How to Use Self-Directed Learning to Ensure Your Research Insights are Heard and Acted Upon
Summary
In our remote world, we as researchers need new ways to help our stakeholders cut through the noise to engage and digest our insights more meaningfully through thoughtful and intentional self-directed learning techniques. In this short session, we will discuss 4 key self-directed learning techniques to help you increase engagement around your insights during our debriefing sessions with your stakeholders.
Key Insights
-
•
Self-directed learning can empower stakeholders to engage with research insights on their own terms, increasing uptake and action.
-
•
Designing the context of insight sharing intentionally—considering group size, goals, and stakeholder needs—improves clarity and impact.
-
•
Emotional literacy, or checking in on participants’ feelings before sharing insights, helps prime stakeholders for better receptiveness.
-
•
Asynchronous collaboration within live sessions encourages quieter voices to be heard and builds rich discussions around insights.
-
•
Using digital tools that allow commenting directly on research reports democratizes feedback and documents conversations in real time.
-
•
Early engagement of stakeholders in framing research questions fosters buy-in and makes the research more relevant to their concerns.
-
•
Not everyone needs to read or engage with all research content; focusing on the most influential stakeholders optimizes effort and impact.
-
•
Combining synchronous and asynchronous modes in insight sharing sessions can manage Zoom fatigue and diversify participation.
-
•
Explicitly naming stakeholders' questions in research reports increases their sense of being seen and encourages participation.
-
•
Insight sharing should shift from just delivering information to designing a learning experience tailored to stakeholders’ strengths and interests.
Notable Quotes
"Change is the only constant, so designing insight sharing with self-directed learning is critical."
"Caring for people emotionally during insight sessions directly impacts their productivity and willingness to engage."
"Sometimes the loudest voices dominate, but asynchronous collaboration helps give quieter voices a chance to speak."
"I literally ask, how are you feeling right now? It’s about connecting on a human level before diving into data."
"Before sharing insights, I try to prime the room by acknowledging feelings and starting fresh."
"Sharing insights is like creating a learning space where stakeholders can use the information in their own way."
"Sending reports early and inviting comments turns the insight session into more of a discussion than a presentation."
"Everyone wants to see themselves reflected in the research questions and findings."
"Focus your research report on the three most influential stakeholders, not everyone."
"Combining synchronous and asynchronous communication within one session gets us from awareness to action."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Partnership is everything; to operationalize respect, legal, privacy, procurement, and research must collaborate."
Theresa MarwahHow Atlassian is Operationalizing Respect in Research
February 27, 2020
"Most categories are fuzzy; there’s no clear boundary between what’s in or out."
Peter MorvilleThe Architecture of Understanding
May 13, 2015
"Politics, you gotta play politics. They’re a necessary evil to get things done."
Lori Muszynski Peter MerholzKeeping Design Weird
October 2, 2023
"I would in no way describe what we did as great UX, but constantly beating them over the head with UX solutions, they can’t unsee it."
Jacqui Frey Dan WillisPanel Discussion: Integrating DesignOps
November 7, 2018
"People not only need insights; they need confidence that they are making the right decisions with those insights."
Hana NagelTurning Research Ripples into Waves
November 8, 2018
"We’re entering an information era because information itself is infrastructure and has actual monetary value."
Bram WesselEnterprise Information Architecture
January 10, 2020
"Acquisition integration shouldn’t start with migration analysis but with engaging brand teams first."
Nathan CurtisDesign Systems for Us: How Many One-Source(s)-of-Truth Are Enough?
January 17, 2019
"There’s a new tech stack for software creation, all about cloud services and subscription-based business models."
Greg PetroffSoftware as Material—A Redux
June 6, 2023
"Order today is change, and the uncertainty that it brings rules us day and night."
Jon FukudaTheme One Intro
October 2, 2023