Megan Blocker
Director of User Research, DigitalOcean
Megan founded McKinsey’s design research & insights practice, establishing and growing a team of one to more than 50 researchers, data analysts, and data scientists globally. As part of that transformation, she built the design research talent architecture and established McKinsey’s design research philosophy, operations, and tooling. In addition, Megan is deeply passionate about equity and inclusion. She co-founded McKinsey’s Women in Tech initiative and was a member of the DE&I global leadership team.
In her work as a researcher, Megan combines empathy with data to achieve deep understanding, craft inspirational vision, and deliver actionable insight. As a leader, she makes sense of ambiguity and thrives when building and leading teams where trust, transparency, and clarity of vision encourage risk-taking, innovation, and creativity. Most of all, she loves building something new and scrappy, then strategically operationalizing it for scale. She invests in people, Post-Its, insights, and LEGOs.
Rosenverse talks by Megan:
" Insight is that aha moment, a new understanding that helps us make decisions that move us forward. "
Positioning insight: Structuring teams, roles and careers for a changing research landscape
March 13, 2025
" Duplicative research will become less acceptable; researchers must act as natural connectors to reduce it and enhance organizational knowledge sharing. "
Redefining the research toolkit: Expanding methodologies for a changing world
March 12, 2025
" I want you to push yourselves to try one new approach, to challenge one of your assumptions, and to walk away ready to take an action. "
Theme 2 Intro
March 12, 2025
" Combining numbers with rich participant videos and quotes really brings the user to life for stakeholders. "
Day 2 Theme Panel
March 12, 2025
" Interviews can be a crutch that keeps us from using better ways to answer our questions. "
Methodologies: Beyond the interview [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
September 4, 2024
" Without adoption, value is zero. "
Getting to the “So What?”: How Management Consulting Practices Can Transform Your Approach to Research
March 26, 2024
" It's not a match-winning pass if no one catches it. "
Panel: Excellence in Impact
March 25, 2024
" We have to step outside research and understand AI, technology, and product processes to put ourselves in the right space. "
What UX research maturity looks like and how we get there [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
November 9, 2023
" I realized that dedicating my time and energy into something that wasn’t going to be used was not a good use of my time. "
A Selectively Scrappy Approach to ResearchOps
November 8, 2018
