Who I am
- Experienced user research practitioner with three decades in the field and keen business skills
- Knowledgeable consultant who has worked with 150 organizations
- Manager of staff and projects with routine success at management of time, scope and budget
- Dynamic trainer, presenter and frequent speaker to audiences of all types
- Prolific writer (recent publications) and author of The UX Careers Handbook, Second Edition
- A frequent work traveler who enjoys variety of place, of people, of backgrounds and of activities
- Builder of UX community (and past president of UXPA International) with a massive global UX network
What I do
UX Research, Evaluation and Strategy
A typical Lebsontech project includes 2 staff members with a range of 1 to 5 people (including management of Lebsontech staff, contractors and sometimes client staff).
Research
- Preliminary research and requirements gathering: interviews, documentation reviews, competitive analyses
- Exploratory research such as ethnographic studies and contextual inquiries
- Usability testing anywhere (in-person or remote) at any point in the development process
- Focus groups related to websites and technology
- Agile (and SAFe-Agile) lean research working within a Scrum framework
- Card sorts including both online and offline efforts, creation and analysis of dendrograms
- Survey design and analysis of data (including powerful Excel skills plus some use of statistical software)
- Reporting findings and design recommendations as slides, docs, videos, personas, journey maps & meetings
Evaluation and Strategy
- Design critique workshops and expert (heuristic) reviews: usability, information architecture and content analysis
- Accessibility (W3C WCAG and Section 508) reviews and training (DHS Trusted Tester Certification)
- Strategy meetings as well as informal strategic discussions
Training, Mentoring, and Hiring Support
- Classroom training and talks about topics related to both methods and careers
- Staff mentorship with hands-on training and long-term guidance and support
- Support of UX hiring by defining needs and positions, developing job descriptions and reviewing candidates
- Creation, facilitation and promotion of public and private UX-oriented events
Explore details on longer-term Lebsontech clients and projects (as well as prior work history) via my LinkedIn profile or with my PDF resume.
Additional Staff
Even though I’m involved on every project, Lebsontech is not just me!
Edie Lee, Senior UX researcher, has been with Lebsontech since 2008 and is also available for user research projects. She is adept at analyzing data and leads the data analysis and reporting on many of our efforts. Edie is also a skilled writer and editor of research reports, study materials and training resources and is responsible for quality assurance of all Lebsontech deliverables. Learn more about Edie on LinkedIn or view Edie’s Resume (PDF)
We also have ongoing relationships with a number of additional senior-level associates whose research skills we can draw upon as needed!
Clients
By the numbers…
I’ve been doing user research for 30 years now and in that time have had the opportunity to work with many amazing people in over 150 organizations!
Here’s a list of the organizations that I’ve worked with, including over:
- Alliance Project Group
- Ambit Group
- American Institutes for Research
- AnswerLab
- Aquent
- Artemis Consulting
- Bixal
- Brilliant Experience
- CACI
- CollabraLink
- CSC Consulting
- Design for Context
- Digital Management
- Digital Workplace Group
- Eureka Facts
- Eye Street Solutions
- Fast Enterprises
- Fifteen Four
- Fors Marsh Group
- INADEV
- IQ Solutions
- Key Lime Interactive
- Limina
- Mad*Pow
- Motivate Design
- Navigation Arts
- nimbL Consulting
- Northrop Grumman
- Precision Dialogue
- Publicis Sapient
- Purple Rock Scissors
- Rock Creek Strategic Marketing
- RR Donnelley
- Saatchi & Saatchi
- Ukeles Associates, Inc.
- Ultra Testing
- UserWorks, Inc.
- UX Firm
- UXR.work
- Westat
- Woodbourne Solutions
- Apple Federal Credit Union
- Arbitron
- Avid Technology
- Barco Products
- BBNA
- Citibank
- Consumers’ Checkbook
- CVCertify
- eBay
- Ernst & Young
- Estee Lauder
- GlobalSpec
- Intel
- JobOn
- Kodak
- Lockheed Martin Desktop
- Louis Berger Group
- Optical Society of America
- Porch.com
- Propark America
- Provide Commerce
- Realized Financial Solutions
- Rosetta Stone
- Simplexity Wirefly
- Sona Systems
- Sprint
- Time Warner Cable
- Tiffany & Co.
- Toyota
- Vencore
- Verizon Business Services
- Visa
- Wittman, Inc.
- States of
- Alabama
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Dakota
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Vermont
- Washington, D.C.
- Cities and Towns of
- Arlington, VA
- Cary, NC
- Columbus, OH
- Louisville, KY
- Portland, OR
- Philadelphia, PA
- AARP
- Airline Tariff Publishing Co. (ATPCO)
- American Immigration Lawyers Association
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- American Psychological Association (APA)
- American Society of Clinical Oncology
- Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
- Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU
- Editorial Projects in Education
- George Washington University (GWU) Libraries
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- K12, Inc.
