Summary
Today data science, market research, and UX research are predominantly locked up in individual silos. This is a problem because companies are missing out on the full picture, research is repeated, and good insights are going to waste. In this session, Andrew shares how to build a product insights team that enables you to build bridges and tell more holistic narratives about your customers. The talk will cover how to set up the team, the different structures we see, and how you can get started today by getting the teams to work more efficiently together in the interim.
Key Insights
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Combining qualitative user research with quantitative data analysis produces the most meaningful product insights and drives growth.
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User behavior changes, like Andrew's Spotify usage after becoming a parent, reveal opportunities for product adaptation and upselling.
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Data and UX research teams often work in silos within organizations, limiting impact despite shared goals.
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Starting with a shared hypothesis, such as an ideal customer profile (ICP), encourages cross-functional collaboration and reduces redundant research.
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Relying solely on data to define ICP risks reinforcing biases from existing product and marketing efforts, potentially overlooking growth opportunities.
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Hybrid product insights teams balance embedded experts in squads with a centralized center of excellence for knowledge sharing and redundancy.
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Aligning insights work with company OKRs enables prioritization and justifies saying no to low-impact requests.
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Cross-pollination of analysis and qualitative findings during research phases improves understanding and creates shared buy-in.
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Effective communication positioning the insights team as a value driver, rather than internal service, builds organizational respect.
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Managing multiple data streams from analysts, UX researchers, and product owners is challenging and traditional tools like Confluence often fall short.
Notable Quotes
"Without Jim, like what we’re going to see today would have been a lot worse."
"My playlist on Spotify changed drastically after my son was born, and I almost felt like I lost a little piece of myself."
"Better solutions come when we combine what we see in the data with why from user research."
"The biggest missed opportunity in companies today is that data analytics and user research teams rarely work together effectively."
"When we bring these practices together, we see the most meaningful results."
"Relying only on data to define our ideal customer profile meant we were just reflecting the product and marketing we had built to date."
"Having analysts and researchers embedded in squads builds domain expertise but risks losing knowledge if people leave."
"Starting with a centralized center of excellence helped us tackle the low-hanging fruit and align closely with company OKRs."
"If requests don’t align with company OKRs, we had to say no—this made prioritization clearer and easier."
"Confluence is not built well for research repositories; info just dies at the bottom of slide decks or docs."
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