Finding new people to follow on Twitter is one of the best parts of using the platform. Unfortunately, finding new people to follow on Twitter is also one of the worst parts of using the platform.
Twitter’s recommendations can be a decent starting point, but they often favor authenticated accounts––those accounts with a coveted blue checkmark that indicates Twitter has confirmed the user’s identity––with large followings. For professionals working in UX and research ops hoping to find new folks to follow, Twitter’s suggestions might not be all that helpful.
That’s why we’ve put together this list of 50 must-follow Twitter users for UX and research ops practitioners.
The researchers, designers, information architects, advocates, writers, artists, and scientists who make up this list (which is in no particular order) come from an incredible range of backgrounds and professional disciplines––but they all share a passion for making better products that improve the lives of users everywhere.
👉 Here's a Twitter List you can follow to stay on top of great content. It follows everybody mentioned below.
Holly Burroughs Cole
Holly Burroughs Cole is the research and research ops manager at 15Five. Holly frequently posts about a variety of research ops topics, including workshops and other professional development opportunities for research ops practitioners.
Are you ready for the next round of workshops and research on researchers for the #ResearchOps Community? Well then, come on! @teamreops #workshops #teamwork https://t.co/D9mA5uc6bu?
— Holly Burroughs Cole (@hollyface1975) December 12, 2019
Kate Towsey
In addition to working as a research ops manager at Atlassian, Kate Towsey is one of the most visible members of the research ops community. Kate is also a curator at Rosenfeld Media and is a founding member of TeamReOps. Speaking of which .
My @UXRCollective State of #ResearchOps talk is now online! And the UXR team has snazzy new branding too. P.S. It's a really-really good conference. https://t.co/1Mqlx0JGQJ
— Kate Towsey (@katetowsey) October 23, 2019
Team ReOps
While there’s a great chance you’re already following them, TeamReOps really is a must-follow account. Representing a global community of research ops professionals, this curated account posts the best research ops articles, career advice, job vacancies, and event listings.
The #ResearcherSkills Framework is now live and available for you to use for developing your #UR #UX #Research skills. It's still a work in progress and will take shape in coming weeks. Please dig in, have fun!https://t.co/n9rGo6TSpY
— TeamReOps (@TeamReOps) March 25, 2020
Rob Whiting
Rob Whiting is the founder of Merlan, a user-centric product design and research consultancy based in the United Kingdom. Rob is very active on Twitter, where he shares his insights into accessibility, strategy, and other topics.
Updated my collection of #Remote #Research resources to include the useful looking collaborative ⬜️ #Whiteboard tool @excalidraw ⤵️https://t.co/Fw9H5hYPpE
— Rob Whiting 📓 (@whitingx) April 21, 2020
Daniel Burka
Daniel Burka is a product manager and designer who works primarily in the health care sector. A former design partner at Google Ventures, Daniel now works as director of product and design at Resolve to Save Lives, a nonprofit that manages the open-source Simple project that aims to help patients and clinicians manage hypertension.
These are pretty great. https://t.co/m7MPZTyydF
— Daniel Burka (@dburka) April 18, 2020
Josh Brewer
Josh Brewer is the cofounder and CEO of Abstract, a collaborative workspace platform aimed at designers. Josh is certainly no stranger to Twitter, having served as the platform’s principal designer, and Josh also co-created the 52 Weeks of UX project, among many other accomplishments.
It doesn’t matter what design tool you use if it gets the job done.
— Josh Brewer (@jbrewer) January 4, 2020
Denigrating people publicly because of the tools they use is immature and reinforces the elitist behavior people often ascribe to the design profession.
We can do better.
Andrew Maier
Cofounder of UX Booth and Civic Quarterly, Andrew Maier sits on TeamReOps’ board. Much of Andrew’s work focuses on helping government agencies improve their design practices. As a result, many of Andrew’s tweets address topics adjacent to user research in civic design, such as user-centered policymaking.
I've only read the first chapter of Sasha's book, but it's already articulated many of the questions I've asked myself (and seen others wrestle with) while working in civic tech. https://t.co/zAHW76mUuK
— Andrew Maier (@andrewmaier) March 31, 2020
Spydergrrl
Tanya S––better known as Spydergrrl––is unique in this list, in that she’s the only research ops practitioner to go by a badass pseudonym. Spydergrrl is the founder and co-chair of Canada’s largest and most affordable UX conference, and her Twitter feed is packed with UX and design-related goodness.