- Leading Age
- National Association of Realtors
- National Association of REITs
- National Council on Aging (NCOA)
- National PACE Association
- NatureServe
- Neighborworks America
- Nemours
- North American Jewish Data Bank
- Optical Society of America
- Thrivent
- University of Connecticut
- University of Connecticut Health Center
- University of Connecticut Law School
- Viridis Learning
- University of Hartford
- US Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Words & Numbers
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
- Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS)
- Department of Defense (DoD)
- Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
- Department of Labor (DOL)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- Library of Congress (LOC)
- Montgomery County, MD
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- National Cancer Institute (NCI)
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
- National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- National Library of Medicine (NLM)
- National Park Service
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA)
- United States Army
- United States Department of Agriculture
- United States Department of Education
- United States Patent and Trade Office
- US Courts
Thought Leadership
I love being a part of the global UX community and contributing to that community. I’ve been active in the User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA) since 2008 and from 2009 – 2014, I served on the boards of both UXPA-DC and UXPA International with some of that time as the president of both.
Check out some of my UX content!
- LinkedIn Updates
- You can always get the latest on what I’m up to by following my LinkedIn feed.
- Book
- Lebson, Cory. The UX Careers Handbook Second Edition. New York: CRC Press (Taylor & Francis Group), 2022
- Lebson, Cory. The UX Careers Handbook. New York: CRC Press (Taylor & Francis Group), 2016
- LinkedIn Articles
- ADHD Diaries: How I got lost in a museum and why this makes me a really good researcher. (July 30, 2024)
- My ADHD Journey, How It Intersects with Anxiety and What I Do About It. (July 17, 2024)
- My ADHD Journey: Thriving Through Variety (July 8, 2024)
- No, for the good of our humanity, the future of work should not be 100% remote. (March 8, 2022)
- How I stay healthy and keep my work focus in Covid times. (February 21, 2021)
- Evolving Best Practices For Doing In-Person UX Research During Covid-19. (July 26, 2020)
- Yes, I’ve again starting doing in-person UX research in the age of Covid-19. (July 23, 2020)
- When will it be time to resume in-person UX research? (May 4, 2020)
- A work trip to Ukraine, a connection with my Eastern European Jewish ancestors. (February 25, 2020)
- UX for Good: Research and strategy for low-cost or no-cost —just ask! (December 2, 2019)
- Is it better to be an employee or a freelancer in a recession? (September 23, 2019)
- How to win my (freelancer) heart. (September 18, 2019)
- What’s it like to live and work in the DC area as a UX professional? (September 16, 2019)
- In-person and remote interactions are not equal. (September 12, 2019)
- The burden of empathy: But I still choose it. (September 9, 2019)
- Think about more than just your users: Practice nice UX. (August 9, 2019)
- What does it mean to do an accessibility audit? (February 24, 2019)
- Evolution of user research jobs. (February 20, 2019)
- Appropriate expectations –> Happy stakeholders –> Successful usability testing. (April 30, 2018)
- Maintain your routines to avoid work-travel stress. (April 17, 2018)
- Observing Usability Studies: A Guide for Stakeholders. (April 9, 2018)
- How to moderate usability testing with simultaneous translation. (January, 20, 2018)
- Your UX career is well positioned for an AI future. (November 29, 2017)
- Be prepared for the cadence of freelance work. (November 20, 2017)
- Want good usability testing data? Make sure that your participants are comfortable! (August 2, 2017)
- Healthy Living: Get fit by treating your body like a work project. (July 31, 2017)
- What Does it Mean to be a Junior or a Senior UX Professional? (July 18, 2017)
- Should freelancers respond to RFPs? (June 23, 2017)
- Reflection on Meeting Myself – 25 Years Later. (May 5, 2017)
- Be an employee or be a freelancer but be cautious when it’s full-time work that’s a bit of both. (April 5, 2017)
- Research Recruitment Fail! Now what? (April 3, 2017)
- User Error and the UX Implications of Elon Musk’s Brain Implant Ambitions (March 28, 2017)
- The UX of Swimming with an Apple Watch: What’s it like and how can it improve? (March 6, 2017)
- Should you do UX work in the Federal government when you don’t agree politically? (March 1, 2017)
- Recording for Lynda.com/LinkedIn Learning: My lessons learned & a glimpse behind the scenes (February 24, 2017)
- How to create a culture of accessibility. (August 30, 2016)
- Don’t be a UX perfectionist. Just do your best. (September 29, 2014)
- Nonsensical UX: The Strange Case of an Elevator Touch Screen. (June 25, 2014)
- How sophisticated should your usability test participants be? (June 16, 2014)
- Everyone can use a mentor. (June 9, 2014)
- The Value of User Research for Accessibility Evaluation. (May 28, 2014)
- Focus Groups are useful for UX research – to a point. (April 20, 2014)
- See full list of articles published on LinkedIn 2014-2019
- Published Articles
