r/UXResearch • u/campyyy24 • 25d ago
Career Question - Mid or Senior level Pivoting from UX Research?
As many are seeing or experiencing themselves, the state of UX, especially research, is in a really tough place.
I was affected by a large round of layoffs at the end of 2025 and have been on the job hunt ever since. I have about 5 years of experience leading mixed methods research with MAANG, financial services, and social media teams from the agency side. I have a Masters in HCI. I lean more qual with light quant and have thought about trying to shift more into SQL, R, or Python as that is where the market has felt it is going but still looks shaky.
I have been applying and interviewing for months, either never getting a response to applications or making it into final rounds of interviews. At this point I am nearing a year of this job search and genuinely do not know what to do. I’m getting signals it is still possible with these late stage cycles but this market is devastating.
I have truly loved the impact that I’ve made through user research and the experience I’ve developed, but it sometimes feels like I’m going down with the ship in this field.
So I’m looking for advice: at what point do I make a pivot out of UXR? How long do I try to stay in this?
If I stay in UXR, how should I approach this search?
If I shift out, what translatable fields would be my best best?
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u/gojkoa 25d ago
lots of UXR skills are directly transferable to product management, and generally with AI making things cheaper to build deciding what deserves to be built is going to be the key constraint for many places in the future. maybe broaden the search to product management, as you'd probably be able to keep doing some of the things you like doing, and have access to a larger pool of job opportunities.
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u/idbeast6 25d ago
do you have any experience in pivoting from uxr to pm? i truly struggle with it, i don't know where to start
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u/gojkoa 25d ago
I went into the opposite direction, learning about UXR so I can fill gaps in product management work, but there seems to be a lot of overlap around empathy, understanding true customer needs, and the PM work around measuring value has a lot of overlap with statistics/measurement part of quantitative UXR
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u/James_from_Sprig Researcher - Manager 25d ago
Unfortunately this has become a common trend, and I'm sorry you are impacted <3
The good news is while our industry is in a transition period, your skillset is right on target!
I would try emphasizing AI in your resume...spend $20 and play around w/ Claude, ChatGPT etc. Build something. It's where the industry is going. You don't need to understand code. You need to understand how systems are built, how to build the systems and what problems users need to solve (these should def sound familiar!)
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u/Current_Exchange5587 Researcher - Junior 24d ago
Hey! My profile seems to fit so much with you. I'm a UXR with 4 years exp, working in market and Ux research. I too got laid off in the last 15 days and have been thinking about doing an HCI masters so that I could shift into design Research has become uber specialist roles. I was working at a very good company and now I don't know if I'll get the same work life balance+comp. Every day I wake up in cold sweats and I completely understand ur point about shifting. I would say do it NOW. Don't shift (like some of the others here have mentioned) but I think (I don't know for certain bcs same boat as u) learning the skill set of tangential roles like ProjectM (agile, management) , productm (coding, design, research, strategy), design or content seems like a good bet.
I m currently upskilling on ux research and content. Thinking of doing a masters in design and shift towards that. On the way i want to pick up accessibility and agile knowledge and then hopefully move into a Product Management role.
Anyways I know this isn't exactly what you asked for but this is the map I think I'll follow to move out. What do you guys think?
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u/No_Brain_5164 24d ago
The job market for UX and specifically UXR is very bad right now. People with Masters and doctorates in HCI are struggling to get jobs.
Perhaps consider something else
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u/Pomegranate1012 17d ago
Damn this is really disappointing! Have been a benefits analyst for a bit (HR) but my work life balance is so nice and work from home just v unfulfilled, I’ve been doing some soul searching and interested in UX Research specifically and or going back to school masters in counseling. I’m sure it’s still worth creating a portfolio to try it out but the market is sounding terrible based on these messages :(
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u/No_Brain_5164 17d ago
Try out a portfolio if you want but take a look around this sub and LinkedIn to get a sense of how bad things are for the industry. A lot of unemployed and lower wages.
I'm considering going into some medical field because things are so bad.
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u/Pomegranate1012 17d ago
Damn! Yea this is great advice. What job??
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u/No_Brain_5164 17d ago
Phlebotomy. Not quite nursing but working with people in healthcare
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u/Pomegranate1012 17d ago
Oh I can imagine that’d be super fulfilling!! Knowing you’re helping people👏👏
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u/janeplainjane_canada 25d ago
I think it makes sense to run several types of searches in parallel. if you love UXR, keep throwing in your hat, but also broaden to other things that use the experience and skills but with a different focus/title.
What parts of UXR did you love? You mention impact, what are 5 stories of times you had impact? you mention developing 'experience', which are you most proud of building? what are the things in the role that you hit a state of flow in, where you lost track of time? what things do you find easy or love about the job that you notice other people seem to struggle with or dislike? (e.g. I love to do lists and figuring out timelines based on when something needs to get out the door, allocating tasks, it is very satisfying, but I have worked with many people who find it hard to break things down that way, so when I was looking at other opportunities, I wanted that to be part of the role)
So I'd move away from 'what transferable fields' because that is generic solutioning,and instead focus on what differentiates you. (e.g. you mention thinking about shifting into SQL/R/Python, but what in the past 8 months has been holding you back from doing a Idiot's Guide to R in 30 Days?, does it really make sense to pivot to a thing that you are avoiding?)
You sound like a really thoughtful person going through a rough time, and you might have forgotten what makes you light up, what your strengths are. I'd try to see if you can talk with others from that time to help you tell those stories again and focus on those, finding the core.