Ethical UX Research in a Democratized World: Balancing Inclusion, Speed, and Strategy

Ethical UX Research in a Democratized World: Balancing Inclusion, Speed, and Strategy

UX360 2025 Speaker Interview

Helen Devine is a Principal Design Researcher at Lloyds Banking Group. With over 20 years of expertise in strategy, user-focused research, data and insight, ethnography, and design across various sectors, she still loves hearing what people have to say. Before joining LBG, Helen successfully set up and embedded UX Research at The Economist, following roles at The Guardian, Shelter, and Asda. Helen is passionate about having the users’ voice at all levels, coaching and mentoring others and ensuring high standards in user research regardless of the scope of the study.

UX360: What motivates you to join the UX360 conference, and what is the core message of your talk? 

Helen: I’m keen to share ideas and hear from others in the UX research community.  I’m part of a panel and running a round table so these will be collaborative discussions to share examples of how we are working through challenges and highlight things of use.  The panel is about the democratisation of research, and I have conflicting views on this one – on the one hand, I want to enable others to do great research and ensure that all product work is research led regardless of resource. 

On the other hand, our craft can be diminished, especially in the current job market and we need to ensure excellent standards in research – for the participants involved as well as the organisations we work with.

The round table is about ethics when designing for and researching with, vulnerable people.  I’m very interested to see how others approach this and to share thoughts.

UX360: How has this impacted your own work and your organisation?

Helen: In different roles at different employers, I’ve worked in different models for democratisation – sometimes defined by me, sometimes not.

I’ve worked with participants with many different types of vulnerabilities, I’m currently working on improving experiences for various kinds of vulnerable people – mostly situational, so it’s very much front of mind to ensure that we always consider the participant experience first.

I’m sure many others have lots of vendors who are AI first contacting them to discuss tools and platforms and we need to think carefully about where this is appropriate.

UX360: How has UX Research as a practice evolved in the last couple of years, and how would you like to see it evolve in the next few? 

Helen: It’s become even faster-paced (a challenge) and also more aligned alongside data (a great opportunity).

Over the next few years, I want to see more roles for UX Researchers at a leadership level where we can add so much strategic thinking and that diversity of thought.  Also, we need more entry-level roles to allow people to come in and progress and learn.

UX360: Given this evolution, what are two expected and two less obvious skills UXers should possess, and why?

Helen: I’m not sure if it’s obvious or expected but it’s that holistic, strategic thinking and seeing the synergies and themes across workstreams/labs/squads (however your org is set up!).  Expected would be a continued human focus.  Maybe slightly less obvious is ensuring that we all have a good understanding of what is happening outside of our specific industry or sector and thinking about where our organisations can learn from all kinds of experiences that people are having – don’t just copy ideas from the nearest competitor.

UX360: Apart from work, what can delegates at the event talk to you about? Do you have any particular personal interests, hobbies or extracurricular activities and engagements?

Helen: I love podcasts – listening to them, I’ve guested on a few and I’ve done tons of research on them when I worked in News so please do talk to me about that.

Also, camping, I’m always keen for suggestions for sites and any handy gadgets to add to the kit.

UX360: Last but not least, favourite recommendations to make to industry colleagues for inspiration, innovation, guidance and leadership:

Helen:

• In your ears – Podcast: If Books Could Kill 

• Must read – Book/Blog: I think novels actually offer the best inspiration as they bring to life the human experience so I’ll recommend the Bean Tree by Barbara Kingsolver

UX360: Thank you so much, Helen! We are looking forward to seeing you onsite at UX360 EU!

Hurry to secure your seat at the UX360 Research Summit 2025 and meet Helen in person!

The ultimate gathering of UX research and design leaders is here—two days packed with the latest industry insights, cutting-edge methodologies, and next-level inspiration.

This year, the summit features 30+ industry leaders from global powerhouses such as Google, Roche, IKEA, Meta, Nestle, and many more.

Network with world-class UX professionals from around the globe. Whether you’re a researcher or designer, this event is a must-attend for anyone looking to stay ahead in the field. Last chance to register!