NIHITO Masterclass with Chad Eckes

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Week Six: Develop Research Report

  • 1.  Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-16-2022 09:54 AM
    Edited by Kelly Schott 05-16-2022 10:00 AM

    Hello! It's the sixth and final week of the Masterclass! We made it!! 

    This week we're covering how to create a report with the findings from your research. The video below steps through some thoughts on planning your report and possible outlines to consider. I tend to like creating slides for these types of reports, but some people are more comfortable with a regular document. 


    Also, you may find these articles helpful inspiration when thinking about how to create good presentations:


    Attached below are two report examples from past in-depth interview projects I've done.  One is based on our ongoing case study company, Techie Co., and the other is from a project in the higher education space. The slides I use in the video are also attached. 

    Your assignment this week is to create a report based on in-depth interviews you conducted.  You can post a report created on a past project, or you can create a new report. Feel free to just create a "ghost deck" or outline of the report, as I realize people may not be ready with a large number of interviews already completed. 

    Your assignment is due Monday, May 23 at 12:00 AM Pacific. Be sure to also review and comment on at least one other member's analysis.

    Please let me know if you have any questions, and I hope the example reports are helpful food for thought!

    Best,

    Chad


    @Jordan Adler, @Gauri Ahuja, @Inah Arthasarnprasit, @Sami Atieh, @Niraj Bhandari, @Candice Blackwell, @Pam Bloom-Pugliese, @Jodi McDowell, @Sarah Butler, @Shawn Clark, @James Cook, @Shashil R Dalvi, @Leonardo De Stefanis, @Michael DiPierro, @Kristen Ditsch, @Troy Drewry, @Andy Eunson, @Annabella Flores, @Maureen Gallagher, @Samantha Garrels, @Robert Gibson, @Noel Gomez, @Agnes Haber, @Carla Huff, @Shelby Isert, @Leslie Jackson, @Kartik Kakria, @Steve Kalnitzky, @Seema Kathuria, @Simran Kohli, @Praveen Koya, @Ayush Kumar, @Benny Kuo, @Will Kuo, @Keren Liran, @Dhanapal Manickam, @Joy McCaffrey, @Alicia McCallen, @Reilly McClure, @Natalya McLane, @Natasha Menon, @Paresh Mistry, @Kelly Monson, @Emma Montgomery, @Emily Nilson, @Amanda Nott, @Matt Ortiz, @Laura Patrick, @Jennifer Pfannstiel, @Jeff Platzer, @Robert Powell, @Steven Price, @Jeffrey Raugh, @Denise Rigoni, @Nancy Rourke, @Chantelle Sampat, @Joerg Schaffer, @Vija Seshadri, @Renu Sharma, @Yusuf Siregar, @Jenny Smith, @Sheridan Snyder, @Dave Stadler, @Tyler Steben, @Vincent Thilly, @Tiff Ting, @Randy Tomes, @C TB, @Cintia Trigonopoulos, @Francis Trudeau, @Daniel Turner, @Laisvune Valackaite, @Brandee Williams, @Alice Yang, @Mohamed Younsi, @Saba Younus, @Linda Zid



    ------------------------------
    Chad Eckes
    CEO & Founder
    C Squared E, LLC (www.csquarede.com)
    Minneapolis MN
    chad.eckes@csquarede.com
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)



  • 2.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-17-2022 03:20 PM
      |   view attached
    Hi All,

    I did not have enough real interviews to create a real Research Report, so I created this "ghost deck" that reflects the information I would expect to gather and review with our leadership team in order to gain consensus in the recommendations and the next steps to move the project forward.

    This "ghost deck" took some time to create - an actual reject project report would take considerable time and effort to prepare, so give yourself the appropriate time and set the appropriate expectations with your team as to what it will take.

    Thanks again for your feedback.

    James

    ------------------------------
    James Cook
    VP Product Management
    Accelitas
    Atlanta, GA
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-20-2022 04:18 PM
    Hi James,

    I think your deck looks awesome and has great information. I liked how you put all of the pieces together from this course and told your story in that way. It is evident that you put a lot of time and energy into this and it will be a useful tool for you in your position.

    ------------------------------
    Noel Gomez
    Product Marketing Manager
    Instructure
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-21-2022 12:31 PM
    Hi James,
    Nice work on your ghost deck! I like that you maintained a consistent theme and tone and that you included so many visuals. I thought it was also great that you tied it into the Pragmatic coursework, with your look at Urgency, Pervasiveness and Willingness to Pay.
    Thanks!
    Linda

    ------------------------------
    Linda Zid
    Senior Product Marketing Manager
    Lytho
    Phoenix AZ
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-22-2022 05:38 PM
    Thanks James. Looks good to me - clean, clear presentation. 

