Academic research has informed many principles and methods in UX research which are used in a variety of settings. In fact, many academics are seeking to transition into industry roles in the hopes of better pay, progression, and opportunities to work in organisations that value their research staff. However, those transitioning out of academia are faced with stereotypes about what academic research looks like and concerns about whether these ways of working could translate to Agile product development environments.

In this talk, I will reflect on my experience as a Research Assistant designing and conducting evaluative user research on digital health interventions, and the practices I have taken into my work as a UX Researcher in the public healthcare sector. The purpose of this talk is to bring awareness to the diversity of academic research, and how we can embrace different ways of working to ensure digital health interventions address real-life problems and are developed at industry pace, but with consideration of ethics and safeguarding throughout the process.