#176 - Building a Research Program from the Ground Up ft. Microsoft Azure Data

Erin is joined by Samira Jain, Serena Hillman, and Jackie Ianni from Microsoft Azure Data to discuss how they built the Swift Research Lab over the past two years. The team shares their systematic five-step approach for creating research programs that result in stakeholder satisfaction while delivering insights every 1.5 weeks. The Azure Data team also break down their method for fostering relationships, building infrastructure and templates, measuring success, and continuously iterating. The discussion reveals how clear branding, stakeholder collaboration, and systematic infrastructure helped them action on high priority research requests while spotting cross cutting insights across Microsoft's product ecosystem. About Our Guests Dr. Serena Hillman is a Principal UX Research Manager in Azure Data at Microsoft. Her work focuses on Human-Data and Human-AI-Data Interaction, leading a team that explores how people engage with data and intelligent systems. She has studied user behavior across domains like video games, e-commerce, edTech, and enterprise cloud tools, and has published 40+ peer-reviewed papers presented at leading conferences and organizations including CHI, CSCW, Grace Hopper, Yahoo!, and Google. Samira Jain is a Senior UX Researcher on the Azure Data UX Team, where she has been for over five years. She leads SWIFT, a cross-team research program, which encompasses several key initiatives. With a foundation in product design, she brings dual fluency to her research practice—understanding why things matter from a user perspective and how they can be shaped from a design perspective. With extensive experience in both non-profit and enterprise research, Samira is dedicated to enhancing experiences for data professionals. Jackie Ianni is a UX Researcher on the Azure Data team at Microsoft, specializing in rapid evaluative and programmatic research. Before joining Microsoft, she worked as a researcher at both an agency and in-house, conducting global financial services research. Jackie is passionate about advancing UX research practice, exploring AI tools, and sparking conversations about the evolving role of research. Highlights 05:47 Five Step Program Development Method 09:02 Building Stakeholder Relationships 15:39 Continuously Improving Research Programs 18:37 Cross Product Insights and Breaking Silos 23:24 Collaborative Team Success Formula 33:58 AI Tools in Heuristic Reviews Resources Building a UX Research Team from Scratch Create Long Term Impact with Strong Relationships The Ultimate Guide to UX Research Strategy

You can listen to #176 - Building a Research Program from the Ground Up ft. Microsoft Azure Data online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

#176 - Building a Research Program from the Ground Up ft. Microsoft Azure Data is an episode from Awkward Silences by User Interviews.

This episode is 36:30 long.

This episode was published on Nov 11, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Awkward Silences when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.