Jan Balata

The product manager and designer send a research request — typically in Notion or Jira. It defines the research questions, target groups or personas, what is already known, what the team will do with the outcomes, and deadlines. A clear brief prevents wasted effort on both sides.

Based on the brief and a kick-off meeting, I put together a research plan: refined research questions, chosen methods, and a schedule. For this type of project I often propose a co-design workshop — it grounds abstract discussions in tangible design artefacts and lets participants clearly assign priorities to each need and its design manifestation.

I define sample size, segmentation, and recruiting strategy — then operationalise it. This means deciding how many users and non-users to include, which persona to target, and which channel to use: invitations via email or social, outreach through CSM or professional services consultants, or platforms like Calendly, Respondent, and UserInterviews.

Before fieldwork starts I prepare the session agenda: consent form, privacy notice, signed NDA, list of topics, interview questions, and supporting materials — templates for notes, Miro boards for co-design activities. I collaborate on the guide with product managers and designers so they are fully engaged in the research and can make the most of the insights.

I meet participants, facilitate the conversation or co-design workshop, and navigate the interview to cover all topics while staying on track. Dot voting reveals how participants prioritise features — equivalent to money spent on development. Product managers and designers are invited to observe and ask follow-up questions at specific moments; developers sometimes join as well.

The majority of the work happens after the sessions. I transcribe all recordings (using tools like Condens), collect all notes, and run thematic analysis and affinity mapping to uncover new topics and connected themes in the data. This is a collaborative activity — PMs and designers contribute alongside me.

The final stage of processing all collected data: writing insights, assembling the research report, and preparing supporting materials — a Slack post summary or a short video walkthrough — so the findings reach people in the format that suits them.

I present the report to key stakeholders from the product vertical: product managers, designers, front-end and back-end developers. The goal is to ensure alignment and action on top of what we learned. The report is added to a Reports & Insights repository for secondary analysis, and shared in a dedicated Slack channel.

Using a Value × Effort matrix from Design Thinking, the PM, developer lead, and designer sort out and prioritise ideas together. Dot voting and participant effort estimates ensure the data from research arrives with clear priority attached — and that design, research, product, and engineering are collaborating from the start.