Rosenverse

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Panel: Excellence in Communicating Insights
Gold
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Share the love for this talk
Panel: Excellence in Communicating Insights
Speakers: Robin Beers , Nalini Kotamraju and Andy Warr
Link:

Summary

Insights wither and die when they gather dust on the shelf. Excellence in research is only excellence when data is turned to insight, those insights made actionable and are told in stories which engage, inspire and provoke. Our esteemed panel of research leaders will be sharing their best practices for ensuring that insights are heard, acted upon and given the power to become received wisdom which drive business’ forward.

Key Insights

  • Being known by leadership and consistently adding value is key to earning a legitimate seat at the decision-making table, as Andy experienced at Instagram.

  • Sitting at the table does not always mean speaking immediately; understanding why you are there and the power dynamics involved, as noted by Nini, is crucial.

  • Communication with executives extends beyond meetings via follow-ups and digital channels, leveraging multimodal opportunities to maintain influence.

  • Persistent repetition and 'beating the drum' helps reinforce important insights over time, especially when facing organizational resistance.

  • Tailoring communication to the specific audience’s needs and avoiding oversharing is a critical skill for researchers to remain effective.

  • A well-structured research artifact includes a clear insight (what), rationale (so what), and action plan (now what), holding individuals accountable.

  • Creating memorable frameworks or models can help research insights become part of organizational vernacular and influence culture.

  • Creative dissemination approaches, like Andy’s fortune cookie insights at Uber, can dramatically increase engagement with research findings.

  • Organizational readiness and timing heavily influence when research gains traction; good work may lie dormant until the market or internal priorities align.

  • Working simultaneously across short, medium, and long-term horizons ensures ongoing impact and prepares researchers for fluctuating organizational appetites.

Notable Quotes

"When the world is silent, even one voice makes a difference."

"Make sure your leadership team knows your name."

"If I go to a meeting and have nothing to say for the third time, I won’t go again; I’ll give up my seat for someone who can add value."

"You have to understand the power dynamics around the table—seniority, function, gender, skin color, religion—they all matter."

"The table’s not a one-time performance; it’s multimodal with before and after moments you can use."

"Take control when you notice resistance or chatter; acknowledge it and turn it into a constructive conversation."

"A research report is essentially the coffin where insights go to die."

"Synthesis is a researcher’s superpower, not just analysis or breaking things down."

"Persistence is about beating the drum over and over, even if it feels annoying."

"You can do everything right, but timing and organizational readiness are beyond your control."

Ask the Rosenbot
Mac Smith
Measuring Up: Using Product Research for Organizational Impact
2021 • Advancing Research 2021
Gold
Amy Paris
Delivering Equity: Government Services for All Ages, Languages, Sexual Orientations, and Gender Identities
2021 • Civic Design 2021
Gold
Emilia Åström
Unlock Your Team’s Intelligence with Collaboration Design
2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Gold
Kate Towsey
Participant Recruitment and Management Tools
2026 • Advancing Research 2026
Conference
Cornelius Rachieru
Handling Complexity: Framing a Scale of Design
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Michelle Morrison
Culture Design
2020 • DesignOps Community
Peter Van Dijck
Hands on AI #3: Claude Code for UX people
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Dan Ward
Failure Friday #1 with Dan Ward
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Carl Turner
You Can Do This: Understand and Solve Organizational Problems to Jumpstart a Dead Project
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Peter Merholz
Customer-Centered Design Organizations
2017 • Enterprise Experience 2017
Gold
Peter Morville
The Architecture of Understanding
2015 • Enterprise UX 2015
Gold
Billy Carlson
Pro-level UI Tips for Beginners
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Sarah Barrett
AI in Real Life: Using LLMs to Turbocharge Microsoft Learn
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Iulia Cornigeanu
QuantQual Book Club: Small Data
2024 • QuantQual Interest Group
Dantley Davis
Leadership & Diversity—A Fireside Chat with Dantley Davis
2020 • Enterprise Community
Erin Malone
Understanding the past to prepare for the future
2024 • Rosenfeld Community

More Videos

Jess Greco

"Vibe coding, the blurring of roles, creates a competitive advantage because there is less complex communication."

Jess Greco

Claiming your power: Practical tools for amplifying your unique voice

March 13, 2025

Mariesa Lenz

"Every bee understands the same purpose — the survival of the hive for winter."

Mariesa Lenz

What Beekeeping Taught me about Product Teams

October 29, 2025

Samuel Proulx

"Participants who do this kind of research are happy to answer questions about how they use assistive technology."

Samuel Proulx Laur Baek

Inclusive Research: Debunking Myths and Getting Started

March 12, 2025

Deanna Washington

"Courage and curiosity together help lead with kindness and make a real impact."

Deanna Washington Tim Allen Jeff Courcelle John Maeda Matt Raw Erica Tjader

Scaling Success: Paving the Path from DesignOps to VP

October 4, 2023

Anna Avrekh

"Democratizing research is about teaching people to fish, but research remains a specialized craft."

Anna Avrekh

User Research, Design, and Product - A Love Story

March 11, 2021

Dharani Perera

"Co-creation is where the meat of transformation happens; designers facilitate those who hold knowledge and make decisions."

Dharani Perera

The mandala of service design: unlocking alignment and action through service design

November 20, 2025

Joseph Meersman

"Critiques help teams stop being the lone ranger and instead iterate faster together with purpose and clarity."

Joseph Meersman

Sweating the Pixel: Scaling Quality through Critique

June 10, 2021

Bas Raijmakers, PhD (RCA)

"Autoethnography and video diaries enable participants to capture aspects of their lives that researchers might not see otherwise."

Bas Raijmakers, PhD (RCA) Charley Scull Prabhas Pokharel

What Design Research can Learn from Documentary Filmmaking

March 11, 2022

Laura Weiss

"You can’t eliminate judgment; it’s part of human biology, but you can be conscious about it."

Laura Weiss

There is No Playbook: Leader as Coach During Challenging Times

April 26, 2024