    Recently opened a bank account and it took 4 weeks - numerous calls - online call - video call - document submission before the bank opened my account. I think this is a genuine problem. Why can't we have real time digital verification (example address data is available in county websites; SSN or Driver License etc). I don't know much about the problem as an inside party but more as a participant. 

    Thank you.

    Best,
    Vijay

    ------------------------------
    Vijay Seshadri
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-22-2022 07:09 PM

    Hi James,

    You've really done some great work and put in considerable thought into how you would provide a persuading argument to your team and stakeholders. I particularly like how in the 'Executive Summary' slide you make use of the pragmatic basics and the themes taught in it with regards to calling out 'Urgency', 'Pervasiveness' and 'Willingness to Pay.'

    Wish you well for your actual project!



    ------------------------------
    Simran Kohli
    Sales Engineer
    Juniper Networks
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-23-2022 01:19 PM
    Hi James, I really liked your presentation. It gave me a number of ideas that I tried to incorporate into my own presentation. One thing that I did not see, and it is the first thing that my boss asks me for, is a time line to complete (How long) and the cost (how much). I have gotten to the point where those are always in the front of my mind. Of course, your situation may be very different from mine. Either way, great job and good luck.

    ------------------------------
    Robert Powell
    Product Manager
    Jenzabar, Inc
    Harrisonburg VA
    ------------------------------



  • 8.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-20-2022 04:13 PM
    My project was about creating a research process for determining states in which to expand our assessment content offerings. I have not done any real interviews (just my mock interviews) to create a full research report, but I created a ghost deck where details could be filled in for multiple states when determining expansion plans. The first few slides give the context of where this piece fits in our Platform and the specifics behind the solution. The rest would be filled in with the details from the interviews to help determine which states would support the expansion model. Feel free to provide any feedback you have.

    https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1LpvUhP-S6T4sAJshhGrJXB7o0muBqQGOApG9b2Pd9k8/edit?usp=sharing

    ------------------------------
    Noel Gomez
    Product Marketing Manager
    Instructure
    ------------------------------



  • 9.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-21-2022 12:15 PM
    Hi Noel,
    Thanks for sharing, but I wasn't able to access your link. Trying to figure out if I was doing something incorrectly, but can you please also take a look?
    Thanks!
    Linda

    ------------------------------
    Linda Zid
    Senior Product Marketing Manager
    Lytho
    Phoenix AZ
    ------------------------------



  • 10.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-23-2022 12:23 AM
    Hi, Noel:

    What a lovely ghost deck! I see lots of potential and think that it will serve your full research results well. One tiny bit of feedback I can offer is to avoid splitting words that make up a logical phrase across two separate lines, especially on slides that primarily feature a headline and not more detailed text. For example, slide 2 currently reads like this:


    Our mission is to elevate student
    success, amplify the power of 
    teaching, and inspire everyone to
    learn together.


    Readers might have to work a little harder to reconstruct some of the phrases together, but you could also strategically insert some line breaks to eliminate any mental gymnastics:

    Our mission is to
    elevate
    student success,
    amplify the power of teaching, and
    inspire everyone to learn together.

    Hope this helps!



    ------------------------------
    Tiff Ting
    Technical Product Manager
    Iris Healthcare
    San Francisco, CA
    ------------------------------



  • 11.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-21-2022 12:12 PM
      |   view attached
    Hi all, 
    Happy last week! I don't have enough interviews yet, but I did create a ghost deck that I've attached. It was a fun exercise to think about ways to visualize results and I'm looking forward to doing this for real.
    Thanks!
    Linda

    ------------------------------
    Linda Zid
    Senior Product Marketing Manager
    Lytho
    Phoenix AZ
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)

    pptx
    NIHITO Week 6.pptx   132 KB 1 version


  • 12.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-31-2022 02:52 PM
    Linda,

    Good work on your ghost deck.  Using a word cloud, like the one in my example, is often a good way to make an impression with the audience and help them remember the key theme(s).  On a related note, I personally like to have people's quotes float on a page, and not be embedded in a table, as I feel tables feel too sterile and some of the emotion can be lost.  I realize it is more work to cut-and-paste the quotes from your Excel table, but the presentation factor I think is worth it. 

    Best of luck finishing the deck and presenting it to your team.  Thanks for your work in the masterclass.

    Best,
    Chad

    ------------------------------
    Chad Eckes
    CEO & Founder
    C Squared E, LLC (www.csquarede.com)
    Minneapolis MN
    chad.eckes@csquarede.com
    ------------------------------



  • 13.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-22-2022 05:31 PM
      |   view attached
    Thanks Chad. I like the two examples you have. I typically start with Problems -> try to get the nods by reiterating what folks have said before I arrive at conclusion. I always struggle especially with the other approach where "Exec Summary" comes first cos the Execs get stuck right there or should say, rather I get stuck ;+). Any advice on how to handle objections by execs will help.

