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:
" Researchers must shift from gatekeepers of knowledge to coaches who help others understand what to trust. "
Positioning insight: Structuring teams, roles and careers for a changing research landscape
March 13, 2025
" 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
" Knowledge just isn’t created in isolation anymore. "
Theme 2 Intro
March 12, 2025
" Focus groups have been called a curse, but I'm giving them a second chance to see if there’s something positive there. "
Day 2 Theme Panel
March 12, 2025
" User interviews are an absolute mainstay of user research practices and likely will always be a core tool. "
Methodologies: Beyond the interview [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
September 4, 2024
" But what’s the so what? Get to the point and don’t make me wait. "
Getting to the “So What?”: How Management Consulting Practices Can Transform Your Approach to Research
March 26, 2024
" Sometimes it's just not even related to the research skills, sometimes relationships really matter. "
Panel: Excellence in Impact
March 25, 2024
" Having data to debate and measure research’s organizational impact is critical to escalating our influence. "
What UX research maturity looks like and how we get there [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
November 9, 2023
" Offers of championship from leaders, like 'What do you need from me?' are strong signs of buy-in. "
A Selectively Scrappy Approach to ResearchOps
November 8, 2018
