What is it? “Stakeholder” is the term used to describe anyone who holds a significant interest or concern in the research outcomes. Typically stakeholders include cross functional team members, clients and/or others that may be affected by the research study, responsible for contributing to it (e.g. creating stimuli, providing background data, etc.,) or be required to act on the learnings.

A stakeholder may be anyone (e.g. product manager, designer, developer, project sponsor, etc.) responsible for or impacted by the research.

When is it best used? All research projects have stakeholders.

What does it entail? Ideally, stakeholders should be involved in research planning to clarify research goals, provide business context and ensure alignment with goals, ask and prioritize questions, confirm priorities, share existing information, knowledge, and hypotheses. 

When possible, core stakeholders should be involved throughout the research process to generate a vested interest in the outcome, add credibility to the study, provide ongoing context, increase their understanding and expedite subsequent research activities. In sum, stakeholder involvement maximizes the impact of the research and creates ownership in the outcome. 

Interchangeable term: Sponsors, interested parties 

Use in a sentence: Participation in research projects can help stakeholders understand and empathize with customers and prospects. 

Related terms: Project team, clients

Visual: No

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