Building Sustainable Design Research Systems with Sam Zucker — DT101 E143 - Design Thinking 101

The tension between doing good research and delivering on tight timelines is something I've experienced throughout my career in design and innovation. This conversation with Sam Zucker unpacks powerful approaches to making research more sustainable and equitable while building systems that support continuous learning and engagement.

Questions This Episode Helps You Answer

How can we build sustainable research systems that work within real-world constraints?
What makes equity-based research different from traditional approaches?
When should we adapt research methods for regulated environments?
How might we use prototypes to get better research insights?
Why do continuous research systems often succeed where one-off studies fail?

I invited Sam to share her expertise because she brings a unique perspective on making research work in complex, regulated environments while maintaining a deep commitment to equity and inclusion. Her experience spans from reimagining college financial aid experiences to transforming employer benefits, always with a focus on serving people who are often overlooked in traditional research.

Episode Highlights

[01:40] Sam describes her journey from an interdisciplinary background at Carnegie Mellon studying conceptual art, communication design, and sociolinguistics to founding Reroute Research, illustrating how diverse educational foundations can lead to innovative research approaches.

[03:00] Shares insights from working on College Abacus, a groundbreaking tool that helped students understand true college costs beyond sticker prices, demonstrating how design research can tackle complex financial decisions.

[05:30] Articulates her core focus: taking complex decisions (like college choice or insurance selection) and making them more understandable and actionable for users, revealing how design research can simplify without oversimplifying.

[08:30] Introduces the innovative "researcher in residence" model where she embeds within companies for 3–4 months, showing how deeper integration leads to better knowledge transfer and organizational impact.

[12:00] Explains her commitment to equity-based design and how it shapes recruiting practices, emphasizing the importance of reaching participants who are typically underrepresented.

[15:30] Details practical strategies for inclusive recruitment, including flexible scheduling, multiple contact attempts, and accommodating cancellations — demonstrating how research processes themselves need to be designed for equity.

[18:30] Shares approach to reciprocity in research, explaining how she ensures participants benefit from the process through information sharing and resource connections.

[22:00] Describes how to build sustainable research systems that organizations can maintain long-term, emphasizing the importance of integrating with existing tools and workflows.

[25:30] Provides a success story of Better Future Forward implementing a continuous research system, showing how research can become embedded in organizational culture.

[31:30] Explains her approach to using low-fidelity prototypes early in research to get more accurate insights about what people actually want versus what they say they want.

[37:30] Shares expertise on conducting research in highly regulated environments, emphasizing the importance of reading and understanding regulations firsthand rather than relying on others' interpretations.

[41:30] Offers valuable advice for researchers working in regulated environments: build relationships with supportive stakeholders who can help drive innovation forward while navigating constraints.

[45:00] Concludes with an important insight about the critical role of language in UX, noting how sometimes the most impactful research finding can be identifying the right word choice for users.

Questions to Help You Go Deeper<

What particularly struck me was Sam's practical framework for embedding research into organizational workflows. Her approach transforms research from a periodic, resource-intensive effort into an ongoing capability that shapes decision-making and product development. This represents a crucial evolution in how we think about evidence-based design.

Questions This Episode Helps You Answer

How can we build sustainable research systems that work within real-world constraints?

What makes equity-based research different from traditional approaches?

When should we adapt research methods for regulated environments?

How might we use prototypes to get better research insights?

Why do continuous research systems often succeed where one-off studies fail?

I invited Sam to share her expertise because she brings a unique perspective on making research work in complex, regulated environments while maintaining a deep commitment to equity and inclusion. Her experience spans from reimagining college financial aid experiences to transforming employer benefits, always with a focus on serving people who are often overlooked in traditional research.

Episode Highlights

[01:40] Sam describes her journey from an interdisciplinary background at Carnegie Mellon studying conceptual art, communication design, and sociolinguistics to founding Reroute Research, illustrating how diverse educational foundations can lead to innovative research approaches.

[03:00] Shares insights from working on College Abacus, a groundbreaking tool that helped students understand true college costs beyond sticker prices, demonstrating how design research can tackle complex financial decisions.

[05:30] Articulates her core focus: taking complex decisions (like college choice or insurance selection) and making them more understandable and actionable for users, revealing how design research can simplify without oversimplifying.

[08:30] Introduces the innovative "researcher in residence" model where she embeds within companies for 3–4 months, showing how deeper integration leads to better knowledge transfer and organizational impact.

[12:00] Explains her commitment to equity-based design and how it shapes recruiting practices, emphasizing the importance of reaching participants who are typically underrepresented.

[15:30] Details practical strategies for inclusive recruitment, including flexible scheduling, multiple contact attempts, and accommodating cancellations — demonstrating how research processes themselves need to be designed for equity.

[18:30] Shares approach to reciprocity in research, explaining how she ensures participants benefit from the process through information sharing and resource connections.

[22:00] Describes how to build sustainable research systems that organizations can maintain long-term, emphasizing the importance of integrating with existing tools and workflows.

[25:30] Provides a success story of Better Future Forward implementing a continuous research system, showing how research can become embedded in organizational culture.

[31:30] Explains her approach to using low-fidelity prototypes early in research to get more accurate insights about what people actually want versus what they say they want.

[37:30] Shares expertise on conducting research in highly regulated environments, emphasizing the importance of reading and understanding regulations firsthand rather than relying on others' interpretations.

[41:30] Offers valuable advice for researchers working in regulated environments: build relationships with supportive stakeholders who can help drive innovation forward while navigating constraints.

[45:00] Concludes with an important insight about the critical role of language in UX, noting how sometimes the most impactful research finding can be identifying the right word choice for users.

Questions to Help You Go Deeper<

Building Sustainable Design Research Systems with Sam Zucker — DT101 E143

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