Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
Summary
Rather than spend all our time validating product decisions late in the development lifecycle, researchers can (and should!) drive innovation. This interactive discussion will set researchers up with tools and product knowledge to impact change in roadmaps. Participants will hear real-world examples and learn how to drive a research roadmap against business strategy goals and KPIs and create stronger partnerships with Product.
Key Insights
-
•
Current market turmoil and AI emergence make demonstrating research impact crucial for job security.
-
•
Lack of visibility and CEO buy-in heavily limits research influence in product organizations.
-
•
"Agile fall" describes organizations that follow agile ceremonies superficially but skip true test-and-learn practices.
-
•
Product managers and requirements engineers often conduct research inadequately, introducing bias and devaluing insights.
-
•
Embedding researchers within product teams builds trust and domain expertise but is vulnerable to shifting priorities and leadership noise.
-
•
Strong collaboration with product owners is essential for research to influence prioritization and roadmaps effectively.
-
•
Aligning research activities explicitly with business KPIs and outcomes increases organizational impact.
-
•
Using diverse research methods—not just usability testing—tailored to the right stage improves insight quality and timing.
-
•
Maintaining accessible, updated research repositories tied to KPIs helps increase team and organizational awareness of research value.
-
•
Researchers must be nimble, scrappy, and proactive advocates to position themselves strategically in complex organizations.
Notable Quotes
"The sum is greater than the parts—how qualitative and quantitative research play together."
"I think the world we’re in is definitely not antagonistic to research, there’s a huge opportunity right now."
"We’re capturing requirements usually without research, design has to be 100% baked before development starts."
"It’s either too late in the product cycle and we’re wasting money because we find usability issues after development."
"Product managers are often prioritization focused, so they can bias themselves in research decisions."
"At Meta, one product partner said quality doesn’t matter because we’re bringing in $90 billion a year."
"Research is seen as an adjunct to design, often missed in road mapping and strategic planning."
"Every report should say this research is tied to this KPI, here’s the outcome we want to address."
"Analytics and research should work closely to explain what is happening and why it is."
"Being nimble means sometimes you have to throw out academic rigor and just do what’s practical at the moment."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"A common toxic behavior is glory seeking, like presenting work as your own when it was a team effort."
Darian DavisLessons from a Toxic Work Relationship
January 8, 2024
"We built an equity learning community with 25 virtual sessions, 4 interagency roundtables, and one-on-one consultations with 37 agencies."
Aaron Stienstra Lashanda HodgeLeveraging Civic Design to Advance Equity and Rebuild Trust in the US Federal Government
December 8, 2021
"Trying something new can feel very daunting, especially if you rarely interact with people who use assistive technology."
Kavana RameshMeaningful inclusion: Practicing accessibility research with confidence
September 24, 2024
"The relationship between designers and data scientists can actually be pretty magical."
Helen ArmstrongAugment the Human. Interrogate the System.
June 7, 2023
"Math by itself can be misleading and full of biases, but combined with humanities research, it can be very powerful."
Scott PlewesWhy Isn't Your UX Approach Going Viral?: A Mathematical Model
March 28, 2023
"Designers can design both at nano levels and interplanetary scales like Mars architecture."
Christian BasonExpand—Rethinking Design for Public Challenges
September 14, 2022
"Think of the context window like an intern's briefing document: would the intern be able to answer the question with this information?"
Peter Van DijckBuilding impactful AI products for design and product leaders, Part 3: Understand AI architectures: RAG, Agents, Oh My!
July 30, 2025
"Different UX methodologies should coexist and collaborate like an ecology of practices rather than compete."
Soma Ghosh Savina Hawkins Dave Hoffer Rob Thomas Victor UdoewaWhat emerging methods are advancing UX research [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
September 28, 2023
"Reliance on foundational basics applies whether you’ve been a researcher for two months or twenty years."
Steve Portigal Susan Simon-Daniels Tamara Hale Randolph Duke IIWar Stories LIVE! Q&A-Discussion
March 30, 2020