    Here is my Week 6 Report out attached. Thank you and the PAC tribe for helping out on feedback.

    Look fwd to the Wednesday call!!

    Best,
    Vijay

    ------------------------------
    Vijay Seshadri
    ------------------------------



  • 14.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-31-2022 12:14 PM
    Vijay,

    Thanks for all of your work in the masterclass.  I reviewed your Week Six assignment and like all of the material you included.  Your quandary about having an "Executive Summary" section in the beginning, and possibly "getting stuck" on that when presenting, is not uncommon.  I find myself using Exec Summaries more and more, though, as my audience has such limited time, I want to get to the point quickly.  I also make these slide decks to be shared and to be read on their own, so that anyone who misses the live presentation can still garner the takeaways and see the detailed research.  Thus, having the up front Exec Summary gives the reader the option to just spend a few minutes with the document, and they can read through the rest of it if they have time and are interested.  

    When you're presenting the slides to your group, I still think having the Exec Summary part up front is useful, and you just have to have in mind that people may want to drill into something right away in the meeting, versus waiting for the slides later in the presentation.  I find that to be okay, as the point of the meeting is to get agreement on strategy and next steps, and not necessarily to review all of the research data in detail (though its still necessary to include it all, to give evidence for the conclusions and next steps).

    I hope this is making sense, but if not, we can dialogue on this further.  Thanks again and take care.

    Best,
    Chad

    ------------------------------
    Chad Eckes
    CEO & Founder
    C Squared E, LLC (www.csquarede.com)
    Minneapolis MN
    chad.eckes@csquarede.com
    ------------------------------



  • 15.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-22-2022 07:04 PM
      |   view attached

    Hi all,

    For my actual project we have just begin user testing and experience interviews and I don't have a big enough cross section of data to create an actual report yet but this ghost deck here represent all the action items we would work on and provide to Cali non-profit in a phased manner with the end goal of enabling them to repeat the exercise in the future as well as ultimately enabling their users to gain from the interactions they have with their tools and platforms.

    Thanks,

    Simran



    ------------------------------
    Simran Kohli
    Sales Engineer
    Juniper Networks
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)



  • 16.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-31-2022 03:41 PM
    Simran,

    Thanks for submitting your week six assignment.  I was able to follow the deck as an outline of what you intend to communicate in your final presentation, and think everything you've envisioned will be great information to share.  There are a lot of good examples of ghost decks in this discussion thread from other people in this class, and you should feel free to steal ideas from them for ways to sequence the presentation slides and layout information on certain slides.  I trust as you start analyzing the interview data and identifying key themes, the story and takeaways will become evident.

    Thanks for your participation in this masterclass, and best of luck on your project.

    Best,
    Chad

    ------------------------------
    Chad Eckes
    CEO & Founder
    C Squared E, LLC (www.csquarede.com)
    Minneapolis MN
    chad.eckes@csquarede.com
    ------------------------------



  • 17.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-22-2022 11:56 PM
    Edited by Tiff Ting 05-22-2022 11:59 PM
    Hello, everyone!

    Here's my ghost deck of a real research project I'd like to tackle in the coming months. Some high level context about the deck:
    • Intended audience: Company leadership team
    • Presentation goals
      1. Inform audience of Mailroom Specialists' pain points, and
      2. Recommend a roadmap for improving their efficiency and quality.
    • Delivery method: Presented live in front of audience
    Much like how newspaper articles are written, I went with delivering the most important information first so as not to bury the lead. (Also, C-level leadership tend to be in a hurry and like to know what the point is at the beginning.)

    Looking forward to hearing your feedback!

    ------------------------------
    Tiff Ting
    Technical Product Manager
    Iris Healthcare
    San Francisco, CA
    ------------------------------


  • 18.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-23-2022 12:07 AM
      |   view attached
    Just in case you have any trouble accessing the presentation via the link in my original post, here's a PDF version of it.

    ------------------------------
    Tiff Ting
    Technical Product Manager
    Iris Healthcare
    San Francisco, CA
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)

    pdf
    Week 6 - Tiff Ting.pdf   1.54 MB 1 version


  • 19.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-31-2022 02:57 PM
    Tiff,

    Very nice ghost deck!  You have very good design for these slides, more than I'm used to creating myself, but that will go far.  Depending on the volume of interviews you do and how many juicy quotes you get, you might need more slides to communicate those quotes.  Regardless, you have thought through your story and I trust once all the data comes in, you'll have no trouble filling in the slides and delivering a strong presentation.

    Best of luck and thanks for your work in this masterclass.

    Best,
    Chad

    ------------------------------
    Chad Eckes
    CEO & Founder
    C Squared E, LLC (www.csquarede.com)
    Minneapolis MN
    chad.eckes@csquarede.com
    ------------------------------



  • 20.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-23-2022 01:01 PM
      |   view attached
    Hello Everyone,
    I do not have enough information to do an actual report yet, so here is the "ghost deck" version for the week 6 assignment. This has been a wonderful exercise and I have very much enjoyed reading all of your work and getting so many new perspectives. I wish you all the best for future success.

