But Do Your Insights Scale?
Summary
Overcoming stakeholder objections and positioning qualitative data as an input to business and product strategy. When stakeholders have access to real-time data about millions of user interactions, how can qualitative researchers articulate the value of small-sample studies for product and business strategy? In this case study, we’ll show how we used our insights chops to understand stakeholder motivations and concerns, and get qualitative research a seat at the table shaping Google Assistant’s 2020 strategy. We’ll share learnings about how human-centered researchers can effectively collaborate with functions like data science and business strategy, and how to persuade analytically-minded stakeholders to embrace rich qualitative data about people’s needs and motivations as an input to business strategy.
Key Insights
-
•
Taking calculated risks is essential for qualitative researchers to secure influence in organization-wide strategy discussions.
-
•
Small qualitative sample sizes can still deliver powerful impactful insights when paired with quantitative data and trust building.
-
•
Inviting stakeholders to interact directly with unfiltered qualitative data (e.g., video diaries) fosters genuine curiosity and advocacy.
-
•
Physicalizing data, such as printing quotes and charts in a shared workspace, promotes team engagement and collaborative sensemaking.
-
•
Converting one respected analyst into a research evangelist can change the conversations and perceptions of entire peer groups.
-
•
Low-stakes, incremental experiments to share insights reduce resistance and create momentum for organizational change.
-
•
Qualitative research offers deep understanding of user motivations and needs that quantitative data alone cannot provide.
-
•
Researchers’ empathy skills are strategic tools to understand and influence stakeholders’ fears, incentives, and motivations.
-
•
Successful qualitative efforts depend not just on methodology rigor but on bravery, leadership, and cultural positioning.
-
•
Embedding qualitative insights into yearly planning cycles can shift research from an add-on activity to a core strategy input.
Notable Quotes
"If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair."
"We decided to jump off the wall—that scary leap to prove qualitative insights can change strategy."
"The surveys and logs data tell us the what, but qualitative research tells us the why."
"One converted analyst became our research associate, and his enthusiasm was contagious."
"Getting the data out of laptops and onto the walls made the research physical and accessible."
"It’s not about the methodology, it’s about bravery and leadership."
"Find those curious partners who will evangelize the value of your insights to their peers."
"Researchers are experts at empathy and understanding motivations, which are superpowers beyond just interviewing users."
"Small experiments, planting seeds over time, can shift hearts and minds more effectively than big radical changes."
"Our insights became pillars of the 2020 product strategy and qualitative research earned a reserved seat at the table."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Maturity is not linear; the tanker company had a lot to learn from the speedboat, and vice versa."
John CutlerOxbows, Rivers, and Estuaries: How to navigate the currents of change (without burning out)
December 3, 2024
"Taking responsibility for our behaviors starts with an apology and continues with regular feedback and action."
Darian DavisLessons from a Toxic Work Relationship
January 8, 2024
"One of the biggest challenges is balancing freedom for creative work with necessary consistency and governance, as Dave Kronin pointed out."
Dave GrayGroup Activity: Making Sense of DesignOps
November 7, 2017
"If you are a glue person expecting to be indispensable, you are more dispensable than you think. But if you’re a catalyst moving information and translating to action, that’s more valuable now."
John CutlerThe Alignment Trap
November 29, 2023
"The key to good diagrams is accessibly rendered, content driven, and visually supported."
Abby CovertStuck? Diagrams Help
October 27, 2022
"Side-pav proposals answer what’s going on, why it matters now, what you propose, what action to take, and what benefit comes from it."
Mark InterranteCollaboration Flows in Product Development
June 9, 2017
"The metaverse has not summoned those angels; instead, it has brought in all the good and the bad from the real world."
Devon PowersImagining Better Futures
March 9, 2022
"Design research—they need each other. They are much, much better together."
Prayag NarulaHow to Empower Your Designers to Do Good Research – And Why You Want To
June 10, 2022
"Your short term memory is the context window; too big, and the model has trouble accessing everything."
Peter Van DijckHands on AI #3: Claude Code for UX people
October 22, 2025
