2-day virtual workshop
March 17 & 19, 2025, 1-5:00pm PT
Most UX researchers work hard to understand user needs and pain points, actively listening to their highlights, frustrations, and suffering. They also prioritize participants’ well-being, doing their best to provide an empathic research experience. But far too often, researchers forget to care for themselves and their teams.
Secondary trauma isn’t just something therapists or doctors experience—it’s also a silent harm some tech professionals endure. For many UXers, secondary trauma is a real and present danger. This is especially true for researchers, designers, content moderators, customer support workers, and others directly interacting with users and their experiences.
But what is harmful about secondary trauma, why is it relevant for UXers, and how can it be prevented?
In this workshop, you’ll learn about secondary trauma and how you can protect yourself and your team. To prevent secondary trauma, you must first understand trauma-informed work, so we’ll explore trauma theory, impacts, types, and evolution. Leveraging this knowledge, we’ll detail trauma-informed care practices based on the most up-to-date information, including self-awareness and harm mitigation strategies. Together, we’ll explore practical tips, discuss ways to continue your journey toward becoming trauma-informed, and help you thrive in a long career that is mutually supportive, equitable, and healing for all.
Audience
- UX professionals who conduct research with and to be used by humans and want to care for themselves and their team during their research activities.
- UX professionals who engage in trauma-informed work but want to grow their practice and knowledge.
- Students, including those who do not yet conduct research but are interested in understanding the importance of being trauma-informed and how they can prepare themselves to thrive in a long research/design career.
- Anyone interested in learning more about these topics – trauma, secondary trauma, self-care, trauma-informed research – and finding community and support.
Prerequisites
- A willingness to learn, grow, and share.
- A willingness to care for yourself and others.
Take-aways
Attendees will be able to…
- Take steps toward trauma literacy, including having a working knowledge of trauma language, its prevalence, and its impact.
- Distinguish between types of trauma, their pervasiveness, and their manifestation.
- Learn how to avoid harm to yourself (and your team) before, during, and after the research and design process.
- Evaluate a research situation for potential harm to yourself and/or your team.
- Design a self-care plan to avoid secondary trauma.
- Have a framework to use when designing research.
- Walk away with a practical model for trauma-informed research.
