Stretch distancetime to pivot: 1-2 years
UX / Design Researcher
Find out what people actually need
Research is the listening discipline: interviews, usability testing, synthesis into insight that shapes products and services. Your empathy, your ear for people and your knack for making sense of mess are the core of it, and your Hyper Island grounding helps.
Demand 2026-2036
Growing
Established, though it tightened in the 2023-24 tech dip.
Competition
Moderate
Salary, Stockholm
48-70k/mo
indicative, gross per month, mid to senior
What you already bring
the cards from your core that transfer straight in
What you can do
Listen
Get to know people
Analyze
Summarize
See patternHow you think
Empathy
Communication
Critical thinking
Interdisciplinary thinkingWorlds you know
Behavioral Science
Design
PsychologyThe gap
what you would need to build
Research method: study design, interviewing and usability technique, qualitative analysis, and translating findings into decisions teams act on.
How to get there
- Learn qualitative research method (interviewing, synthesis, usability) through a course and practice.
- Run one real study end to end, from question to insight to recommendation.
- Build a portfolio that shows method and impact, not just findings.
Your first move
// start here
Run five user interviews on a product you know and synthesise what you heard into three insights.
In Stockholm
Stockholm's product and service-design teams all need researchers; the role is established, respected and hiring across tech and the public sector.
Ask yourself
three prompts from the professional development deck to pressure-test this move
