How are senior leaders perceived at UserTesting?

High flexibility Good autonomy at the time Growth mindset

New leadership isn't as invested in culture or diversity More AI focused Not enough people for the amount of work

- benefits are good - remote work

- it’s chaotic and you’ll be overworked - you’ll be expected to do double but when you ask for career progression it’s non existent so good luck getting promoted - the culture is dead, I used to love working at UT before the new CEO and friends took over - constant layoffs

Some great people and the product is best in class

SaaS sales roles are often high pressured but UT is next level in terms of pressures and deluded expectations. The attitude is very one sided in that it’s all ask and very little give to help achieve. The new CEO and exec team put in last summer know nothing about the product or market and look as if they are just boiling it down to its most basic parts to prepare for sale. The business seems to operate in a parallel reality of what leadership say is happening and image they want to project and the reality on the ground. There is a constant hope amongst colleagues that it will get better after.. (e.g. the next big round of layoffs etc) - but it actually just gets perpetually worse. There have been at least 8 large rounds of redundancies in 2 years and the remaining team are burnt out, bewilder and looking for a way out. Leadership is relying on the scarcity of other roles at the moment to use that position of power to squeeze the life and soul out of the what’s left of the culture and the individuals in the team.

- No pressure to RTO, and when in the office the environment is positive, welcoming, and honestly quite fun, especially when there are teams coming together for on-sites, cultural events or trainings. - The people who work here are enthusiastic, competent, and welcoming. All kinds of work preferences are respected be you in the mood to collaborate, or need to work headphones on to limit distractions. - There is a general sense of camaraderie and being "in it together" , through the good and the bad, people tend to rely on each other and continue to move forward towards a common goal. - The company has been welcoming to and supportive of diverse candidates, and has internal groups dedicated to representing various minority voices throughout the company such as LGBTQIA+ , Women, API, Black, AccessAbled and more. - Internal promotion and growth of talent is prioritised, funded, and supported for those who have the drive to move their career forward at UT

- There has been significant changes and disruption in leadership, ways of working and product direction over the last 12-18 months. This has impacted general morale. While these changes are for the better in the long run, it remains to be seen if trust in leadership can be established and maintained. - There is concern that the loss of prominent sponsors and advocates for certain aspects of the companies culture may lead to a shift in wrong direction in future.

New CEO has assembled an exceptional leadership team that is making really positive changes. Long-time employees are saying they appreciate the honesty and transparency and the clarity around strategy and goals. I keep hearing people say that they are excited about the direction of the company, especially the focus on customer experience.

The team has been through a difficult merger and multiple RIFs. There are some employees who are exhausted and demoralized by all the changes and do not yet fully trust the new leadership. So there’s work to do.

I’ve been with UserTesting for over six years, and one of the most rewarding parts of my journey has been the strong relationships I’ve built across teams. The company has gone through a number of changes during my time here—reorgs, new processes, leadership shifts—but I’ve always believed that change brings opportunity, and in our case, it’s been largely for the better. The new leadership team brings fresh energy and perspective, and I’m genuinely excited for what’s ahead in this next chapter.

With change comes some uncertainty and adjustment periods, and that can be challenging for some.

I’ve been with UserTesting for over six years, and one of the most rewarding parts of my journey has been the strong relationships I’ve built across teams. The company has gone through a number of changes during my time here—reorgs, new processes, leadership shifts—but I’ve always believed that change brings opportunity, and in our case, it’s been largely for the better. The new leadership team brings fresh energy and perspective, and I’m genuinely excited for what’s ahead in this next chapter.

With change comes some uncertainty and adjustment periods, and that can be challenging for some.

Some of the work is interesting.

UserTesting private equity owners have created a terrible company in UserTesting. The first CEO was more or less a nice guy but had pretty bad ideas and didn't seem to know much about research, which is important to have if you're a company that sells research, and software to do research. The company is now in a position where it has not made money in over a year and the people who paid billions of dollars for it are worried. Their current strategy is to remove pretty much everyone who works there (starting with the almost entirely terrible c-suite, to their credit) and working their way down until they've removed anyone who knows anything about how to make the company run. Eventually it will be completely filled with robotic business people who can sell themselves to other robotic business people to get hired but don't know anything about research and will continue to be confused as to why they can't sell good deals that last. None of the sales leadership seem to have any idea what it is that is being sold, they can't seem to see examples of what works and what doesn't work and learn, and the turnover in sales leadership has been insane in the last year and a half. Because the sales leadership don't know anything about what they're selling, the people they hire also don't know anything about what they're selling. The sales team just goes after what will get them a commission in the short term without any worry about whether or not it's actually any good for the customers they sell to, i.e., whether what they sell will be renewed, which again, is kind of the whole purpose of an enterprise software company. UserTesting ran with the most insanely bloated yet also absolutely useless marketing team for the better part of a year. When you asked marketing to do something like, say, build some customer facing materials for help with selling some product (like, a one pager), the standard answer you got was that it would take about a month. The CMO was a downright awful person who vocally called to cut different departments, depending on the day. She also did not know anything about research, somehow. Somehow this was an entire department where none of them seemingly did anything, and yet because they are a marketing team they made it seem like they were doing a lot. The culture at UserTesting reflects this. Some people there were good, smart, passionate people, but the majority were absolutely not. The majority of people were there to get a paycheck and rather than try to make that last as long as possible by doing things that would be good for the long term outcomes of the company, they instead brushed problems under the rug and hoped they wouldn't resurface. The common line from UserTesting leadership is that bad reviews of UT are from a minority of disgruntled employees. I am not disgruntled, This is an opinion developed from years of interaction with UT before and after the merger last year and I said these things privately before my end at UT came about. I would not work here, I would not recommend anyone who wants to actually do something important for their paycheck work here.

A strong sense of camaraderie and supportive teamwork is a major highlight. Many long-tenured employees express that the team environment is a key reason for their longevity at the company. The paid time off policy is generous, and management is generally supportive of employees who need to take time for personal or medical emergencies. The management team often serves as a buffer between staff and senior leadership, which is a testament to their dedication to their direct reports. There are opportunities for professional growth and learning within the organization.

Senior leadership has a tendency to prioritize immediate results, which has led to frequent organizational changes, including team re-alignments, changes to sales territories, and staff reductions. There is a lack of consistency in company-wide policies and strategic direction. The company's structure has changed several times in recent history. Compensation, particularly within the sales department, is not competitive with current market rates. Leadership diversity appears to be an area for improvement. While there are procedures for reporting unprofessional conduct, the follow-through and resolution from human resources seem to be inconsistent.

Benefits are great. Sadly, much of the “good” at UserTesting is gone. I loved working with the people, a lot of truly kind people who valued you and your work. There is a lot of resiliency in this workforce, if you can stick around.

There is no trust among leaders and employees. The new executive team keeps trying to make themselves approachable while talking about their multiple houses. Leadership used to care about empathy and diversity, but you can see that most of the new hires are referrals coming from companies the new execs were previously at. It’s becoming more US-centric, less diverse, and less empathetic every day. Over half of the HR team just left by choice. The new strategy feels like everything is being repackaged as something new and shiny, without any substance. The new values are meaningless and were only adopted because the CEO says they are what he personally lives by. There’s a lack of understanding of our product and many leaders are allowed to slide by with poor behavior, even when it’s reported. This used to be a good place for growth, but now if you don’t say yes to everything, you won’t get ahead.