TRIP | The Research Inclusion Project

We're back!!----------------------------------------------------------------------"Accessibility gets baked in from the start, not as an afterthought. It's just part of the thought process in designing good research."Steve Levine and Kari Bassett-Levine, co-leads of the Accessible Insights Consortium, join TRIP to discuss the evolution of inclusive research and why accessibility isn't a nice-to-have, it's fundamental to better research. Together they lead a volunteer-driven initiative that's transforming how the industry thinks about including people with disabilities in research. The Accessible Insights Consortium's updated toolkit is now the field's go-to resource and has been expanded in the past year with checklists to help researchers along the way. Their ongoing "Research on Research" initiative is gathering direct input from people with disabilities on how to phrase demographic questions, sequence them appropriately, and use language that feels authentic results coming soon!Learn more about their work:Accessible Insights Consortium webpage: https://www.insightsassociation.org/accessibility-insights-consortium (toolkit download, meeting info, resources)Insights Association events: https://www.insightsassociation.org (watch for CRC in fall and spring announcements)Upcoming AIC meeting: July 8th featuring Meryl Evans on "Designing Research and Marketing That Works for More People Without Creating More Work"------------------------------------Support TRIP: https://buymeacoffee.com/trippodcastTRIP is a self-funded podcast exploring representation and inclusion in the insights industry, hosted by Kristin Spraggins and Katrina Noelle, and produced in partnership with ⁠Hasty Storytelling (Greg Hasty and Vic Billones)If you’ve found value in our conversations, please consider supporting the show by buying us a coffee!

"Everyone's got some level of effort to be inclusive, to have accessibility built in."Shamsu Bhaidani, Founder at Bello has a history of working side-by-side with the market research industry. His latest venture, Bello (https://letsbello.com) offers simplified solutions for qualitative research. Shamsu and his team started with the goal to make sure they could include everyone in research. They started from a product/feature view, making sure that all of their tech is as accessible and easy to use as possible, and supports people with different abilities, connection speeds and tech savviness. The conversation is a great reminder to not assume tech proficiency - on the part of participants and researchers! Always be sure to check and double check that everyone can access everything they need to make the project successful and be "shepherds of the research". Thanks to Shamsu for talking to TRIP from an inclusive research platform perspective!

Check the assumptions you have about target audiences - especially with Black consumers. Don't assume the data you have is enough, look into the nuances to guide your business decisions. Dawn's team at Mahogany Minds helps brand teams not only ask questions, but to learn more but know the optimal questions to ask to get beyond initial perceptions. On this episode Dawn talks about brands that have successfully - and sometimes less successfully! - connect with Black consumers. Everyone's living a different experience and it's important to make Black customers feel seen. That indicates a long term commitment by the brand and helps create an authentic relationship with the brand. --------------------------------------------------Connect with Dawn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnvcarr/Join Mahogany www.mahogany-minds.com Work with Mahogany: www.mahoganyinsights.com

"You don't have to do 0 to 100 things in your first study you try, but little things can make a difference."In this episode of TRIP, Rajasi Desai shares her journey and practical strategies for fostering inclusivity in user research. She emphasizes the impact of small, intentional steps—such as using multilingual and offline surveys, adapting scheduling for global participants, and making space for human connection. Rajasi also highlights internal initiatives like inclusive UX book clubs and team-wide efforts to diversify participant recruitment.Tune in to learn about inclusion with recommendations:Start Small and Iterative – Focus on making one aspect of your research process more inclusive each time, rather than trying to overhaul everything at once.Use Multilingual and Offline Recruitment Methods – Incorporate surveys in multiple languages and distribute them both online and offline to reach underrepresented groups.Foster Cultural Sensitivity in Execution – Learn to pronounce participants' names, adjust scheduling for global time zones, and create space for vulnerable conversations to build genuine rapport.Links to Resources:6 design failures that could have been avoided with inclusive research Global UX - Designing for gender equity Making the web a more inclusive place for minority languages (video) from Inclusive Design 2022. Their yearly conference is available on YouTube.--------------------------------------------Rajasi is a Principal UX Researcher at MathWorks, where she leads the Inclusive UX Group. Her work centers on creating processes that enable researchers and designers to be inclusive in their work. She has presented her work at prominent conferences such as UXPA Boston, UXPA International, ICML, NeurIPS, and ConveyUX. Rajasi holds a graduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley.--------------------------------------------TRIP is a self-funded project, produced in partnership with Hasty Storytelling, and is dedicated to raising awareness of new research practices for inclusion, challenging the status quo, and identifying assumptions in the industry by talking to people who are pushing in the insights industry. To support our production with a donation and receive a shoutout for you and your business visit: https://buymeacoffee.com/trippodcastTo learn more about The Research Inclusion Project visit: https://theresearchinclusionproject.com

