Live NYC Panel: Building high-impact research practices with leaders from HelloFresh, Duolingo, & Webflow
On Monday, September 19, we gathered in New York City with over 40 local UXR and ReOps professionals for a live panel discussion featuring Research leaders from HelloFresh, Duolingo, and Webflow. Rally’s CEO, Oren Friedman, led hour-long discussion on what it takes to build a high-impact research practice. The panelists shared insights, strategies, and personal stories on the power of research – and how it can truly transform businesses.
Missed the event? Don’t worry, you can watch the full discussion here, and read on for the best highlights, memorable quotes, and top takeaways from the panel.
Meet the panelists
👉 James Villacci, Head of Global UX Research at HelloFresh
🔥 “My background is in human factors and applied cognition. It’s all about applying psychology and engineering into one area.”
🔥“I started at HelloFresh as a UXR team of one and grew it into a thriving department by really understanding what our customers need.”
👉 Akshay Verma, Head of UX Research at Duolingo
🔥 “My background is a little non-traditional – it’s in the humanities, I studied history and literature [and urban studies].”
🔥 “Over the last 10 years, I’ve had the privilege of working at some fun and interesting companies like LinkedIn and Spotify. Now, I have the joy of being at Duolingo.”
👉 Brad Orego, Head of Research at Webflow
🔥 “My background is in computer science and psychology. In college, I discovered Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), which is the academic side of user experience and it changed my entire career. I’ve spent the last 14 years working in UX, transitioning from a hybrid UX design role into more research about 10 years ago.”
🔥 “Contrary to James and Akshay who have been at their companies a while and built their practices from scratch, I inherited mine at Webflow; though right before this I spent 3 years at Auth0 building that team from the ground up.”
Top insights for building a research practice that drives impact
Research impact is about decision-making and confidence-building
Research needs to be actionable and lead to tangible decisions that improve the customer experience and benefit the business. It’s not just about gathering insights but ensuring they lead to outcomes.
Align research with company size and structure
In smaller companies, you can directly access leadership to align research with company goals. In larger organizations, using formal planning processes and structures helps keep research relevant as priorities change.
Researchers need to understand the business
Impactful research involves understanding the business to influence decision-making. Researchers should think like PMs and ensure their research aligns with product and business priorities.
Research Ops is critical for scaling insights and impact
Even in smaller teams, operations are essential to streamline processes, increase efficiency, and amplify the reach of research. Whether formal or informal, Research Ops plays a vital role in scaling high-impact research.
Customizing research communication is key to engagement
People in different parts of an organization consume research in different ways. Research needs to be shared through multiple modalities (e.g., live presentations, Slack, video summaries) to ensure insights are received and acted upon.
Understand which metrics matter most to your stakeholders
Measuring the ROI of research can be tricky, so it’s important to focus on the metrics that matter to your business. Whether it’s research volume or the impact of a single, high-stakes study, align with what your stakeholders care about. Even a study viewed once – if it’s by the CEO – can have significant impact.
Building relationships across departments enhances research impact
Collaborating with teams like sales and customer success provides direct access to customer pain points and feedback. This ensures research is both relevant and useful, enhancing its impact.
These takeaways are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the incredible insights shared during our panel. One of our attendees, Shima Houshyar, User Researcher at ITHAKA, took to LinkedIn to highlight their own key learnings from the event. Check out Shima’s post below for another perspective on the discussion:
Words of wisdom from our panelists…
On research impact
🎤 “The way that I look at research impact and research is how many decisions are being instilled every day. How much confidence are you building in those opportunities for your customer? The end goal is always for the customer.” – James
🎤 “Half of our job as researchers is doing the research and half of it is going on tour and sharing the results. We don’t control the decision, but we control the narrative.” – Brad
🎤 “A big point of impact focuses on how are you impacting the product itself? For many years, we could almost get away, as researchers, with being a little bit shielded from product. But now I tell my team being a good researcher, you're actually just a really good PM who is also a researcher.” – Akshay
On the importance of Research Ops
🎤 “Research Ops is about optimization, but it’s more than that. It’s about enabling not just your teams, but the entire company to participate in Research. When I think about Research Operations, it’s vital from the beginning, especially if you’re starting off. Invest in Research Operations and then scale it up.” – James
🎤 “So many companies think research ops is just a support function – scheduling things, setting up automations, making research easier. That’s a great start, but that’s not the future of research ops, and I think you’re selling yourself short if you think of it that way. When you automate something, great. But what are you doing with that free time now? How are you increasing the quality of research? How are you increasing the velocity of research? How are you making sure more people are reading the research that happens? How are you building relationships with other ops functions and integrating research into your product, marketing, and customer success life cycles? Someone has to do that, and you already have a job. Research Ops is how you find that time.” – Brad
On sharing out research insights
🎤 “How we market/share our research is under-discussed in the industry. You need to hit all of them – live talk, the pre-recorded Loom video, the slide deck, the Confluence doc, the insights repo – wherever it lives. You need to hit all of them because different people at the company consume information in different ways.” – Brad
On cross-functional relationships
🎤 “Build those relationships. Wherever you are in your organization, reach out to someone, set up a meeting, and say, ‘Hey, I want to learn more about you and I want to learn how I can help you.’” – Akshay
Turning research into a showstopper: The “James Show” approach
Ever heard of a research roadshow? Well, at HelloFresh, it’s become such a hit that it’s even outshining their all-hands meetings! Here’s the secret: they’ve turned research into a product – and it’s all about keeping things interactive and engaging.
💡 “We really made it work by adding a unique spin and turning research into a product,” said James. And this is no ordinary presentation. Think quizzes, raffle prizes, and even some friendly competition! Attendees tune in, not just for the insights, but to win prizes for getting the right answers.
So, how do they ensure everyone’s ready? “We post our findings in Slack channels and do recordings so everyone has access to them.” It’s like a research treasure hunt that culminates in a fun, 30-minute session where teams can digest key insights and share their thoughts.
But it’s more than just sharing findings once and moving on. “You want to constantly be in their ear and find unique ways to market your practice,” James said. It’s about staying top-of-mind with stakeholders – everyone from researchers and designers to marketers and even the physical operations team.
The original idea came from James himself – “They were originally called the James Shows because I started as a research team of one.” But as the company grew, so did the show! Now, it’s evolved into a company-wide event where everyone is invited to join in on the learning.
So, why not try your own spin on this? “Try your own insight shows. What might you do?” Whether it’s adding a quirky name, involving the whole team, or making the experience interactive, the goal is to make research a must-attend event.
Keep the conversation going!
Want to continue learning from the pros? Catch the full event recording here and don’t forget to connect with our amazing panelists:
👏 Brad
👏 Akshay
👏 James
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👋 What's Rally?
Rally is a Research Operations Platform that removes the pain of recruitment and study management to help you talk to your users at scale and make better, faster product decisions.