Scaling User Research

Situation

Multiple product lines + acquisitions = risk of building in the dark. A group of curious engineers asked to see user impact and help decide what to build next—not just ship tickets.

Task

Design a repeatable, lightweight research program that (1) prioritizes enhancements, (2) validates designs with real users, and (3) builds organizational empathy (PM/ENG hear users first-hand).

Actions

• Built the Customer Research Program with Customer Success to recruit strategic customers; targeted flagship platform customers (51% of ARR).

• Structured the cadence:

  • Survey to surface “what,” then 1:1 interviews to uncover “why,” followed by deep-dive validation with usability tasks.

  • One-on-one participant format to avoid seniority bias and get higher-fidelity data.

• Enabled the org: Coached engineers in open-ended, bias-free questioning; by the last cohort, engineers facilitated while I took notes.

• Shared knowledge: Created a Voice of the User program and a user research database; evangelized insights across teams.

• Operationalized the model into product planning (prioritization and validation across releases, e.g., VPP/EPS).

Program Design (How it Works)

1. Recruit (with CS): strategic customers—often upgrading or recently upgraded.

2. Survey (breadth): capture “what to improve/build.”

3. 1:1 Follow-ups (depth): screenshare pain points; capture context and constraints.

4. Deep Dive (validation): share findings, run usability tasks, align on next steps.

5. Synthesis → Roadmap: feed decisions; de-risk delivery.
   Timing sample: Q4 recruit/survey → Q1 interviews/analysis → Q1 shareback + validation.

Results

• Scale & participation: Engaged 84 real users in 2019; later, 174 survey responses guided release priorities; repeated cohorts for other products.

• Capability building: Engineers now conduct quality interviews and participate in synthesis—closing the builder–user gap.

• Roadmap confidence: Data-driven prioritization and validation before commit.

• Shipped improvements (example): “What’s new in VPP — October release” included typography, icons, buttons, inputs, error handling, headers—areas continually validated with users.

• Customer voice: “The resulting UI presentation… provided us with a solution that’s going to be very beneficial for our company.” (CRP participant)