Hear from folks that have built research practices starting with Operations. These ReOps experts will share their successes and failures, and outline some guidelines and best practices so anyone can get started with ReOps first. Speakers include Liza Pemstein from Clever Gaby Verderber from AppFolio Brad Orego from Auth0

In this panel discussion, we'll start with basic definitions, and talk about lessons learned, best practices, and common concerns related to research democratization. Panel speakers include: Laura Oxenfeld from Drift oë Glas from Google Amanda Gelb from Asana Helen Devine from The Economist and moderated by Varun Murugesan from Apple & Banana

I've spent the last two months going deep into organizational research maturity for my latest research project. It's been a fascinating dive into the many, many components that go into creating a mature research practice at different organizations. What's especially cool is that any organization of any size can work on building its research maturity, whether or not they have dedicated UX Researchers yet. In this session, I will outline how every organization can invest in research maturity and break it down into the core components and ways to work on each one.

During this kick-off session, Ned will walk through the state of research across disciplines, where we've come from, and where we are today. He'll outline what needs to happen to move research into a strategic seat at every table. He'll also preview what you can expect at PWDR 2023 and what Great Question is working on in 2023.

I’ll share the journey of how and why I stood up a research program that gets designers, engineers, product, and managers of all kinds to collaborate and ultimately lead (you read that right, lead) research. Call it what you will- Self-serve. Speed dating. Rapid research. Round robins. Lighting research. DIY. This program increased access to customer feedback for teams who don’t have a dedicated researcher or whose project questions are small in scale but high in impact. It lets us get *enough* feedback on multiple projects at less cost, all on the same day. You'll learn how to build a sustainable program via these steps.

In this session you'll hear how Brad built a democratized research practice at Auth0 via an Ops first model, the lessons he learned along the way, and the impact it had as Auth0 grew and was acquired. Today, things look different at Auth0, so how will the research practice adapt. Come learn more about the path to and through research democratization at Auth0.

Sometimes you just can't get access to users. There comes a time when you have to stop asking nicely and just find them yourself. One method that works quite well is going to conferences. However, it may or may not be the right time investment for you. After conducting research and recruiting participants at over 10 conferences, I've got some tips and tricks I'd like to share.

Learn the three P's to research democratization that the design team at Brex use to bring customer research to more and more designers. Today teams are empowered to execute research, but it didn't happen overnight. Learn how the focus on recruiting, conducting, and accessing research has made it possible to get research done every time.

The strongest indicator of the maturity of a UX Research team is its fear, or lack thereof, of democratization. When research lacks a clear, established role and value within an organization, the fear of democratization is high: junior researchers worry about their jobs, while senior researchers struggle to differentiate themselves from democratized work and sustain impact. In this talk, we’ll focus on the requirements to successfully democratize research while increasing the value and status of the UX Researcher. No, not everyone can be a researcher, but with the right guardrails, everyone can do research, and it can be to UXRs advantage.

When we talk about “democratizing” research, often we’re describing a process of making it easier for folks who don’t have “research” in their title to enact specific processes, but what about the people with lived experience of the problem we’re trying to solve? Building relationships and community beyond our organizational context can help us harness the power of lived experience and open communication channels that make it easy for anyone to learn from their users’ authentic context.

In this session, you'll learn how Senior Product Designer and Product Marketing researchers at Alma work together to expand research impact. Hear how Libby (Product Designer) and Amy (Product Marketing Researcher) leverage their own skill sets to conduct and scale research for everyone at Alma. Learning from each other, both Amy and Libby have been able to conduct high-quality research and communicate its value and impact internally.

In this session, Liza Pemstein, Research Operations Manager will talk about her journey to feed the need for research at Clever via a ReOps first model. You'll learn how she's scaled research efforts to support all of the people who do research, what lessons she wishes she could have learned faster and what she's excited about for 2023.

For the most part, the fight to generate demand for research is won. The challenge for research leaders and their teams now centers on how to satiate the demand for research without sacrificing the integrity and robustness of their craft. The need for insights at speed and the tug o' war between research (and researcher) supply and demand means that research "democratization" and leaning on research technology have become key strategies for organizations around the world who want to deliver products and services that their customers want. As a result, product managers, designers, content designers, engineers, and more often take on the task of doing research—skilled or not. 

Learn how building trust unlocks any researcher's ability to have more impact with their work. Peter will share the past mistakes that have led him to lead each research engagement with Listening, Empathy, and Vulnerability.

In this session, Christa will share her experience starting the rapid research function at Figma, the powerhouse design platform. She'll explain why she loves the type of work and encourages folks to try Rapid Research at their organizations after implementing the learnings she had.

Hear Katya's story about entering as a researcher for a live event company at the start of a pandemic. With no research practice, Katya built out frameworks that have helped her team thrive and become an essential part of strategic product decisions at SeatGeek.

Join Lena for a session where she’ll share learnings and reflections from her work in different organizations and research teams facing some of these challenges. She will also share strategies and tactics you can try to create shared learning spaces for and with your teams.

Asking questions about expected future behavior doesn't lead to reliable data. But, through the lessons learned at Drift, an AI-based sales, service and marketing company, Laura Oxenfeld, UXR Manager helped her fine-tune her concept validation research approach to get reliable insights and satisfy product stakeholders that wanted a view into the future.

Research isn’t just about methods, and if you do just keep it about methods, you are missing an opportunity to make a strategic impact. Hear how the newly formed research team at Totally Money used coaching and influence to get a seat at the strategic table.

Claudia Natasia's years of experience in finance and research led her to develop the UXR Valuation Model. Claudia is consistently finding ways to expand the influence of UXR throughout the entire ecosystem that is the business because she fundamentally believes that UXR is both a moral and business imperative. In this talk, she'll outline how to build a research practice that mitigates risk and adds value in a recession. Learn to utilize insights to recession-proof your business.

As a researcher at AppFolio, a software development company with nearly 2,000 employees and a lived core value of listening to customers, where does Research fit? Gaby and her team have navigated these interesting waters and found their place. Adding value, delivering insights, and tracking the impact of research. Learn the processes they use and the lessons they learned along the way.