Thinking of my old team this morning, who put one of my sayings on a shirt for me when I left. 😁 (Minimum viable perfect = the quality execs think an MVP should have because they think it's a release candidate) pic.twitter.com/qxBSxaybN7
— spydergrrl🕷️ (@spydergrrl) April 3, 2020
Andréa Crofts
Andréa Crofts is director of design at health care benefits platform League. Many of Andréa’s tweets focus on the ethics of design, mentorship in UX, and recently, getting to grips with remote work.
ICYMI: I sat down with @tomcreighton and @TheRobHayes to talk about designing for behaviour change at the intersection of health, wealth and happiness (and much more) 🧘♀️💸☺️ Give it a listen! https://t.co/u8A4O8LsFn
— Andréa Crofts (@andreacrofts) November 12, 2019
Suzy Sharpe
In the world of research ops, Suzy Sharpe is a grizzled veteran, having worked in the field since 1998––long before research ops had a name. Suzy is the founder of CastingQual, a SaaS platform that connects researchers with participants for virtual qualitative testing.
Inspired by the talk, I recorded myself critiquing the moderator of a one-on-one interview that's posted as an example session on Validately. I hope there are some helpful nuggets here for other moderators. https://t.co/JZXLg2Vjxw
— Suzy Sharpe (@uxpanelbuilder) May 11, 2018
Dan Brown
Not to be confused with the author of The Da Vinci Code, this Dan Brown is a designer and cofounder of development consultancy EightShapes. Author of three books on UX, Dan enjoys helping new and established designers and UX practitioners.
Designers get a lot of pressure to expand their skill set. Just like the products you design, you don't have to be all things to all people. But, you do have to work well with them. This is my ongoing series on what you might call "human skills."
— Dan Brown 🧼👏🏼 (@brownorama) July 16, 2018
Fabricio Teixeira
Fabricio Teixeira is a designer and cofounder of UX Collective. Fabricio also serves as design director at Work & Co and tweets prolifically about a wide range of design and UX-related topics.
10 mentorship sessions in a row. I’m exhausted. Also, it has been the most exciting and fulfilling day of quarantine thus far. We’re all in this together.
— Fabricio Teixeira (@fabriciot) April 3, 2020
Emma Boulton
Another member of TeamReOps’ board, Emma Boulton is a leading expert on design research. Much of Emma’s work focuses on how managers can support their teams more effectively, which makes her a great follow for new design managers and other professionals hoping to become better leaders.
Inspirational thought leadership here on #ResearchOps by @BrigetteMetzler - so much to digest and learn. https://t.co/dQLMyZA8WE
— Emma Boulton (@emmaboulton) April 8, 2020
Brigette Metzler
Brigette Metzler is one of the research ops community’s most active members. Brigette launched the ResearchOps Podcast and tweets frequently about leadership, best practices in research, and other fascinating topics.
I've done a couple of chats by now actually using the matrix with people struggling with scale.
— Brigette Metzler (@BrigetteMetzler) April 19, 2020
(1/2)
We've gone along each of the pillars diagnosing where the strengths and weaknesses were, who was influencing the ecosystem (more on that in our next project! #ResearchRepos)
Hugo Froes
Cofounder of the UX Discuss conversations on Twitter, Hugo Froes is a strategist and design evangelist based in Portugal. Hugo is very active on Twitter and often shares articles, tutorials, and other helpful resources for designers and researchers.
Anyone joining? Happening right now https://t.co/WRPj1VSzi0
— Hugo Froes (@hugofroesUX) April 3, 2020
John Henry Forster
JH Forster is VP of product at User Interviews and cohost of the Awkward Silences podcast. JH tweets about everything research and also shares content about the broader tech ecosystem and the importance of research and design in modern product development.
If you haven't heard our latest Awkward Silences episode with @elysebogacz... you should fix that.
