Research After UX
Summary
Moving the research function out from UX can transform how insights influence product-making in an organization. In this talk, Nalini explains how and why she led this shift for her team at Salesforce, as well as the move’s effect on their work and impact. Nalini will also share lessons learned in the process - “the how to’s” and the “absolutely how not to’s” - that may inspire and guide leaders and individual contributors alike.
Key Insights
-
•
Decoupling research from UX can provide researchers with more agency to frame broader business problems beyond design.
-
•
Identity work is a fundamental challenge when moving research out of UX, requiring careful leadership attention.
-
•
Playing the long game through persistent business case building and internal socialization is essential for organizational change.
-
•
Research teams positioned alongside product management, engineering, and data science gain higher visibility and influence.
-
•
Measuring research impact becomes more complex but broader, shifting from simple metrics like study counts to influence and strategic involvement.
-
•
Research operations functions are crucial infrastructure that enable scalable, efficient research beyond UX.
-
•
Control over budget and headcount advocacy improves significantly when research reports outside UX.
-
•
COVID-19 amplified issues around identity and belonging for team members during organizational transitions.
-
•
In B2B companies like Salesforce, much product decision-making happens before UX, necessitating research involvement earlier in the lifecycle.
-
•
Providing reassurance and support for new research skills helps ease team anxieties during structural changes.
Notable Quotes
"What happens if research does not report into UX? What might happen if we uncouple research from UX?"
"We made this move in January 2020 — our research and insights team moved out of UX but stayed within product organizations."
"Conscious uncoupling is about identity — how one thinks of oneself defines oneself and how others define you."
"I believed we could do more — more for the company, customers, stakeholders, and ourselves if we had more agency."
"Our research practice was perceived largely as design testers, empathy vehicles, and policing functions — a narrow, reactive role."
"After the move, our work had more impact, more visibility, and we're present across the entire product life cycle."
"Research operations is the spine of any successful research and insights group."
"For the first time, I was able to advocate for funding directly for the research function at high executive levels."
"I underestimated how much identity our team tied to UX and how scary that loss felt to many of them."
"Our shift is structural, not because of personalities — it was needed to influence earlier, more business-centric decisions."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Habit changes sometimes must happen, but measuring and designing to respect them avoids mortifying changes."
Paula BachImproving Legacy Software: How Much Better Does it Have to Be?
March 11, 2022
"Bottom-up approaches can achieve quick wins, but top-down champions can scale UX more efficiently."
Susan WeinschenkEvaluating the Maturity of UX in Your Organization
January 15, 2020
"Strategy always before tactics. You cannot succeed without a clear strategic framework."
How to Identify and Increase your "Experience Quotient"
June 15, 2018
"A service leadership approach means you’re here to help and orchestrate, not to command and control."
Prerna MakanawalaAchieving Balanced Design Consistency
June 9, 2021
"The chief of staff can be a natural next step from a design program manager or design ops leader of one."
Isaac HeyveldExpand DesignOps Leadership as a Chief of Staff
September 8, 2022
"The community of practitioners is the way we carry each other through difficult moments."
Bria AlexanderTheme Two Intro
September 8, 2022
"A producer is probably in JIRA day-to-day, running tasks, creating tickets and epics, while a program manager tracks board-level timelines."
Panel Discussion: Communicating the Value of DesignOps
November 7, 2018
"If you have somebody on your team for three years, for five years, that’s amazing from a longevity perspective given enterprise legacy and complexity."
Karen PascoeDeveloping Experience Teams and Talent in the Enterprise
June 8, 2016
"This new vets.gov site is extremely easy. I have not had this level of ease with a government website at all."
Marina MartinLives on the Line: The Stakes of UX at the Scale of Government
June 14, 2018
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
What is automation bias and how can UX design mitigate its risks in AI-augmented clinical decision support?
What are effective behaviors that design operations teams should focus on to deliver value and build trust?
In what ways can AI speed up qualitative data analysis without compromising insight quality?