    ------------------------------
    Robert Powell
    Product Manager
    Jenzabar, Inc
    Harrisonburg VA
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)



  • 21.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-23-2022 04:24 PM
    Robert, I loved the visual template and design aspects throughout your presentation and the simplicity - less words means it is easier to follow and remember -- you are sharing what you learned, what we can do to help improve the clients' experiences and recommendations for next steps.. love the flow and look and feel. I think once you do have some real data in there and can share specifics it will really stand out and be really impactful for your audience to be convinced of your suggestions to do something different and make a change. Excellent! I can learn a lot on how to use less words and more graphical elements in my preso. Thanks so much!

    ------------------------------
    Seema Kathuria
    Senior Product Marketing Manager
    Cisco Systems, Inc.
    Fremont CA
    ------------------------------



  • 22.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-23-2022 04:19 PM
      |   view attached
    Hey All, 

    I am attaching my "mock" final report with "dummie data" for now. I just wanted to go through the experience of what it is like to build up to an interview, get learnings and share them summarized up to the top (executive level). I welcome feedback.

    Cheers,
    Seema

    ------------------------------
    Seema Kathuria
    Senior Product Marketing Manager
    Cisco Systems, Inc.
    Fremont CA
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)



  • 23.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-31-2022 03:08 PM
    Seema,

    Your deck is very good, and I can tell you've put good time and effort into conceiving it.  I like the Exec Summary up front, and that you've broken it up into four pages, each with its own focus.  I think as you gather and analyze data from the interviews, you'll find more ways to incorporate quotes into the deck; I'd encourage doing that, as the quotes can leave strong impressions on the audience and help support any conclusions/next steps/recommendations.  

    Best of luck finishing the deck and thanks for your work in the masterclass.

    Best,
    Chad

    ------------------------------
    Chad Eckes
    CEO & Founder
    C Squared E, LLC (www.csquarede.com)
    Minneapolis MN
    chad.eckes@csquarede.com
    ------------------------------



  • 24.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-24-2022 06:13 PM
      |   view attached
    Attached is the research report I'm putting together for my current side-project.  This includes actual and simulated research I've done.  Just looking for feedback on layout and if it makes sense.  Since this is a ppt I would also attach an executive report to provide greater details on my research as well as interview transcripts and the analysis to back up conclusions and recommendations. - I'm just not there yet with this project.  

    This class has been a great experience and I have learned so much.  Thanks to all that provided feedback and encouragement over the last 6 weeks!

    ------------------------------
    Brandee Williams
    Product Manager
    Nelnet Campus Commerce
    Lincoln Ne
    ------------------------------



  • 25.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 05-31-2022 03:36 PM
    Brandee,

    Nice work on your draft report.  I'm sure once you have completed the interviews and analyzed the transcripts, the themes and story will present themselves, influencing how you layout the deck.  As you may have seen in other posts, I and others are fans of using an Executive Summary up front in the deck, to convey the most important findings from the research, and the proposed recommendations/action items based on the findings.  From there, going into the details of the project, as you've done in your draft slides, flows naturally.  

    You mentioned that you might supply your audience/team with the transcripts and analysis, which can be a good idea if you have very curious team members who want to see all of your work.  For what it's worth, I often don't provide those artifacts to my audience, as those can be 100's of pages to read, and usually my audience is expecting me to synthesize all the data and just provide the key takeaways/highlights.  If you explain your process and share the profiles of the people you interviewed, that usually is enough for people to recognize the rigor you took to get the data, and they don't need to see it themselves.

    I glad you've enjoyed this masterclass, and hope your project and final presentation go well.  Reach out any time if you have questions or want to bounce more things off of me or this community.

    Best,
    Chad

    ------------------------------
    Chad Eckes
    CEO & Founder
    C Squared E, LLC (www.csquarede.com)
    Minneapolis MN
    chad.eckes@csquarede.com
    ------------------------------



  • 26.  RE: Week Six: Develop Research Report

    Posted 06-11-2022 09:23 AM
      |   view attached

    Hi All

    I managed to find the time to finish the research report, albeit a bit after we finished the class.

    This ghost deck is based on a current research project my team and I are spearheading. This is the more simple version of it which contains most of the gist and still maintains the research structure. The goal is to find out how our customers adopt our newly released IPO feature and find out how we can improve product adoption through additional feature improvements.

    Thank you!



    ------------------------------
    Yusuf Siregar
    Product Manager
    Stockbit
    Jakarta, Indonesia
    ------------------------------

    Attachment(s)

    pptx
    NIHITO_ Week 6.pptx   985 KB 1 version