- Lebson, Cory. “AI Bots and User Research: Adapting Our Methods.” UX Magazine June 2, 2016: Article No. 1630
- Lebson, Cory. “User Research for a Disaster Relief Organization.” In Successful User Experience: Strategies and Roadmaps, 137 – 144. New York: Morgan Kaufmann, 2015
- Lebson, Cory and Amanda Stockwell. “‘Til Retirement Do Us Part?” UX Magazine July 9, 2015: Article No. 1503
- Lebson, Cory. “Go Ahead, White-Label Your Services.” UX Magazine July 18, 2014: Article No. 1275
- Lebson, Cory. “Certification by UX Organizations: Is There a Business Case for This?” UX Matters May 19, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “The Hidden Value of UX Connectors and the Future of Our Community.” UX Magazine April 10, 2014: Article No. 1219
- Lebson, Cory. “What Qualitative and UX Researchers Can Learn From Each Other.” Quirk’s Marketing Research Media March 2014: Article ID 20140326-3
- Lebson, Cory. “Lessons from Disaster Research.” UX Matters March 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Are You Ready to Be an Independent UX Consultant?” UX Matters January 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “These Are My People: The Value in UX Organizations.” UX Magazine August 21, 2013: Article No. 1075
- Lebson, Cory. “Care About Your UX Career? Network Now!” User Experience Magazine. Vol. 13. Issue 1 (First Quarter 2013)
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Adventure: Enhance your resume, improve your career potential, and feel the excitement!” UX Magazine March 22, 2013: Article No. 983
- Lebson, Cory. “Making Usability a Priority: Advocating for the Value of User Research (PDF).” Intercom Magazine October 2012
- Lebson, Cory. “The Critical Importance of Web Usability in Disasters: Agency-Wide Efforts to Promote Usability at FEMA (PDF).” International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Bulletin. Vol. 28. No. 11 (November 2011)
- LinkedIn Learning Courses (Requires subscription or may be available through your organization or public library – also see full list of these courses on my LinkedIn Learning author page.)
- Lebson, Cory. Using AI in Research Projects. 2023
- Lebson, Cory. Conducting Remote Research Sessions. 2023
- Lebson, Cory. Planning a Career in User Experience – New version for 2023. 2023
- Lebson, Cory. Finding Meaning in your Design Career. 2022
- Lebson, Cory. Managing Stakeholders in UX Projects. 2022
- Lebson, Cory. Conducting Research in a Post-Pandemic World. 2022
- Lebson, Cory. UX Research: Being Flexible. 2022
- Lebson, Cory. UX Research: International Projects. 2022
- Lebson, Cory. Empathy in UX Design. 2019
- Lebson, Cory. Hiring and Managing UX Professionals. 2019
- Lebson, Cory. Strategies for Successful Freelancers. 2017
- Lebson, Cory. Freelancing and Consulting in User Experience. 2017
- Lebson, Cory. Planning a Career in User Experience. 2016 (See second Edition, 2023)
- Livestream Recordings
- Lebson, Cory and Sean Fitzpatrick. What it’s like to do UX work for government agencies. April 19, 2024
- Lebson, Cory and Jon Fukuda. Build out your team’s research skills. March 7, 2024
- Lebson, Cory and Jen Romano. UX and Coffee with Jen and Cory. February 29, 2024
- Lebson, Cory and Amanda Stockwell. Freelance Insights: The Day to Day Life of UX Research Consultants. January 25, 2024
- Lebson, Cory and Carol Barnum. Doing UX Research of Medical Devices. January 17, 2024
- Lebson, Cory, Amanda Stockwell and Kristi Harper. UX Career Trends: Recap of 2023 and thoughts about 2024. December 13, 2023
- Lebson, Cory and Amanda Stockwell. UX 2023 – What’s this year going to be like? January 25, 2023
- Lebson, Cory. UX Careers Q&A. January 27, 2022
- Short Videos Posted to LinkedIn
- A tour of my home gym (April 1, 2024)
- How I’ve come up with posts over the past 10 weeks. March 13, 2022
- Compare and contrast consulting approaches with Claudia Pilgrim – Part 1 & Part 2. March 10
- What goes into my research travel backpack. February 22, 2022
- What my in-person field research setup is like. February 17, 2022
- Video from the airport as I resume UX research during Covid times. February 7, 2022
- A tour of my home office. February 3, 2022
- Some little tidbits about what I use to make usability testing recordings. January 27, 2022
- Advocating to go in person when possible. January 20, 2022
- Welcome to my happy place: Running on my favorite nearby trail. January 12, 2022
- Podcasts
- Lebson, Cory with host Jon Fukuda. The Limina Podcast: Cory Lebson on User Research, 2024
- Lebson, Cory with host Nirish Shakya. Design Feeling: Cory Lebson on the mid-career crisis for UXers. 2022
- Lebson, Cory with host Yuval Keshtcher. Building a Steller Personal UX Brand – An Interview with Cory Lebson. 2021
- Lebson, Cory with host Phil Burgess. Career Energizer: The Impact of Miscommunication with Cory Lebson. 2017
- Cory Lebson with host Gerry Gaffney. UXpod: UX Careers – An Interview with Cory Lebson. 2016
- Skillshare (Requires subscription)
- Lebson, Cory and Amanda Stockwell. Planning for a Usability Study. 2018
While spending a lot of time at home during the Covid era, three of us got together and decided to do a regular UX livestream to maintain our sanity and connection with the outside world. Revisit these episodes with Cory Lebson, Chris Nodder and Amanda Stockwell. (And collectively the three of us have a ton of UX-oriented LinkedIn Learning courses for you to check out too!)
