What Is Polaris and How Does It Transform Research Reports?

TL;DR

Polaris is a system that replaces traditional research reports with tagged observations called research nuggets, supported by evidence. It democratizes user experience research by enabling teams at WeWork to prioritize work, educate themselves, and allocate resources effectively based on these insights. This approach addresses issues like bad memory and silos in research, fostering a culture of decision-making rooted in user insights.

Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING] MATTHEW KAM: Good afternoon, everybody. So thank you very much for coming to this session today, where we have the pleasure of having Tomer Sharon to give us a presentation on the death of the research reports. So as we get started, please remember to turn off your cell phones and all buzzing devices. So for many of you guys here wh... Read More

Key Insights

• 👨‍🔬 Polaris aims to democratize user experience research by replacing traditional research reports with research nuggets and curated playlists.
• 👨‍🔬 Research nuggets in Polaris are tagged observations supported by evidence, providing a more atomic and actionable unit of research insight.
• 😤 Polaris helps teams prioritize their work, educate themselves, and allocate resources effectively based on the insights gathered from the system.
• 👨‍🔬 The system addresses the problems of bad research memory, silos within organizations, and the limitation of traditional research reports.
• 🥇 Quality control and training processes are in place to ensure the accuracy and quality of the nuggets in Polaris.
• 👨‍🔬 Polaris is a tool for creating a culture of research and decision-making based on user insights, with the aim of improving the member experience at WeWork.
• 👨‍🔬 The system is designed to be scalable and adaptable to different research needs within the organization.

Questions & Answers

Q: What are the main problems with traditional research reports?

Traditional research reports often suffer from bad research memory, silos within organizations, and the challenge of creating concise and actionable insights amidst a wealth of information.

Q: How does Polaris address these problems?

Polaris replaces traditional research reports with research nuggets, which are tagged observations supported by evidence. The system helps teams prioritize their work, educate themselves, and allocate resources effectively based on insights gathered from Polaris.

Q: How do you ensure the quality of the nuggets in Polaris?

Newcomers to Polaris are trained and have their nuggets reviewed and approved by more experienced users. This helps maintain the quality and consistency of the nuggets in the system.

Q: Can users track the outcomes or actions taken based on the nuggets in Polaris?

Currently, Polaris does not have a built-in feature to track outcomes or actions taken based on nuggets. However, WeWork has other systems in place to monitor and track the impact of changes made based on the insights gathered from Polaris.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Tomer Sharon introduces Polaris, a system that gathers all the research conducted at WeWork and organizes it into research nuggets, which are tagged observations supported by evidence.

• Polaris aims to solve the problems of bad research memory, silos, and reliance on traditional research reports through its atomic unit of research insight and curated playlists.

• The system helps teams prioritize their work, educate themselves, and allocate resources more effectively based on the insights gathered from Polaris.