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GEN7121 Mastering User Research and Experience Design Leadership

$199.00
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The Executive Diagnostic and Governance Toolkit

Mastering User Research and Experience Design Leadership

Score your own function red, amber or green, find out which part is weakest, and walk into the next budget round able to defend what you want to fix. Built for leaders reviewing User research and experience design.

$199 one-time
30-day money-back guarantee Verified against latest insights, updated access provided within 24h

Each order is checked and updated against the latest insights before delivery. That is why access takes up to 24 hours rather than being instant.

What you walk out with
A scored, ranked picture of your own function, and a defensible answer to what to fix first.
1 You stop guessing where you stand.
You finish with a score, not an opinion: every part of your function rated red, amber or green, with the weakest ranked first. Evidence: a Quick Scan for the shape of it, then seven domain assessments of 30 scored questions each, 210 in all, rolled into one scorecard, plus a maturity radar and a current-versus-target gap analysis.
2 You can defend the decision.
You walk into the budget round with the gap named, the owner named and done defined, instead of a case built on instinct. Evidence: project charter, scope statement, RACI, requirements traceability and work breakdown structure, pre-filled in your domain's language.
3 The work actually moves.
The month after the decision is already built, so nothing stalls waiting for someone to design a form. Evidence: more than 60 project templates across all five PMBOK process groups, plus runbooks, SOPs, a KPI framework, audit checklists and a risk matrix. 55 to 65 files in total.
4 You use it the day it lands.
No blank templates to interpret. Every workbook opens with what it is, who uses it, when, how, a 1 to 5 scoring guide, what good looks like, and a worked example you delete and type over.
The Quick Scan is one sitting. You will know your weakest area before the day is out.
Nothing in it is generic project management: the build rejects any file that could belong to another course. Updated after you enrol, so it reflects where the work stands now. The 144-chapter course is included behind it, for the parts you want to go deeper on.
You’re responsible for user research and experience design, but without a clear way to assess its maturity or decide what to change next.

The situation this is built for

You lead a team delivering research plans, usability reports, and design systems — yet leadership questions their strategic value. Stakeholders request studies without clarity of purpose. Research sits unused in repositories. Design decisions are debated without reference to evidence. You know the work matters, but you lack a structured way to evaluate its effectiveness, communicate gaps, or prioritize evolution. The pressure grows to demonstrate impact while managing inconsistent processes and fragmented tools.

Who this is for

Head of Design leading a team responsible for user research, UX strategy, and experience design across digital products. Owns research planning, insight governance, design system oversight, and cross-functional alignment with product and engineering.

Who this is not for

Individual contributors focused only on UI execution, consultants selling external services, or managers without decision authority over research and design operations.

What you walk away with

  • Evaluate the maturity of your user research function using a validated framework
  • Identify gaps in research planning, insight lifecycle, and decision integration
  • Align leadership on priorities for improving research impact and design consistency
  • Develop a roadmap to strengthen evidence-based design decisions across teams
  • Implement governance models for research repositories and insight reuse

How this maps to your situation

  • Current state assessment
  • Gap analysis and prioritization
  • Stakeholder alignment strategy
  • Implementation planning

Before vs. after

Before
Unclear ownership of research quality, inconsistent application of insights, reactive design decisions, and difficulty demonstrating value to leadership.
After
A clearly defined, measurable, and evolving research and experience design function that drives evidence-based decisions and shapes product strategy.

What's included with your purchase

  • 12 modules with 12 chapters each (144 chapters)
  • Downloadable templates and worked examples for every module
  • Hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access
  • 30-day money-back guarantee

Delivery and format

  • Course and learning environment access provisioned within 24 hours of purchase
  • Hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access

Format: Text-based modules and chapters in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable templates and worked examples for every chapter, plus the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.

Time investment: Approximately 3 hours per module, designed to be completed at your pace over 8–12 weeks.

If nothing changes
Without a structured way to assess and improve, research efforts will remain fragmented, insights will go unused, and design decisions will default to opinion — eroding trust and increasing the cost of product development.

How this compares to the alternatives

Unlike generic UX courses or tool-specific certifications, this program is built exclusively for Heads of Design who must evaluate and lead research and experience design as a function — not just deliver outputs.

Also included: the full course, for when you want the reasoning behind a finding (12 modules, 144 chapters)

Depth reference. The diagnostic and the templates stand on their own; this is what to read when you want the reasoning behind a finding.

