All about ResearchOps with Kate Towsey

Kate Towsey has certainly left her mark on research operations, pioneering the practice, helping launch the ResearchOps community, and now through writing Research That Scales: The Research Operations Handbook, which Rosenfeld Media published in September of 2024.

In her interview with Lou, Kate reflects on her journey from content strategist to a pivotal figure in the research operations community. She recounts her early days at the UK Government Digital Service, where she unexpectedly found herself building research labs, and later at Atlassian, where she helped develop systems to manage vast amounts of research data. Through her work, Kate realized the need for a more structured approach to research operations, leading to facilitating a global ResearchOps community. Oh, and along the way, she coined the term “PWDR” (“People Who Do Research”).

The conversation delves into the strategic importance of ResearchOps, emphasizing that it’s much more than just administrative support—it’s about designing systems that enable organizations to effectively learn and innovate. Kate likens research operations to city planning, highlighting the need for strategy to build successful, sustainable systems.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• How Kate’s early work in content strategy and her experiences at the UK Government Digital Service (GDS) led to the work she does today
• The importance of aligning research operations with a clear research strategy
• How research operations have evolved over the years
• The distinction between research and insights, and the value of turning research findings into actionable insights that drive decision-making

Quick Reference Guide:
0:27 – Introduction of Kate and her book
3:32 – Kate’s ah-ha moment
9:38 – Facilitating a global conversation before writing the book
11:47 – 8 elements unique to operations
14:09 – The Rosenverse
16:56 – Defining research operations
16:15 – Strategy in operations
20:50 – A story from overlooking the Hudson River in 2018
23:58 – On insight
27:14 – Human-centered research
32:04 – Kate’s gift for listeners

How to make UX research leadership more effective [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series] (Videoconference)

Three of your research colleagues discussed and defended their respective positions on making UX leadership more effective in this Advancing Research community workshop. Participants engaged with them in a discussion and Q&A, facilitated by Peter Merholz.

“UX Research leaders of tomorrow need to stand tall, assert themselves, and take a seat at the table because we have a purpose and companies cannot afford to make investment decisions based on intuition.” 

 – Sarah Alvarado

“Move out of your UX org.” 

 – Nalini Kotamraju

“Most organizations talk a good prioritization game but fail to actually prioritize their projects, creating the perfect opportunity for Research leadership. Developing and maintaining a stack-ranked ruthless prioritization of projects has the power to grow Research headcount and budget and elevate Research strategically while minimizing researcher overwork.”

 – Anne Mamaghani

Angry and Passionate about what AI means to Researchers

In the latest episode of the Rosenfeld Review, Lou sits down with social scientist Tricia Wang, coiner of the term “thick data,” and formerly a partner at Sudden Compass. Tricia is passionate about research and AI. She envisions massively improved research outcomes and opportunities for researchers, but only if researchers take the lead in incorporating AI into their work. Rather than seeing themselves as “users” of AI tools, researchers must work as AI’s “shapers,” serving as its senior partner.

Tricia’s vision is to cease the fear-mongering surrounding the subject of AI and instead embrace the amazing opportunities for growth and better work by becoming active in the control of AI’s future.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• The truth about the potential for AI use in research and the gift that it actually is
• The difference between a “user” and a “shaper” in the digital age
• The importance of taking an active role in the development of AI in the future
• How being an asset class dehumanizes us as people

Quick Reference Guide:
[0:16] – Lou’s introduction of Tricia Wang
[2:52] – Tricia discusses our future and how we talk about AI
[3:49] – Thoughts on the narrative of fear-mongering we have in the West about AI
[5:47] – The relationship between humans and AI
[5:59] – A new framework: users vs shapers
[9:07] – The problem with taking on a passive role with a technology unlike anything we have ever seen
[11:06] – People who use AI successfully are active shapers
[15:33] – Info on Advancing Research 2024
[17:23] – How users, shapers, and AI affect the field of research
[20:42] – The existential question of what it really means to be a researcher
[31:28] – Tricia’s advice concerning using AI in research
[35:07] – Tricia’s gift for the audience
[38:34] – Tricia wants to hear from you

Taking Notes and Nurturing Your Knowledge Garden with Jorge Arango

Jorge Arango is an Information architect, author, and educator, and he’s written a new book, Duly Noted, about the age-old practice of notetaking.

If you’re like me, you’ve been taking notes since your school days. Back then, we used notebooks, a Trapper Keeper, and sticky notes – anything that could help us ace a test, remember important tidbits, and consolidate ideas. Notes are an extension of the mind. But it was always a headache to organize them, synthesize them, and recall them at the right time.

Enter the digital age – which tried to improve on the humble art of notetaking, but apps like Notes and Stickies tried to replicate digitally what we were using in the real world. Newer apps like Obsidian let go of real-world metaphors by utilizing three principles: shorter notes, connecting your notes, and nurturing your notes to build a knowledge garden that will serve you for the rest of your life.

If you bring value to the world through your thinking, you have the responsibility to look after your thinking apparatus. Duly Noted will augment, magnify, and extend your capacity to think well. Externalizing your mental processes is one of the most powerful means we have to think better. If used well, the humble note will help you be a better thinker and a more effective human.

