Episode 208: Scaling Research Ops to Drive Organizational Change with Kate Towsey

22 snips

Jan 29, 2025

Kate Towsey, an independent research ops advisor and former manager at Atlassian and the BBC, shares her expertise in research operations. She discusses the evolution of research ops and its vital role in aligning product strategy with organizational growth. Key topics include strategies for effective participant recruitment and the importance of collaboration among product managers, designers, and researchers. Kate emphasizes how democratizing research can improve product decisions and highlights the necessity of structured processes for managing insights.

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ANECDOTE

Kate's Research Ops Origin

Kate Towsey's journey into Research Ops began in content strategy.
She transitioned into building research infrastructure at GDS, addressing knowledge management issues.

INSIGHT

Research Ops' True Purpose

Research Ops enables organizations to benefit from customer knowledge, going beyond just research teams.
It's about building systems for knowledge access and absorption, empowering better decisions.

ADVICE

Starting Research Ops

Start Research Ops implementation with the most painful point, usually participant recruitment.
Address pain points shared by product managers, researchers, and designers.

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In this episode, Melissa Perri sits down with Kate Towsey, an authority on research operations and author of "Research That Scales." They dive into the significance of research ops in aligning product strategy and operations within a company, emphasizing how research can provide strategic insights essential for product development and organizational growth.

Kate discusses the evolution and necessity of research ops, sharing her journey from content strategy to pioneering the field. She highlights how effective research ops facilitate knowledge management, ensuring that valuable insights are not just gathered but are used to inform business decisions across an organization.

Tune in to discover how Kate's insights can transform your approach to integrating research into product strategy and the benefits of a well-structured research ops framework.

You’ll hear us talk about:

- 08:20 - Solving Recruitment Pain Points

Kate elaborates on the common starting point in research ops: participant recruitment. She discusses how managing this aspect effectively can impact product managers, researchers, and designers by enabling more seamless customer interactions.

- 28:52 - Democratizing Research through Collaboration

Melissa and Kate explore the importance of collaboration between product managers, UX designers, and researchers. They argue that while each role has its specialties, working together can democratize research and lead to better product decisions.

- 42:40 - Breaking Down Silos Between Teams

The discussion turns to the silos that exist within organizations, especially between product marketing and product management. Kate and Melissa share strategies for overcoming these divides to improve customer insights and product outcomes.

Episode Resources:

- Find Kate on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katetowsey/

- Purchase Kate's book, "Research That Scales," on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Research-That-Scales-Operations-Handbook/dp/1959029223/

- Subscribe to the Product Thinking Podcast newsletter for more insights here: https://productinstitute.kit.com/2c8b2a0136

Listen to the full episode to learn more about incorporating research ops into your strategy.

Timestamps:

00:00 Highlights

00:56 Intro

02:20 Dear Melissa

06:57 Kate Towsey's Journey into Research Ops

10:46 Understanding Research Operations

16:14 Challenges in Conducting Customer Research

23:38 The Shift of Research Ops to a Strategic Role

32:06 Collaboration in User Research

35:49 Right Tools to Scale Research

42:40 Research Ops and Product Ops Synergy