Module 1. Defining the Scope of User Research and Experience Design
Establish a shared understanding of what user research and experience design encompass within your organization, including boundaries, responsibilities, and integration points with product and engineering.
12 chapters in this module
  1. Mapping the end-to-end user research lifecycle
  2. Differentiating discovery research from validation studies
  3. Defining experience design beyond interface patterns
  4. Clarifying ownership of research planning and execution
  5. Identifying handoffs between researchers and designers
  6. Documenting current team structure and roles
  7. Assessing alignment between research goals and business outcomes
  8. Reviewing how design decisions are currently justified
  9. Cataloging existing research repositories and archives
  10. Evaluating access controls for research findings
  11. Tracking frequency and format of stakeholder research summaries
  12. Measuring consistency in experience design language
Module 2. Assessing Research Maturity Across Teams
Introduce a framework to evaluate the current state of research practices, from ad hoc studies to institutionalized insight reuse, and benchmark against organizational needs.
12 chapters in this module
  1. Using a five-level model to score research maturity
  2. Auditing research study documentation completeness
  3. Evaluating consistency in participant recruitment methods
  4. Measuring frequency of unsolicited stakeholder requests
  5. Assessing integration of research findings into product backlogs
  6. Tracking how often past insights inform new designs
  7. Reviewing ethics compliance in consent and data handling
  8. Evaluating researcher capacity against demand volume
  9. Measuring time from research request to insight delivery
  10. Assessing quality of research synthesis across projects
  11. Documenting variance in reporting formats by team
  12. Identifying duplication of research efforts across squads
Module 3. Governance of Research Planning and Prioritization
Design a structured approach to research intake, prioritization, and resourcing that balances strategic inquiry with urgent product needs.
12 chapters in this module
  1. Mapping current research request workflows
  2. Defining criteria for strategic versus tactical studies
  3. Building a research roadmap aligned to product themes
  4. Creating intake forms for research requests
  5. Establishing triage meetings with product leadership
  6. Documenting capacity planning for research teams
  7. Setting thresholds for research sample sizes
  8. Reviewing how research questions are formulated
  9. Tracking approval processes for external recruitment
  10. Measuring alignment between research plans and KPIs
  11. Evaluating inclusion of accessibility considerations
  12. Assessing diversity in participant profiles
Module 4. Operationalizing Insight Collection and Synthesis
Standardize methods for capturing, analyzing, and synthesizing user data to ensure reliability, repeatability, and actionable outputs.
12 chapters in this module
  1. Comparing thematic analysis techniques across teams
  2. Defining minimum standards for session note templates
  3. Evaluating use of video and audio in insight capture
  4. Assessing consistency in affinity diagramming practices
  5. Measuring time spent on synthesis per research project
  6. Reviewing tools used for qualitative data coding
  7. Tracking inter-rater reliability in insight tagging
  8. Auditing documentation of negative findings and outliers
  9. Evaluating synthesis outputs for decision readiness
  10. Measuring inclusion of behavioral observations
  11. Assessing integration of quantitative data with qualitative insights
  12. Documenting assumptions made during interpretation
Module 5. Designing for Insight Accessibility and Reuse
Ensure research findings are discoverable, contextual, and trusted so teams can act on existing knowledge instead of repeating studies.
12 chapters in this module
  1. Auditing current research repository structure
  2. Measuring frequency of repository searches by team members
  3. Evaluating metadata tagging consistency across studies
  4. Reviewing access permissions for archived research
  5. Assessing search functionality within insight platforms
  6. Tracking citation of past research in new proposals
  7. Measuring time to retrieve relevant findings
  8. Evaluating integration between design systems and research links
  9. Documenting version history for updated insights
  10. Assessing presentation formats for executive audiences
  11. Reviewing update cycles for evergreen research topics
  12. Measuring cross-team contribution to insight libraries
Module 6. Integrating Research into Design Decision-Making
Embed research insights into design critiques, sprint planning, and feature definition to shift from opinion-driven to evidence-based design.
12 chapters in this module
  1. Mapping where research is referenced in design reviews
  2. Evaluating inclusion of insight summaries in Figma files
  3. Tracking frequency of research citations in Jira tickets
  4. Assessing use of personas in feature scoping sessions
  5. Measuring attendance at research playback meetings
  6. Reviewing how design trade-offs reference user data
  7. Evaluating product requirement documents for insight links
  8. Documenting escalation paths when research is ignored
  9. Assessing consistency in labeling of evidence strength
  10. Measuring time between research delivery and design update
  11. Reviewing use of insight highlights in roadmap planning
  12. Tracking design reversals due to new research findings
Module 7. Scaling Experience Design Language and Systems
Develop a shared design vocabulary and system architecture that reflects user understanding and supports consistent, scalable product development.
12 chapters in this module
  1. Auditing component usage across product surfaces
  2. Measuring adherence to design token conventions
  3. Evaluating documentation completeness for UI patterns
  4. Reviewing governance of design system contributions
  5. Assessing version control practices for design assets
  6. Tracking adoption of accessibility guidelines