- Ep.1 Backgrounds (Jun 4 2020): People get in to UX research through many different paths – we discuss our routes and how we didn’t plan to end up where we are.
- Ep.2 Presence (Jun 18 2020): As the world slowly reopens, how soon is too soon to start doing in-person research? What alternatives do we have?
- Ep.3 Opportunities (Jun 25 2020): We’re in a recession, there’s a pandemic, and high unemployment. But companies are still hiring for UX roles. What’s the full time and freelance market looking like?
- Ep.4 Disasters (July 2 2020): Ever had user research planned where everything that could go wrong did go wrong? There’s almost always a way to benefit from it.
- Ep.5 Change (Jul 9 2020): There’s a new buzzword every few years, but how much really changes in the field of UX?
- Ep.6 Distance (Jul 16 2020): How do UX people do their jobs when they can’t get close to users?
- Ep.7 Certified (Jul 23 2020): There are several different UX certifications out there. Who are they for, really: you or your potential employer?
- Ep.8 Consulting (Jul 30 2020): Let’s dismiss some misconceptions about what it means to be a user experience consultant
- Ep.9 Discount (Aug 6 2020): What dangers are there in running discount user research techniques? What is discount research good for?
- Ep.10 Free (Aug 13 2020): Is there ever a time when you should work for free? For instance, “to gain experience,” on-spec work that promises to “choose the best design,” or “for exposure”?
- Ep.11 Counterintuitive (Aug 20 2020): Feel like you’re stuck? Like the team isn’t listening to your UX research findings? Sometimes the best way forward is to do something totally counterintuitive.
- Ep.12 Stories (Aug 27 2020): A large proportion of UX work involves telling stories about user behavior to disbelieving team members and executives. What’s the best way to successfully get the message across?
- Ep.13 Pairing (Sep 3 2020): Devs often pair program. Companies that embrace it love the benefits. Have you tried pair research? Or pairing with someone from another discipline?
- Ep.14 Coding (Sep 10 2020): Do UX people need to be able to code? It’s not our primary responsibility, but is it a useful skill to have?
- Ep.15 Solo (Oct 1 2020): Are you a UX team of one? What can you do to co-opt the rest of your product team to do your work for you and improve the product immensely at the same time?
- Ep.16 Constraints (Oct 8 2020): We all think we can design better interfaces for popular sites. Why do they build them the way they do?
- Ep.17 Impostor (Oct 15 2020): Do you suffer from impostor syndrome, not feeling qualified to do the stuff you do? How can you stop that from paralyzing you?
- Ep.18 Specialist (Oct 22 2020): As more companies embrace UX, there’s more opportunity to specialize in certain areas. What specialisms exist today, and where are we heading?
- Ep.19 Champions (Oct 29 2020): UX people are the voice of the user on product teams. How can we ensure teams pay attention, without being too annoying?
- Ep.20 Starting (Nov 5 2020): How do I get my team started doing UX work? I care about UX but the rest of the team doesn’t seem to. How do I get buy-in from the company?
- Ep.21 Usability (Nov 12 2020): It’s World Usability Day. This year’s theme is the user experience of artificial intelligence. What does that even mean?
- Ep.22 Speed (Nov 19 2020): There’s always pressure to deliver user research faster, so how do you balance this with accuracy?
- Ep.23 Newbie (Dec 3 2020): How do you get into UX as a first job or as a transition from another role?
- Ep.24 LevelUp (Dec 10 2020): How do you get into a more strategic position now that you have several years UX experience?
- Ep.25 Tools (Dec 17 2020): There’s lots of talk about which tool is “best” for user research or visual design. In reality, is it more about the tools you use or the skills you have?
- Ep.26 Sanity (Jan 21 2021): What do we do to keep our sanity in these difficult times? What can you do?
- Ep. 27 Post-Pandemic (Apr 1 2021): What might UX careers look like post-pandemic both in the near term and further out? More or less demand? Remote or in-person?
- 2024
- Lebson, Cory. “Keynote: Community, Connectedness and the Arc of your Career.” UX Con ’24 Conference. Silver Spring, MD. October 10, 2024.
- Lebson, Cory. “Universal Usability – Plain Language and Accessibility.” Lebsontech Client Training Seminar. Baltimore, MD. October 8, 2024.
- Lebson, Cory, Jennifer Romano and Carol Barnum. “Starting a UX Business.” UXPA 2024 Conference. Fort Lauderdale, FL. June 27, 2024.
