317 - Investigative Reporting is Product Management
Oct 2, 2023
auto_awesome
Ari Zelmanow, Head of UX Research for Twilio's Communications business and a retired police detective turned market detective, discusses how adopting a newsroom approach enables research teams to build knowledge and drive impact. They explore the importance of feedback, the role of researchers as investigative journalists, and the implementation of the newsroom concept. They also touch on the democratization of research and share entertainment recommendations.
Applying a detective mindset to research helps build compelling insights based on investigating and exploring.
Shifting the researcher's mindset from output-focused to outcome-focused enables them to provide valuable counsel and contribute to business growth.
Deep dives
Ari Zellmanau's unconventional background informs his approach to gathering customer feedback
Ari Zellmanau, head of UX Research for Twilio's Communications Business, discusses his unique background as a former police detective and how it influences his approach to gathering customer feedback. He highlights the importance of investigating and exploring like a detective, and how he applies this mindset to research. His unconventional route to research gives him a fresh perspective and a strong focus on building cases and presenting compelling insights, rather than just collecting data.
Ari Zellmanau's framework for thinking like a consultant to accelerate career development
Ari Zellmanau shares his framework for thinking like a consultant to accelerate career development. He emphasizes the importance of delivering counsel, not just insights or data, as a researcher. Drawing parallels to consultants, he suggests that researchers should focus on outcomes rather than outputs, and provide valuable counsel based on their expertise. By shifting the mindset from being output-focused to outcome-focused, researchers can significantly contribute to business growth, value creation, adaptability, risk reduction, and speed.
Ari Zellmanau's newsroom approach to research and its impact on decision-making
Ari Zellmanau introduces the concept of a newsroom approach to research, comparing researchers to investigative journalists. He explains how researchers can collect evidence from various sources, report insights like news anchors, and broker outcomes like hostage negotiators. This newsroom framework enables research teams to stay on top of breaking news, prioritize impactful stories, and deliver timely insights to the business. By continuously reporting the news and its implications in real-time, researchers can drive informed decision-making and contribute to business growth.
Ari Zellmanau's perspective on the democratization of research
Ari Zellmanau shares his evolving perspective on the democratization of research. He emphasizes that researchers should welcome and encourage others in the organization to collect evidence, as it enhances the quality and context of their research. Rather than fearing the loss of their job or exclusive control over research, researchers should focus on training others to conduct effective research. The goal is to gather as much evidence as possible to build better stories and make informed decisions. Democratization should be viewed as an opportunity to expand the reach and impact of research within the organization.
Ari Zelmanow is Head of UX Research for Twilio's Communications business. A retired police detective turned market detective, Ari now investigates human behavior as it relates to shopping, buying, and using products to deliver valuable outcomes for businesses.
In this episode, Ari and Roddy dive into how adopting a newsroom room approach enables research teams to build knowledge and drive impact throughout the entire organization. Ari shares his unique framework for growing researchers into trusted consultants for business leadership, and much more. Here, we outline three takeaways and encourage you to download the full transcript below for more.
One of the most valuable tools researchers have at their disposal is feedback - from the customers you have to the ones you want to have. Sign up for a free trial with the DISQO CX platform to get started.
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode