608: What a Staff UX Design Researcher Does at LinkedIn With Renee Reid, LinkedIn [Main T4C Episode]

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Renee Reid is a Staff UX Design Researcher at LinkedIn, where she is the lead researcher in matters of identity, reputation and consumer flagship initiatives. Renee is also passionate about encouraging more women of color to enter the tech field.  Prior to joining LinkedIn in 2017, Renee was a user experience researcher at CareerBuilder where she conducted multiple B2B and consumer research studies. However, when Renee was in college at Savannah State University, tech was definitely not front of mind.  As a first gen college student, she dreamed of becoming the next Oprah and majored in communications and marketing.  Renee started off her career as a project manager at Honeywell, a Fortune 100 company, and worked there for six years until suddenly she was laid off.  She then pivoted to sales department head at Life Time Fitness; and when she lost that job a couple years later to the Great Recession, Renee had two more mouths to feed as a divorced mom.  To make ends meet she swallowed her pride, as a 4-year college graduate and senior class president, and applied to a Buca di Beppo in Alpharetta,Georgia, to work as a waitress and hostess. Press play on this T4C episode to learn how Renee persevered and rose to new heights!   In addition to her tech talents, Renee also just launched her own podcast, Tech Wrap Queen Podcast, which will discuss tech, design and culture.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE:

• What the difference is between UX and UI and what a UX design researcher is (4:54)
• What “a day in the life” of a UX design researcher is really like (7:37)
• Why Renee feels it’s important to amplify her voice as a Black woman in tech (17:33)
• Why you should always trust your gut (20:35)
• What the difference is between imposter syndrome and just feeling nervous starting in a new field or job (23:48)
• How to turn challenging situations into opportunities for growth (38:47)