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:
" Video newsletters sharing real user stories create empathy and engagement far beyond numbers and reports. "
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
" 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
" 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
" Asking for help and humbling yourself is one of the most powerful ways to grow as a researcher. "
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
" The greatest impact is when people call me directly or give a brief to me directly; it's about relationships. "
Panel: Excellence in Impact
March 25, 2024
" It’s a moral obligation for organizations to engage with research and ethics; being mature is not optional anymore. "
What UX research maturity looks like and how we get there [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
November 9, 2023
" Research skill and talent can be present in many different kinds of people, you don’t have to have research in your title. "
A Selectively Scrappy Approach to ResearchOps
November 8, 2018
