#107 - Making Research Ops Visible with Benson Low of REA Group

Awkward Silences

Most people have no idea what UX researchers do. Even less known is what Research Ops Specialists do, which is why one of the Research Ops community’s main priorities is to shine a light on the people, mechanisms, and strategies that set research in motion.

In this episode of Awkward Silences, Hosts Erin May and John-Henry Forster chat with research design leader Benson Low about why it’s time to bring attention to Research Ops. They discuss the emerging role of Research Ops specialists, and Benson provides several strategies that can help communicate the value of Research Ops to stakeholders.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Ways to communicate the value of your work in Research Ops
• Tactics and strategies to gain support in your organization
• How to leverage the power of the ReOps community
• Tips for Research Ops advocates on dealing with roadblocks

Highlights:

• [00:02:32] What is Research Ops? What is the Research Ops community?
• [00:07:50] How to start advocating for Research Ops
• [00:14:49] Use ReOps community resources to create awareness
• [00:17:30] Stress the importance of research in the product development lifecycle
• [00:19:55] Communicating the impact and value your work to stakeholders
• [00:32:36 ] Advice on overcoming barriers during advocacy work

About our guest
Benson is leading and scaling the UX Research practice as the Head of Design Capability at REA Group. For over 20 years, he's led design and UX teams throughout Australia, across the emerging web, games development, start-ups, design consultancies, and enterprise product design teams. He is also a board member of the ResearchOps community, organizing workshops and meetups, and has been part of other global projects.