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 Impact
Gold
Monday, March 25, 2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Share the love for this talk
Panel: Excellence in Impact
Speakers: Megan Blocker , Mujtaba Hameed and Victor Udoewa
Link:

Summary

What is “impact” in the context of research? Should we strive for influencing product decisions or shifting organizational thinking? Is it measurable or qualitative? And what does it take to achieve it? Join our expert panel as they share their unique perspectives on defining and achieving research impact, offering illuminating examples from their own experiences. Don't miss this lively, thoughtful discussion that transcends traditional metrics and explores the profound ways in which research can make a lasting difference.

Key Insights

  • Building relationships and trust within the organization is as vital as executing good research to gain influence.

  • Research advocacy and storytelling are inseparable from the research process itself.

  • A skilled researcher can have zero impact, while less-skilled researchers might achieve great influence through networks and culture.

  • Early stakeholder engagement and co-creation improve buy-in and help research outputs be adopted.

  • Organizational learning and influence often happen gradually over years, not instantly.

  • Impact should be measured in changed perspectives and conversations, not just concrete product changes.

  • Soft skills like persuasion, visual storytelling, and coalition building are critical for researchers' influence.

  • In some sectors, especially public, aligning research with the social mission is necessary for true impact.

  • Researchers have unique opportunities to influence by helping organizations diagnose real problems deeply and clearly.

  • Trusted advisor relationships built on credibility, reliability, and intimacy empower lasting researcher impact.

Notable Quotes

"I think you can't be good at research unless you're also good at getting that research across."

"You can be an amazing researcher and have zero impact, or a bad researcher and have amazing impact."

"Building those relationships, building trust, it will always pay off."

"It's not a match-winning pass if no one catches it."

"Sometimes it's just not even related to the research skills, sometimes relationships really matter."

"We don’t just stop the research project when we collect data; analyzing, extracting insights, and shaping the narrative is part of it."

"Impact can be about changing the way people talk about the problem and see the customer."

"Fall in love with the problem, not the solution."

"Good research can be the best thing for the diagnosis of the problem in a strategy."

"The greatest impact is when people call me directly or give a brief to me directly; it's about relationships."

Ask the Rosenbot
Ross Smith
Breaking Barriers with Empathy
2017 • Enterprise Experience 2017
Gold
Corey Long
Hiring in DesignOps: A Critical Study on How to Hire and Get Hired
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2024
Gold
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Rachel Radway
The Many Paths Of Design Operations
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Paula Bach
Improving Legacy Software: How Much Better Does it Have to Be?
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Sarah Gallimore
Inspire Progress with Artifacts from the Future
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Jacqui Frey
Flow and Superfluidity for Design Orgs
2018 • DesignOps Summit 2018
Gold
Christian Crumlish
AMA with Christian Crumlish, author of Product Management for UX People
2022 • Enterprise Community
Joanna Vodopivec
One Research Team for All - Influence Without Authority
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Libby Maurer
Treating Diversity & Inclusion in Hiring as a Design Problem
2019 • Enterprise Community
Cornelius Rachieru
Handling Complexity: Framing a Scale of Design
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Dan Willis
Theme 3: Intro
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
JP Allen
Navigating the UX Tool Landscape
2021 • Advancing Research 2021
Gold
Kristin Skinner
8 Types of Measures in Design Operations
2020 • DesignOps Community
Clara Kliman-Silver
UX Futures: The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Design
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Melissa Eggleston
Practical People Skills for Building Trust on Teams and with Partners
2021 • Civic Design 2021
Gold

More Videos

Doug Powell

"Everything is a prototype."

Doug Powell

Closing Keynote: Design at Scale

November 8, 2018

Mila Kuznetsova

"Sometimes with kids, you just have to get artifactual data or creative outputs because they can’t always articulate."

Mila Kuznetsova Lucy Denton

How Lessons Learned from Our Youngest Users Can Help Us Evolve our Practices

March 9, 2022

Sarah Gallimore

"In Toronto it’s now illegal to transmit a Wi-Fi signal in designated public spaces, with penalties for violations—a policy driven by people wanting to unplug from digital life."

Sarah Gallimore

Inspire Progress with Artifacts from the Future

November 18, 2022

Lada Gorlenko

"Field usability testing showed stakeholders immediately how much value UX can add by catching issues before deployment."

Lada Gorlenko Sharbani Dhar Sébastien Malo Rob Mitzel Ivana Ng Michal Anne Rogondino

Theme 1: Discussion

January 8, 2024

Alnie Figueroa

"The hackathon is a low-commitment way to get people creatively engaged and having fun."

Alnie Figueroa

The Future of Design Operations: Transforming Our Craft

September 10, 2025

Landon Barnes

"You shouldn’t send another survey unless you’ve implemented changes and allowed time for behavior to adapt."

Landon Barnes

Are My Research Findings Actually Meaningful?

March 10, 2022

Emily Eagle

"Every workaround is a mini story of somebody overcoming an obstacle."

Emily Eagle

Can't Rewind: Radio and Retail

June 3, 2019

Malini Rao

"Managing resistance is mental; customers might resist because they've learned workarounds with legacy systems."

Malini Rao

Lessons Learned from a 4-year Product Re-platforming Journey

June 9, 2021

Asia Hoe

"Design is not just aesthetics; it’s about what the product feels like, sounds like, and how it differentiates in the market."

Asia Hoe

Partnering with Product: A Journey from Junior to Senior Design

November 29, 2023