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
"People were doing incentives in different ways, using their own cards, which was confusing, so I centralized it."
Liza Pemstein Jane DavisScaling Research Via an Ops First Model at Clever
March 27, 2023
"When I have just one idea, I’ll defend it because it’s the only one I have, even if it’s not a great idea."
Steve BatyBreaking Out of Ruts: Tips for Overcoming the Fear of Change
June 9, 2016
"Once collaboration loops start compounding, they become muscle memory and the structure supports our work."
Gina Mendolia Jasmine ToyCoordinated collaboration: a Service Design & DesignOps love story
November 19, 2025
"Soft interpersonal human relationship skills matter more than technical practice domains."
Jason MesutShaping design, designers and teams
November 8, 2018
"It is not our job to know all the answers, but to make sure the right questions are asked."
Jay BustamanteNavigating the Ethical Frontier: DesignOps Strategies for Responsible AI Innovation
October 2, 2023
"I wrote a blog post called Can We Talk about the PM Designer Tension almost 10 years ago."
Ellen ChisaThe Values of Design
November 29, 2023
"I don’t want to be a troublemaker, I just want to poke holes so we can make positive outcomes for the people we serve."
Dan WillisEnterprise Storytelling Sessions
June 8, 2016
"Inclusion and accessibility need to be part of every designer's role, even if today it is one person's job."
Reginé GilbertAsking the Right Questions: Life, Hope and Moving Forward During the Pandemic
June 10, 2022
"Ethics evolve faster than laws; just because something is legal doesn’t make it ethical."
Erin WeigelGet Your Whole Team Testing to Design for Impact
July 24, 2024
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
How can UX practitioners build influence within healthcare organizations where clinical outcomes dominate decision-making?
What are Palchinsky’s principles and how do they apply to scaling empathy in research?
How does including metadata like methodology, market, and date improve the quality of research repository search results?