Double Your Mileage: Use Your Research Strategically
Summary
Now that you’ve collected that great design research, integrated qualitative with quantitative, and put it to work into making products and services better, it’s time to get double the mileage (influence) from those same insights and use them toward corporate strategy. The missing element from the traditional business strategy process is the critical insights that come from (mainly, qualitative) user research. Our peers use qualitative market research that misidentifies business opportunities (and solutions) because they have an incomplete frame. With the right tools, processes, and framing, your research can influence decisions of WHAT products and services get green-lit.
Key Insights
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Design researchers often understand customers better than any other function but are rarely included in organizational strategy.
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Most organizational strategy is poorly done, relying on outdated, incomplete templates and lacking adequate research validation.
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Effective strategy should be continuous, circular, and evolve in real time rather than being a linear, one-off activity.
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Bridging qualitative and quantitative research is a key advantage design researchers have over traditional business strategists.
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Researchers must become fluent in business strategy vocabulary, tools, and processes to contribute effectively.
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Expanding internal networks and starting dialogues with mid-level strategists is often more effective than targeting senior leaders directly.
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Storytelling with tight, layered narratives that connect research insights to company mission and goals is critical for impact.
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Operationalizing research insights with business context and financial impact strengthens credibility and influence.
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New tools like living personas and stakeholder maps can help embed ongoing customer understanding within organizations.
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Business cultures are resistant to change, especially if findings challenge established quantitative metrics like net promoter scores.
Notable Quotes
"Design researchers, salespeople, and customer service agents have the best understanding of what customers need, but they are rarely invited into corporate strategy processes."
"Most strategy is done pretty poorly, it's misleading, sloppy, and often ignored after it’s produced."
"Better strategy is continuous, circular, and evolves in real time with every organizational action."
"Your research is not just useful for product development but as a validation mechanism and source of leadership insights."
"Don’t lead with your research process; lead with the insights because no one cares about the process until they want to challenge it."
"Living personas are online, constantly refreshed market segment profiles that everyone in an organization can consult."
"Use tools that present your work visually and professionally because grounded-looking research is taken more seriously."
"Connecting each budget request to your organization’s strategic goals signals seriousness and can raise important conversations."
"Successful companies are organized around what made them successful, and their past success is often their worst impediment to change. – John Pittman, Autodesk."
"The culture of business education has taught MBAs to be confident about many things that are simply not true."
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