Research reports that inspire and delight

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MY ROLE

Research Manager

THE CHALLENGE

Delta Dental is comprised of a network of 39 independent companies operating in all 50 states and provides coverage to more Americans than any other dental insurance company. In 2022, providers were leaving the network at a staggering rate and Delta Dental turned to us to understand why from the voice of their customers. This was the largest research project our consultants had ever conducted and I was in charge of making sure it was a success.

IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS

MY APPROACH

When a client asks for 80 interviews in 3 weeks, you make it happen…

• I carefully scope every research project for success and this was no different. Our client was adamant about the number of providers they wanted to interview but they did not have a preference for the methodology. So, I split the team into three approaches; Ethnographic Focus Group, 1:1 Interviews, and Analysis.

• I ensured that we were able to synthesize findings as they emerged and build a comprehensive insights library for our business analysts and senior leadership to consistently react to throughout the project.

• I procured three new research tools (totaling over $160k in new capabilities) to enable to team to act quickly and deliver quality insights to our client. These tools also allowed us to immediately generate over $500k in new business.

Transcribe and analyze more than 100 hours of video transcripts…

• I built an adaptive thematic codebook to systemically and efficiently tag transcripts in Dovetail.

• I helped the team quantify qualitative data and test their findings with the ethnographic focus group.

• I worked with Design leadership throughout the project to craft an interactive report in Figma with emerging insights.

THE OUTCOME

We created the most innovative and engaging research report our client has ever seen in the form of an immersive custom website. Our comprehensive insights impacted decisions across the business and this led to more research with an even larger scope. The team received high praise for the web-based report and had the opportunity to fly to the client’s office with a 5ft poster version to help drive home the important learnings with their senior-most stakeholders needed to hear.

Bonus POINTS

The extensive research component of this project required me to make the business case for $160k worth of new enterprise research tools. This is the report I presented to the senior leadership team that approved an entirely new annual budget for my team. To introduce these tools, I built guidebooks and training resources that served more than 2000 product, creative, and consulting stakeholders across the firm.