April 2025

Know when research is needed and when it's not

Carol Rossi

Do Only the Research that Matters

We have limited time and resources. We need to be sure we're focused on only doing the research that will help de-risk decisions. In this course, you'll learn a proven and flexible prioritization framework based on an Uncertainty + Risk + Cost approach. If you decide research is needed, you'll learn how to set it up for maximum impact from the start. Whether it's time for quarterly planning, you're in a 20-minute standup, or in a Slack convo - this framework can be used anytime you're trying to decide whether you need to do research or should go straight to development. This is a highly interactive, hands-on course. You'll work independently as well as with other participants to come away with a completed worksheet where you've prioritized 3 actual research ideas.

Be confident your team is doing research that will have real impact

You lead researchers, whether you're in Research, Design or Product, and you want confidence in the impact of your research investment.

You are a senior, lead, staff, principal IC researcher who wants to have more impact and grow your business acumen.

Your team is doing what you think is the right research but the insights are falling flat

Who is this course for

What you’ll get out of this course

You'll prioritize several real-world projects using the framework, assessing each potential project to determine which studies need to be done and which don’t.

Develop a repeatable framework to identify when research is actually needed, prioritize the right studies, and track impact

Using a worksheet, you'll prioritize your research projects according to key criteria like Clarity, Risk, and Cost. In addition to the takeaway completed worksheet, working through the framework with peers is attendees' favorite thing about this approach.

Create a worksheet you can use to gather, assess, and prioritize research projects

You'll determine how to include key stakeholders in the prioritization activity, and create scripts for how to communicate your final prioritization decisions with sensitivity to organizational process and stakeholder feelings.

Increase confidence in how to involve stakeholders in your prioritization process 

Without literally writing down the impact of research, we can't articulate the true impact it has had throughout the org. You'll see how simple it can be to track post-research impact in a worksheet.

Communicate post-research impact using tools you already have

<ul><li>What we mean by impact and why prioritization is important</li><li>Preparing to prioritize: deciding who's involved in the process</li><li>Overview of the prioritization process</li><li>Gathering requests for research projects</li></ul>

Session 1: Setting the stage

<ul><li>Assess and Prioritize projects</li><li>Communicate decisions to stakeholders</li><li>Post-research: Identify and track impact</li><li>Lock in key learnings and identify your next steps</li></ul>

Session 2: Prioritizing your projects and tracking impact

Course syllabus

Testimonials from prior attendees

Meet your instructor

We'll meet for 2 sessions of 2 hours each. These will be live, highly interactive sessions, where you'll work through the prioritization model. In addition to learning from Carol, you'll develop skills through interactions with other attendees.

Two consecutive days

There is 30-60 minutes of pre-work before our first live session.<ul><li>Gather details for 3 actual research projects you will prioritize during the workshop.</li><li>A 12 minute pre-course video introduces basic terms and concepts to help us hit the ground running when the course begins.</li></ul>

Offline projects

Carol will be available on Zoom and in the community for 30 minutes the day after our last session to answer any remaining questions.

Bonus: Optional AMA

Course schedule

This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects

Active hands-on learning

You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams

Interactive and project-based

Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you

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About this course

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