Latest / The Side Hustle Career Podcast with Fexingo: Second Income, Freelancing While Employed / How a Customer Support Rep Built a 6000 Monthly Side Hustle in UX Research
Transcript
- Lucas: Alright, Luna, today I want to talk about a side hustle that I think a lot of people in customer-facing roles are perfectly positioned for but never consider: UX research. Luna: That's interesting. Because when people think 'side hustle in tech,' they usually go straight to coding or design. So how does someone in customer support make that leap? Lucas: Right, exactly. So our case study today is a woman named Priya. She was a customer support rep at a mid-sized SaaS company, making about $45,000 a year. She started freelancing as a UX researcher on the side and within eight months she was pulling in six thousand dollars a month, consistently. Luna: Six thousand a month — that's more than her full-time salary. How did she get started? Did she have a background in research? Lucas: No, zero formal UX background. She had a degree in communications. But what she did have was two years of reading hundreds of customer tickets every week. She could tell you exactly where the product confused people, which features caused the most frustration, and what language users used to describe their problems. Luna: So she was basically doing informal user research already. She just didn't call it that. Lucas: Exactly. That's the core insight. Priya realized that the skill of identifying usability gaps and articulating user pain points is essentially what UX researchers get paid for. She just needed to formalize it and learn the tools. Luna: What tools did she pick up? Lucas: She started with two platforms: UserTesting and dscout. UserTesting lets you run unmoderated tests — you give a task, record the user's screen and voice, then analyze the session. dscout is more for diary studies and in-depth interviews. Both have marketplaces where researchers can find projects. Luna: So she didn't even need to find her own clients at first? She could just apply through those platforms? Lucas: Exactly. That's how she built her first few gigs. She earned about $500 in her first month doing small usability tests. Nothing fancy. But it gave her a portfolio and confidence. Luna: And then what? She started pitching directly? Lucas: Yes, but she had a clever strategy. Instead of cold emailing random startups, she looked at companies that had recently launched a new feature or updated their onboarding flow. She'd use the feature herself, identify three specific usability issues, and send a short, polite email to the product manager saying, 'Hey, I noticed X, Y, Z. I'm a UX researcher. Want to run a quick study?' Luna: That's smart — she's proving value before even being hired. Did that work? Lucas: It worked well. Her response rate was about 20 percent. And once she landed one client at a startup, referrals came in. Within six months, she had three recurring clients paying her between $2,000 and $3,000 per month for ongoing research. Luna: Let me pause there. She's still working her full-time support job? How does she manage the time? Lucas: She structured it like this: she blocks two hours every evening, 8 PM to 10 PM, and she dedicates Saturday mornings. The key was that most of her research was asynchronous — she'd set up the test, let participants record on their own time, and then she'd review the footage during her blocks. The live interviews she scheduled flexibly during her lunch breaks or early mornings. Luna: So the side hustle fits around her schedule, not the other way around. That's crucial for anyone with a full-time job. Lucas: Absolutely. And here's another thing — Priya's full-time job actually got easier. Because she was learning so much about user behavior, she started writing better support documentation and even flagged product issues to her team. Her manager noticed and she got a raise to $55,000 within a year. Luna: So the side hustle improved her day job performance. That's a virtuous cycle. Lucas: Exactly. And it's not just Priya. UX research as a freelance niche has been growing steadily, especially as we head into the second half of 2026. Companies are pulling back on big growth hires and focusing more on product refinement — making existing features stickier. That's exactly where UX research adds value. Luna: That makes a lot of sense. And for our listeners who might be in support, sales, or any role where they talk to customers — this feels very accessible. You don't need a degree, you just need to be curious and systematic. Lucas: Right. And the earning potential is real. Priya now charges $75 an hour for her services, which is actually on the lower end for experienced freelancers. Some UX researchers charge $150 to $200 an hour. Luna: If this episode has helped you see a new path or given you a concrete idea to explore, that's exactly why we do this show. And if you find value in what we put out each week, consider supporting us so we can keep it ad-free. You can do that at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small way to keep this conversation going. Lucas: Yeah, and we really appreciate that. Now, back to Priya — one thing she did that I think was smart was she built a simple portfolio website using Carrd. It had three case studies, each following the same format: the problem, the method, the findings, and the impact. That was enough to win clients. Luna: So she didn't need a fancy design portfolio. Just clear evidence of her work. Lucas: Exactly. And she even wrote a couple of short posts on LinkedIn about her journey — nothing salesy, just sharing insights. That brought in two inbound leads. One of them became her biggest client. Luna: I love that. So for someone listening who wants to replicate this, what's the first step you'd recommend? Lucas: First, start documenting. For one week, every time a customer describes a problem, write it down in a spreadsheet. Categorize it — is it a workflow issue? A terminology issue? A missing feature? After a week, you'll have a pattern. That pattern is your resume. Luna: Second step? Lucas: Second, sign up for UserTesting as a participant first. Do a few tests yourself to understand the format. Then apply to be a researcher on their platform. You won't get accepted immediately, but keep trying. In the meantime, offer to do a free usability test for a friend's startup or a local nonprofit. That gives you your first case study. Luna: And third? Lucas: Third, set a target. Aim for $1,000 in your first 90 days. That's manageable — just a few small projects. Once you hit that, you know the model works, and you can scale from there. Luna: That's a concrete plan. And it's a reminder that your current job might be giving you skills you don't even realize are marketable. Lucas: Yeah. Priya's story is a great example. She didn't switch careers — she just repackaged her experience. And now she's earning more on the side than most people make in their first full-time job. Luna: Alright, next episode we'll look at a different angle — maybe something in the trades or hands-on services. But for now, if you're in a customer-facing role, take a close look at what you're already learning every day. It might be worth more than you think. Lucas: Well said. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time.