In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Stephanie and Molly talk with Amberly Miller, Director of UX Research at Prudential Financial, about the internal battles that shape whether research drives action or dies quietly in a repository. Amberly’s path from operations to UX research was built in environments where every decision carried real financial consequence. That pressure became the backbone of her philosophy, which is to “measure twice before you cut.” She explains how she dismantled a research culture built on bottlenecks and fear of doing it wrong, and replaced it with a democratized system that invites more voices in, supported with guardrails, automation, and education that maintain rigor. Amberly also speaks about when silence in the room signaled politics, risk, reputational fear, or the emotional cost of killing work someone has fought for. She discusses preparing for C-suite conversations by learning the business first, tailoring findings to real KPIs, and speaking with a level of clarity that demands attention. They also confront the limits of AI as a research partner and reinforce why human judgment, tribal knowledge, and empathy still carry the work across the finish line. For any researcher questioning their confidence, Amberly reframes the role entirely, that “you are not fighting for your own voice, you are fighting for the customer’s.”

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