Gloria Osardu - Slowing Down to See the System

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Apr 29, 2025

Gloria Osardu, Senior Director and Global Head of UX Research at Yahoo, emphasizes the power of slowing down in research to foster meaningful insights. She shares how her journey from Ghana shapes her empathetic approach to leadership and the importance of perspective in technology adoption. The discussion dives into aligning research with business goals and the significance of asking the right questions. By promoting collaboration and understanding stakeholder dynamics, Gloria highlights how these elements can drive impactful change in organizations.

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INSIGHT

Slow Down To See The System

Researchers should slow down and ask broader questions about where the world and business are going.
Understanding leaders' commitments and fears makes research more intentional.

ANECDOTE

Curiosity Rooted In Upbringing

Gloria credits her Ghanaian upbringing and parents for teaching curiosity and widening perspective.
That upbringing drove her to compare contexts and ask questions often taken for granted in design.

INSIGHT

From Code To Intentional Design

Gloria connected software engineering to informatics, shifting focus to intentional, intuitive design.
Her industry-agnostic view asks what users need across healthcare, finance, and education.

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Gloria Osardu urges researchers to slow down, understand the business, and partner with intention—sharing why empathy, alignment, and asking the right questions are the foundation for research that matters.

Highlights include:

05:02 – How did your parents shape your worldview and curiosity?
15:22 – Why is success as a research leader about facilitating others?
24:26 – What does “understanding the business” really mean?
30:43 – What does “skin in the game” mean for stakeholders?
45:24 – How has embracing slowness changed your approach to leadership?

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Who is Gloria Osardu?

Gloria is a Senior Director and Global Head of UX Research, Brand, and Consumer Insights at Yahoo!, where she leads initiatives to deepen Yahoo’s understanding of consumer behaviour, aligning the company’s brand, product, and marketing strategies with these insights.

Before joining Yahoo!, Gloria was Senior Director and Head of UX Research and Insights at Gusto, where she built and led Gusto’s Global Product Experience Research Team, overseeing both research and research operations professionals.

She has also held senior research roles at Amazon Web Services, where she led UX Research Operations and Programs, and at Capital One, where she headed UX Research for their Enterprise AI and ML Platforms.

With extensive commercial experience in customer insights and analytics, Gloria also brings an impressive academic background, holding a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction, a Master of Science in Applied Health Informatics, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.

A committed contributor to our field, Gloria is a long-standing mentor with the Computing Research Association and has been featured in User Weekly, as well as on podcasts like Black Stories and Saving UX.

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Find Gloria here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gloriaosardu/

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