Rapid (Rolling) Research Program

Overview

To accommodate the rising research demands, the research team elected to initiate a rapid research program to quickly answer research questions that often don’t fit within the timeline of other research cycles.

Program Goals

  • Design a regular reschedule to develop a streamlined and efficient research approach

  • Implement continuous program iterations as the product team and practices evolve

  • Deliver learnings in a regular 3-week cadence to provide continuous user insights and feedback

Program Resources

I created and iterated on several components that are vital to the program.

  • Overview Document: The program overview provides stakeholders with all the critical information, including a brief description, examples of suitable projects, schedule details, instructions to request support, and related files.

  • Intake Form: The intake process for rapid research is combined with the general research request pipeline to prevent confusion for our stakeholders

  • Calendar: The public rapid research calendar tracks past, current, and upcoming projects. Stakeholders can check for slot availabilities using this calendar.

  • Templates: Templates are used to streamline the planning and shareout process.

Impact

  • Built a rapid research program that’s adapted to the specific routine and needs of the company

  • Consistently delivered new research insights to stakeholders in 3-week cadences

  • Documented program processes and learnings to transfer program to 3rd party vendors

Learnings

These learnings are specific to this organization only and do not reflect how rapid research is presented in other organizations.

  • Manage stakeholder expectations from the very beginning. Not every project is suitable for rapid research. Setting the expectation early on prevents disappointment and streamlines the planning process.

  • Be adaptable and scrappy while maintaining research rigor. So much can change from the time research is requested to when it’s conducted. Often, I helped stakeholders redefine the research questions during the kick-off meeting.

  • Have a backlog of research questions ready. Planning ahead can be difficult because project timelines can change. A backlog can fill in last-minute available slots while answering research questions that haven’t been prioritized.