UXR Spotlight: Reto Lämmler

Reto Lämmler

This spotlight was part of USERWEEKLY - a weekly email to understand what is happening in user research. It's the best way to keep up on trends, methodologies, insights across the industry, and meet new researchers. Each week, the newsletter captures the pulse of our community and answers a simple question: What mattered in User Research this week?

Tell us a little about yourself, Reto Lämmler.
I'm Reto Lämmler and the Co-founder and CEO of TestingTime. I was always fascinated about startups and wanted to become an entrepreneur myself. I failed twice until I discovered my golden opportunity for a digital test user recruitment service. The inspiration for TestingTime came out of my master studies in HCID in 2013. When I am not working, I love to travel, run, hike, meditate and most importantly take ice baths (WimHof method).

What originally got you interested in UX Research?
I joined Doodle.com as VP Product in 2008. Doodle’s focus on radical product simplicity fascinated me and I learnt that regular UX Research is the main reason for its success. While others just started to familiarize themselves with UX/R, Doodle was ahead of its time and established a high UX maturity across the team. My newly discovered passion for UX/R led me back to school to obtain a Master in Human Computer Interaction Design during 2012 - 2014. From then on, my startup gen was in charge and pushed me to start TestingTime and become an entrepreneur in the UX/R space.

What was the funniest/weirdest experience you had in a user study?
Since 2018, I have been appointed by my University (Fachhochschule Ost) to teach Usability Testing during the master program for HCID. I strongly believe in hands-on education and always make the students prepare, conduct and analyze a real user test. Test users are provided by TestingTime, so the students experience the unbiased participant setting. But once, this turned out to be quite the opposite from “unbiased”. A test user showed up for the on-site test, which was about testing an unboxing experience of a drone. The person responsible for moderation was assigned during the class, and didn’t know anything about the test user. It turned out he was her ex-boyfriend from a recent breakup. The initial awkward silence was managed impressively well by both the moderator and participant.

What can people reach out to you about and how can they find you?
I have lots of experience about entrepreneurship, usability testing and obviously participant recruitment. Happy to help with any of these topics. Connect with me on LinkedIn and message me there. I live and work in Wiedikon, Zürich. If you want to grab a coffee in my office, write to me on LinkedIn and I am happy to grab a coffee with you.

Thank you, Reto Lämmler!