August 25, 2026 Smashing Newsletter: Issue #573
This newsletter issue was sent out to 174,792 subscribers on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.
Editorial
Of all the critical skills we need to be impactful, asking good questions is probably the most important one. It’s really an art in itself — finding out what we don’t know and figuring out how to find accurate and reliable answers.
That’s exactly what UX research is all about. And in this newsletter, we look at useful pointers, guides, and resources to be more impactful as a UX researcher.
As autumn is coming, we are making final preparations for our autumn conference — SmashingConf Freiburg 2026 🇩🇪 — in our lovely hometown Freiburg, with hands-on workshops, practical sessions, and plenty of kind, thoughtful, and caring participants all over the world.
We do have a few last tickets left. We hope to see you there!
— Vitaly
1. Researcher’s Guide To Claude
Most guides on Claude, Claude Cowork, and Claude Code are aimed at developers, but how can UX researchers integrate AI tools into their workflow? Brittany Hobbs wrote a comprehensive guide to the Anthropic tools specifically for researchers. In it, she explores which tool fits which stage in the UX research process, how to set each up, and what privacy, security, and rigor risks to manage.
2. UX Research Bookmarks
Gregg Bernstein, UX research leader and author of the book Research Practice, published his personal collection of research-related bookmarks in a Notion database. It features more than 200 useful links, covering everything from recruiting, interviews, and documentation to prioritization, data analysis, and AI. A treasure chest, whether you’re new to UX research or looking to improve your workflow.
3. Your First Days As A UX Researcher
Good onboarding is key to starting successfully into a new role. So, how do you make the most of your first days as a UX researcher? Anna Lee summarized milestones and things you should be doing in your first 30/60/90 days in an organization. Whether you use it for yourself or for onboarding new team members, the plan works regardless of business type and can also be applied to UX and product design.
4. Making UX Research Hard To Ignore
Research, data, and facts don’t speak for themselves. They don’t win arguments, and often, the stronger and louder the data is, the more likely it is to be questioned. To inspire trust and confidence, your data needs a powerful story wrapped around it. Vitaly shares practical tips that’ll help you turn your research into narratives that make it hard to ignore.
5. Eight Pillars Of UX Research
How to take UX research initiatives off the ground in your organization? “The Eight Pillars of User Research” is a comprehensive model with roles, tools, and processes to deliver and scale UX research impact. It is based on insights gathered via a survey and 33 workshops run around the world and acts as the scaffolding between researchers and ReOps as they work on common goals.
6. How To AI UXR
AI is reshaping user research and the roles of research professionals so quickly and intrinsically that it is hard to keep up. Kate Towsey’s “How to AI UXR” map is a wonderful resource to get you up-to-date on the key trends. It helps you identify the maturity level at which you’re implementing AI and provides you with a list of implementations to experiment with.
7. Upcoming Workshops and Conferences
That’s right! We run online workshops on frontend and design, be it accessibility, performance, or design patterns. In fact, we have a couple of workshops coming up soon, and we thought that, you know, you might want to join in as well.
As always, here’s a quick overview:
- Spotting Accessibility Issues Early Free
with Stéphanie Walter. Sep 1 - Complex UIs and Enterprise UX UX
with Vitaly Friedman. Sep 2–3 - Naming Design Systems DS
with Samantha Gordashko. Sep 8–22 - Interface Design Patterns Live UX Training UX
with Vitaly Friedman. Sep 11 – Oct 12 - Figma MCP Masterclass Design
with Christine Vallaure. Sep 14 - Accessibility For Designers UX
with Stéphanie Walter. Sep 21–29 - Live Accessibility Testing Free
with Manuel Matuzović. Sep 24 - Measure UX and Design Impact UX
with Vitaly Friedman. Video course + UX Training - Design Patterns For AI Products in 2026 UX
with Vitaly Friedman. Video course + UX Training - Jump to all workshops →
8. Accessible UX Research, Now Shipping 📚
We’ve got exciting news! Our newest Smashing book, Accessible UX Research by Michele A. Williams, is finally shipping worldwide! Get the book right away or order the eBook for instant download.
Accessible UX Research is your practical guide to making UX research more inclusive of participants with different needs — from planning and recruiting to facilitation, asking better questions, avoiding bias, and building trust. Download a free sample (PDF, 2.3MB) or get the book right away.
That’s All, Folks!
Thank you so much for reading and for your support in helping us keep the web dev and design community strong with our newsletter. See you next time!
This newsletter issue was written and edited by Geoff Graham (gg), Cosima Mielke (cm), Vitaly Friedman (vf), and Iris Lješnjanin (il).
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