UXR Spotlight: Tina Ličková

Tell us a little about yourself, Tina Ličková.
Oh, hi! :) My name is Tina Ličková, I originally come from Bratislava (Slovakia), now living and working just across the border - in the beautiful city of Vienna. Somebody recently called me a UX researcher all-rounder, which summarizes well my experiences as an service designer and research lead, with decent Re-Ops and moderation skills. After “just a few years” of contemplations, I decided to go freelance - so as you can imagine, it’s quiet a exciting and frightening time for me right now.

What energizes you about your career?
Where to start… I learn new things about stuff I would never encounter, and as a freelancer, I can switch topics without losing depth. I can speak to people I would probably never meet in my life. I get to work with fascinating creative people and managers developing tools for the future. I can help them to make the right decisions… This job is just so cool, isn't it?!

Can you share a funny or unexpected user insight you gained and how you incorporated it into the product?
While working with a fintech, I heard a lot of: “I want to have all my bank accounts in one place, but I won't give you my data” or “Cash helps me to have a better overview of my expenses,” but when asked what they spend the last withdrawn money on, they couldn't remember.
With money, there are a lot of negative emotions attached: not many people feel proud of how they manage their finance, or even trust themselves to do it well. Giving people security, not only in the technical sense, was our goal. We did not only ask the obvious “How can we build trust toward our service?”, but also “How can we help people to trust themselves and make them feel more secure about their money?”
Small features like cash expense tracking (yup, there are still cash-loving markets out there), nudging in the form of positive notifications, and mindful financial tips, were some of the actions we implemented (and are not NDA protected ;)).

What other projects are you working on right now and how can we learn more about them?
Over a year ago, together with the UX research platform UXtweak we started a podcast, the UX Research Geeks. Exploring a different types of interview and speaking to UXR people from all over the world, is making me super happy. We are just wrapping up the second season and preparing for the new season with Teresa Torres, Nikki Anderson-Stanier, and many more cool people. We promote all the episodes on LinkedIn, where you can also find me.

Thank you, Tina Ličková!