Efficiently Scaling Research as a Team of One
Summary
In this Q&A session, you'll hear how former clinical researcher and PhD scientist, Clemens Janssen, is running research at 15x speed, supporting the needs of Nutrisense, an health tech company. As the first researcher, Clemens will share how he's built a research culture with training, standardized processes, and templates.
Key Insights
-
•
Transitioning from academia to corporate research is driven by the desire for faster impact despite adapting to a new pace.
-
•
Ad hoc research without formal processes limits organizational buy-in and impact.
-
•
Gaining buy-in from leadership is key to securing budgets, tools, and resources for research.
-
•
An ops-first approach to UX research helps scale research activities and onboard new team members efficiently.
-
•
Empowering product managers and other teams to conduct quality research increases overall research throughput.
-
•
Training and interactive mentorship ensure scientific rigor and consistent research quality when delegating research tasks.
-
•
Storytelling with real user learnings helps shift perception of research from ad hoc to essential and pattern-driven.
-
•
Research proposals framed around saving time and reducing iterations resonate well with leadership.
-
•
Building a shared codebook and involving interview teams in coding fosters consistent qualitative data analysis.
-
•
Even with a single researcher, implementing research Ops can enable multiple parallel research tracks.
Notable Quotes
"I transitioned out of academia because I wanted to work faster and create immediate impact rather than slow, layered processes."
"Research is actually a sales role – you have to show off a little to get buy-in from the top."
"People started asking if a pattern we'd seen in one user occurred in others, and that led to formalizing qualitative analysis."
"Without buy-in, you can’t get budgets approved or tools put in place to grow research practices."
"Ops-first means standardizing processes so we can scale and onboard new team members quickly."
"I can’t work 24 hours a day; efficiency and empowering others to do some research is how I stay effective."
"Before giving someone access to research tools, we do a 60-minute one-on-one training to cover the essentials."
"It’s like knowing how to drive a car doesn’t mean you can drive a semi; research has do’s, don’ts, and methodologies."
"If we test now, we’ll save two or three iterations waiting for organic user feedback later."
"Creating shared coding schemes and having teams do first-pass coding helps maintain consistency in qualitative analysis."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"No role exists in isolation, said Fred Rogers, emphasizing interconnectedness beyond the individual."
Daniel GloydDesigning From the Inside Out: How Method Acting Can Inspire Design Research
February 12, 2026
"We fight fiercely for clients, but we’re honest about government limits and project scope to build trust."
Deirdre Hirschtritt Cesar Paredes Marie PerrotResearch is Only as Good as the Relationships You Build
November 17, 2022
"We were lost in the forest and you come across this compass, maybe all time rusty, but still something a little bit useful."
Benjamin RealMaturity Models: A Core Tool for Creating a DesignOps Strategy
October 1, 2021
"You can look at a company’s impact reports and funding sources to sniff out if something feels too good to be true."
Max Gadney Andrea Petrucci Joshua Stehr Hannah WickesAssessing UX jobs for impact in climate
August 14, 2024
"Sherbiney built a well-functioning agile train in one of the oldest organizations."
Lada GorlenkoTheme 1: Intro
January 8, 2024
"Our research power is our ability to influence change across organizations, not just gather insights."
Feyikemi AkinwolemiwaPlay to innovate: How curiosity and experimentation transform UX
March 11, 2026
"Please be sure to make sure you change your conference itinerary to your local time zone."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
March 29, 2023
"Wonder Studio automatically segments actors, maps their movements to a 3D model, and renders a synthetic avatar video."
Llewyn Paine[Demo] Deploying AI doppelgangers to de-identify user research recordings
June 5, 2024
"Celebrate progress continuously and use OKRs as a learning process to evolve goals and strategies."
Bria Alexander Benson Low Natalya Pemberton Stephanie GoldthorpeOKRs—Helpful or Harmful?
January 20, 2022
