Trust Changers

Coaching and resources for solo and junior UX researchers

About Trust Changers

Our team understands that working as a UX researcher can be challenging, particularly when you’re a team-of-one or junior researcher. We also know that as a professional UX researcher, you have the power to influence and create a more user-friendly world. You are a customer advocate and leader who will continually strategize, build trust, identify opportunities, advise, disrupt the status quo, and create alignment among multiple cross-functional teams — all on behalf of the users you serve.

Our approach is based on the idea that solo and junior UX researchers shouldn’t have to figure things out on their own. To be their most productive, all researchers need access to peers with proven experience amplifying value for their customers and company.

Whether you need help with recruiting, research, reporting, strategy, advocacy, scaling up, or something else, we’re here for you. Trust Changers provides a range of resources, tools, and support to help you operate as though you’re part of a larger, mature UX research team.

Our Services

Coaching and mentorship: We can help you develop your skills, build your confidence, and achieve your goals by coaching you through the entire research process, from recruiting and planning to conducting research, analyzing data, reporting, and presenting results.

Strategy and advocacy: We can help you develop talking points and presentations that demonstrate the value of your work, as well as practice conversations to answer questions like why does UX research matter, how does your work differ from market research, and what’s the difference between a user and a customer.

Productivity tools: We can help you learn a range of online tools (like ChatGPT, Figjam, and many more) to work more efficiently and effectively with other stakeholders, including designers, developers, and product managers. Work smarter, not harder, to save hours of time and deliver better results.

Templates and video guides: We can provide resources that will help you to develop and establish standards to produce consistent, influential work that moves the needle, while strengthening your relationships with customers and stakeholders. Our focus on research operations (ReOps) ensures that you don’t waste time reinventing the wheel with every project.

We understand that every UX researcher’s work situation is unique, and we tailor our services to meet your specific needs. Whether you’re looking for support with a single project or ongoing, we can help.

Our team has 25+ years of combined UX research, UX design, and UX writing experience serving a wide range of clients, from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Our unique combination of work with corporations and higher education means that we’re positioned to serve researchers in both for-profit and not-for-profit companies. We’ve researched and reported on physical systems, public websites, private intranets, and SaaS applications.

Some of Our Clients Include

Amazon
Cisco
Cornell University
Kraken
Penn State University
Tesla
Workera.ai

Upcoming Courses

Be the first to know when courses become available.

Efficiency Unleashed: Save Time and Boost Productivity with ChatGPT

In this cutting-edge course, you’ll explore the transformative potential of artificial intelligence in elevating your research career. Harnessing the capabilities of ChatGPT, learn how to maximize efficiency, freeing up time to concentrate on higher-level strategic tasks. AI empowers you with the ability to generate question sets, spark inspiration when facing obstacles, eliminate verbal tics in transcripts, transform rough notes into coherent ideas, identify key insights, and much more. Upon completing this course, you’ll be well-versed in leveraging ChatGPT as a collaborative ally, consistently delivering outstanding results that surpass expectations.

Think Like a UX Researcher: Strategies for Building Strong Remote Teams

Transform remote team dynamics with this innovative course, designed for more than just UX researchers! Discover how adopting the mindset and practices of a UX researcher can enhance knowledge sharing, promote team alignment, minimize bias, and foster stronger connections within your remote team. By harnessing the power of empathy, effective communication, and purposeful collaboration, you’ll empower your team members to stay engaged, motivated, and focused on shared objectives, regardless of their physical location. Whether you’re new to remote work or a seasoned professional, this course offers valuable insights and skills to elevate your contribution to a thriving and cohesive remote team.

The UX Researcher’s Playbook: A Comprehensive Course on Qualitative User Experience Research

Are you passionate about creating great online experiences? Does playing a critical role in shaping products that users love resonate as a career path you’d enjoy? If so, this course is for you. We’ll teach you how to become a qualitative UXR, from planning and conducting research to analyzing data and presenting your findings. You’ll learn how to uncover user needs, identify pain points, and make recommendations for user-centric designs that meet customer needs while also factoring in business and technology requirements. Whether you’re looking for a career change or you want to improve your existing UXR skills, by the end of this course, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge and experience you need to excel in this exciting and rewarding field.

Testimonials

"I sincerely appreciate working with the Trust Changers team, and one of the best things to come out of my project was that I formed a good working relationship with them. Having someone available to focus on UX dramatically increased the overall quality of our end product. It allowed the technical staff to focus on what they do best and not shift gears to come up with a UX that fit into the technology. Instead we were able to focus on fitting the technology into the UX which ultimately benefited our users.”

Philip Halcomb, Senior Solutions Engineer, VMWare

"I’ve had the privilege of making use of the Trust Changers team's skills for nearly a decade and I hope to continue to do so indefinitely. Their skills at bridging the gap between technology and people who use it are unparalleled, and their solutions are novel, effective, and efficient. The vibrancy and liveliness of their work puts to rest the false belief that information technology is destined to be humdrum, dull, or obstructive. If you’re looking for guidance when navigating an understanding of IT, congratulations! You’ve found your solution.”

Matt Klein, Collaboration Tools Communicator, Cornell University

"I worked with Shaley, founder Trust Changers, for almost five years on various issues pertaining to remote work technologies and communications. She's guest presented remotely to a large audience, authored materials, and provided critical information to central Human Resources in advancing our flexible work initiatives. Despite the many miles between us, she is such a strong communicator that it feels as if she's in the office next to me. She thinks critically about language and tone, she understands business imperative, and she's constantly striving to learn more and help others develop. When I think of the individuals I want around me when facing a challenge or a needed change, Shaley is the type of person that I want.”

Michelle L. Artibee, MBA, Associate Director, Work/Life at Cornell University

"I have worked with Shaley, founder of Trust Changers, for more than two years on dynamic enterprise communications and complex user experience issues. She consistently understands the core issues, translates technical information seamlessly and delivers products that not only exceed our high expectations, but also get exceptional results. I can’t imagine tackling these challenging issues without her!”

Rob Bandler, Manager of Security Engineering, Cornell University

"I worked with Shaley, founder of Trust Changers, closely during my tenure at Cornell. We initially started working together while she was on campus but she continued to support us after moving to Hawaii. Both while she was on campus and while working remotely, Shaley took all the steps necessary to deeply understand our goals, helped clearly identify detailed requirements, and aided immeasurably in the delivery of many IT projects. I found her highly articulate, precise, collaborative, and in constant pursuit toward very high standards. I would welcome the opportunity to work with Shaley again.”

Steve Schuster, Director, Security Engineering and Operations at Amazon Web Services

"I’ve had the good fortune to work with Shaley, founder of Trust Changers, on a long-term project at Cornell University and am here to say that she has made this experience an excellent one. A project such as the one we worked on bring many kinds of people with different strengths together and it can be a challenge to bridge those strengths. Shaley’s understanding of how people think has proven again and again to be just that bridge. She is uniquely gifted in being able to straddle the world of highly technical experts and that of non-specialists so the two can communicate effectively and develop meaningful, productive results.”

Carla DeMello, Graphic Designer, Cornell University Library

Trust Changers

Coaching and resources for solo and junior UX researchers

About Trust Changers

Upcoming Courses

Testimonials

Contact Trust Changers