— JH Forster 👻 (@jhforster) February 12, 2020
Lots of good nuggets about how to use session replay tools as a part of your ux research kit.https://t.co/Rh55ieiMiW
Alexis Lloyd
Alexis Lloyd, VP of product design at Medium, is also cofounder of the Ethical Futures Lab. Alexis often tweets about user-centered design but isn’t afraid to ask for binge-watching recommendations or crack the odd joke about the realities of remote work.
“You are leading a team that is scared, stressed, angry, frustrated, worried, and worse. You are leading people who rightly fear for their own lives, people in the throes of trauma and grief. Your first job is to make sure they have everything they need to be healthy and safe.” https://t.co/SKJLadbxua
— Alexis Lloyd (@alexislloyd) April 12, 2020
Alison Rand
Alison Rand is head of design operations at InVision, as well as the cofounder of the NCommon podcast and a curator for Rosenfeld Media. Alison is particularly interested in and frequently tweets about the importance of inclusive communities in research and design.
This one is gonna be especially good! Join me @bettay and Spotify’s Kamdyn Moore to discuss DOps measurements that matter. https://t.co/fd6xdgBvWh
— Alison Rand (@alisonrand) April 15, 2020
Veevi Rosenstein
Veevi Rosenstein––who tweets under what must be the highly coveted @uxresearch handle––is head of the global UX team at Zendesk. Veevi is passionate about leadership in design, and she frequently tweets about how designers can become better and more compassionate leaders.
Timely thoughts about having empathy for yourself and coworkers while working at home, from my @Zendesk colleague Tim Allison: Not business as usual. by @darlingdash https://t.co/1dUwE1MyeX
— Veevi Rosenstein (@uxresearch) March 25, 2020
Katy Arnold
Katy Arnold is deputy director of design and research at the Home Office, in the United Kingdom. The Home Office (and the British government as a whole) recently embarked on an ambitious design initiative that has been recognized as a leader in digital governance, and many of Katy’s tweets focus on the value of design in civic engagement.
We love it when people post photos of our #accessibility posters on their walls - thanks @angelquicksey we’re glad they’re proving to be useful 😀
— Katy Arnold (@katyarnie) March 12, 2020
cc/ @HODigital @robster970 @cfunn
HT @cjforms https://t.co/Uc2rbl2C1i
Sara Wachter-Boettcher
Sara Wachter-Boettcher is the author of Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech. Many of Sara’s tweets focus on the intersection of technology, UX, feminism, and racial justice, and Sara also runs workshops to help designers become better leaders and communicators.
I’m already seen a lot of friends be really hard on themselves.
— Sara Wachter-Boettcher (@sara_ann_marie) March 17, 2020
“I’m not being very productive.”
“I should get more done around the house.”
“I’m eating too much.”
Give yourself a break! You’re not a machine. Things are weird and hard. You’re not bad or lazy for being human.
Kate Crawford
Cofounder of the AI Now Institute, Kate Crawford is principal researcher at Microsoft Research and a distinguished research professor at New York University. Kate’s work examines the ethics of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, which makes her Twitter feed a fascinating glimpse into the potential future of design.
At 5:00pm ET today, I'll be on Instagram Live with @trevorpaglen on @PaceGallery's channel. We're going to talk about our recent collaborations, what the pandemic means for art, politics, and AI - and how we're trying to get through this. All welcome 🙌📺 pic.twitter.com/Q6NLiWSqMT
— Kate Crawford (@katecrawford) April 9, 2020
Joy Buolamwini
Joy Buolamwini is the founder of the Algorithmic Justice League (AJL), a nonprofit that aims to make applications of machine-learning technologies more equitable and accountable. The AJL uses art and research to raise awareness of the social implications of AI.
"The study, which took an unusually comprehensive approach to measuring bias in speech recognition systems, offers another cautionary sign for A.I. technologies rapidly moving into everyday life."https://t.co/mWDzewHplf
— Joy Buolamwini (@jovialjoy) March 23, 2020
Boon Sheridan
Boon Sheridan is a design and research practitioner at Automattic and is the author of the forthcoming Getting Started in UX, due to be published by Rosenfeld Media in 2021. Boon tweets about design, vinyl records, and good cocktails, among other topics.
