Our team conducts plenty of user interviews and usability tests, but I feel like our findings just end up in reports nobody reads. We're not seeing our research actually shape product strategy or design choices. How do you create a user research strategy that product managers and executives actually pay attention to? I'm tired of being seen as just the "feedback collector."
I've been there! The breakthrough for us came when we stopped treating research as isolated studies and started building a cohesive user research strategy that directly ties to business objectives. What really helped was this guide that shows how to connect research questions to key product decisions before you even start recruiting participants. It emphasizes framing research around reducing business risk and identifying opportunities rather than just "understanding users." The templates for creating research roadmaps that align with product planning cycles were particularly useful for getting stakeholders engaged from the start. Here's the resource that changed our approach: https://clay.global/blog/ux-guide/ux-strategy