Megan Blocker
Director of User Research, DigitalOcean
Megan founded McKinsey’s design research & insights practice, establishing and growing a team of one to more than 50 researchers, data analysts, and data scientists globally. As part of that transformation, she built the design research talent architecture and established McKinsey’s design research philosophy, operations, and tooling. In addition, Megan is deeply passionate about equity and inclusion. She co-founded McKinsey’s Women in Tech initiative and was a member of the DE&I global leadership team.
In her work as a researcher, Megan combines empathy with data to achieve deep understanding, craft inspirational vision, and deliver actionable insight. As a leader, she makes sense of ambiguity and thrives when building and leading teams where trust, transparency, and clarity of vision encourage risk-taking, innovation, and creativity. Most of all, she loves building something new and scrappy, then strategically operationalizing it for scale. She invests in people, Post-Its, insights, and LEGOs.
Rosenverse talks by Megan:
" An insight repository curated thoughtfully and powered by generative AI makes research accessible anytime with trusted references. "
Positioning insight: Structuring teams, roles and careers for a changing research landscape
March 13, 2025
" Duplicative research will become less acceptable; researchers must act as natural connectors to reduce it and enhance organizational knowledge sharing. "
Redefining the research toolkit: Expanding methodologies for a changing world
March 12, 2025
" When the ground shifts beneath us, we get to decide, do we scramble to regain our footing exactly where we stood before? Or do we take a step in a new direction, explore new terrain, and expand the boundaries of what’s possible? "
Theme 2 Intro
March 12, 2025
" Combining numbers with rich participant videos and quotes really brings the user to life for stakeholders. "
Day 2 Theme Panel
March 12, 2025
" Some people lie; that’s why we need to triangulate methods to approach reality. "
Methodologies: Beyond the interview [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
September 4, 2024
" Bringing in expert interviews and secondary data gives you an outsider’s perspective to challenge the status quo. "
Getting to the “So What?”: How Management Consulting Practices Can Transform Your Approach to Research
March 26, 2024
" Sometimes it's just not even related to the research skills, sometimes relationships really matter. "
Panel: Excellence in Impact
March 25, 2024
" Creating personas as a team is more valuable than the persona itself because it creates ownership and empathy. "
What UX research maturity looks like and how we get there [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
November 9, 2023
" Stakeholder analysis and managing stakeholders is critical in hierarchical cultures to maintain trust. "
A Selectively Scrappy Approach to ResearchOps
November 8, 2018
