by From UX Research to Product Decisions: Inside Yahoo’s UX Leadership
As the leading platform for insights and innovation in user experience research, UX360 North America 2026 brings together the brightest minds shaping the future of research. In this edition of our speaker interview series, we are excited to welcome Gloria Osardu, Senior Director, Global Head of UX Research, Brand and Consumer Insights at Yahoo.
Gloria brings a strategic perspective shaped by her journey from engineering and gaming to leading global UX organizations. In our conversation, she reflects on how the UX field is evolving, why the industry is entering a period of “regrouping,” and how research teams can move beyond dashboards.
Watch Gloria Osardu discuss how UX research drives decisions and positions insights as a strategic product driver.
In this UX360 conversation, Gloria Osardu, Senior Director, Global Head of UX Research, Brand, and Consumer Insights at Yahoo, reflects on what it takes for user research to influence product decisions. Her upcoming keynote at UX360 North America 2026 focuses on a central challenge many UX teams face today: aligning organizations around what truly matters and ensuring that research insights lead to real action. For Gloria, research only delivers value when it helps teams make confident decisions—whether that means shaping product strategy, identifying risks, or clarifying which problems are worth solving.
A key theme in the discussion is Gloria’s view that the UX industry is currently in a phase of “regrouping.” As technologies like AI rapidly reshape digital experiences, UX teams are revisiting the fundamentals of their discipline—rethinking how to advocate for meaningful experiences, measure impact, and balance innovation with user risk. Rather than focusing solely on interfaces or aesthetics, she argues that UX must increasingly operate at a strategic level, helping organizations understand the deeper “why” behind user behavior and product decisions.
Gloria also highlights a common challenge in many organizations: over-reliance on metrics and dashboards without fully understanding user behavior. While quantitative data reveals what happened, research provides the context that explains why it happened and what should happen next. Without that deeper layer of insight, teams risk optimizing for short-term wins instead of long-term, sustainable experiences. To address this, she advocates for positioning research teams not as support functions but as strategic partners involved from the earliest stages of product discovery through post-launch evaluation.
Another important message from the conversation is the value of rigor in UX research. Gloria emphasizes that research is a craft requiring methodical thinking, expertise, and context. While many organizations encourage broader participation in user discovery, maintaining strong research standards is essential for producing meaningful insights. She also notes that high-quality research inevitably comes with a cost—whether time, resources, or expertise—but that investment is necessary to generate insights that genuinely influence business outcomes.
Drawing on a career spanning software engineering, gaming, healthcare technology, and global UX leadership, Gloria offers an optimistic view of the future of UX. As technology continues to evolve—from AI-driven systems to new interaction environments—UX professionals will need to think more like business leaders, balancing user needs, product strategy, and organizational realities. For insights leaders and researchers, her message is clear: the goal is not simply to gather data, but to deliver understanding that enables better decisions.
The above is an AI-summarized overview and may include inaccuracies or errors.
UX reading and podcast recommendations by Gloria:
Podcast Recommendation
Podcast Recommendation🧠 Newslettter & Podcast recommendation
For more suggestions, check out “The UXR Reading and Podcast List“.
Conversations like this are exactly why UX360 North America exists
As UX continues to evolve — fueled by AI, organizational change, and higher expectations for impact — the need for thoughtful, experience-driven discussions has never been greater.
UX360 NA 2026 brings together practitioners, leaders, and educators to explore not just what is changing in UX research, but how we adapt without losing sight of the people we serve.
By bringing voices like Gloria Osardu’s, UX360 highlights the real UX research challenges — from building organizational influence to translating research into business decisions — and provides practical guidance.
Join us at UX360 North America 2026 | April 21–23 | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.
This is your chance to gain hands-on insights from UX research peers, learn cutting-edge techniques and gather skills that will matter tomorrow.
Register today, limited tickets available!
