My Favourite Research Ops Articles & Videos
My Favourite Research Ops Articles & Videos
Research Ops is a relatively new practice.
There aren’t too many resources about ReOps floating around the Internet; discovering helpful information can feel like mining for gold. It’s a major reason why I created this blog and the Research at Scale podcast.
Of course, I’m not the only one creating content about Research Ops. Over the past couple of years, I’ve learned from many people in this space. Their writing and talks have helped me take the leap from UX researcher to ReOps practitioner.
This week, I’m sharing some of my favourite pieces. It isn’t an exhaustive list; far from it. The links below are simply a collection of resources that have refined my thinking about this function.
Articles
The Research Ops framework is the starting point for most people interested in this practice. It’s fair to argue that anyone who hasn’t read it doesn’t know much about ReOps.
Emma Boulton’s post on getting started with Research Ops is one of the most practical resources for someone who wants to launch a ReOps function. I largely adopted the approach that she outlined when I started my current role.
This article from Lucy Walsh was the first I ever read about someone’s real-life experience in ReOps. Learning about Lucy’s switch from sales to participant recruitment to full-fledged Research Ops helped me understand the potential impact of this practice.
How do you know whether you need a Research Ops hire? Well, this article gives you the answers! Kim Porter, Guppy Ahluwalia, and Kasey Canlas break down the main factors you need to consider when bringing on a Research Ops team member, including which ReOps model most makes sense for your context.
Noel Lamb and her team built an Ops platform when there were hardly any resources about this field. I like that she’s explicit about how long it took to create a mature platform.
Videos
This presentation from Brigette Metzler about scaling ReOps is one that I’m still processing many months later. The idea of pace layers is particularly intriguing to me.
Jen Cardello outlines how she scaled the UX research practice at Fidelity. While her talk is not explicitly about ReOps, it’s easy to see how Research Ops can play a role in user research's overall success within a large organization.
The ReOps community’s town hall on research repos was a delight. It showcased the value of this community, with so many people playing a vital role in creating this resource.
Over to You
What are your go-to Research Ops articles or videos? Has any piece challenged or changed your approach to this work?
Please share your favourites and I’ll share them in a future blog post.
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Photo by heylagostechie on Unsplash.