What you’ll learn from this episode:
– A history of notetaking tools
– Why notetaking is a personal endeavor
– How digital notetaking tools have evolved
– About Jorge’s new book and how, upon reading it, you just might become a better thinker and increase your effectiveness

Quick Reference Guide
[0:00:12] Introduction of Jorge and his books
[0:01:18] Introduction of Jorge’s new book on taking notes and creating a knowledge garden, Duly Noted
[0:09:47] Books that will make you a better knowledge worker
[0:14:14] Design in Product Conference
[0:15:35] Managing knowledge with computers
[0:26:03] Knowledge as a garden
[0:28:09] On tools for nurturing a knowledge garden
[0:33:08] How Jorge uses AI with Obsidian
[0:36:37] Jorge’s gift for listeners

AI: Passionate defenses and reasoned critique [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]

AI adoption is rapidly accelerating in the insights space, and researchers are rushing to explore the possibilities and pitfalls it presents. Without a doubt, it will change the nature of our work, but where do we stand now? Our panelists will examine passionate defenses for the value of AI, offer reasoned critiques, discuss practical applications, and discuss how we can collectively move forward in an ethical and human-centered manner.

Attend all of our Advancing Research community workshops

Each free virtual workshop is made up of panelists who will share short provocations on engaging ideas to discuss as a group, as well as a leader in our field to moderate. If you’re looking for discussions that challenge the status quo and can truly advance research, look no further than our workshop series. (P.S. We’ll be drawing most of our Advancing Research 2025 conference speakers from those who present at upcoming workshops—so tune in for a sneak peek of what’s to come from #AR2025!)

Radical Participatory Research: Decolonizing Participatory Processes

Have you ever been a part of a participatory research process or the use of a participatory method only to find that it fell short of any real shift of power dynamics? Have you ever compared notes with another participatory design researcher only to find out their definition of participatory research and design is different than your own? Have you faced opposition from your organization in practicing research in a more participatory way? What does research even mean, what is its purpose, and how does research change from community to community, context to context? Based on that, what are the future possibilities of research?

Come, join the conversation, and see what Victor Udoewa has to say about such experiences, the different definitions of participatory research and how participatory research can actually be used to reinforce hierarchies. One way he has found to dismantle that system is to practice radical participatory research. He will share what that means, how it looks, and how you can begin moving in that direction along with a direct challenge to our community of researchers in regards to our own power.

Democratization: Working with it, not against it [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]

Perhaps no word is more likely to get researchers agitated than “democratization.” The debate about democratization is vigorous, though verging on pointless: it’s here and unlikely to be dialed back. And other research functions are talking to customers, running surveys, and conducting A/B testing.

In this community workshop, we take a step back and take a broader look at the field of insight. With viewpoints honed in data analytics, market research, and user research, our panelists discuss how democratization has been made to work effectively in their fields for quite some time, and what we can do to imagine a future beyond the debate.

Attend all of our Advancing Research community workshops

Each free virtual workshop is made up of panelists who will share short provocations on engaging ideas to discuss as a group, as well as a leader in our field to moderate. If you’re looking for discussions that challenge the status quo and can truly advance research, look no further than our workshop series. (P.S. We’ll be drawing most of our Advancing Research 2025 conference speakers from those who present at upcoming workshops—so tune in for a sneak peek of what’s to come from #AR2025!)

Collaboration: learning from other fields beyond our own [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]

For the best part of 15 years, user researchers have been experimenting with how to collaborate and join up insights and practices with data analytics, market research, CX, and more.

As ad hoc and sometimes structural collaborations start to become the norm, we will be taking a step back and asking ourselves…

• As we become more joined up are there still fundamental differences between market and user researchers?
• Are we becoming people who just do research? And if we are, what does that mean for our field?
• Where should the balance lie between generalization and specialization?
• And what might happen if we look to collaborate and learn outside of our own insight-generating field, and start collaborating with communities beyond our walls?

Attend all of our Advancing Research community workshops

Each free virtual workshop is made up of panelists who will share short provocations on engaging ideas to discuss as a group, as well as a leader in our field to moderate. If you’re looking for discussions that challenge the status quo and can truly advance research, look no further than our workshop series. (P.S. We’ll be drawing most of our Advancing Research 2025 conference speakers from those who present at upcoming workshops—so tune in for a sneak peek of what’s to come from #AR2025!)

Methodologies: Beyond the interview [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]

Researchers are being asked to help address challenges that are increasingly complex, strategic, and high-stakes. Our toolkit of methods needs to keep up with those challenges, as does our confidence and comfort with choosing, using, and combining those methods. Our Methods panelists will describe some of the exciting techniques they’re applying in their work, and discuss how they’ve overcome barriers to enriching their UXR toolkits.

Attend all of our Advancing Research community workshops

Each free virtual workshop is made up of panelists who will share short provocations on engaging ideas to discuss as a group, as well as a leader in our field to moderate. If you’re looking for discussions that challenge the status quo and can truly advance research, look no further than our workshop series. (P.S. We’ll be drawing most of our Advancing Research 2025 conference speakers from those who present at upcoming workshops—so tune in for a sneak peek of what’s to come from #AR2025!)

What UX research maturity looks like and how we get there [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series] (Videoconference)

Three of your research colleagues discussed and defended their respective positions on what UX research “maturity” looks like. Participants then engaged with them in a discussion and Q&A, facilitated by Lada Gorlenko.

“Absent a strong baseline level of data fluency, product teams struggle to harness the power of insight in their work. As UX and UXR leaders, we are uniquely positioned to define what fluency looks like for our organizations and help teams transform to achieve it.”

  – Megan Blocker

“Research has come a long way, but we have a long way to go. Our future success rests on two pivotal aspects of maturity: our leadership’s proximity to power and the use of ‘Strategic Research Programs’ to deliver value beyond Design and Product.“

 – Fatimah Richmond

“Does UX maturity matter in the age of Generative AI? Is your ability to do well as a team going to depend on your UX skills? Or your tech or people skills?”

 – Molly Stevens