Maria Rosala

Are your research discoveries really discoveries? Or are you collecting validation for your own assumptions?That’s just one of the big questions Maria Rosala, Director of Research at Nielsen Norman Group, tackled in our second-ever live “podinar.” Maria shared her expertise on conducting thoughtful discovery research and user interviews.Listen to (or watch!) the episode to learn:Why the discovery process is a non-negotiable part doing quality user research Maria’s favorite discovery methodsHow to get stakeholder buy-inTips for conducting better, more insightful interviews& more...Highlights[00:01:33] What exactly is discovery research?[00:04:41] Are your discoveries really discoveries? Maria explains what many research teams get wrong about the discovery process.[00:12:16] The importance of evangelizing the discovery process to get the buy-in you need.[00:16:40] Does discovery research have to be a big, lofty undertaking? Maria shares how teams can adapt the process to the needs and constraints of their project.[00:24:25] How do you know when you’ve gathered enough insights? How many people do you need to talk to?[00:30:02] How to use an interview guide (not a script) for better user interviews.[00:32:04] Recommended tools and processes for analysing discovery research results.[00:34:36] Discovery research for B2B software.[00:40:04] Measuring the ROI of discovery research.

Maria Rosala, Director of Research at Nielsen Norman Group and former UK Home Office UX researcher, brings research ops and practical qualitative expertise. She discusses how research repositories surface knowledge, prevent duplicate work, and support collaboration. Culture and curator skills matter as much as tools. She also explores how AI can help surface connections and augment repository curation.