Opening Keynote: Operating in Context
Summary
You know that thing where you start a new job and suddenly realize that all those great rules of thumb you thought were almost universally true are either impossible or ineffective in your new organization. Welcome to Leisa’s life. In this talk Leisa will share her experience of completely resetting her idea of best practice, implementing a strategy that is the opposite of what everyone expected, and why so few people do what they think is right. You’ll also get bonus thoughts on how to best set up your research team for maximize effectiveness.
Key Insights
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One dedicated researcher per team, researched every sprint, and including users with access needs proved transformative at GDS.
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Boldly asking for needed resources, even if initially seen as outrageous, can secure more support than self-limiting negotiation.
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Context radically changes what research practices and team structures will succeed; one strategy does not fit all organizations.
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Distributed locations and low local user diversity at DTA required extensive fieldwork and creative ways of sharing insights, like empathy walls and Showcases.
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Embedding researchers in every team is not always possible or beneficial, especially in complex, distributed product organizations like Atlassian.
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Pairing researchers to focus on craft and professional growth helps shift teams beyond comfort zones and improve quality in challenging contexts.
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A strong user-centered mindset, rather than pure product or feature focus, is crucial to understand broader user goals beyond current product usage.
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Building research capability and consistency across multiple agencies demands different leadership and operational approaches than centralized teams.
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Avoid focusing on researcher-to-designer or researcher-to-engineer ratios; success depends on problem focus and depth of involvement rather than numeric formulas.
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Uncertainty and humility are assets; embracing them keeps the door open for learning and adapting strategies to changing contexts.
Notable Quotes
"My kids know everything. If you listen to conversations with them, they say I know, Ma, I know."
"Context is really super important not only for design and research but for how you design organizations and ways of working."
"One researcher per team for at least three days a week was considered an outrageous luxury at GDS in 2013."
"If you make rules, put numbers in them, and say them confidently, sometimes people actually do them."
"When negotiating, bring plan A—show what you need and what good looks like—even if it seems outrageous."
"Ratios always start on the premise of spreading people too thin, which is not a great way to get success."
"At DTA, distributed teams and lack of local diversity meant everyone was out in the field a lot to get diverse input."
"Empathy walls emerged at DTA because teams needed a visceral way to bring stories back from the field."
"At Atlassian, many confident non-researchers were already doing lots of research, which was an opportunity and a challenge."
"Choosing the right hill to die on is so important and so hard; the problems that matter come around again and again."
Or choose a question:
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