Its not all technical! I'm not technical at all so don't feel you have to be good at IT or computer science. There are so many 'none tech' roles which are more about problem solving, building a service or understanding end users and helping them.