TRIP | The Research Inclusion Project

Join Kristin Spraggins and Katrina Noelle as they give you a sneak peak of what's to come for The Research Inclusion Project. Season 6 premieres on June 6th!

To learn more about The Research Inclusion Project visit: https://www.theresearchinclusionproject.com

TRIP is a self-funded project 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/trippodcast

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/

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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.

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As a founding member of the Accessibility Insights Consortium (AIC), Claire brought her expertise and shared with TRIP how accessibility participatory design can spark excitement from the top down and vice versa within an organization. Her first-hand perspective of celebrating incremental changes and pushing for better accessible processes gives listeners something to reflect on within the industry and in all of our work.

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Claire Ferrari holds a PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences & Human Computer Interaction, and a master’s in Interactive Telecommunications. As Principal UX Researcher at Verizon, Claire has built and continues to lead the company’s Accessible UX Research practice. Her work is dedicated to empowering others to include people with disabilities in product design – pushing practices beyond compliance, and improving experiences for all. 

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:

And to learn more about 828's cultural empathy work, reach out here

Dana Keilman from Morning Light Strategy shines on the opportunity for inclusive insights on aging. Aging is a commonality that, at its core, is a human need not impacted or influenced by politics, news, or pop culture. Over the decades, society has focused on the youth for new product development and marketing, but now it’s time to question that focus. Older adults, as well as caregivers, provide white space opportunities often overlooked by brands and corporations. There are stigmas associated with growing old, many of which feed into myths that result in a misunderstanding of who they really are. What you need to know is that they provide a wealth of insight and are a cohort with real purchasing power for business impact.

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For the past 25 years, Dana has worked with Fortune 500 clients to develop and launch new products and services. For Dana, innovation is grounded in thoroughly understanding people’s needs and identifying opportunities for her clients to meet those needs better than competitive options. 

Recently, Dana launched Morning Light Strategy with Nicole Munsey to focus on the aging population and caregivers. Building on their past experience in consumer insights, they help clients innovate by more deeply understanding the needs, wants and opinions of older adults and their caregivers. 

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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

Recorded from the IIEX North America Conference in Austin, TRIP brings on Alka Baijal.

The Buzzback survey has identified 24% of the difference in ability, and many do not report this information. Alka leads the charge at Nissan in building foresight, which requires a deep understanding of the nuances of unique types of customers, including those who need accommodation or a disability to meet their needs. Having a positive experience with Nissan's products for those with different abilities is table stakes. From the screener to the qualitative research methodology, Alka and her team look to accommodate the person at the center of all our work.

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Alka Baijal is the Sr. Manager for Trends and New Methodologies in the Market Intelligence department at Nissan North America. She has over 20 years of experience in automotive and consumer insight research in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. Alka partners with internal stakeholders and Nissan leadership to help define how best to serve future customers. Her current responsibilities include identifying the macro trends, values and mindsets that drive consumer behavior and mobility choices.

Before joining Nissan in 2006, she held various automotive research roles at General Motors and GM Holden. Alka holds a BA in Sociology from NYU, College of Arts and Sciences, and an MPA from the Wagner School of Public Service, NYU. Alka currently resides in New Jersey. In addition to keeping up with the lives of her two children and son in law, she enjoys travelling and discovering new places with her husband.

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. 

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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. 

Think about it in 3 steps, based on your level of control and influence:

1 - Start by reflecting on yourself: take a personal Inventory of yourself and your practices, and personal education. 

2 - Then reflect on your work/your team: take a second inventory, this time of your work- what biases are built in there, what do you have the power to control.

3 - Finally reflect on your environment/industry/larger picture. Think about the larger systemic changes of the way you work and the way your company does business.

Tune in to hear more about Discover’s Equity Sequence Model and their recent ESG Report: https://www.discover.com/company/esg/2022-esg-report/home/?cmpgnid=leap____&utm_campaign=&utm_medium=LEAP&utm_source=LinkedIn.

And try Jessica's tip to 'language challenge' yourself using The Micropedia of Microaggressions https://www.themicropedia.org/

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As Director of Consumer Insights, Jessica uses consumer insights to drive growth in Discover's lending and deposits products. She leads a team of insights professionals, with expertise across the product suite, combining macro consumer trends, competitive intelligence, syndicated data, and custom qualitative and quantitative research to drive decision making. She has a passion for understanding the "whys" behind consumer behavior and choices through consumer research. 

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.