Her Story
About Lauren
Lauren Wong is a UX research leader who began her career in 2015. During her final semester of college, she interned unpaid at the User 10 agency three days a week after being inspired by a conversation about UX design. This experience, combined with her journalism background and blogging, led to her first professional role at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which she started right after graduation. Over the years, she has advanced into senior management, where she focuses on team leadership, stakeholder management, and maintaining integrity. She reflects on growing into her role over 11 years and aspires to C-suite positions to influence company culture positively. Lauren credits her success to an internal belief in herself and a willingness to take opportunities even when uncertain.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Lauren
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think it really is the go-getter attitude and believing in myself. There have been moments of doubt but deep down I have believed in myself and felt like there is something more that I am here to contribute. I am worth these opportunities and I have said yes even when I was not 100 percent sure because you cannot be. It comes down to internally believing that you will figure it out and that you can do it.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I genuinely think it is a really cool industry. The biggest thing is to really stay curious. That is the heart of a researcher, staying curious and really being of service to others. The biggest thing to work on is communication and storytelling and being able to translate the findings and tell the user's story in a way that is compelling and interesting for the business. Staying curious and storytelling.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is managing it all and knowing when to play the game versus stay true to myself. There is tension between the way things are and the way you hope things could be. I am learning how to balance taking care of my team while making sure upper management and stakeholders needs are met, all while maintaining integrity and authenticity. On the opportunities side, AI is taking over and it changes what UX researchers do by speeding things up but requiring us to be more elevated in connecting research with business context. The field is more saturated now than when I started in 2015.
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