- Lebson, Cory. “Workshop: Using AI as a Tool to Enhance User Research.” UXPA 2024 Conference. Fort Lauderdale, FL. June 24, 2024.
- Lebson, Cory. “Flexible UX Research for Successful Outcomes.” Alida Activate Virtual Conference. June 5, 2024.
- Lebson, Cory. “Ethical AI Methods to Enhance Your UX Research.” UX Scotland Conference. Edinburgh, Scotland. May 30, 2024.
- Lebson, Cory. “Flexible UX Research.” UX Scotland Conference. Edinburgh, Scotland. May 29, 2024.
- Lebson, Cory, Jen Romano, Jackson Fox and Jon Fukuda. “The Current State of UX in 2024: A Panel Discussion.” Viget. Boulder, CO. February 13, 2024.
- Lebson, Cory and Rajeev Subramanian. “Planning Your Career in the Field of UX.” Make the Shift UX. February 2, 2024.
- Lebson, Cory, Jen Romano, Jackson Fox and Sara Mastro. “The Current State of UX in 2024: A Panel Discussion.” Viget. Falls Church, VA. January 23, 2024.
- 2023
- Lebson, Cory. “Starting a User Research Career.” Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Remote Guest Lecturer. November 8, 2023
- Lebson, Cory. Guest UX Mentor on Ready4Work TV Series. News12. Episode first aired on November 2, 2023.
- Lebson, Cory, Jennifer Romano, Carol Barnum and Danielle Cooley. “Starting a UX Business.” October 17, 2023
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Work and Workflow.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. Silver Spring, MD, September 12, 2023
- Lebson, Cory. “Generative AI and UX Research: An Open Conversation.” CPH UX. Copenhagen, Denmark, July 31, 2023
- Lebson, Cory. “Generative AI and UX Research: An Open Conversation.” NoVA UX. Fall Church, VA, June 14, 2023
- Lebson, Cory, Jennifer Romano, Carol Barnum and Danielle Cooley. “Starting a UX Business.” May 24, 2023
- Lebson, Cory, Jennifer Romano, Carol Barnum and Danielle Cooley. “Starting a UX Business.” April 3, 2023
- Lebson, Cory, Jennifer Romano, Carol Barnum and Danielle Cooley. “Starting a UX Business.” March 20, 2023
- Lebson, Cory. “Finding Meaning In Your UX Career.” Triangle UXPA. Raleigh, NC. January 12, 2023
- 2022
- Lebson, Cory. “Starting a User Research Career.” Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Remote Guest Lecturer. November 16, 2022
- Lebson, Cory. “How to Get Started as a UX Consultant.” Interaction Design Foundation Master Class. October 20, 2022
- Lebson, Cory. “How to Get Started with Usability Testing.” Interaction Design Foundation Master Class. June 7, 2022
- Lebson, Cory. “In-Person UX – Now What? Gain Long-lasting Benefit from Lessons Learned During COVID.” The X Event. Atlanta, GA. June 2, 2022
- Lebson, Cory and James Viano. “Golden Rules for Web-Service Success: User Research Q&A” Federation of Tax Administrators. March 9, 2022
- Lebson, Cory. “Finding Your Happy Place In a Chaotic World.” NoVA UX. February 10, 2022
- Lebson, Cory. “Balancing remote and in-person UX work.” Interaction Design Foundation Master Class. February 9, 2022
- Lebson, Cory. “Como ter sucesso na sua carreira em UX.” (English with simultaneous translation). UXPA Brazil. February 2, 2022
- 2021
- Lebson, Cory. “Starting a User Research Career.” Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Remote Guest Lecturer. December 8, 2021
- Lebson, Cory. “Prioritizing Happiness in Your New UX Job.” Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Guest Lecturer for UX Capstone Course. November 11, 2021
- Lebson, Cory. “Finding Your Happy Place In a Chaotic World.” Triangle UXPA. October 22, 2021
- Lebson, Cory and Carla Briceno. “The Basics of Taking on Government Contracts and Doing UX Work for the Government.” UXPA 2021 Conference. Baltimore, MD. September 1, 2021
- Lebson, Cory. “Are You a Mid-career UX Professional and Wondering What’s Next? Let’s Talk About It!” UXPA 2021 Conference. Baltimore, MD. August 31, 2021
- Lebson, Cory. “How to Make Your Life as a Freelancer the Best it Can Be.” UXR.work webinar. August 12, 2021
- Lebson, Cory. “Working in UX: During a Pandemic and Beyond.” Human-Computer Interaction Lab at University of Maryland. February 25, 2021
- Lebson, Cory. “Demonstrating Credibility as a User Research Job Seeker.” CPHUX Denmark. February 22, 2021
- Lebson, Cory. “How to Successfully Change Your Career to UX.” Interaction Design Foundation Master Class. February 17, 2021
- 2020
- Lebson, Cory, Alexis Antonelli Morris and Hilary Bienstock. “How to Build a Successful Freelance Research Practice.” LA UX Research Meetup. December 10, 2020
- Lebson, Cory. “Is In-Person Research an Option During a Pandemic?” State of UX Summit. November 19, 2020
- Lebson, Cory. “AI and the Future of UX Careers.” World Usability Day Turkey / UXPA Istanbul. November 12, 2020
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Research Careers Q&A.” UC Berkeley Extension, Remote Guest Lecturer in User Research for UX course. October 26, 2020
- Lebson, Cory. “Advancing Your UX Career: Is It Time to Become a Freelancer?” UXPA 2020 Virtual Conference. October 15, 2020
- Lebson, Cory. “Just Go with the Flow: On Being a Flexible User Researcher” UCD Gathering. October 15, 2020
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Research and Strategy: Interview with Cory Lebson.” Writers in Tech Podcast by UX Writing Hub. September 15, 2020
