Affirm

Overview

I joined Affirm as part of an 11-person User Researcher team to support a 2,000+ person company. 

In my initial role, I served as the lead researcher for the Rewards team, where I conducted a comprehensive Diary Study to evaluate the comprehension of their Cash Back Rewards program.

After the Rewards project concluded, I redesigned the company’s Research Democratization program and built it to scale. 

While in the process of launching the Research Democratization program's enhanced 2.0 version to meet growing demand, I was presented with an additional opportunity. I was entrusted with the role of Head of Research for the Servicing and Repayment team, the largest and most recent addition to the company's internal organization. As the sole researcher for this team, I was responsible for establishing a robust research framework from scratch and supporting their urgent research needs.

Needs assessment

A needs assessment can encompass various approaches within the realm of research.

When serving as a dedicated research partner for a team, I find it valuable to conduct monthly or quarterly scoping workshop meetings with key stakeholders.

The purpose of these meetings is to identify the team's current challenges and questions, as well as anticipate upcoming inquiries. I also strive to provide the team with pertinent information by addressing questions from previous workshops and offering data-driven answers. This helps the team gauge the extent of their knowledge and identify areas that require further exploration.

Additionally, alongside these comprehensive scoping workshops, there are occasional smaller project requests that arise while I am engaged in other ongoing projects. To handle these ad hoc requests, I carefully assess their business significance and determine whether they take priority over my existing projects. If the request aligns with my available bandwidth, I either incorporate it as a full project or adapt it as a modified democratized research endeavor. In cases where my availability is limited, these projects can be slated for the subsequent team scoping workshop if they remain relevant.

By conducting regular scoping workshops and addressing project requests strategically, I aim to ensure that the research efforts align with the team's needs and priorities, fostering a comprehensive and well-informed approach.

Identify themes and prioritization

To organize the questions and prioritize them, themes are identified based on company goals and available resources. This forms the foundation for building the research plan. 

Organize data

Once all the research data, including transcripts, are consolidated in a centralized location, I begin exploring and tagging the data using Project Tags that I create, tailored to each specific project.

These tags enable a granular analysis, delving into each action and capturing key themes, general insights, and valuable opportunities.

After meticulously tagging the data, I proceed to arrange the tags in an affinity map format. This visualization technique helps identify connections, patterns, and relationships between different tags, enabling a holistic understanding of the research findings.

In addition to the qualitative data tagging process, I also organize any quantitative data from the project.

This may involve maintaining a separate Excel spreadsheet dedicated to quantitative insights, allowing for efficient organization and analysis of numerical data.

By diligently exploring, tagging, and organizing both qualitative and quantitative data, I ensure a comprehensive and structured approach to derive insights and identify actionable opportunities from the research findings.

Identify insights, themes, opportunities, and golden nuggets 

After synthesizing all the data, I adopt a holistic perspective and analyze the bigger picture that emerges. At this stage, it is crucial to cut through the abundance of information and discern underlying themes that may not be immediately apparent. This ability to identify subtle yet significant patterns and insights is where the magic happens for a researcher.

By processing and distilling the synthesized data, I strive to uncover those golden nuggets of opportunity and insight that hold immense value. These hidden gems provide unique perspectives and actionable recommendations for the team.

Build research report

Leveraging these valuable findings, my next step is to skillfully craft a captivating and insights-driven story.

Through this storytelling approach, I can effectively communicate the research findings in a cohesive and impactful manner, ensuring that the team is fully informed and genuinely inspired by the generated insights and recommendations.

To enhance the effectiveness of the storytelling process, I break down the insights and recommendations based on their timeliness, impact, and resource requirements.

This strategic breakdown allows the team to prioritize and understand the urgency, significance, and necessary resources associated with each insight or recommendation.

By presenting the findings in this structured and actionable manner, I empower the team to make informed decisions and take the appropriate steps to address the identified opportunities or challenges.

This approach ensures that the research report not only informs but also motivates the team to take meaningful action based on the valuable insights uncovered.