Eric Morrison at Google: Turning Research Into Real-World Impact

In the contemporary tech landscape, the prevailing mantra is “move fast.” For Eric Morrison, a User Experience Research Lead at Google, that mantra is often misunderstood. Eric doesn’t believe speed is the enemy of quality; in fact, he argues that the most empathetic thing a researcher can do is move at the pace of the problem. But he also knows that high speed without a clear compass is just a fast way to get lost.

Eric has carved out a career by advocating for the “strategic calibration”—the moment where a team aligns its velocity with human reality. It isn’t about stopping the gears of innovation; it’s about ensuring those gears are actually catching on something real.

“There is a hidden cost to moving fast without direction,” Eric says. “But there is also a massive cost to moving too slowly. If you take six months to deliver an insight, the world has already moved on. My goal is to help teams move at a high velocity, but with the deliberate clarity that ensures they aren’t just shipping features—they’re solving problems.”

The Weight of Systems

Eric’s perspective on technology is rooted in a lifelong observation of how systems impact individuals. His childhood was backdropped by the work of his parents. His father, a physician, dealt with the life-altering complexities of the human body; his mother, an immigration paralegal, navigated the mazelike structures of the legal system. He observed how rules and systems could either empower people or limit them.

Patterns and Presence

Before entering tech, Eric developed his approach to problem solving at two of the world’s leading institutions. At Yale University, his Bachelors in History taught him to identify the patterns of behavior that persist across centuries. His dissertation was awarded the John Addison Porter Prize, signaling a rare ability to synthesize complex data into a compelling narrative for public interest.

He later transitioned this lens to the digital age at the University of Oxford, earning a Master of Science in the Social Science of the Internet. At the Oxford Internet Institute, he was awarded the OII Thesis Prize while decoding “team science”—specifically, the patterns by which teams achieve technical and commercial breakthroughs.

“History taught me how to ask the right questions,” Eric says. “Oxford taught me how to find the answers in the data. Together, they formed a belief that technology should serve the social structure, and to do that, research must be as agile as the engineering it supports.”

13 Years of Evidence-Based Decision Making: Over the last 13 years, Eric has transitioned into a strategic research lead at organizations like Disney and TikTok. He has become an advocate for what he calls “High-Velocity Empathy.”

While some see research as a “check-point” that slows things down, Eric sees it as a “co-pilot” that enables teams to move faster with more confidence. He is a staunch advocate for ethnography—observing people in their natural environments—to get to the truth quickly.

“If you can observe a user’s friction in real-time,” Eric explains, “you don’t need a three-month study to tell you what’s wrong. You can fix it today. That immediacy is the highest form of empathy.”

Current Work

Today, Eric leads research at Google, focusing on the integration of Artificial Intelligence into the knowledge workforce. In a space defined by weekly breakthroughs, his philosophy of “deliberate speed” is vital.

He works at the intersection of product teams and executive leadership, helping to integrate research into the very fabric of development. In AI, the temptation is to build everything because the technology allows for it. Eric’s job is to provide the “productive pause” that asks if we should build it, ensuring the team’s energy is spent on high-impact utility rather than novelty.

“In AI, speed is a given,” he notes. “But clarity is a choice. Sometimes, the most ‘high-velocity’ thing you can do is take a day to ensure you’re building the right version of a tool, so you don’t spend a year fixing the wrong one.”

The Human Element 

Despite his immersion in high-tech strategy, Eric maintains a deliberate balance. Now living in New York City, he finds his “reset” through fitness and walks along the Hudson. He is also an avid reader of current literature.

“In NYC, you are constantly observing how a million different people move through the world,” he says. “It’s the best laboratory for a researcher.” For Eric Morrison, the goal remains consistent: to ensure that as tools become more powerful, they never lose sight of the human reality. Curiosity and empathy, in Eric’s view, aren’t just soft skills—they are the most practical tools for building a future that works for everyone, as fast as possible.