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Research Careers Q&A.” UC Berkeley Extension, Guest Lecturer in User Research for UX course. August 31, 2020
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Research Careers Q&A.” UC Berkeley Extension, Guest Lecturer in User Research for UX course. June 15, 2020
- Lebson, Cory. “Starting a User Research Career in the days of Covid-19.” Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Remote Guest Lecturer. April 29, 2020
- Lebson, Cory. “Tech Talk on UX Careers, Skill Sets & Personal Brands.” University of Maryland, College Park, MD, Remote Guest Lecture for College of Information Studies. April 4, 2020
- 2019
- Lebson, Cory. “Introduction to UX for Industrial Engineers.” Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, Guest Lecturer. December 4, 2019
- Lebson, Cory. “Introduction to a Career in Consulting.” University of Maryland, Guest Lecturer. December 3, 2019
- Lebson, Cory. “Managing Empathy as a UX Professional.” Montgomery County UX Meetup. Rockville, MD. October 10, 2019
- Lebson, Cory. “Getting Started in UX.” University of North Texas, Guest Lecturer. September 12, 2019
- Lebson, Cory. “The UX Careers Handbook: Finding Success in your UX Career.” New Hampshire UXPA. Manchester, NH. June 19, 2019
- 2018
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Careers with Cory Lebson.” Louisville IxDA. Louisville, KY. April 24, 2018
- Lebson, Cory. “How to Hire and Manage Consulting Firms and Freelancers.” ConveyUX Conference. Seattle, WA. March 1, 2018
- Lebson, Cory. “Speed Networking at ConveyUX.” ConveyUX Conference. Seattle, WA. February 28, 2018
- Lebson, Cory, Peter Morville, Pamela Pavliscak, Dan Brown and Geoff Harrison. “The Evolution of UX Careers: Looking to the Future.” Puget Sound UX Meetup. Seattle, WA. February 27, 2018
- 2017
- Lebson, Cory. “How and When to Hire UX Employees, Consulting firms and Freelancers.” Keylime Interactive Webinar. December 18, 2017
- Lebson, Cory. “Finding Success in Your UX Career.” Usersproof Webinar. December 18, 2017
- Lebson, Cory. “The UX Careers Handbook: Finding Success In Your UX Career.” UXPA Boston. Boston, MA. October 16, 2017
- Lebson, Cory. “The UX Careers Handbook.” UX Book Club PDX. Portland, OR. September 28, 2017
- Lebson, Cory. “Getting Started in UX.” Atlanta IxDA. Atlanta, GA. June 12, 2017
- Lebson, Cory and Amanda Stockwell. “The Basics of Consulting, Freelancing and Moonlighting.” UXPA 2017 Conference. Toronto, ON, Canada. June 5, 2017
- Lebson, Cory. “State Tax Interfaces: Lessons Learned and Best Practices.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. Centennial, CO. April 5, 2017
- Lebson, Cory. “The UX Careers Handbook: Finding Success in your UX Career.” UXPA International Webinar. March 28, 2017
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Hiring: Find and Retain Talent.” ConveyUX Conference. Seattle, WA. March 2, 2017
- Lebson, Cory. “Speed Networking at ConveyUX.” ConveyUX Conference. Seattle, WA. March 1, 2017
- Lebson, Cory, Amber Case, Peter Merholz, Joe Munko, Emma Rose and Tom Satwicz. “The Evolution of UX Careers: Looking to the Future.” Puget Sound UX Meetup. Seattle, WA. February 28, 2017
- Lebson, Cory. “Establishing and Maintaining a Successful UX Career.” IxDA Chicago. Chicago, IL. January 10, 2017
- 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “The Latest Trends in UX and the Future of UX Careers.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. Washington, DC. December 9, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “How to Get Into UX.“ Boulder UX/UI Group. Boulder, CO. November 29, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “Getting Started in UX.” NoVA UX. Vienna, VA. November 16, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Book for October: The UX Careers Handbook.” UX Book Club DC. Washington, DC. October 19, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “The UX Careers Handbook DC Launch Event.” Washington, DC. September 22, 2016
- Lebson, Cory, Sean Fitzpatrick, Rich Panzer, Jeff Pass and Dick Horst, Moderator. “Peculiarities in Human Factors Consulting on Government Projects.” Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) 2016 Conference. Washington, DC. September 21, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “Finding Success in your UX Career.” Triangle UXPA. Durham, NC. September 15, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “The UX Careers Handbook: Finding Success In Your UX Career.” Big Design Conference. Addison, TX. September 9, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “Fundamentals of Usability Workshop” Big Design Conference. Addison, TX. September 8, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “Afternoon Keynote: e-Services Usability.” FAST Revenue Agency Customer Conference. Pittsburgh, PA. August 11, 2016
- Lebson, Cory, Billy Seabrook, and Brigid Mellon. “Transforming User Experiences: The Intersection of Content and Design.” Digital Banking 2016 Conference. New Orleans, LA. June 21, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Jobs: Hiring and Getting Hired.” Connecticut User Experience Professionals Association (CT UXPA). Hartford, CT. May 25, 2016.
