Jemma Ahmed
Advancing Research Curator
Jem has been working for two decades in the space where consumer, design, product, marketing and cultural insight meet. A mixed methods insight practitioner, her work focuses on how technology can empower minority Global communities. With expertise in data science, market research and user research, she has delivered projects at scale which have had significant business and societal impact. From rebrands, defining creative, advertising and design direction, redirecting product and design roadmaps, through to shaping government and economic policy- Jem does research which creates change. As a leader, she has created, grown and transformed sizeable insight teams at companies such as the BBC, Etsy and Bumble- ensuring the voice of the customer becomes company vernacular.
She also works as a curator at Rosenfeld Media, helping to bring together community and education to help other researchers advance their own practices.
Jem holds a Masters in Law from Cambridge, and is working towards qualifications in somatic psychology and a PHD in adult online harms.
A poet, painter and queer, working class, British Pakistani, Jem blends academic rigour with creativity and an intersectional perspective.
Rosenverse talks by Jemma:
" We need to stop centering ourselves in research and start fighting to pay participants, ensure representation, and use real data. "
Redefining the research toolkit: Expanding methodologies for a changing world
March 12, 2025
" Skin folk aren’t necessarily kinfolk — diversity doesn’t magically prevent inequitable research. "
Theme Panel
March 11, 2025
" Where quite long your life? Bit glossy and a bit punchy. Kiss, kiss. "
Research at an inflection point: Adapting to a new era of collaboration, equity, and innovation
March 11, 2025
" Collaboration is much more than creating a meeting or structure; if there’s no trust and respect, people won’t show up. "
Collaboration: learning from other fields beyond our own [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
August 7, 2024
" People often think qualitative research is easier, but it’s hard and easy in different ways depending on who you are. "
Democratization: Working with it, not against it [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
July 24, 2024
" Starting small with local meetups or internal talks helps you test and improve your material before bigger stages. "
Coffee with Lou #3: What Makes for a Successful UX Conference Presentation?
May 2, 2024
" Difficult people change things by looking at the world not as it is, but as they hope it could and should be. "
Theme 2 Intro
March 26, 2024
" Vasilio Sampalis’s program at LEGO is so interesting and successful that it has attracted the attention of Gartner. "
Theme 2 Intro
January 8, 2024
" Secondary research should be given significantly stronger consideration in our practice. "
Theme Three Intro
March 29, 2023
" Instead of facing 2020 with exhaustion, folks were looking at it with renewed commitment and bravery. "
Theme 2 Intro
March 10, 2022
" The success in insights is when you become viral — when the C-suite claims the insight as their own. "
Bridge Building across Research Disciplines
August 26, 2021
" Assuming business language is the ultimate goal can preclude other valuable perspectives in research impact. "
What's Next for Research?
June 17, 2021
" We used behavioral science techniques like laddering and therapeutic research to vividly recreate users' memories. "
Convergent Research Techniques in Customer Journey Mapping
March 31, 2020
" User research is answering bigger questions now — not just if it works, but what we should build and who we should target. "
Bringing together market and user research
October 17, 2019