  7. Measuring consistency in microcopy and labeling
  8. Evaluating localization readiness of design components
  9. Documenting technical debt in component implementations
  10. Assessing integration between design and frontend libraries
  11. Reviewing update frequency for deprecated components
  12. Measuring designer onboarding time with system docs
Module 8. Measuring the Impact of Research and Design
Define metrics that reflect the influence of user research and experience design on product outcomes, team behavior, and organizational learning.
12 chapters in this module
  1. Defining leading indicators for research influence
  2. Measuring reduction in usability defects post-launch
  3. Tracking changes in NPS attributed to design updates
  4. Evaluating time saved in development due to clarity
  5. Assessing reduction in support tickets after launches
  6. Measuring reuse of research findings across initiatives
  7. Reviewing stakeholder confidence in design direction
  8. Tracking alignment scores in cross-functional reviews
  9. Evaluating cost of delayed decisions without research
  10. Measuring speed of design iteration cycles
  11. Assessing retention impact of experience improvements
  12. Documenting avoided build from early-stage research
Module 9. Leading Cross-Functional Alignment and Influence
Strengthen your ability to shape product direction by aligning research and design practices with engineering, product management, and executive priorities.
12 chapters in this module
  1. Mapping stakeholder decision-making authority
  2. Evaluating frequency of joint planning sessions
  3. Tracking research representation in roadmap meetings
  4. Measuring participation in design critique forums
  5. Assessing product team understanding of research goals
  6. Reviewing shared definitions of usability success
  7. Documenting escalation processes for design conflicts
  8. Evaluating inclusion of designers in discovery phases
  9. Measuring equity in speaking time during meetings
  10. Assessing co-ownership of problem statements
  11. Reviewing joint ownership of research backlog items
  12. Tracking follow-through on cross-functional action items
Module 10. Building Sustainable Research Operations
Establish repeatable processes for participant recruitment, study execution, and resource planning to ensure research can scale reliably.
12 chapters in this module
  1. Auditing participant recruitment sourcing channels
  2. Measuring fill rates for research studies
  3. Evaluating screening questionnaire effectiveness
  4. Reviewing incentive structures for participation
  5. Assessing scheduling efficiency for research sessions
  6. Tracking researcher time allocation across activities
  7. Measuring operational costs per study type
  8. Evaluating vendor management for external partners
  9. Documenting onboarding process for new researchers
  10. Assessing training coverage for research methods
  11. Reviewing equipment and tooling availability
  12. Measuring researcher turnover and satisfaction
Module 11. Evolving the Role of the Research and Design Leader
Refine your leadership approach to balance strategic vision with operational rigor, fostering a culture of inquiry and evidence-based design.
12 chapters in this module
  1. Assessing time allocation across leadership tasks
  2. Measuring frequency of 1:1s with team members
  3. Evaluating feedback mechanisms for team input
  4. Reviewing career ladder definitions for researchers
  5. Assessing investment in professional development
  6. Measuring representation in executive forums
  7. Tracking advocacy for research in budget cycles
  8. Evaluating communication of design strategy
  9. Documenting succession planning for key roles
  10. Assessing balance between coaching and delivery
  11. Reviewing team health indicators and morale
  12. Measuring diversity in research and design hiring
Module 12. Creating Your Implementation Roadmap
Synthesize assessment findings into a prioritized action plan with clear milestones, stakeholder commitments, and success metrics.
12 chapters in this module
  1. Prioritizing gaps using impact and effort matrix
  2. Defining 30-60-90 day action sequences
  3. Identifying key stakeholders for each initiative
  4. Mapping dependencies between improvement areas
  5. Setting measurable goals for maturity growth
  6. Developing communication plan for changes
  7. Aligning roadmap with product planning cycle
  8. Securing commitment for pilot programs
  9. Establishing feedback loops for adjustments
  10. Documenting success criteria for each milestone
  11. Planning review cadence with leadership
  12. Integrating roadmap into team OKRs

Frequently asked

Who is this course designed for?
It is designed for Heads of Design who own responsibility for user research, experience design, and the teams that deliver them across digital products.
How is the course structured?
12 modules, each containing 12 chapters (144 chapters total).
What kind of templates are included?
Templates for research maturity audits, insight repository audits, design system governance models, and implementation roadmaps.
What formats do the templates come in?
The implementation playbook downloads as PDF and editable XLSX. The course reads in your learning environment and exports to PDF for offline use. The files are yours to keep.
Can I share this with my team?
The licence is per person. Team pricing opens from three seats: reply to the order confirmation with TEAM and we will set it up.
How quickly can I start?
The diagnostic is one sitting and the templates work straight out of the kit. Account access takes up to 24 hours rather than being instant, because every order is checked and updated against the latest sources before it is delivered.
$199 one-time. Approximately 3 hours per module, designed to be completed at your pace over 8–12 weeks..

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.

30-day money-back guarantee·Know your weakest area today·210 scored questions·Course included· Account access within 24 hours
30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked.
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