- Lebson, Cory. “Create Usable Web Content.” Lebsontech Two-Day Training Seminar. Hartford, CT. May 24-25, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “The UX Careers Handbook: Finding Success in your UX Career.” NYC User Experience Professionals Association (NYC UXPA). New York, NY. May 24, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “Usability Testing for Marketing Researchers: A Quick Start Guide.” Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA). San Francisco, CA. May 13, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Careers Handbook Launch Event: What you need to know about UX Careers” WeWork. San Francisco, CA. May 12, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “How to Recruit for and Fill UX Positions with Qualified Talent.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. San Francisco, CA. May 12, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “Understand the Framework of UX Careers.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. Washington, DC. March 29, 2016
- Lebson, Cory, Jennifer Romano Bergstrom, Amanda Stockwell, Kane Albarron and Tim Gilligan, Moderator. “UX Career Growth: Should I focus on technical expertise or management?” Panel organized by Aquent, Vitamin T and Fjord. New York, NY. March 9, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “Understand the Framework of UX Careers.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. Minneapolis, MN. February 8, 2016
- Lebson, Cory. “How to Recruit for and Fill UX Positions with Qualified Talent.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. San Francisco, CA. February 2, 2016
- 2015
- Lebson, Cory, Jennifer Romano Bergstrom, Amanda Stockwell, Amritha Prasad, Michael Jefferson and Clara Kuo (Moderator). “UX Careers 2015: Where is the field headed and how do you stay current?” Panel organized by Aquent, Vitamin T and Facebook. Menlo Park, CA. November 10, 2015
- Lebson, Cory. “Creating a Good User Experience: A Guide for Intranet Contributors.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. Washington, DC. October 1 and 29, 2015
- Lebson, Cory, Scott Gunter, Don Relyea and Soowan Scheuermann (Moderator). “UX/UI – What’s the Difference? Does it Matter?” Big Design 2015 Conference. Dallas, TX. September 18, 2015
- Lebson, Cory and Amanda Stockwell. “UX Career Bootcamp.” Big Design 2015 Conference. Dallas, TX. September 17, 2015
- Lebson, Cory and Amanda Stockwell. “UX Career Bootcamp: Optimize Yourself for UX Career Success” UXPA DC Workshop. Washington, DC. August 5, 2015
- Lebson, Cory, Jennifer Romano Bergstrom, Prarthana Johnson, Amanda Stockwell and Teaque Lenahan (Moderator). “UX Careers 2015: Where is the field headed and how do you stay current?” Panel organized by Aquent, Vitamin T and Facebook. Seattle, WA. July 16, 2015
- Lebson, Cory, Dana Douglas, Elle Waters and Dick Horst. “Promoting Accessibility on Projects With No Accessibility Aspirations.” UXPA 2015 Conference. San Diego, CA. June 24, 2015
- Bergstrom, Jennifer Romano and Cory Lebson. “Speed Networking at UXPA 2015!” UXPA 2015 Conference. San Diego, CA. June 23, 2015.
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Fundamentals.” UXPA DC Workshop. Washington, DC. May 1, 2015
- Lebson, Cory “Opening Keynote: Global UX Career Success: It is more than just your knowledge.” UX Istanbul. Istanbul, Turkey. April 28, 2015
- Lebson, Cory, Chelsey Glasson, Steve Portigal, Dave Snowball, Kevin Lee, Rob Huddleston and Amanda Stockwell (Moderator). “UX Careers 2015: Where is the field headed and how do you stay current?” Panel organized by Aquent, Vitamin T and Wix. San Francisco, CA. February 26, 2015.