On this episode we speak with Merve Basdogan, Assistant Professor of Instructional Technology at Texas Tech University about how technology can bridge the gaps in learning and teaching practices. The UDL framework she uses focuses on 3 key principles: engagement, representation, and expression. Merve is working towards personalized instructions to bridge the digital divide for older adult learners to help them interact with the technological world. Get inspired by the lessons learned in her technology mentorship program and think about how they may relate to interactions with research participants: engage in small talk to built rapport, give relevant/relatable reasons they should to learn a technology, and use jargon-free (and emoji-free) language, and give them practical opportunities. Read more about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) here: https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/ed-magazine/14/01/all-along. We were so grateful to connect with Merve at TQR in January 2024, stay tuned for next year's lineup here: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/ ------------------------- Dr. Merve Basdogan is an Assistant Professor of Instructional Technology in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at the College of Education, Texas Tech University. As a post-phenomenological scholar, Merve’s research focuses on a diverse array of topics, including the philosophy of technology, technology-enhanced teaching and learning environments, critical AI literacy, digital ethics, and cyberbullying. In 2023, Dr. Basdogan was awarded an AT&T Foundation Grant for her project, "Fostering Digital Literacy in Rural Communities: A University Student-led Technology Mentoring Program," which connects adults over 65 with teacher candidates in west Texas. LinkedIn

Jennifer walks the TRIP co-hosts through project design choices her team has made to 'design with people, not for people' that have resulted in actionable insights and successful product and line launches. Hear how REI uses their 'focused groups' methodology to make participants with similar contexts comfortable in research - and how they use these sessions to in turn making customers more comfortable in (and excited about getting out in) the great outdoors. And they can see the results in their brand tracker to ensure the research is having the impact they intend. Jennifer also shares an example of understanding the role of gender in sizing and fit. In that case they used 'friendship pairs' to create safe and relaxed environments that allow the team to get authentic insights to inform the design of the new Active Pursuits line. Check out more info: About REI's co-created product collection with Outdoor Afro here REI Co-op Active Pursuits here Path Ahead Ventures here And to learn more about 828's cultural empathy work, reach out here

Lisa and Lindsay joined forces recently on a research-on-research study with participants with a range of disabilities. They discovered many small, simple tweaks and changes that researchers can use to make research more accessible to those with disabilities. In the episode they emphasize the value of including people with those needs in the research design, the importance of language and being sure to recognize assumptions you might be making as a research team along the way. For this participant group in particular, it's important to first make a conscious decision about if you will ask about the abilities and then, if it is relevant to do so, explain why you are asking for information about their abilities during the screening process. It can be as simple as stating that you want to hear from a diverse set of participants. Carry this simplicity and transparency into the research itself; ask simple, straightforward questions and specify why you're asking why you're asking the questions. Then give people the space they need to answer the questions. As Lisa says, "it doesn't have to be overwhelming and expensive. You can make simple changes to make your research more inclusive." Tune in to get inspired on the small changes you can make - and how to explain the need to make those changes to your stakeholders

This is a Live Recording with guest Stacy Penna of Lumivero recorded at TQR (The Qualitative Report). Stacy is Lumivero's Growth Marketing Director and host of Between the Data, a NVivo Podcast Series. She shares her thoughts on the importance of inclusive insights with TRIP on the TQR stage, with time built for audience Q&A. ------------------------------------- As the Growth Marketing Director of Lumivero’s research software: Citavi, NVivo, @RISK and XLSTAT, Stacy is committed to managing the research growth marketing team to develop global campaigns from strategy to final marketing execution. Her team develops and implements successful marketing initiatives, such as thought leadership events, the Lumivero Community, Lumivero Conference, across digital and traditional channels to promote their software globally.

