UX360 Presentation Highlight: Conducting Foundational Research at Udemy

Jun Fukukura Helzer, Ph.D. Head of Research atUdemy

Conducting foundational research at Udemy

Video transcript below (This is an AI generated summary. There may be inaccuracies.)

Jun Helzer, the head of research at Udemy, discusses the challenges of conducting foundational research in organizations. Foundational research refers to research that investigates problems or opportunities that have not been fully defined or understood yet. Examples of foundational research include customer or market segmentation, job to be done mapping, and research questions such as what are the unmet needs of the current experience or how is the company or brand perceived compared to the competition.

The challenges that prevent foundational work from happening include a lack of resources, the way initiatives are evaluated in an organization, and stakeholders prioritizing time-sensitive work over less time-sensitive work. To overcome these challenges, researchers need to communicate and persuade the importance of foundational research and highlight the risks and missed opportunities if it is not done.

We learn how to build a case for foundational research in a product development team. The speaker emphasizes the importance of connecting stakeholders’ goals and initiatives with the research, and encourages building relationships with colleagues from different functions. The research proposal for foundational work should provide context on the business problem and research goals, and use persuasion tactics and visual elements to make it more understandable and exciting. The speaker also recommends using case studies of impactful foundational research to build confidence in the initiative’s success.

She emphasizes the importance of foundational research and its role in driving customer and financial success for companies. They suggest that researchers should advocate for a “people first” culture, which prioritizes employee happiness and connects research to company growth. The speaker highlights the challenges faced by employees in the recent mass layoffs, and the importance of research in addressing these challenges and building a more proactive and strategic culture.

The speaker calls for collaboration and feedback from stakeholders to shape research questions and scope and to develop the business case for foundational research. The speaker emphasizes the importance of engaging with research agencies early on in the research process and refers to tactics such as benchmarking and case studies. The speaker concludes by highlighting the value of research, including the potential to influence the culture and contribute to long-term success for companies.