You collect data, synthesize findings, and deliver insights. But what you’re really doing is something bigger: helping your entire organization make sense of the people it serves. Dana Chisnell has spent four decades in UX — from writing one of the earliest usability manuals to leading culture change across a 260,000-person U.S. federal agency. In this keynote, she shares what she’s learned about the real work of research and why it matters more than ever.

Key takeaways:

• Research is sensemaking, not just a deliverable — and that distinction changes how you work
• Every research activity is an act of organizational culture change
• You don’t need authority to have influence
• Your path will look different from anyone else’s, and that’s the point