Summary
We've all heard about the trends around democratizing research, but less about how to do it in a sustainable way that fits our unique business models and environments. This session will cover critical considerations and strategies based on experience and case studies around how and when it is is appropriate to consider enabling and empowering non-researchers to gather insights and best practices on how to create process, training, and tools that drive success.
Key Insights
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Successful democratization requires an honest assessment of organizational readiness and a cultural groundswell supporting research value.
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Research and insights gathering are distinct activities needing different roles and boundaries.
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Non-researchers can contribute meaningfully to empathic, ad hoc insights but typically cannot replace deep, strategic research.
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Research operations managers play a crucial role in managing democratization programs, ensuring governance, prioritization, and training.
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Defining a menu of methodologies clarifies which research activities non-researchers can perform versus those reserved for professional researchers.
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Integrating research checkpoints as gates within product development ensures timely user feedback influences key decisions.
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Training and coaching must be ongoing; democratization is not a one-time enablement but a continuous learning process.
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Templates and pattern-based coaching help non-researchers move beyond basic testing to more thoughtful insights generation.
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A combination of push, pull, and interactive communication strategies effectively disseminates research insights organization-wide.
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Accessible research repositories, even simple password-protected sites, are vital for long-term insight sharing and reuse.
Notable Quotes
"You have to be honest with yourself about whether or not your organization is ready to democratize research."
"Research and insights gathering are two different activities requiring different roles and empowerment."
"Non-researchers can make a significant contribution starting from the empathic standpoint."
"Researchers own the lane of enforcing best practices around research quality."
"Research operations managers are critically important to managing democratization from a programming perspective."
"Democratization helps free up more researcher time by offloading ad hoc insights gathering to others."
"You can create coaches who are not researchers to help support ongoing partnership and mentorship."
"It's important to ensure people aren't just doing research to do research."
"Microsoft’s research hits network is a great example of simple, accessible repositories that everyone can tap into."
"Reports are not always required; sometimes findings are embedded directly into design documentation or the experience."
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