Summary
Speakers from day 1 of the Advancing Research conference discuss insights from the day's theme: Reconceiving the Purpose of Research.
Key Insights
-
•
Radical acceptance and mindset shifts are essential to transition from extractive to relational research roles.
-
•
Diversity on research teams does not automatically produce equitable outcomes; ongoing learning and intentional trust-building are required.
-
•
Long-term partnerships with community groups help build trust and improve participant centering beyond one-off studies.
-
•
The term 'study' and treating research as discrete projects can reinforce power imbalances and should be reconsidered.
-
•
Research operations has a pivotal role in enabling inclusive participant recruitment to create diverse input in product lifecycles.
-
•
AI is simultaneously a threat to research skills due to automation and an opportunity if researchers lead tool evaluation and integration.
-
•
Rigid research methods like fixed discussion guides hinder meeting the varied humanity of participants in modern research.
-
•
Measuring research impact too narrowly by hours spent or quantitative metrics like NPS is limiting and misleading.
-
•
Advisory research roles that leverage accumulated knowledge over new data can be a strategic evolution in mature organizations.
-
•
Embracing a beginner's mind and creativity can make research work more engaging and adaptable amid rapid social and technological change.
Notable Quotes
"We must switch our mindset from extractive to relational, from creator to also curator."
"Skin folk aren’t necessarily kinfolk — diversity doesn’t magically prevent inequitable research."
"Research teams need to be strategic about building tools to do ethical research, not just diverse."
"I never talk about the business and the business value, there are people making decisions you should understand."
"Trust building and informed consent are things you can improve in research without stressing the business."
"Participation rates are falling, engagement rates are falling — this is a data quality crisis."
"I’d love to see the death of the discussion guide and the six-person qual study."
"AI is having the effect of de-skilling many roles, including researchers, so we need to double down on what we do well."
"The term ‘study’ rings of academia and reinforces power dynamics; I prefer continuous engagement instead."
"Embracing the beginner’s mind means everything is up for play and creativity, leading to more fun and innovation."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Civic design lets us nuance the full range of citizens’ behavior, which often isn’t purely rational."
Christian BasonInnovating With People: Unleashing the Potential of Civic Design
December 8, 2021
"We were spending 90% of our resource responding to tactical queries or performance reporting — essentially marking everyone's homework."
Catherine BlizzardUsing Integrated Insight to Drive Growth
March 10, 2022
"Cultural differences mean improv expectations vary widely—what works in the U.S. might not in Italy or Africa."
Cheryl PlatzMerging Improv with Design
March 7, 2019
"Transformation is metamorphosis; it's often messy and aims to create systems out of chaos."
Sarah Kinkade Mariana Ortiz-ReyesDesign Management Models in the Face of Transformation
June 8, 2022
"Community engagement is a powerful lever often left out of systems thinking processes."
Sheryl CababaExpanding Your Design Lens with Systems Thinking
February 23, 2023
"Gaming accessibility is still considered an inspirational hack rather than a built-in feature."
Sam ProulxTo Boldly Go: The New Frontiers of Accessibility
June 10, 2022
"There’s a big merger in this space and two UX giants haven’t been behaving nicely, introducing higher prices and stricter commercial terms."
Andy Barraclough Betsy NelsonFrom Costly Complexity to Efficient Insights: Why UX Teams Are Switching To Voxpopme
September 23, 2024
"Everyone in proximity of design has a creative opinion."
Wendy JohanssonAn Education on Design Education for Orgs
June 10, 2021
"Digital transformation can be slowed down by leadership resistance and a desire for gradual change."
Irina Tikhonova Kari DietrichSmall Wins, Big Impact: Leveraging and Elevating User Engagement
December 9, 2021
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
How do journalists experience and navigate the identity shift from gatekeepers to service providers?
How can service design approaches support innovation decision-making in large public sector institutions like the OECD?
What are common challenges media teams face when trying to implement strategic, service-oriented approaches?