PRODUCTHEAD: Celebrating Tomer Sharon’s legacy

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Posted on Monday, 23 June 2025

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tl;dr

Tomer Sharon will be remembered for pioneering UX research techniques such as Experience Sampling and Google’s HEART framework

hello

Distinguished author and UX researcher Tomer Sharon passed away earlier this year in March. Although I never had the opportunity to attend one of his talks in person, I have benefited greatly over the years from his experience and wisdom in user research, particularly as it intersected with product management.

One of his techniques that I first encountered was from his 2014 talk at Google I/O, ‘Don’t Listen to Users, Sample Their Experience’. In that talk he described a technique he developed to get around the problem that what people say they do (attitude), and what they actually do (behaviour) can differ wildly. He calls it Experience Sampling. The technique is relatively simple, almost a micro-survey.

“Experience sampling is a research technique where you interrupt people’s daily lives and ask them to note it, note their experience about something. In our [Google’s] case, this was, what did you want to know recently?”

Tomer Sharon speaking at Google I/O 2014, ‘Don’t Listen to Users, Sample Their Experience’

The questions took no more than a minute to answer, which was important as the person would be prompted several times a day, usually by direct message on their phone.

Around that time, my mind was being expanded by so many new ideas around user research, design and product management. Gathering this kind of feedback so simply, quickly and at scale was a radical departure from my more traditional notions of research at the time. Tomer became one of many formative influences on me, and certainly one of the most memorable.

This week I would like you to direct your attention to Tomer Sharon’s work and lasting legacy. I have chosen a selection for you in the links below.

Speak to you soon,

Jock

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what to think about this week

Don’t Listen to Users, Sample Their Experience!

Uncovering user needs is one of the most challenging aspects of product development. Oh-so-many organizations develop beautiful products and services nobody needs. The Experience Sampling Method is a simple research technique for uncovering user needs.

[VIDEO] Noting user experience in real time

[Tomer Sharon / Google I/O]

[embed]

Measuring user happiness

This is part 1 in a series of articles about measuring Key Experience Indicators (KEIs). In this series I go deeper into the Google HEART framework for large-scale data analysis. The framework was put in place to help choose and define appropriate metrics that reflect both the quality of user experience and the goals of your product.

Also a mixed format ebook on Gumroad: *Measuring User Happiness*

Happiness, Engagement, Adoption, Retention, and Task success

[Tomer Sharon / Medium]

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Key Experience Indicators for Product Managers

In this ProductTank New York talk, Tomer Sharon, Managing Director, Head of User Research & Metrics at Goldman Sachs, introduces us to Key Experience Indicators (KEIs).

The key points of his talk include:

Framing Principles The Google HEART framework Actions to take

[VIDEO] Be specific and remember context

[Tomer Sharon / Mind The Product]

Remembering Tomer Sharon

Steve Portigal prefaces his interview with Tomer from 2019 with his personal recollections of his friend and colleague. Tomer talks about leading research, of course, but he also shares some of his own background working at Google, WeWork and Goldman Sachs.

[PODCAST] How a paragliding accident led to a career in UX research

[Steve Portigal & Tomer Sharon / Dollars to Donuts]

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