- Lebson, Cory and Amanda Stockwell. “UX Strategy: Avoid user abandonment by giving them what they want.” Wix. San Francisco, CA. February 26, 2015
- Lebson, Cory. “Usability Testing for Marketing Researchers: A Quick Start Guide.“ The Quirks Event, Brooklyn, NY. February 23, 2015
- 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Creating a Good User Experience.“ Lebsontech Training Seminar. Jackson, MS. December 2, 2014
- Lebson, Cory (Moderator) for Q&A with Fahd Arshad, Chelsey Delaney, Elisabeth Hubert, Karen Pascoe and David Whittle. “World Usability Day 2014: Engagement.” NYC UXPA & IxDA NYC. New York, NY. November 13, 2014
- Lebson, Cory, Jennifer Bove, Chad Vavra, James Torio, Andrew Miller and Amanda Stockwell (Moderator). “UX Careers 2015: Where is the field headed and how do you stay current?” Panel organized by Aquent, Vitamin T and Wix. New York, NY. November 4, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Introduction to Information Architecture.” General Assembly (Guest Lecturer, User Experience Design Course). Washington, DC. October 6, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Promoting Positive UX: Lessons for Stakeholders.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. Washington, DC. October 2, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Creating a Good User Experience: A Guide for Content Contributors.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. Washington, DC. September 30, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Skills Only Get You So Far: Get Out There to Advance Your Career!” + UX Speed Networking Event Triangle UXPA Workshop. Raleigh, NC. September 16, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Usability in a Day.” Big Design Conference. Addison, TX. September 4, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “User Experience Evaluation: Web Analytics, Survey Research and Qualitative Methods.” Texas Instruments / Aquent. Addison, TX. September 3, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Be a UX Advocate: Institutionalize UX in Your Organization.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. Chantilly, VA. August 28, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Translations and Internationalization of Web and Mobile Resources.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. Chantilly, VA. August 28, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Skills Only Get You So Far: Get Out There to Advance Your Career!” + UX Speed Networking Event UXPA Chicago. Chicago, IL. August 12, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Want an Accessible Website? Create Knowledgeable Content Contributors.” Capital Camps/Gov Days Conference. Bethesda, MD. August 1, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Usability Testing: What You Need to Know.” Capital Camps/Gov Days Conference. Bethesda, MD. July 30, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “The Ethics of UX White Labeling.” as part of Rauch, Thyra, Richard Bellaver, Cory Lebson, Donna Tedesco, Bill Albert, Kara DeFrias, Elisa Delgado. “Ethnical Issues in UX.” UXPA 2014 Conference. London. England. July 21, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Why You Should Conduct User Research.” Association of International Product Marketing and Management (AIPMM). Webinar. July 11, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “These Are My People: Find value in UXPA International and share your vision for the future.” UXPA Boston Annual Conference. Boston, MA. May 15, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Deciding Whether You Want to Be an Independent UX Consultant and Succeeding If You Do!” YouInUX Global UX Career Summit. Webinar. May 9, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Creating Usable Web Content.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. Springfield, VA. May 6, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Accessibility Workshop: WCAG 2.0 & Section 508.” University of Baltimore. Baltimore, MD. February 25, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Mobile Accessibility.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. McLean, VA. February 25, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Workshop to Produce Usable Web Content.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. Washington, DC. February 20, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Usable design: Learn about your users and create what they need.” The Intelligence Community Interactive Alliance Conference. Chantilly, VA. February 7, 2014
- Lebson, Cory and Jennifer Romano Bergstrom. “The 2014 User Experience Intensive: A one-day workshop.” Connecticut UXPA. Hartford, CT. January 30, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Skills Only Get You So Far: Get Out There to Advance Your Career!” + UX Speed Networking Event IxDA NYC and NYC UXPA Event. New York, NY. January 28, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Raising Awareness of User Research Throughout your Agency.” DigitalGov User Experience Community Summit. Washington, DC. January 28, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “Assess your web content with qualitative research.” Society for Technical Communication (STC) Webinar. January 17, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “How to Include UX Research and Evaluation in Proposals.” Lebsontech Training Seminar. Springfield, VA. January 15, 2014
- Lebson, Cory. “UX Skills Only Get You So Far: Get Out There to Advance Your Career!” South Florida User Experience Meetup. Fort Lauderdale, FL. January 9, 2014
Let’s Talk
New projects
I’m always happy to talk about new UX research, evaluation, and strategy projects as well as speaking engagements and opportunities for training, mentoring and hiring support!
You can email cory@lebsontech.com or call 301-593-0506.
Short paid consult sessions
Short paid consult sessions are typically one- or two-hour engagements (as a single meeting or multiple meetings over time) where we discuss anything you’d like – from research methods to UX careers, to limited design critiques, to UX advice for employers – anything really!
Our discussion could include:
- Research methods – Discussion of your UX research goals and plans, screeners and scripts
- UX careers – General UX career advice, resumes and portfolios, getting into UX research, starting out as a freelancer, building your UX business
- Limited design critiques – Collaborative reviews assessing how to make things as easy to use as possible for intended audience groups
- UX advice for employers – Recruiting and hiring strategies, job descriptions, reviews of potential applicants; needs of existing staff
- Anything that you want to talk through or learn about!
Costs are $380 for a 2 hour session; $200 for a one hour session and $100 for a thirty minute session. Once scheduled, you will receive a link to make a payment (which is refundable up until 24 hours before the meeting).