Rosenverse

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Panel: Excellence in Communicating Insights
Gold
Tuesday, March 26, 2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Share the love for this talk
Panel: Excellence in Communicating Insights
Speakers: Robin Beers , Nalini Kotamraju and Andy Warr
Link:

Summary

Insights wither and die when they gather dust on the shelf. Excellence in research is only excellence when data is turned to insight, those insights made actionable and are told in stories which engage, inspire and provoke. Our esteemed panel of research leaders will be sharing their best practices for ensuring that insights are heard, acted upon and given the power to become received wisdom which drive business’ forward.

Key Insights

  • A researcher must first ensure leadership knows their name and work to earn an invitation to strategic conversations, as Andy did at Instagram.

  • Having a seat at the table means understanding its power dynamics—including seniority, function, gender, race—and tailoring your message accordingly, as Nini advises.

  • Meetings are just one part of communication; following up directly, like via Slack or emails, can be equally impactful.

  • Persistent, strategic repetition of key messages (‘beating the drum’) is often necessary to achieve organizational action on insights.

  • Researchers often feel like whispers in a void; the ability to stop, acknowledge resistance, and engage stakeholders about their trust needs can reclaim influence.

  • Great research artifacts include: a clear insight (what), a meaningful recommendation (so what), and specific accountability and prioritization (now what).

  • Innovative distribution methods like Andy's fortune cookies with research insights can dramatically increase engagement and visibility within organizations.

  • Organizational readiness and timing significantly affect whether research insights gain traction; even excellent work may only be impactful long after delivery.

  • Synthesizing complex research into concise narratives is a researcher's superpower and helps fuel organizational understanding and decision-making.

  • Research frameworks and models can become viral hooks within organizations, helping insights become part of the company culture and language.

Notable Quotes

"When the world is silent, even one voice makes a difference."

"If you don’t speak up at the table, you won’t be invited back."

"I sat at the edge of the table at first, but then Kevin said, ‘Come take a seat at the table.’"

"The meeting is not a one-time event; there's a before and an after you need to engage with."

"What’s the worst that’s gonna happen here? That mindset helped me overcome imposter syndrome."

"Food delivery apps in China combine high-frequency, low-margin businesses with low-frequency, high-margin ones to become profitable."

"A research report is essentially the coffin where insights go to die."

"The power of the stop is awesome—stop, notice the chatter, and address it head on."

"Synthesizing a great deal of data and making new sense out of it is like a chef’s kiss for executives."

"Persistence is about beating the drum; it can feel annoying, but it’s how change happens."

Ask the Rosenbot
Sharbani Dhar
Breathing Room for Delight
2024 • Enterprise Experience 2020
Gold
Aras Bilgen
Research Democratization: A Debate
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Sarah Kinkade
Design Management Models in the Face of Transformation
2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Gold
Andy Warr
Under My (Research) Umbrella: The Benefits and Challenges of Building a Unified Insights Function
2024 • Advancing Research 2024
Gold
Sarah Flamion
Complex Problem? Add Clarity by Combining Research and Systems Thinking
2020 • Advancing Research 2020
Gold
Caroline Jarrett
Have fun with statistics?
2024 • Rosenfeld Community
Dave Malouf
The Future of DesignOps
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2020
Gold
Indi Young
Thinking styles: Mend hidden cracks in your market
2025 • Rosenfeld Community
Brigette Metzler
Scaling ResearchOps: Helping Researchers do Their Best Work
2020 • Advancing Research 2020
Gold
Catherine Dubut
Bridging Physical and Digital Spaces: Approaches to Retail Service Design (Videoconference)
2021 • Enterprise Community
Amy Thibodeau
Opening Keynote: Process and Ambiguity
2019 • DesignOps Summit 2019
Gold
The Unspoken Complexity of “Self-Care” with Deanna Zandt
2022 • Civic Design Community
Jacqui Frey
Panel Discussion: Integrating DesignOps
2018 • DesignOps Summit 2018
Gold
Sha Hwang
The Lost Year
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Tony Turner
Capturing Deep Insights
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Jayne Engle
Civic Design for the Next Seven Generations—A Discussion on Sacred Civics (Videoconference)
2022 • Civic Design Community

More Videos

Zariah Cameron

"If you are silent about your pain, they will kill you and say you enjoyed it."

Zariah Cameron

ReDesigning Wellbeing for Equitable Care in the Workplace

September 23, 2024

John Cutler

"Ownership means belonging to the person who anticipates, observes, or monitors the prioritization process—not distributed ownership."

John Cutler Harry Max

Prioritization for designers and product managers (1st of 3 seminars) (Videoconference)

June 13, 2024

Nick Cochran

"Sense-making is a motivated, continuous effort to understand connections and act effectively."

Nick Cochran

Growing in Enterprise Design through Making Connections

June 3, 2019

Deanna Smith

"Pilot and test your ideas before committing whenever possible to avoid unnecessary disruption."

Deanna Smith

Leading Change with Confidence: Strategies for Optimizing Your Process

September 23, 2024

Magdalena Zadara

"Don’t automatically dismiss paper forms—they often contain simplifications that accelerate digital service design."

Magdalena Zadara

Zero Hour: How to Get Far Quickly When Starting Your Digital Service Unit Late

November 16, 2022

Nova Wehman-Brown

"What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know. It’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so."

Nova Wehman-Brown

We've Never Done This Before

June 4, 2019

Liwei Dai

"Machines may identify that higher ice cream sales is associated with higher band ice, but the former is not causing the latter."

Liwei Dai

The Heart and Brain of the AI Research

March 31, 2020

Gordon Ross

"Having workers leave the airport and travel to the farm to self-isolate was simply not feasible – the province would have to be responsible for quarantine."

Gordon Ross

12 Months of COVID-19 Design and Digital Response with the British Columbia Government

December 8, 2021

Tutti Taygerly

"We use design thinking to make north stars for products; I help people find their north stars."

Tutti Taygerly

Make Space to Lead

June 12, 2021