I have never been so excited and terrified at the same time. https://t.co/Go2qARQzQ5
— Boon Sheridan (@boonerang) December 10, 2018
Dan Ramsden
Dan Ramsden is creative director for UX architecture & UX writing at the BBC. Dan’s tweets offer a glimpse into how the BBC handles UX across its many digital properties, as well as how organizations of all sizes can start to think more deliberately about information architecture.
“Experiences are partnerships in sense-making” by @danramsdenhttps://t.co/7z9zIe6w1Y
— Dan Ramsden (@danramsden) April 21, 2020
Tomomi Sasaki
Tomomi Sasaki is cofounder of Design Research Tokyo. Based in Paris, Tomomi works as a strategic designer and partner at AQ and regularly contributes to Enterprise Design Associates.
🥳 It's LIVE and we're so excited! https://t.co/W4pczyTHYq
— Tomomi Sasaki (@tomomiq) March 25, 2020
Lisa Maria Marquis
Lisa Maria Marquis (née Martin), who tweets under the handle @redsesame, is one of the best-known personalities in the UX industry. Lisa Maria authored Everyday Information Architecture, published by A Book Apart, and tweets about a wide range of topics beyond design, research, and IA.
Have you bought my book yet? I GUARANTEE it's the only UX book on the market to reference GBBO, MBMBaM, Star Trek, AND Yuri on Ice. Something for everyone! https://t.co/feVoEeto7S #everydayIA
— Mrs. McTouchdown (@redsesame) April 22, 2019
Ben Garvey-Cubbon
Ben Garvey-Cubbon is user research practice lead at OVO Energy. Ben regularly tweets about the importance of inclusion in design, and he often shares updates from other research practitioners seeking to improve how user research is conducted.
Thanks @jwaterworth for hosting such useful and informative panel discussion on what we as user researchers need to consider at this moment in time.
— Ben Garvey-Cubbon (@B_GarveyCubbon) March 24, 2020
Thanks too to all the panelists for taking the time to share your thoughts https://t.co/aMqwGtm4XM
Erika Hall
Cofounder of Mule Design, Erika Hall is the author of Just Enough Research. Erika’s tweets run the gamut from hilarious to thought-provoking, and her insights into running a successful design agency will be invaluable to designers and researchers working in any industry. Truly a must-follow account.
Fun AND practical. And discounted when you buy both. Damn, look what an absolute unit JER2 is. You know it's good because every word survived at least 3 rounds of my editor saying "pleeeze, we need to get the page count down!". CD is swell too:https://t.co/kNNHfaK2nt https://t.co/OUdegmsys5
— Unapologetically Erika Hall (@mulegirl) April 22, 2020
Louis Rosenfeld
The eponymous founder of Rosenfeld Media, Louis Rosenfeld is another celebrity of the design world. Rosenfeld Media’s blog posts, podcasts, conferences, and workshops have inspired countless designers and researchers, and Louis is as generous with his advice as he is knowledgeable about design.
Join us Thursday at 4pm EDT to learn about innovation in enterprises with author/podcaster/serial pottymouth @lauraklein. All part of the free Enterprise Experience community; learn more/join here: https://t.co/rw7ugtpYdN pic.twitter.com/xHiRbU5Co4
— Louis Rosenfeld (@louisrosenfeld) April 21, 2020
Leisa Reichelt
Leisa Reichelt is head of research and insight at Atlassian. Leisa often tweets about management, the role of design, and––of course––the importance of UX research.
People who use threads in Slack vs those who pretend/believe threads don't exist....
— Leisa Reichelt (@leisa) March 30, 2020
...is one of the research studies I design in my imagination and try to guess the outcomes.
Samira Matan
Samira Matan is a sociocultural anthropologist who works as a user researcher at Ample Labs, a nonprofit that aims to reduce homelessness. Samira is also partnerships experience lead for UXRC and tweets about how to conduct better, more useful user research.
It was so wonderful chatting with Ben and Phil from @ConsentKit! Absolutely thrilled that they are joining us as a Research Tools Sponsor and even more excited for everyone else to meet them. ✨ https://t.co/ZPd0p0mC91
— Samira Matan (@samiramatan) January 30, 2020
Maria Rosala
A researcher at the Nielsen Norman Group, Maria Rosala frequently tweets about research that any UX or research ops practitioner will find fascinating, from better understanding the discovery phase in UX projects to the implications of ethical maturity in user research. A must-follow for UX practitioners looking for cutting-edge research about their field.
