Rosenverse
The Future of Research: Bridging the Gaps

Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.

Log in Create free account

100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.

The Future of Research: Bridging the Gaps

Thursday, July 29, 2021 • Advancing Research Community
Share the love for this talk
The Future of Research: Bridging the Gaps
Speakers: Dr. Jamika D. Burge , Steve Portigal , Alba Villamil and Sam Ladner
Link:

Summary

During this call, Advancing Research 2021 conference curators invite a special panel of researchers to discuss the future of research. In particular, panelists share their perspectives about the research practice and how they expect the discipline to evolve. To provide additional grounding for our conversation, we discuss, broadly, results from the survey we recently launched, which is designed to learn more about the topics and themes that you, the community, believe will be important to advancing the research and insight industry over the next year. Our esteemed panel of cross-disciplinary researchers, includes: Steve Portigal (Principal Researcher & Rosenfeld Media Author), Dr. Gloria Osardu (Senior Researcher at Amazon), Alba Villamil (Principal Researcher and HmntyCntrd Facilitator) and Sam Ladner (Principal Researcher at Workday). Dr. Jamika Burge (Entrepreneur and Head of Experience Products & Platforms Research at Capital One), one of our AR curators, will be moderating the discussion. Join us!

Key Insights

  • Remote research practices evolved rapidly due to the pandemic but lack collective processing of what has been gained or lost.

  • Research must move from reactive, evaluative roles to strategic partners influencing long-term roadmaps.

  • Building relationships with internal change agents can amplify research impact within organizations.

  • A sociological and equity-centered approach is essential to make research inclusive and address systemic biases.

  • Organizational cultures often exclude or harm researchers of color, impacting diversity and inclusion.

  • Large companies like Amazon align research closely with yearly business planning to anticipate future needs.

  • Bridging insights across multiple disciplines (data, marketing, research) creates more influential narratives.

  • Claims of research as sole 'human experience' experts risk arrogance; humility and collaboration are key.

  • The field is experiencing a tension between professionalization with standards and the need for inclusivity and diversity.

  • Training and supporting the next generation of researchers is critical to avoid repeating past mistakes and to sustain the field's growth.

Notable Quotes

"We have to figure out the strategic, unique value to our clients, stakeholders, and customers."

"There’s this inflection point about how research work is done and what the system wants from knowledge workers."

"The pandemic is a message from the universe to pause and rethink who we hire and how we train."

"Our standard research frameworks and tools are often inadequate for addressing complex social problems."

"Strategic positioning means research is a decision-making tool, not just a service to requests."

"I’ve started giving up on product management and focusing more on product strategy and senior executives."

"We see value-based research strategies emerging that center equity and ethics at the highest levels."

"Research tells stories data alone cannot, helping stakeholders understand customer feelings."

"Organizations are racialized and systematically exclude qualified researchers of color."

"If we believe we're the only champions of human experience, then we’re not doing the right job."

Ask the Rosenbot
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Benjamin Wiedmaier
Redefining Toolkits: Unbundling to Create a Perfect Match
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Lin Nie
When Thought-worlds Collide: Collaborating Between Research and Practice
2021 • Advancing Research 2021
Gold
Courtney Kaplan
Taking it to the next level: Career paths in DesignOps
2018 • DesignOps Summit 2018
Gold
Louis Rosenfeld
Coffee with Lou
2024 • Rosenfeld Community
Ryan Matthew
Bridging Design and Code: AI-Powered Design System Integration
2025 • DesignOps Summit 2025
Gold
Uday Gajendar
Theme 1: Introduction
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Jacqui Frey
Flow and Superfluidity for Design Orgs
2018 • DesignOps Summit 2018
Gold
Emily Eagle
Can't Rewind: Radio and Retail
2019 • Enterprise Experience 2019
Gold
Roy Opata Olende
How Zapier Uses ‘All Hands Research’ to Increase Exposure to Users
2020 • Advancing Research Community
Kate Stern
Scaling Learning for the Future
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Bria Alexander
Theme Two Intro
2022 • DesignOps Summit 2022
Gold
Samuel Proulx
Inclusive Research: Debunking Myths and Getting Started
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Lukas Moro
“Feels Like Paper!”: Interfacing AI through Paper
2025 • Designing with AI 2025
Gold
Rachel Posman
"Ask Me Anything" with Rachel Posman and John Calhoun, Authors of the Upcoming Rosenfeld Book, The Design Conductors
2024 • DesignOps Summit 2024
Gold
Michael Land
Establishing Design Operations in Government
2021 • DesignOps Community

More Videos

Frances Yllana

"We don't do PRDs anymore; we just vibe code, but that still means putting the right prompt behind it."

Frances Yllana Kaaren Hanson Husani Oakley Dan Olsen

DesignOps Exposed: What do our peers really think of us?

September 11, 2025

Jen Briselli

"Learning is the foundational design pattern of complex systems. It's emergent, relational and contextual."

Jen Briselli

Learning Is The Engine: Designing & Adapting in a World We Can’t Predict

April 16, 2025

Alla Weinberg

"If I make a mistake on our team, it’s not gonna be held against me; my team won’t disconnect from me."

Alla Weinberg

Design Teams Need Psychological Safety: Here’s How to Create It

September 9, 2022

Michelle Chin

"A backlog helps pace and define the design ops practice, managing what’s in scope and what’s aspirational."

Michelle Chin

The DesignOps Starter Kit

September 29, 2021

Joel Branch

"Humanizing AI means creating governance frameworks that involve a broad array of research competencies for democratizing safe and effective AI."

Joel Branch

Humanizing AI: Filling the Gaps with Multi-faceted Research

March 11, 2021

Kate Towsey

"You've got to slow down to go fast; make space in your schedule to think strategically."

Kate Towsey

Ask Me Anything (AMA) with Kate Towsey

April 2, 2025

Alex Hurworth

"Every degree rise in temperature correlates with increased health issues."

Alex Hurworth Bonnie John Fahd Arshad Antoine Marin

Designing a Contact Tracing App for Universal Access

October 23, 2020

Ruzanna Rozman

"Flow is different for each person; you have to adjust your style based on who you work with."

Ruzanna Rozman

Getting in Flow with Your Team

January 8, 2024

Catherine Courage

"This job is about culture change, not just building a design team."

Catherine Courage

The Enterprise UX Journey: Lessons From the Voyage & The Opportunity Ahead

May 13, 2015