The best-kept secret in research value: project sponsorship!
We’re excited to announce our first Project Sponsor, Reduct.video, is returning to sponsor two projects for our upcoming Ask Like A Pro® workshop series.
Reduct is a transcription, analysis & synthesis and editing tool for researchers and others who want to uncover meaningful stories in audio and video recordings. I fell in love with it four years ago and have been a huge fan ever since!
What does it mean to be a project sponsor?
Ask Like A Pro project sponsorship is an outside-the-box solution to stretching user research resources and providing opportunities for UX researchers to upskill. By working with Ask Like A Pro student researchers, sponsors get their business and most revenue-critical questions answered quickly and at a fraction of the cost of hiring a research agency. They serve as the project stakeholders to ensure the research meets their objectives. Students are guided through a tested, proven approach to user research, so the insights provided are reliable and actionable.
Think your organization might be a good fit for joining Reduct, along with previous sponsors UsabilityHub and Team.AI, as an Ask Like A Pro Project sponsor? Read on!
How does project sponsorship work?
One of the most unique aspects of Ask Like A Pro is the real-world research project student participants complete during the series. Project sponsors work with me first to identify appropriate study topics for the cohort. Each cohort offers multiple evaluative and generative projects, and researchers may work solo or in pairs. When pairing researchers on a project, they take different approaches to the questions set (e.g. test different hypotheses, gather feedback from separate segments, etc.) but often deliver findings together.
I provide feedback and mentorship to the researchers at every step of the way. And while a lot of the project communication takes place directly between student researchers and the sponsor/stakeholder, I also meet with the sponsors regularly.
Sponsorship is a win-win-win!
Curiosity Tank’s goal is to upskill and train the next generation of UX researchers.
The students’ goals include improving UX research skills, learning UX research from an expert, new career pivots, and/or exploring specific question sets for their current or prospective organization. The students gain real research experience working on sponsors’ business-critical questions. In the end, they have the material and experience to create an excellent case study to show off their hands-on UXR experience and real-life skills.
Our sponsors’ goals vary, but often include getting research value when they don’t have a lot of internal research resources available. Ask Like A Pro researchers complete 9 studies in 9 weeks. Sponsors (and the industry) also benefit by supporting the training of more researchers!
Sponsorship is a win for our program, our sponsors and our students!
How much extra work is sponsoring a project?
Sponsoring an Ask Like A Pro project might be a company’s first experience with bringing in outside research support. (Great practice for the internal staff!) Sponsors stay involved throughout the project, meeting with researcher(s) 1-2 times/week to represent the business’ needs and guide the project so it stays on track and on time.
Sponsors serve as stakeholders and …
Shape and provide feedback on the research goals, project plan, and anything else that needs input in a timely manner to ensure project scope meets the business needs
Connect researchers with internal SMEs and share any prior knowledge or learnings to prevent rework
Help identify recruiting criteria and support recruiting efforts when applicable
May attend interviews. Interview recordings are also available
Guide the researchers in how to present their findings to stakeholders on the broader team, inspire the team to act on the learnings and reinforce the value of research in the sponsor organization
What do Ask Like A Pro researchers do?
Possibly the greatest benefit of project sponsorship when compared to an internship: sponsors don’t spend time teaching their new team how to research! Feedback and suggestions are welcome, but I help them hone their skills through the workshops, office hours and 1:1 time. Ask Like A Pro researchers will:
Formulate agendas for all meetings
Book all meetings and communicate changes
Manage the project
Solicit feedback and make it clear what they need feedback on
Author their research plan, survey screener and discussion guide
Lead the recruiting efforts
Schedule and conduct all the interviews
Analyze and synthesize their findings
Create and finalize all documents including a topline report
Present the findings in a slide deck with key quotes and video highlight reels to the project sponsor and their broader team
We love our sponsors!
Ask Like A Pro Alumni are truly grateful for the real-world opportunities our project sponsors provide, and it shows in the hours of excellent work students put into conducting their studies and producing impactful research presentations.
Interested in partnering with Curiosity Tank as an Ask Like A Pro project sponsor? Send me a message here!
A tool for your next stakeholder (or consultant) meeting
One of my favorite tools for working with stakeholders like our project sponsors is this Sample Stakeholder Kick off Questions list. It helps us set stakeholders up for success by agreeing on core questions in advance. Hiring some outside help? Make sure they’re asking YOU these key questions, too!
Upcoming Events
Jan 27th - 9:30 am PST: DeltaCX Podcast: The Rise of Research Ops. Tune in here. [free]
Feb 1st - 5 pm PST: Live Info Session about Ask Like A Pro with Alumni. [free]
Feb 7th - 6:30 pm PST: CPHUX Event: How to document and present research learnings. Details to come. Register here [free]
Feb 8th 4 - 5:30 PM PST: Alumni Mixer/Meet-and-greet with guest speaker Julia DeBari [Alumni only]
Feb 16th 11 AM - 12 PM PST: Increase Your Research Efficiency, Product Management Today Event. Register here
Speak up, get involved, share the love
Follow me on LinkedIn for more UXR tips and UX discussions.
Read about Curiosity Tank workshops (the next Ask Like A Pro series begins in February/March!)
Participate as an On-Demand, or as an Observer, for less!
Forward this email to someone who you think might enjoy it. Better yet, sign them up here. It will be the gift that keeps on giving.
Ask us questions related to user research. Seriously, bad research keeps us up at night!
And that’s a wrap!
We try to alternate between a theme and UX/UXR jobs, events, classes, articles, and other happenings every few weeks. Thank you for all of the feedback. Feedback is a gift and we continue to receive very actionable input on how to make Fuel Your Curiosity more meaningful to you.
What do you think? We're constantly iterating and would love to hear your input.
Stay curious,
- Michele and the Curiosity Tank team
PS: We’re only offering two public Ask Like A Pro cohorts this year, and the next one starts in February/March! If you’re ready to register, click here to grab your spot! Need a little more info?Join our live info session with Alumni on Feb 1st at 5 pm PT to learn more.
