This document summarizes Jane Davis' perspective on building a strategic UX research practice at an enterprise company. It describes her initial approaches that focused on quick wins and using research to make decisions, rather than understanding the company. She now believes research should align with company values and priorities by understanding operating principles through observation. The document outlines lessons learned from early mistakes like not building infrastructure first and emphasizes strategic alignment, flexibility, and building partnerships and processes through work.

1. BUILDINGSTRATEGICALLYIN
ENTERPRISE-FIRSTCOMPANIES
JANE DAVIS, HEAD OF UX RESEARCH AND CONTENT DESIGN, ZOOM VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS

2. BUTFIRST,ADISCLAIMER
WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT TODAY IS MY PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE!
I’M NOT SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF ZOOM.

3. OH, YOU SWEET SUMMER CHILD.
THINGS I USED
TO BELIEVE

4. STRATEGYMEANS:
• Not conducting research just for “quick wins”
• Saying no early and often
• Starting research is secondary to understanding the entire product roadmap
• Not using the research team to conduct evaluative research
• Building the infrastructure before you start research work
• Telling the organization what it needs

5. WHAT I BELIEVE NOW
EXISTENTIALISM COMES FOR US ALL.

6. THAT’S IT. THAT’S THE WHOLE THING.
STRATEGYMEANS:
•Understanding your organization’s values and
operating principles and aligning your approach to
them

7. DO > TELL
OPERATINGPRINCIPLES
Operating principles are based on observation
• What does the company reward?
• Who does the company recognize and respect?
• What does the company prioritize?
• What does the company consider unimportant?

8. THE BEST KIND OF RESEARCH: META RESEARCH
IDENTIFYINGOPERATINGPRINCIPLES
• What’s the why behind the no?
• What’s got people excited when they say yes?
• Who seems to be getting traction with their projects?
• Who will give you the full story?

9. FINDINGSTRATEGIC
ALIGNMENT

10. IN FAIRNESS I DID SAY IN THE INTERVIEW THAT I BELIEVE IN DATA-DRIVEN DECISION-MAKING
EVERYFAILUREISADATAPOINT
• Jumped straight into projects without prioritizing
• Let teams try to use research as a tie-breaker
• Carefully crafted a 90-day plan that I haven’t looked at since day 12
• Link to our team roadmap: [404]

11. LET’S JUST DO IT AND BE LEGENDS
JUMPINGSTRAIGHTINTOWORK
• Any amount of information is useful
• Any decision is better than no decision
• No matter how fast we’re moving, we can always move faster

12. I DON’T HAVE TO BE RIGHT, I JUST HAVE TO BE LESS WRONG THAN YOU
RESEARCHASTIE-BREAKER
• Good ideas come from anywhere
• Product development is a team sport
• Any data port in a storm

13. IT WAS IN A SPREADSHEET AND EVERYTHING
MAKEAPLANANDSTICKTOIT
• The only useful plan is the one you’ll actually follow
• Read the room
• High-level goals are more useful than granular plans

14. WHERE WE’RE GOING… I THINK YOU KNOW WHERE I’M GOING WITH THIS.
RUNNINGWITHOUTATEAMROADMAP
• Let researchers run their own show
• Like any other process, it’s a tool, not a goal
• You don’t need a path if you have a machete

15. BUILDINGTHEPRACTICE

16. POPULATION: ME
WELCOMETOCOMPROMISE
• Testing with internal users
• Running micro surveys to make design decisions
• Not hiring operations
• Letting product teams run research without shadowing the first few sessions
• Conducting rapid turnaround usability testing with zero notice
• Relying on social media for recruiting
• Saying no to projects that would have benefited from research attention

17. THAT’S A LONG LIST.
WHEW.

18. WHY,JANE?WHY.
• Testing with internal users
• Running micro surveys to make design decisions
• Not hiring operations
• Letting product teams run research without
shadowing the first few sessions
• Conducting rapid turnaround usability testing with
zero notice (that wound up not being used)
• Relying on social media for recruiting
• Saying no to projects that would have benefited from
research attention
Emphasize that we value internal input
Encourage, don’t quash, the desire for data
Build the process through the work
I’m going to say “brutally prioritize” but
honestly this was just me being too busy
Demonstrate our ability to speed up, not
block, product development
Build our external user research practice
Let’s say this was also “brutally
prioritizing”

19. THEFOURDAYRESEARCHPROJECT

20. HITTING ALL THE HIGHLIGHTS
BACKGROUND
• Rapid turnaround (kickoff on Monday, findings readout on Friday)
• Expressly intended to be a tie-breaker
• Low risk to users
• Team already had a clear idea of where they wanted to go

21. WHAT WE SAID
GOALS
• Evaluate the usability of the existing UI for one of our products
• Understand user preferences for layout

22. WHAT WE MEANT
GOALS
• Prove what the team already knew

23. NO ONE IS ABOVE USABILITY TESTING
APPROACH
• 30 minute usability test and concept comparison
• Social media recruit
• Task-based test and then side-by-side concept walkthrough

24. WE HAD SOME
FINDINGS
• Existing UI had significant usability and comprehension issues
• The updated version was preferred by every tester
• There were a few more, but they’re confidential

25. HAVE YOU GUESSED IT YET?
THE PUNCHLINE

26. IT’S NEVER JUST ABOUT THE RESEARCH
IMPACT
• UX Research is incorporated in our release planning
• UXR is being pulled in earlier and earlier in the process
• Teams outside Product are asking for UX Research
• Teams within Product are getting more and more ambitious with their questions and
ideas

27. WHATGOTYOUHEREWON’TGETYOU
THERE

28. WE ARE FAST, HELPFUL, INCISIVE, AND FLEXIBLE
UXRESEARCHPRINCIPLES
• Speed above all else
• Build the process through doing the work
• Cut corners strategically
• Ask: “Will we make a better decision than we would without this information, even if it’s flawed?”
• Don’t wait for permission
• Make everyone your ally

29. I *DO* HAVE STANDARDS, I PROMISE
ARUBRICFORSAYINGYES
• Answers an immediate research need
• Builds key relationships and alliances
• Creates and refines our operations processes
• Emphasizes the role of UX Research as a strategic partner in product decision-making
• Adds to the (currently quite small) foundational knowledge base
• Leads to additional research opportunities

30. INFRASTRUCTURE, INFRASTRUCTURE, INFRASTRUCTURE
WHAT’SNEXT
• Strategic partnerships across the company (Customer Success, eCommerce, Data)
• Participant panels
• Research tools and templates for non-UXR
• Trainings tailored to Zoom’s needs and current reality

31. YOU’REALLAMAZING,
THANKYOU.
YOU CAN FIND ME AT:
WWW.JANENDAVIS.COM
LINKEDIN.COM/IN/JANENDAVIS