Inviting the Whole Org to Come See For Yourself
Summary
So all of a sudden, everyone at your company is interested in going into the field, meeting with clients, and “building empathy.” What could possibly go wrong? At ADP we created a program of ethnographic (lite) research designed to harness this excitement for exploratory research, enable anyone in the org to participate in conducting research, and help stakeholders think outside of their own product or screens. Secretly, our program was carefully designed to also teach our partners what it means to do Research: listen thoughtfully, analyze holistically, and truly understand client feedback before jumping to solutions.
Key Insights
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A large appetite for research in an organization is a good problem and can be harnessed through democratization rather than only growing a large professional research team.
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Democratization has two parts: exposing non-researchers to research work and upskilling them to do better research themselves.
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Non-researchers often jump prematurely to solutions or insufficient research practices without guided structure.
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Breaking research into three clear phases—planning, data collection, and analysis—helps non-researchers understand and participate effectively.
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Exposure hours and programs like 'Come See For Yourself' increase empathy by allowing diverse teams to observe real user interactions.
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Empathy training for non-researchers before user visits teaches critical listening skills, managing power dynamics, and the importance of silence.
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Strict roles during interviews help maintain data quality and allow observers to focus on specific research questions with dedicated note-taking.
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Synthesis sessions use unstructured discussions focused on observed facts, helping identify themes and consider outliers collaboratively.
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Analyzing insights into user needs and framing problem statements supports user-centered solution workshops aligning teams on priorities.
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Involving non-researchers deeply in the entire research process changes organizational culture from guessing to evidence-based understanding.
Notable Quotes
"Having a huge appetite for research and a huge manner for research is a good problem to have. So let's lean into it."
"Doing research is not always the most natural transition for people who don't really care about research."
"Anybody making decisions about products should have regular exposure to researchers — Jared Spool’s exposure hours."
"We called it 'Come See For Yourself' — kind of like following me home, but slightly less creepy."
"There’s no half-assing it. If you want to be involved in developing solutions, you better have significant client exposure."
"Non-researchers often think you can just jump in and start asking questions, but that can be inefficient or risky."
"Listening is different than conversation, even though it looks and feels similar."
"We view ourselves as Sherpas on the adventure. We do the work, they get the experience."
"In synthesis sessions, it’s a pretty unstructured discussion focused on facts rather than interpretation."
"It’s important for us all to experiment with ways to harness the excitement for research as it grows beyond our own teams."
Or choose a question:
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