In episode 5 of season 4, we meet Ricardo and Hung, the founders of BIEN, a motion design company driven by diversity and inclusion and a pioneer in their industry. Their personal experiences and cultural backgrounds led them to create BIEN in 2017 with the mission of making inclusion the foundation of their business. The motion design industry has historically has lacked representation of diverse voices, but Ricardo and Hung have actively strategized to make their company inclusive in every aspect. From their practices to resourcing, they've fostered an environment that promotes diversity. BIEN is sparking a new generational shift in the motion design industry, inspiring change and broader representation for designers and artists. Join us as we explore their inspiring journey and learn how embracing diversity can bring positive transformation to the creative world.

Today's episode discusses the evergreen benefits of working with diverse-owned suppliers including driving increased brand consistency, benefiting the communities the supplier operates within and represents, and improving work quality through different perspectives and approaches to problem solving, and how those benefits increase when using a supplier who authentically represents a specific target audience. Guest, Wynter Blanquet-Warren, cautions that so much of the hurdle to effective DEI efforts and supplier diversity programs is the "lack of humanity." The solution: proactively put more partners and suppliers in front of marketing teams to remove barriers and help them meet their diversity goals, learn how to "be the face" and champion of supplier diversity within your organization, dig into your history, find your own triggers and motivations to be vulnerable, and have conversations about what you want to achieve so you can create community around the discussion. ------------------------------------------------------------ Wynter Blanquet-Warren, is the current Director of Creative & Business Operations at Walmart, is a marketing leader with deep experience in creative operations, account management, and outsourcing strategies. During her time in advertising, she led cross-functional teams in support of partners across financial services, CPG, and lifestyle brands. Transitioning into the tech industry, Wynter joined Sage Software to stand up project management and creative operations as part of a new global brand team. As Head of Agency Operations & Purchasing at Meta, Wynter led strategy, implementation and operations for a global preferred supplier program aimed at improving quality of work, performance, and cost savings for outsourced global business marketing programs and content. As a DEI champion, she also launched an internal supplier diversity initiative at Meta to galvanize incremental spend and support for diverse businesses. https://www.linkedin.com/in/wblanquet-warren/

In the episode, we discuss the pursuit of constant curiosity of humans and how language, articulation, and staying mindful of how to remain inclusive. From recognizing unconscious bias from the screening to pulling back the layers of training our ears to new environments, we uncover how to bring our authentic voice to the conversation. She challenges TRIP listeners to reflect on "am I making an effort to continue exposure and train my ear to listen from a new environment, accent, or group of individuals"? Aïcha gives some valuable takeaways: hold space for the who, be more intentional on screener questions for articulation and be fearless in challenging some of the demographic groups targeted in your insights work. ------------------- Aïcha Ly is a trilingual, solutions-driven market and competitive intelligence strategist, speaker, and activist. She is the Founder and CEO of SITB LLC, a values-driven boutique firm specializing in public speaking coaching and message crafting and Head of Consumer Insights at OpenSignal. A native of Senegal, West Africa, Aïcha draws from her experience being a triple minority – female, a foreigner, and Black – in leadership roles at several Fortune 1000 companies, to champion and advocate for others. Aïcha brings a wealth of knowledge and life experience, sharing the power of linguistics and the importance of inclusive insights, including her research and TEDx presentation on unconscious bias related to regional, racial, and international accents. LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aichaly/ SITB LLC - https://www.sitbstudio.com/ TEDx Talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxgQ0WqV0Zc&t=2s VoxPopMe - https://site.voxpopme.com/ OpenSignal - https://www.opensignal.com/

Before products are developed, we have to take action by using research inclusion to reduce barriers to access and ensure people see themselves within the product. There is an opportunity to use inclusion as a delighting force within products. "When I research, I look at the relationship we have with the customer or user of our product. A way to invite people into a product is by establishing trust and transparency, which is an aspect of care. Inclusion is care." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ashlee is a research leader dedicated to improving user experience through data and insights-driven product strategy, leading research teams in the growth, consumption/creation, and i18n space.

As Manager of Consumer Insights, Jana works at Savage X Fenty, a revolutionary brand in the lingerie space. At Savage X, Jana has helped build the market research department from the ground up and for the past 3 years has focused on delivering impactful insights to stakeholders globally. She is passionate about not only doing the right work, but also shaping the work to meet the company’s core values, one of which is heavily focused on inclusivity. Jana has worked in the market research industry for 8+ years and prior to Savage X, worked in client services at LRW.