Building a Product Insights Team
Summary
Today data science, market research, and UX research are predominantly locked up in individual silos. This is a problem because companies are missing out on the full picture, research is repeated, and good insights are going to waste. In this session, Andrew shares how to build a product insights team that enables you to build bridges and tell more holistic narratives about your customers. The talk will cover how to set up the team, the different structures we see, and how you can get started today by getting the teams to work more efficiently together in the interim.
Key Insights
-
•
Combining qualitative user research with quantitative analytics provides deeper, actionable product insights than either method alone.
-
•
User behavior changes detected in data often lack explanatory context without qualitative research, as Andrew's Spotify example shows.
-
•
Data analytics and UX research teams frequently operate in silos, missing opportunities for collaboration despite shared goals.
-
•
A shared hypothesis, such as focusing on the ideal customer profile (ICP), can align cross-functional teams and reduce redundant research work.
-
•
Relying solely on data for customer profiles can reinforce existing product biases and miss broader market opportunities.
-
•
Starting a BI practice often means navigating shifts from qualitative to quantitative emphasis, then settling into a balanced hybrid that works for the organization.
-
•
Three main organizational models for insights teams are embedded squads, centralized centers of excellence, and hybrid approaches, each with their own trade-offs.
-
•
Owning the research backlog and aligning work to company OKRs enables the insights team to deliver maximum business impact and say no to less relevant requests.
-
•
Cross-pollination of analysis between researchers and analysts during data collection and interpretation enhances the quality and buy-in of insights.
-
•
Existing documentation tools like Confluence are insufficient for managing research knowledge, inspiring new solutions like Everywhere to prevent data silos.
Notable Quotes
"Without Jim, what we're going to see today would have been a lot worse."
"My playlist changed drastically when my son was born, but data alone wouldn’t explain why."
"Combining the what we see in data with the why we get from user research is where true insights live."
"Typically, data analytics teams are big and well-funded, while UX research teams are smaller and struggle for resources."
"Data analysts and user researchers rarely work together effectively, which is one of the biggest missed opportunities."
"At Hotcho, we started with a qualitative focus, swung too far into quantitative, and then found a balanced middle ground."
"You’ve got to take control of the backlog and position your team as value-driven, not just servicing individual teams."
"Embedded squads build domain expertise but risk losing knowledge if someone leaves, while centralized teams help reduce duplicated effort."
"Marketing is an essential collaborator because they help package and communicate insights organization-wide."
"Existing research repositories die at the bottom of slide decks; that’s why I started Everywhere to rethink how we manage insights."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"We have crypto nights like people pleasing, perfectionism, silos, and burnout—which we watch out for carefully."
Kate Koch Jean-Claire FitschenFlex Your Super Powers: When a Design Ops Team Scales to Power CX
September 29, 2021
"The vessel for expanded work is your body—your nervous system pays the cost of fractured attention and workload."
Angelos ArnisOur Fragmented Identity
June 12, 2026
"Thank you to all our sponsors; this entire conference would not be possible without you."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
September 29, 2021
"We made up the quality scorecard, translating fuzzier heuristics into a hard number for our data-driven company."
Panel Discussion: Communicating the Value of DesignOps
November 7, 2018
"I’m going to need to bring my A game."
Randolph Duke IIWar Stories LIVE! Randy Duke II
March 30, 2020
"We cannot give our best work if we’re not taking care of ourselves. Don’t let the fire that brought you here be the fire that burns you out."
Sha HwangThe Lost Year
June 11, 2021
"Curation is super important, but also super hard."
Matt DuignanAtomizing Research: Trend or Trap
March 30, 2020
"There are risks that sustainability tools become gatekeepers or quasi-standards themselves, which we must avoid."
Ned Gartside Mike Gifford Zoe Lopez-Latorre Tzviya SiegmanNavigating accessibility and climate
April 17, 2024
"Prototyping isn’t a second-class citizen, it should be a first-class citizen."
Bill ScottLean Engineering: Engineering for Learning and Experimentation in the Enterprise
May 14, 2015
