34. A Journey from Backcountry to UX Research with Jon Clancy

Jon Clancy has a hell of a backstory

Before getting into UX Research, Jon did it all. He was a wilderness medicine instructor, an EMT, a raft guide, a yoga instructor, and a massage therapist. He was even a lifeguard at Disney World.

In 2018 Jon started his journey into UX at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s Information School, where got his master’s in Human-Computer-Interaction.

This week Jon joins the show to talk about his journey into UX Research, and how his previous experiences as a teacher have helped him excel in his current role.

Topics:
• 03:21 – Jon’s backstory
• 09:40 – What drew Jon to UX Research over UX design
• 11:54 – UX Research handoffs vs collaboration
• 14:12 – UX designers can’t build empathy with research handoffs
• 17:25 – A UXR’s job isn’t to solve problems, it’s to uncover insights
• 19:26 – “Think of me as your Wikipedia”
• 28:28 – HCI is essentially a derivative field
• 37:18 – What would you do differently if you could do it all again?
• 45:19 – The narrative of the false senior
• 48:43 – Soft skills won’t get you a job, but they will be what makes you better
• 49:54 – We need more juniors
• 55:53 – What advice would you give people starting out?

Helpful Links:
• Connect with Jon on LinkedIn

Jon Clancy
Senior UX Researcher at Cox Automotive

About Jon

Jon is a Senior UX Researcher at Cox Automotive today, but he’s been just about everything in his career. A lifeguard at Disney World, a Raft guide, an EMT, and a Massage Therapist. In 2018, he started his journey to UX at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s I-School. He has a master’s in Human-Computer-Interaction. He started out as a consulting UXR at MeasuringU and has been in the field for about 3 years. Jon is from Maine, he lived in North Carolina for several years and now lives just outside of Denver with his wife and 2 boys, 6 and 3. They make it a point to explore the mountains whenever they can, so if Jon isn’t working, he’s probably out hiking.

Connect with Jon on LinkedIn

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