We published our new (free) report on #UXcareers. This is based on a large survey and a number of interviews and focus groups with UX practitioners from around the world that @rachelkrau and I carried out in 2019. https://t.co/A9FC4H9vog via @nngroup
— Maria Rosala (@maria_rosala) April 20, 2020
Vivianne Castillo
Vivianne Castillo is an experienced user researcher whose work focuses on cross-cultural user research and the implications of race and identity in the design field. Vivianne has presented at several major UX events, including the Business of Design Conference held at MIT in 2019, the CanUX conference in Toronto in 2018, and the Talent Innovation Summit in San Francisco in 2017.
UXers should be the most comfortable talking about privilege, racism, homophobia, white supremacy, xenophobia, etc. because being human-centered demands moments of grief & discomfort. Failure to do so reinforces a shallow point of view on the human experience & encourages apathy.
— Vivianne Castillo (@vcastillo630) June 23, 2019
Maggi Mitchell
Maggi Mitchell is cofounder and chief operating officer of the UXR Collective. Maggi frequently shares research, data, and content about working in UX and also loves to help new and established UX practitioners find new opportunities and share knowledge.
I don't know why people are always so jazzed to hear from CEOs at conferences 🤷🏼♀️
— Maggi Mitchell (@maggijmitchell) January 10, 2020
Unless the company is small, they’re often fairly removed from the every day work and won’t say anything too controversial.
Would much rather learn from those *doing the work* 💯💯💯
Basel Fakhoury
Basel Fakhoury is cofounder and CEO of User Interviews. Basel is a frequent contributor to many UX and SaaS blogs and podcasts, and he often shares tips on how to conduct better user research. He is also a prolific retweeter, making Basel a great follow for UX folks looking for more reading material.
At User Interviews the whole team likes to be in continuous conversation with our users.@erinhmay wrote a great piece on how to build/automate the machine that allows us to do that! https://t.co/fRnB9EcuTm
— Basel Fakhoury (@BaselFakhoury) August 21, 2019
Tom Gilbert Scott
There’s certainly no shortage of opinions about the role of design in software and app development, but few are as insightful as those of Tom Gilbert Scott. Based in Bristol in the United Kingdom, Tom serves as experience principal at cxpartners and tweets about everything from agile development to the culture and philosophy of design.
Love the clarity in this thread... https://t.co/93BB4ohXnk
— Tom Gilbert Scott (@tomgilbertscott) April 18, 2019
Sarah Drummond
Rufflemuffin––real name Sarah Drummond––is a designer based in Great Britain. Sarah writes (and tweets) extensively about service design and its role in public policy.
I’ve written a guide to procuring #servicedesign and design in general. Additions welcome!
— rufflemuffin (@rufflemuffin) July 20, 2018
https://t.co/oGpvvAzgpv
Ailsa M. Blair
Ailsa M. Blair is a design manager at product development consultancy TribalScale. Much of Ailsa’s work focuses on diversity and inclusion in tech and empowering marginalized communities to effect meaningful change through design.
This is so important for folks to know. It’s totally okay to feel and show you’re a little overwhelmed right now. We all are. Parent when you gotta parent. Take a nap when you gotta take a nap. Call me on Zoom when you just gotta vent & cry a little. Let’s support each other ❤️ https://t.co/HcbqXPlW4i
— Ailsa M. Blair (@ailsamblair) March 17, 2020
Ruth Ellison
Head of user research at Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency, Ruth Ellison is a designer with a deep, abiding love for thoughtful design. Ruth often tweets about accessibility and UX, as well as the joys (and challenges) of parenthood.
I'm loving the 🖖. May be using this at next week's @UXAustralia Design Research conference in lieu of hugs and handshakes #DesignResearch #UXAustralia (photo source: @brightvibes_com ) https://t.co/1A5xJAF6VJ
— Ruth Ellison (@RuthEllison) March 13, 2020
Cyd Harrell
Currently serving as service design lead for the Judicial Council of California, Cyd Harrell is a noted researcher who has held roles with organizations including Code for America, the Center for Civic Design, and 18F. Cyd’s work focuses primarily on how design can facilitate better civic experiences.
