So… what happens when recruiting real humans for UX research becomes harder than finding parking at a design conference? You build your own users. Literally.

In this episode, Ephie Risho and Jason Moore talk with technologist and UX researcher Christina Medeiros, who’s doing something that sounds a little sci-fi: using synthetic users—AI-powered personas that test your designs before you even call in a participant.

Christina breaks down how she trained digital personas like “Bailey Blake,” fed them prototypes, and let them loose on early design concepts; catching blind spots, flagging confusing language, and sometimes sounding way too human for comfort.

We dig into when “fake” users can actually improve real research, why human behavior is still gloriously unpredictable (and why that matters), and Christina’s dream of running a dog rescue farm (because UX people have range).

It’s part research, part experiment, part existential therapy session with your favorite UX nerds. 

Quote of the episode: “Compliment, don’t replace research.”

So grab your French press, pet your dog, and join us for a conversation about the real future of user research—where some of your users might not technically exist, but their insights sure do.

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