3 years of offering mentoring sessions to mid-senior UXers & it's one of my favorite parts of my practice (just had a lovely one this morning!) if you want to get over the mid-career hump to truly senior, please reach out
— Cyd Harrell (@cydharrell) February 28, 2020
(priority scheduling for people under-represented in UX) https://t.co/8rZv3YDJmB
Gregg Bernstein
Gregg Bernstein is a UX researcher at Signal and author of Research Practice. Prior to joining Signal, Gregg worked in research roles for companies including Vox Media and Mailchimp.
Popular user research methods, explained briefly. pic.twitter.com/RnOBX0CQxO
— Gregg Bernstein (@greggcorp) April 25, 2018
Steph Marsh
Steph Marsh is UX research ops manager at Springer Nature and the author of User Research: A Practical Guide to Designing Better Products and Services. Steph frequently tweets about improving user research, the importance of empathy in design, and other thought-provoking topics.
Everyday I’m extremely grateful that I can do my job, talk to and see people online and can do most of the things I enjoy from the comfort of my own home whilst self isolating (hello virtual tours of art galleries l). But I do miss nature. And hugs.
— Steph Marsh (@Steph_Marsh81) March 29, 2020
Mariana Morris
Founder and managing director of UX design studio Fruto, Mariana Morris is a UX practitioner based in the United Kingdom. Mariana cofounded UX Oxford and tweets frequently about collaborative design, managing virtual teams, and other topics.
A small group of scientists at the University of Oxford are looking to develop a women's health app which will bring together many aspects of health. If you have 5 min to fill in this market research, I know it will be very helpful to them: https://t.co/wlOASxEDsg #WomensHealth
— Mariana Morris (@MarianaMota) April 11, 2020
Gerry Gaffney
Gerry Gaffney runs Information & Design, a UX and usability company based in Melbourne, Australia. Gerry also hosts the popular UXPod podcast, where he has interviewed many leading UX and research ops practitioners (including more than a few names on this list).
"an astrophysicist who made pathbreaking findings about the state of the cosmos, not the least of which was discovering precisely what it entailed to succeed as a woman in a male-dominated universe" https://t.co/tKD5mkbP72
— Gerry Gaffney (@gerrygaffney) April 7, 2020
Joseph Kay
Jospeh Kay––perhaps better known by his online handle, jofish––is principal research scientist at Mozilla. Joseph tweets extensively about his work at Mozilla and the organization’s mission, as well as related topics such as trust in the media, the responsibilities of online publishers, and the ethics of user research.
Looking forward to @jeffhancock's talk "Rethinking Trust and Well-Being in this Strange New World", at @mozilla at 10am PST, live and archived on Youtube: https://t.co/al5iPCSP5a. I'll take questions -- including a live poll -- here.
— jofish (@jofish) April 16, 2020
Michael J. Metts
Michael J. Metts is a designer and a coauthor of Writing Is Designing: Words and the User Experience. Michael often tweets about the intersection of content strategy and product strategy and offers a refreshing and insightful take on the sometimes vague world of UX writing.
Shout out to all the people who go to work every day and push for positive change, even though the systems they work in do nothing to reward or support it. What you're doing matters.
— Michael J. Metts 📚 (@mjmetts) December 5, 2019
Laura de Reynal
Laura de Reynal is design innovation lead at the International Rescue Committee. Prior to joining the IRC, Laura held research roles at organizations such as Mozilla and Microsoft.
So proud to work at @theIRC with @Airbel 🙂👏 #RefugeesWelcome #innovation https://t.co/G98iwobTu4
— ✿ Laura de Reynal ✿ (@lau_nk) July 14, 2017
Lorna Wall
Lorna Wall is head of user research at the Home Office, in the United Kingdom. In addition to tweets about her work in the British government, Lorna often shares content about career development and making the transition to a career in UX––perfect for aspiring UX practitioners hoping to break into the field.
Wow. One for @cjforms collection of bad survey questions? https://t.co/Pbz1EQ1BXh
— Lorna Wall (@Lorna_Wall) March 9, 2020